The man himself

you may call jose mourinho an outspoken guy,you may call him arrogant but the success he acheived in such a small period of time is unparalleled.His brand of football may not be swashbuckling but nevertheless very effective.How can anyone forget FC PORTO's road to glory in 2004?A little known football club from portugal without great names like figo,christiano ronaldo,rui costa,pauleta conquered europe beating the likes of Manchester United,Lyon and FC Monaco in the finals.Much of the praise for this unbelievable achievement should go to one man calling his shots from the sidelines the master strategist Jose Mourinho.For every manager at the highest level,european glory is the biggest thing to achieve.But this very little known manager achieved the pinnacle of european success in his first stint as manager.But he didn't stop there,more success was waiting for mourinho in the british capital london,the home town of premiership big guns arsenal,chelsea,tottenham.Before Mourninho's advent at chelsea,chelsea was a team with great potential but not managing to finish in top four.But flamboyant Mourinho ensured chelsea's top flight in the league with premiership win in 2004-2005.Big stars were born in the names of Didier Drogba,Frank Lampard,Joe cole,John terry and the name which shone through out the custodian in chelsea jersey,petr cech.During 2004-05 season chelsea conceded less no of goals than other teams and Petr Cech broke the record of peter schmeichel's record of maximum minutes without conceding any goal.This was a remarkable turnaround by a team with great ability but little to show .Jose mourinho and his boys were the new team to beat.Manchester united had miserable outings with chelsea during mourinho's stay at chelsea.
Alex Ferguson has a 6 to 1 record mourinho which might change during this year's mouthwatering clash between ManU and Internazionale(or better known as Inter Milan).For those who thought 2004-05 was a mere fluke, Mourinho and chelsea retained the title in 2005-06 by winning 3-0 at stanford bridge against a resurgent ManU on the very last day of the season leaving behind wayne rooney with a broken foot.A much bigger statement was made to those critics who never believed Jose's credentials and even it was a bigger surprise for Jose himself who was becoming a man born with a golden spoon in his mouth.chelsea established an envious home record under Mourinho and they were unbeatable at home during his stay at stanford bridge.He won FA cup,carling cup with chelsea.But the only thing which could have added a feather to cap is the champions league which he could not do at chelsea.In 2004-05 chelsea lost to eventual champions liverpool under controversial circumstances.But a spat with the club owners led to his unceremonious exit from the club.The fairy tale came to an end in 2007.He may not be very popular with the media and opposition managers,but he always spoke out his mind and all the trophies he had won with chelsea and porto is the telling testimony of the man's greatness.He is now the manager of Inter Milan and many more trophies still await him.He is in the same league as sir Alex Ferguson,Mat Busby,Bobby Robson.

-Pruthwik Mishra