Emulating José Mourinho: A Special Journey

Which club will I be at in five seasons time?

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The outside of football, I plan to build on. It will come with time.

But yeah, the updates take over an hour to formulate everything, so might get one up at some time.
 
Amzing mate just read all of it and my eyes are bledding
 
Very nice mate. 2 great updates and the tactical anyalsis is a nice touch :p. Perosnally, think £11million for Muslera is maybe overpaid, but he looked a good keeper at the WC.

Kepp it up mate :).
 
Next update up tonight, I imagine. (Y)
 
You've made a cracking start eds, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the read. As has been frequently mentioned, I'm loving the tactical side of it, and am interested to watch Jose's character develop as his career does.

One thing I did notice:
Called on ten times in total he only failed to disappoint just the once,
Click to expand...
Doesn't this mean that mean he was only successful once, and I think you meant that he only disappointed the once?

Keep it up, and as joss hinted, I look forward to more of the personal stuff. I hope you can update tonight :)
 
Thanks for pointing that out. Easy to forget things like that in one hour's worth of update. (Y)

Oh, and this update is very personal.

---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 PM ----------

Update Cinco:
October 2010​

Too Much Time​

Being the manager of a professional football club has taken it's toll upon my body, and also my mind. The constant effort requried to fire not only yourself up but a group of overpaid men is what makes being an association football manager so difficult. The players have suddenly begun to realise they actually can play a bit and with the interest from Barcelona, Arsenal, AC Milan etc. for some of my big guns, it's taken a lot of time to convince them that Lisbon is their home.​

#​

I gently sipped my black coffee as I had just been abruptly awoke. Despite being rich, despite being famous, I have not yet found love. I do dream of a family one day and hope to meet the right women, but for now, I am happy. I have a small house, but my job is my life.​

I had my usual jump of shock as the post smashed through the letterbox like a runaway train, and I, as per usual, cursed at the overzealous postman. Can he not just place them in? I looked through the not overly exciting selection of post. Bill. Bill. Letter from mum. Bill. What's this...?​

I gently opened the brown enveloped paper and stared in shock at the piece of paper that I held in my hands. Not only was this unexpected, but it sent shivers down my dressing-gown-hugged spine. Each letter seemed to jump out at me and I continued to read the letter. Twice. Thrice. Four more times. This couldn't happen to me. My dreams had just been accomplished, this couldn't happen now.​

And I opened the letter...​

josemessage.png
​

#​

The month was clouded with thought over that letter. I came to the conclusion it was a mental patient with too much time on his hands. Or at least, I hoped. The other possibility, which was always on my mind, was just to horrible to comprehend.​

But the off-field charades didn't seem to disrupt the actions which mattered - football. There was a number of very encouragin performances and we found ourselves at the top of the table after a solid run of form.​

But the most impressive result was the Home Champions League Group Stage match against past-Runners Up Arsenal. We knew it'd be a tricky one and we knew plenty about them due to a fantastic scouting report from my ever-so-reliable freind Rui Costa.​

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José's Tactical Analysis​

19th October 2010 - vs Arsenal​

The game against The Gunners was always going to be the big one of the month. We knew what we needed to do to stop them. That was to stop Cesc Fabregas, and maybe even the Flying Dutchman Robin van Persie who had come back from injury to find devastating form in the Barclays Premier League in Arsenal's dominant win over West Ham.​



And to make sure that Fabregas was removed as a threat completely, we used the ever-so-complicated technique of double marking. With Javi Garcia and Carlos Martins always willing to put in the hard yards they did very well in closing him down. This constant marking of Fabregas allowed Aimar and Witsel to have plenty of creative freedom in the centre of midfield and allowed for a lovely amount of supply for Nuno Gomes and Franco Jara up top. And they did an excellent job of marking him - he didn't successfully complete a pass into the eighteen-yard box once.​



(Left - Cesc Fabregas' passes. Right - The number of times van Persie makes a foul or is fouled. Green constitutes making a foul, whereas Blue constitutes being fouled).​



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​



Another area that was treated with special importance was the ability of Arsenal to walk the ball into the net. If we let them get into the penalty area and work it around there, they would run away with the game. The long range shooting excluding one or two individuals is fairly poor, and we'd needed to play this to our advantage. Constantly closing down with our already high defensive line was the idea and it certainly payed off with the only Arsenal pass inside the box being from a corner, in which Djourou looked to head back towards his teammates. The pass was intercepted.​



This also showed the twenty-yard wall around Fernando Muslera in which Arsenal where unable to pass or keep the ball. This shows the Uruguayian's quality in terms of sweeping up any potential danger and nulified the dangerous threat of Samir Nasri who lives in the channels.​



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The Verdict​

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A simply great month. Combining European success with Domestic dominance, the side continued to go unbeaten and the win ratio for the season is up over 75%, which is an incredible acheivement.​

The 0-0 draw with Porto was not a blemish at all. The side held strong but we couldn't find a finish. We played real football and I was proud of the team for doing it. At times it looked like Porto were beginning to get on top but Champions always get up and my boys did just that.​

As I have said every month, excellent performances, but there are always improvements to be made. We could train harder, close down more, finish more. I could go on for hours, but the team is doing alot of things right, and that is what will win us the league.​
 
I must stand to ovation and take my hat off to you, sir. What's not to praise there?.

P.S.- It seems rating doesn't work (in this area), since I've given this five stars but they don't show in the forum view.
 
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this is a typical Eds story... typical in the fact that it's brilliant.
You may not think you are, but you definately capture his annoying arrogance haha,
and the different style of updates are like a breath of fresh air.

keep it up.
 
amazing, well put and i have personally chatted with him, a master in the game, great guy and fantastic story, will read this as it updates, excited to get his save game someday lol..

thanks bud.
 
Wow! Just caught up with this and it is getting up there with the Academy :)

Keep going pal, this has the potential to be one of the truelly great stories on the site.
 
Impressive start, would expect it with the squad you have though. Beating Arsenal was impressive.

Loving the lay out, very different.
 
by far the best story on the site, deffo following mate:)
&excited to see what the letter was all about :p
 
Brilliant update Eds (did you deliberately misspell Portugal(e) on the letter? =P)

Keep it up and as mentioned this can become a truly brilliant story. Great win over Arsenal :)'() and a good month overall.

Also agree with Kris - The layout is brilliant and the tactical analysis is new and completely different to anything on the site before.
 
Cheers for the comments guys, they are great motivation.
 
Update Seis:
November 2010​

What comes up...​

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​

The two men stood on the balcony of the over-expensive house, on the outskirts of Lisbon. They stood with an exotic looking cocktail each, with one of the men noticably happy, wearing a huge smile, his gold tooth on the right side of his fairly old mouth becoming noticably visible.​

The bigger man, with the gold tooth, looked down at his phone. The exact words were:​

"Evrything is in place. Evrything is ready."​

The smaller man looked over at the larger man, on his phone, who received back a menacing glare.​

"I wish I didn't do it." the smaller of the two men said.
"It'll work out, trust me. Not only is it for his own good, but think about what'll happen to you. You'll be back in the spotlight."
"But he's a friend."​

The taller man took one look at his compatriot, rolled his eyes, open the glass doors leading into the extremely expensive apartment, and walked away. He looked back at the other man, who was now staring into the distance, laughed, and continued walking.​

#​

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FourFourTwo Exclusive Interview: José Mourinho​

Hello FourFourTwo Readers and welcome to a FourFourTwo Exclusive Interview with current Sport Lisboa e Benfica boss José Mourinho, talking about all the goings-on from the current month in Portuguese football. He was unable to talk for a huge length of time, unfortunately, so we're unable to use the ol' FourFourTwo tactic of catching them off guard with questions such as "Best Babe" and "Jeremy Clarkson or Richard Hammond". Sorry about that FFT Readers, I know you would love to know what Mourinho's Favourite Golf Club make is.​

Interviewer: Good morning, José, how are you?​

Mourinho: Been better. *Mourinho makes that cheeky smile he's become so well known for over in Portugal*​

Interviewer: I imagine that's because of the turbulent month you've had? Not quite up to expectations this time, was it?​

Mourinho: No, it wasn't. But the players are not very worried, and I am not very worried. We are still beginning to gel and errrrr... I think that once we have come together as a team, we will get our results again.​

Interviewer: How did it feel to lose 5-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates? it must have been particularly painful after you beat them only weeks ago?​

Mourinho: Well, yes, we could have played a lot, lot better. In the first round against them we closed them down, we shut down their space. Arsenal without space is like bread without butter, it does not work. When we went to London, we forgot this. We let them play. And they punished us. Robin van Persie was particularly good and you know that when a player scores four goals against you, you are doing something wrong. A team should never concede five goals. Especially a Champions League team like us.​

Interviewer: Then after the Arsenal match, you came back strong with a 5-0 win against Vit Setubal?​

Mourinho: Yes...​

Interviewer: Ummmm.... but then your said began to become complacent again and you only just scraped through in the Taca de Portugal in Extra Time against a far less than formidable Moreirense side?​

Mourinho: We were not playing well, you are right, but we got the win. In the cup, all that matters is that we won the game. No-one will look back at the Cup Winners and say, "they do not deserve it, they only just won". We put out a slightly worse team than usual and got a good win in the cup. That is all that matters.​

Interviewer: But why did you put out a lesser team?​

Mourinho: If you have at home one Bentley, and one Aston Martin, if you go all day everyday in the Bentley and leave the Aston Martin in the garage, you are a bit stupid.​

Interviewer: That's an interesting view. And finally, Mr. Mourinho, we want to know who'll win the major competitions this year. Liga ZON Sagres, the Champions League and the Barclays Premier League, please.​

Mourinho: Benfica, Benfica, Benfica.​

Interviewer: *forces out a laugh at Mourinho's complacency and cockiness* You do realise it is impossible for Benfica to win the Barclays Premier League?​

Mourinho: Impossible is nothing.​

Take a look at all the results from Benfica's November, here:
november0.png
​

And see where the Lisbon-based side currently reside in the Liga ZON Sagres, here:
novemberl.png
​


#
​
Jose's Tactical Analysis
​
3rd November 2010 - vs Arsenal
This game had all the makings of a thriller. Arsenal were looking for revenge after we snuck a 2-1 lead over the Gunners. And I told the players that we needed exactly the same performance, and if we did it, we would win again. All credit to Arsene Wenger, he is a very good manager, but he cannot adapt quickly, and I attempted to use that to my advantage.


From the first whistle we continuted to let Arsenal run all over us. Our usually pressing defense just stood back and let Arsenal play - completely the opposite of what we did in the first "leg" against them. As I said in my FFT interview, you can never allow Arsenal space to play, and that's just what we did. They simply ran all over us.

The fact we do have a particularly high line, and yet Arsenal's is far higher, shows the dominance they had over us, as there defense were often pushed up as the rest of their side were in attacking situations almost constantly.​

(Average Positions - them on the left, us on the right).​

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​

To further prove the fact that we were simply letting them play, is the Interceptions made. We didn't actually make less interceptions, our footballing brains were turned on, but we only made them when we had to. Whereas Arsenal closed us down at source, they closed down Martins, Witsel, and even Luisao and Luiz on occasions. But we left if extremeley late to try and win the ball back on a large number of occasions.​

(Them on the left, us on the right).​

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​

The Verdict​

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By far the worst month since the beginning of the season and my managerial career. Everything seemed to go wrong. The players didn't respond, training was lacklustre, even my faithful #2 Mr. Quaresma was ill for a fortnight.​

It's very important we bounce back as the Board and Fans are expectant of the team and a run of results that are too poor can put me under pressure, which can put the players under pressure, and it is very important for your players not to feel pressure.​

What I thought was the best team has turned out not to be and I've been very suprised to find that Franco Jara and Nuno Gomes have found their way into the starting lineup on numerous occasions of Javier Saviola and Oscar Cardozo, due to their incredible form. It's good to have healthy competition everywhere, and long may it continue.​
 
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