Jose Mourinho will be back in the spotlight he deserves when Roma take on Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League final on Wednesday.
The 60-year-old Portuguese may be repeatedly dismissed by the media, who are apparently cold towards him, as his long-time rival Pep Guardiola has won praise for his achievements at Manchester City.
Indeed, Mourinho and Guardiola have spent the better part of their 15 years as rivals for the title of world’s best manager.
Ever since Pep took over at Barcelona in 2008 and mesmerized the football world with the tiki-taka, he has been up against Inter’s Jose, his antithesis in every way. Guardiola’s football was beautiful; The Mourinho thing was ugly.
Both were successful as Barca went on to win the 2009 Champions League, before the Nerazzurri retaliated a year later, ousting the champions along the way.
Since then, his reputation has gone in different directions. Guardiola is seen as football’s tactical king, having led Manchester City’s dominance in the Premier League for the past five years, while Mourinho has fallen out of fashion and found himself at far-flung elite clubs, first with Tottenham with and now with rome
The former Porto, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager reacts sarcastically and sharply, he doesn’t have the charm he once had when he first called himself “The Special One” when he took charge of Chelsea in 2004 . Sometimes, you feel like you are your own worst public relations enemy. Not that he cares.
However, this detracts from his genius. Mourinho, let’s remember, has been named UEFA Team of the Year manager four times, Pep only twice, although the Catalan is certainly heading towards a third as City aim for the treble in the coming days.
Jose Mourinho
Mourinho’s pragmatism versus Pep’s perfection
However, what sets Mourinho apart the most is his ability to win with teams of all shapes and sizes.
Even though European football was not a monopoly of the big clubs when his team Porto won the Champions League in 2004, the scale of that achievement is enormous.
As he has taken pains to point out, the only club he hasn’t won the title for is Tottenham and, as he indicated, this says more about his qualities at Spurs than about him.
Of course, there is no point in going head-to-head with Guardiola when it comes to trophies, but the quality and advantages of Pep’s three clubs – Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich and Manchester City – are undeniable.
And his ability to build teams based on his philosophy is remarkable, deservedly seen as one of the most important coaching figures of his generation.
But for it to be successful, it seems it needs these highly advantageous conditions, from having the best midfielders and players to having a club that has the power to outplay its rivals.
pep guardiola
There is no room for pragmatism for Pep; The goal is perfection. Of course, this requires great players, and it requires large sums of money.
During his career, Guardiola has signed 74 players for a fee, spending a mere 1.8 billion euros to do so, which is approximately 24 million euros per player. Mourinho’s average buyout is just €15m, and he did not have the flexibility to work with La Masia at any of his clubs.
Throughout his career, the Portuguese has shown his ability to win with different teams and in different styles. It is a challenge that Guardiola has never had to face.
Will Pep be able to take this Roma to the Europa League final? This is suspicious. Will Jose be able to win with Manchester City? They’ll be uglier than they are now, but you better believe it will be.
Mourinho may be old fashioned and out of fashion in many ways, but he is still a winner, and if Roma beat Sevilla in Budapest, it will be a timely reminder to the world that this is it.
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