“Finals are not to play, but to win” -Jose Mourinho
On the 30th of August 2013, on a clear night in Prague, Jose Mourinho began his second stint at Chelsea FC with his first final: The European Super Cup and the opponents were the mighty FC Bayern Munich.
I remember the night very well because Mourinho and Chelsea delivered a statement of intent to the rest of Europe on the night. That Mourinho’s team had inexperienced players and a few veterans in it but took Bayern to the task.
On that night in Prague, Mourinho was on his second trophy trail at Chelsea and everyone was part of the orchestra; the younger players represented the future, the veterans brought the needed experience, the fans were the cheerleaders, the coaching and scouting team were to pursue Mourinho’s new attacking philosophy while Roman provided the financial muscle.
Before the final, Chelsea had been in preseason with Mourinho. He knew the player he wanted for the next season in Wayne Rooney, he knew the players he wanted to keep and those he would release from the squad. He also knew that the Super Cup was the first trophy necessary, to give his players, especially the younger ones the belief that was needed for their evolution.
He knew a Super cup win would mould a super team and give the players the confidence to go on and dominate the Premiership, and even Europe for years, but he also knew a loss would break the team and damage morale.
Chelsea led Bayern with seconds to go, but Bayern’s pressure was immense. Mourinho watched his defence retreat endlessly that night until they couldn’t do so any longer and at that point he knew he couldn’t ask more from his players
With minutes to go, Mourinho turned his back to the pitch and turned to his fans and he began to stir them up to cheer the loudest in the stadium, and like a General using every tactic he acquired through his many battles, Mourinho was relentless.
Bayern spoilt his rendition in the dying seconds of that encounter, Martinez equalised and FC Bayern won the Super Cup on penalties.
As Lukaku sauntered to the penalty spot and missed his spot kick, I knew he would be the first out of the door.
Mourinho was not going to take any prisoners in his squad. There are no sentiments nor favouritism in his dictionary, in Mourinho’s winning formulae you play when you deserve to do so.
Truth is Mourinho inherited a mess at his second coming; a wasteful transfer policy, a flawed youth system, and a mix and blend of the wrong set of players.
After one full season and a half, Mourinho has put his stamp on the Chelsea brand he wants to build; 27 players have been loaned out by Jose Mourinho since June 2013, 18 players have come in from that time also at a combined cost of £218.6million and 24 players have been shipped out at a profit of £157.1 million. Nothing would stop the trophy hunter from achieving his goals in his second coming.
A Special One picked his first of many silverwares yesterday with the NEW Chelsea that Roman had always wanted.
Mourinho is a master at winning trophies and he has used everything at his disposal to land his first silverware: the press last week – as a BT pundit he appeared on Sky TV – he stroked Pochettinos ego, made his team underdogs, varied his tactics and yesterday at Wembley, I saw Mourinho ‘return to 2013’ : wet and soaked in the rain last night, panting, barking, instructing, motivating and inspiring, and just as he did in Prague, he turned his back to the game in the dying seconds again to his fans, but this time to clench his fist and rejoice with them, to herald the beginning of MOUR trophies.
Tottenham were impressive in the first half and even though they played with so much pace, I told someone beside me that they looked inexperienced and would eventually tire out and play into Mourinho’s tactics. Don’t young players do that? And they did.
While Tottenham looked desperate, Chelsea looked like a team on a mission. Everyone knew exactly what they were meant to do on this rain soaked night, and Mourinho left the dug out to stand in the rain shoulder to shoulder with his boys on the touch line. That’s what players respond to, that’s what players love, and that’s what makes the winning difference; a General whose passion is to win, who stands in battle with his soldiers and who never asks them to give what he wouldn’t give.
In the end, Tottenham had to make way for this Chelsea team on a mission.
I have not seen Mourinho so happy at winning a trophy: he smiled, he winked, he laid on the grass, he hugged his coaching crew, he punched his fist and and he even brought the academy youths to Wembley to touch, taste, and feel what it’s like to become winners, win trophies and enjoy success as Chelsea FC.
He asked the players to celebrate the victory and celebrate themselves, but you could see during the celebrations, his thoughts were already on West ham FC and how to build on the winning season with the Premier league title, and perhaps the big ears.
As the game intensified yesterday, I noticed the MOUR DESIRE in the players, they were not leaving Wembley without the cup.
The grit, determination, passion and team Geist was there to be seen among the team.
They hunted in packs and swarm like locusts in attack and when the final
whistle went, I saw satisfaction on their faces as they received their medals. Like his first stint at Chelsea, his time at Inter and his first two seasons at Madrid, these players too have bought into the MOUR psyche; the philosophy of champions.
I could almost hear the penny finally dropping on the players yesterday, and I noticed that the look on their faces; ‘job done, who is next…’
Now the new players can believe what the older ones have always said to them: ‘trust in this guy and you would win many trophies’ ‘He is special’
For the players, the constant pressure of a great team that may win nothing is now finally out of the window.
The pressure of going three seasons without a trophy is out of the window for Mourinho.
This team has now tasted success, and I know they’ll hunger and thirst for more. It’s a beautiful feeling and I’ve been there, the first one just makes you want more.
After Chelsea scored the first goal, you could see a Chelsea team that played and looked after themselves, that mixed grit with passion, that played text book football at its best at times and grafted at other times.
Mourinho has finally begun his TROPHY REVOLUTION and I feel sorry for the rest of the Premiership and perhaps Europe.
MANUEL PELLE-GRINS AGAIN FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME!
As Man City rolled out against Barcelona midweek, I posted this comment on a private forum ;
‘Pellegrini looks lost! He is playing one of the best football teams ever with ONLY 4 in the midfield!!! And which four? Milner, Nasri, Fernandinho and DaSilva
The guy is unserious. They’re nowhere near the ball at all!!!”
And I was right, it was a debacle. It’s a shame that such a fantastic squad would probably only be clapping their hands at the end of the season, applauding the winners and winning nothing themselves!
Only Manuel can say why he rolled out such a team against Barcelona. Only he can tell us why he deployed the same tactic against Liverpool and how he has even managed to make Vincent Kompany look so terrible a defender in recent games!
All I want to say is thank you very much Pellegrini, Chelsea remain five points clear without playing a game.
Instead of putting pressure on Chelsea -even if he had taken a point from Anfield he would have- he has not put his own team under pressure.
This team could be the most expensively assembled underachievers. They are most probably out of Europe (although it ain’t over until it’s over) and I don’t see MOUR-inho relinquishing the Premiership now from this position to one of his fiercest rival managers (no love lost between them from Spain)
With the millions they’ve spent to date, this team would probably finish this season empty handed. That just goes to show you that WINNING IS A HABIT and it’s not easy. It’s not just about money spent but about the manager who manages the squad. Has Bony started any game yet? £28 million? And Dzeko is scoring?
Oh well, Leicester City stand in the way on Wednesday, I’m sure 4-4-2 would work against them, but in-spite of that, it may just be time for Pelle-to-GRIN as he begins to run out of games in the Premiership.
I know teams would drop points until the end of the season but with Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool and Southampton fighting for the Champions League places, Man City may just find themselves running away from the chasing pack instead of chasing Chelsea. And it may still be good night Manchester City and perhaps, lights out for Manuel Pellegrini.
FANTASTIC LIVERPOOL
I was going to write a piece on Liverpool again after watching their recent form in the Premiership.
Congratulations to Brendan Rogers on his achievements with his young team! This team would be around for a long time!
To play with such defiance and confidence is phenomenal.
Coutinho, Sterling, Sturidge and Henderson are the blocks to build on
All he has to do is sort out his defence get a world class goalkeeper that gives you 4 games a year and he’ll have a winning formula.
Well done Liverpool. Game on!.