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發表於 2009-11-29 17:33:15
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The not so Special One
By Vitor Sobral | 28 November 2009 | 20:49
Thirty-two goals in 18 matches during a spell at Uniao de Leiria, 73 goals in 34 games with FC Porto, 58 % possession in both legs of a UEFA Champions League knock-out tie against Manchester United.
These are some of the statistics of teams coached by, surprisingly, Jose Mourinho.
Today he’s a man whose name has become synonymous with a term made famous by the club he now coaches. However, there was a time when Mourinho was all about attack.
When he took the reigns at Uniao de Leiria in 2001, the then 38-year-old had already worked under two masters of football’s attacking philosophy, Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal.
Although Mourinho has always built his teams on a sturdy backline, the early days of the Portuguese tactician’s career were far from defensive.
His Leiria side were renowned for their fresh forward thinking football, which in the first half the 2001/2002 season left Portuguese fans with their mouths open.
The potent Derlei and lightening fast Maciel were the main instigators as Leiria managed an average of 1.78 goals a game during the Mourinho era – not a bad feat for one of the three giants, let alone a minnow.
At the same time FC Porto were struggling with the dull and defensive Octavio Machado. Wily President Pinto da Costa saw Mourinho’s potential and in 2002 the one nicknamed The Translator at Barcelona finally had his chance.
Did this Mourinho reign in his team under the increased pressure? Not a chance.
He turned Porto in to a free scoring attacking machine. The ‘Dragons’ had a strike rate of 2.15 goals a game in the title winning 2002/2003 season.
The free flowing football was evident in Europe too. Mourinho’s side scored 27 goals en-route to lifting the UEFA Cup in 2003.
Players, stifled under the old regime, suddenly had a new found freedom.
Deco was transformed into one of the world’s great playmakers, his confidence sky rocketing under the tutelage of the self-title Special One.
Nuno Capucho and Dmitri Alenichev lit up the old Estadio das Antas with their exquisite touches, while the raw talent of Carlos Alberto bamboozled opposition defences.
The attacking approach’s ultimate success came in 2003/2004 as Porto won the UEFA Champions League and the Portuguese Liga – they were only denied a famous treble by an extra-time goal in the Portuguese Cup final.
Mourinho’s Chelsea adventure began with attacking intent too. Then without warning something changed.
Suddenly the brakes were applied and creativity was substituted for physical prowess. The flowing football ceased and soon too did Mourinho’s tenure in West London.
Hope that Mourinho would return to the attacking style he once employed with Inter Milan are dead. The dreadful UCL performance against Barcelona on Matchday 5 is a testament to that.
The mystery now is how did one of the world's most intelligent and thoughtful coaches so dramatically turn into the anti-Christ of the beautiful game. |
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發表於 2009-11-29 05:01:48
大米十二碼~~~1:0..