The recent speculation surrounding Jose Mourinho's desire to return to English football has had the press second guessing his every move - here's why one Arsenal fan believes he could do a job at the Emirates
The recent speculation surrounding Jose Mourinho’s desire to return to English football has had the press second guessing his every move – here’s why one Arsenal fan believes he could do a job at the Emirates
England. Those green, green fields. How Mourinho longs for a return to the bosom of the English press, who adore him so, hanging on his every word. They miss him, and he misses being loved. Italian football never lapped him up in the same way, despite his success. Now Spain follows their lead. Where the English press indulge and celebrate his self-interested ways for the sake of a back page, their continental counterparts scowl. Jose sticks two fingers up in reply and leaks plans to return to the Premier League, despite Madrid’s strengthening hold on La Liga.
The Premiership is a brighter place for his kind of entertainment, but which top club is most likely to provide the desired platform?
Liverpool have Kenny and despise ’sh*tcoat’ more than most from his time goading them at Chelsea.
Should Fergie retire to the scotch, Jose would cite Old Trafford as the ideal stage. The biggest club in the country and the best manager in the world (in his mirror at least).
You cannot imagine Roman Abramovich being selfless enough to admit he made a mistake in firing the back-to-back title winner and give him another chance, despite the desire of most Chelsea fans.
Manchester City surely would not move Mancini on should he deliver the title, and even if Harry leaves for prison or England, Spurs aren’t a big enough pull.
The Arsenal?
Clarity is needed at this point. As an Arsenal Season Ticket Holder and an Arsene man, I’m not ushering the Frenchman out the door. I want him to succeed. Desperately so. I want him to change his approach in the summer, encouraged by a revitalised board who have realised the self sustaining model hasn’t worked and that the cash on hip can actually be spent.
If one or neither happens, the current situation apologetically forces you to consider who could possibly replace the great man.
Many Arsenal fans spit Mourinho’s name out with disgust. Not for us. Classless. Not Arsenal. No way. I understand this reaction, but I don’t agree with it.
Clarity is needed at this point. As an Arsenal Season Ticket Holder and an Arsene man, I’m not ushering the Frenchman out the door. I want him to succeed. Desperately so.
Despite the arrogance and the contempt chucked his way whilst he was spending Roman’s millions, you cannot argue with one simple fact.
He is a winner.
Silverware doesn’t lie. His players love him. They give everything for him. In the build up to a Champions League game between his Inter side and once beloved Chelsea, Wesley Sneijder said, “I am not worried about the game, he [Mourinho] will find a way. He will show us things that nobody else could”.
What trust. What confidence in his manager. He delivered.
Two accusations of Jose Mourinho:
He has bought success and his style of football is boring, not suited to the brand that Arsenal have become.
His time at Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid were bankrolled by billionaires. Teams put together with a huge investment, impossible to imagine being permitted at the Emirates. This plays down his achievement with Porto, winning the Champions League as comparative paupers. It’s also worth noting that Arsenal have their own billionaires. One day they might decide (Stan) or be allowed to spend (Usmanov).
Mourinho teams can bore when they need to, but they can also entertain. The first Chelsea title wining side saw Arjen Robben tearing teams apart, while Madrid are scoring goals for fun. He adjusts his team to suit a situation and ensure he comes out the winning side. His antics, eye gauging and hysterics would be far easier to accept were they done for the benefit of an Arsenal result.
I also imagine the mentality he could instil into young players like Wilshere, Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlian. Older stars like Vermaelen and Van Persie would thrive.
I apologise for considering life after Arsene, and hope a new approach to success means such a dilemma doesn’t have to be answered this summer.
If it does, my approval of Mourinho at Arsenal would be based upon his credentials to deliver the one thing Arsene hasn’t. The one thing I want for Arsenal more than anything else.
I want to see us win the Champions League, and if anyone can deliver that, it’s Mourinho.
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