Jose Mourinho brings an endless amount of swagger to his new-old job as Chelsea manager, acting like he owns the place. Nothing that happened at Real Madrid is affecting the love affair the English press has with the Portuguese manager, who is enjoying every minute of his return to Stamford Bridge.
“Poaching” Willian? Mourinho just makes subtle suggestions with his head; smiles; laughs, and makes it clear that he thinks Tottenham are a small time club, and Willian made the right choice by going to the richer team, and to the better manager.
Wayne Rooney? Manchester United should sell him to Mourinho. Because Chelsea are the big boys once again, because of Mourinho, nothing else. Manchester United might be the bigger club, but in Mourinho’s eyes, they have the small-time manager, which makes them inferior.
This manner of disrespecting everyone, be it blatantly or with dashes of hints a subtleties never caught on in Italy, where Mourinho enjoyed immense success with Inter, or in Spain, where most would define his time with Real Madrid as a disappointment.
But Mourinho plays to the desires of the English press, so he gets a pass at being arrogant and condescending. His team hasn’t impressed on their first two matches, including being very lucky to have referee Kevin Friend give them a helping hand or two in the very dodgy win over Aston Villa, and yet he seems pleased with their ability, and obviously doesn’t say anything to suggest that luck had anything to do with his second win.
That is Mourinho, and he’ll never change. Someone who stars and finishes wars of words with opposing managers, trying to finish them off before their teams even meet on the field. That’s his course of action with David Moyes, even though this is a long race, not to be determined by one result in one match this early in the season. Mourinho wants a head start unlike last season when he gave up on the title race before winter hit Spain, and the only way to do it, in his mind, is making everyone feel like they’re smaller than him.