Villas-Boas makes Porto the toast of Portugal again
Porto suffered a blow, both to their self-esteem and coffers, when their four-year reign as Portuguese champions was ended by a resurgent Benfica last season.
Not only did they give up their title, they missed out on Champions League football for the first time since the 2002/03 campaign, confined instead to the relative backwaters of the Europa League.
Failing to make Europe's premier club competition cost Porto at least £8.5m (10m euros) - Braga have pocketed £11.6m (13.6m euros), Benfica £9.5m (11.1m euros) while the Europa League has only added £1.3m (1.6m euros) to the Porto bank account - and probably two key players as both Bruno Alves and Raul Meireles have both departed after advertising the fact that they were far from from happy at the club.
However, under new coach Andre Villas-Boas, the 2004 champions of Europe are grabbing the headlines again for all the right reasons, having gone unbeaten in 25 games in all competitions this season.
The 33-year-old Villas-Boas, currently the Portuguese first division's youngest coach, appears to be on a similar trajectory to mentor and former Porto boss Jose Mourinho.
Can Villas-Boas emulate the achievements of Jose Mourinho? Photo: Getty Images
Villas-Boas was part of Mourinho's backroom team at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan before moving from under the Special One's wing and taking over the reins at modest Academica - his first proper frontline job if you disregard a brief stint in his early 20s as coach of the British Virgin Islands - a couple of months into last season.
On paper, 11th place in a 16-team league does not look much to shout about. But when you consider Academica were looking like certain relegation candidates, lying at the bottom of the table and without a win to their name before the arrival of Villas-Boas, his success raised plenty of eyebrows in Portugal and brought him to the attention of the Porto president Pinto da Costa.
What seems to make Villas-Boas special is that he has many of the same attributes of Mourinho. He has an obsession for researching the opposition and started off producing scouting reports for then Porto boss Bobby Robson in the 1990s while still a teenager. Famously, while at Stamford Bridge, his scouting reports included personalised DVDs for each player, outlining their opposite number's strengths and weaknesses.
Villas-Boas has also shown himself to be a superb psychologist. The Dragoes coach has managed to convince, and sound sincere even to the sceptics, that everyone is special at Porto, allowing him to get the best out of both the established first-teamers and fringe players, such as summer signing James Rodriguez.
"Every player in the squad is an important player. They all have a place," said Villas-Boas last week. "I have praised both Andre Castro and Ukra (Andre Monteiro) publicly and privately. I don't want to lose them. James has incredible potential and I intend to make him realise it. He will have opportunities (in the Portuguese Cup and Europa League) against Juventude Evora and Sofia, which will be good opportunities for him and they won't be his last, that's for sure."
James responded to the public pat on the back with two outstanding games, scoring Porto's final goal in their 3-1 win over CSKA Sofia in the Europa League on Wednesday.
A 4-0 win over third division side Juventude de Evora in the Portuguese Cup on Saturday also set a club record of 34 unbeaten matches in all competitions, taking into account the end of last season. It consigned to history the previous best run, achieved when Mourinho was at the helm.
Ever since their 5-0 thrashing of current champions Benfica in November - after which Villas-Boas publicly tore apart the tactics of his opposite number Jorge Jesus and told him how and why Benfica had been beaten - talk has been rampant about the possibility of Porto going through the season undefeated, at least in the league.
Mourinho won the Europa League's predecessor, the Uefa Cup, in his first season in charge and Porto are among the favourites to take this season's trophy. So is the apprentice set to emulate his master?
I must confess, I am a little bit hesitant to applaud Villas-Boas too loudly. I am well aware that I praised Porto back in February only for them to endure a two-month slump that saw them slip out of contention in the Portuguese title race and crash out of the Champions League following a 5-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. However, this season may be a little different.
Striker Hulk may not get the recognition were he playing in England, Spain or Italy but he remains a world-class finisher, currently topping the league charts with 12 goals.
He has been ably supported up front by Colombian international Falcao, who has seven goals. So highly rated is Falcao, who joined Porto from Argentine side River Plate for £4.7m (5.5m euros) in the summer of 2009, that there have been reports in both the Spanish and Portuguese media in recent days that he could be on his way across the border next summer if a Spanish club - Atletico Madrid get mentioned a lot in this context - make da Pinto an offer he cannot refuse.
After a lacklustre final season at Sporting and following his acrimonious transfer from the club where he started his professional career, Joao Moutinho is back to form and often sees plenty of action on the wings, in contrast to his previous role as a central midfielder.
Helton has impressed between the posts for Porto. Photo: AFP
Perhaps the big difference for Porto has been the goalkeeper. The previously error-prone and inconsistent Helton has been outstanding and putting up a very strong case for a recall to the Brazilian side after missing out on the World Cup. His heroics have meant Porto have conceded goals in only four of their 13 league games this season.
Despite their rather lacklustre Champions League campaign, Benfica have not yet thrown in the towel domestically but their away form this season - they have lost as many games as they have won - has meant they have not been able to keep up with Porto and are currently eight points adrift in second place.
Last season's svengali, Jesus - JJ to many Benfica supporters - looked a rather haunted figure on the sidelines during last week's Champions League 2-1 defeat at home to Schalke. He still has the support of Benfica president Luis Felipe Vieira but few pundits dare to speculate for how much longer.
If Benfica fans feel a bit despondent about the way this season is going, then they can always cast their mind back to the golden era of the 1960s. There have been plenty of reminders of that period in recent days as Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of Eusebio's arrival on Portuguese soil, having signed for the Eagles from his local club in Mozambique, Sporting Clube de Lourenço Marques.
Eusebio was arguably the first player from sub-Saharan Africa to make an impact on European club football, having collected a long list of honours, including the 1965 European Footballer of the Year award. In 1968, he became the first winner of the Golden Boot, a feat he repeated five years later.
British football fans with long memories or attentive parents know him for his displays at the 1966 World Cup, during which he scored nine goals. But at Benfica he is still referred to in hallowed terms for helping the side to their 1961 and 1962 European Cup wins, scoring two goals in the latter, which was to be the last Portuguese triumph for 25 years. His domestic statistics still remain stunning. He was the top scorer in the Portuguese league seven times and helped Benfica to 11 titles between 1961 and 1975.
How Jesus and Benfica fans must wish they had a modern-day version of Eusebio now.
Comments on this blog in the space below.
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Hi, I'm Phil Minshull. I've lived in Spain since 1997 and covered Spanish football since the first day I got here. My blog aims to provide some insight into what's happening in La Liga, and there is much more to it than only Real and Barcelona, as well as elsewhere around Europe.
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Been raving about this guy ever since Hodgson showed how awful he was going to be.
I really hope John W. Henry sees this
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A Mourinho clone but without the cockiness?
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This Porto team is hugely under-rated. In Hulk and Falcao they have two excellent strikers; one full of running, power and an excellent shot coupled with the skill, flair and trickery of the other (see the 2nd goal vs Benfica). The only thing that really surprises me about their current run is why no one has come in for Hulk? He is an incredible talent!
Belluschi deserves a mention, he's been excellent and works well with the other forwards. It just seems like something has clicked for Porto, it seems like Villas-Boas has got them playing. It will be interesting to see how he approaches the big games vs European opposition.
While Helton has always looked shakey in goal (to me anyway) he's certainly come good recently. Such a dramatic change in form has to be at least in part down to the coach.
Porto have a very fluid style to their play that's great to watch and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the Europa League, it's a shame they didn't make it into the Champions League!
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Watched a bit of Porto in Europa League this season and they look like a force to be reckoned with. If they can hold onto this team, may be a shout for later staged of Champions League next season too. Shame that Braga's extra income won't translate to them challenging big three on a more regular basis, though.
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I went to the FC Porto Rapid Wien game in the Europa league a couple of weeks ago and Porto absolutely played Rapid off the park passing the ball around them.
They didn't lose their head after going 1-0 down against the run of play and remained extremely disciplined positionally throughout ... looked like a well coached team!
Villas-Boas stood spent the entire 90 min shouting at his players and ordering them around the pitch!
But all of this was all the more surprising considering the 3-5cm of SNOW that was lying on the pitch and the Porto players can't be used to that!
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Not long before Prem clubs come sniffing - Blackburn's new manager perhaps ?
Could be a big hit in the prem ......
------------ TO ROVERS -----------------
I am not a rovers fan, but is there any chance this guy could manage them ?
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The new Mourinho? I don't think the world can quite cope with the old Jose without having another special one to deal with!
http://www.inofftheghost.wordpress.com
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Anyone have a transcript or link to what he said after the Benfica 5-0 match?
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A Mourinhio claim without the cockiness?!
That won't be Mourinhio then...
When you're the best in the world it's often the knowledge that you are that keeps you there.
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So he has been a manager for barely half a season and he's the new Mourinho zzzzzzzzzzz. Dont forget he inherited a very good squad in a weak(ish) league. Well done so far, but it will take more than half a season for him to be proven. The new Messi, Zidane, Ronaldo etc etc are supposedly discovered every other week these days. Get a grip!
Heard it all before.
Something interesting though, is that in Portugal, arguably the biggest team will take a risk on a 33 year old, local, unproven manager.
Wonder if that will happen when Fergie/Wenger/Mancini/Ancelotti etc call it a day.
Doubt it.
And there lies our problem with coaching. No top clubs are willing to take a gamble on a manager. They'd rather get some foreigner in with a dubious track record, or an English manager who has failed at most of their clubs, but still gets another stab on the manager merry go round!
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I agree that it's a shame big English clubs don't put their trust in young home grown managers, but then they don't help themselves do they? Paul Ince, Gareth Southgate, John Barnes the list goes on. It's Porto I really feel for though cos like you say, if he is that good he'll move on soon, like a lot of their players do. But if Hulk wants to join Liverpool anytime soon I won't complain.
Perhaps the FA should look at this and appreciatte starting our coaches young so they learn and grow, this guy was doing scout reports in his teens?! Most of our youngsters are too busy counting their money and picking out those stupid coloured boots!
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Plenty of similarities with Mourinho but the real test will come when FC Porto return to the Champions League. If he proves himself there, and his old boss puts in a good word, a job in Spain, Italy or England won't be far away.
http://footballfutbolfitba.wordpress.com/
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He must be very active on the touchline.. he is wearing a sweat band!
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And there lies our problem with coaching. No top clubs are willing to take a gamble on a manager. They'd rather get some foreigner in with a dubious track record, or an English manager who has failed at most of their clubs, but still gets another stab on the manager merry go round!
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Stupid statement.
1. Good British managers are out there, they can prove themselves at other clubs before getting the top job. Porto is NOT a top job, they are roughly equivalent to a mid-table premier team at best and plenty of those have hired barely tested club managers over the last few years (Shearer, Martinez, Zola, Hughes...).
2. The last managers to be brought into ANY top club in Europe without a lot of experience were Leonardo and Roy Evans. How well did they turn out?
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How much have Porto benefited in their domestic league by having their main rivals both competing in the Champions League? I realise they've lost money but sometimes taking a step back, chopping out some deadwood and refocusing with a new manager gives a club impetus as the pressure is somewhat off. A test of a great manager is to repeat success over and over as Mourinho obviously has. Looking promising so far though..
Roy Hodgson is hand-tied to the fact he has to deal with what he's got..which is mostly dissenchanted players all looking elsewhere for an escape.
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Porto has been very good this season, they have also had lady luck on their side when things haven't gone so well. For example in the Portuguese cup they haven't faced a 1st division side yet and in the quarter-finals they will play another second division side at home. In the Europa league they have been good, but the group was not very strong. The standout game was the 5-0 drubbing of my Benfica.
Benfica are not the powerhouse of last season. We lost 2 key players (Di Maria & Ramires) and the new signings haven't adapted yet or are not good enough. The team lost its balance and are low in confidence, due to a terrible start in the league (Lost 3 of our first 4 games) and a shocking performance in the champions league.
Hopefully Porto will go through a bad patch and we can start to put them under some pressure.
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This blog is very similar to an article I read in 'World Soccer' calling Villas-Boas the new Mourinho.
All this hyping of a foreign coach is all very well, but I seem to remember that Jacques Santini was the new Wenger after he won a French league title with Lyon and went to Spurs, and Juande Ramos was also supposed to be a world class coach.
Also, I don't think winning the Portuguese league with FC Porto is that spectacular in this day and age. If he did it with Braga, or Vitoria Guimaraes, then that would be quite astonishing.
I think the true test is whether said manager's team do well in Europe. Mourinho had won the Portuguese league and the UEFA Cup before people even begun to take notice of him, and he was only really wanted by the big teams around Europe once he had sealed that Champions League triumph.
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16. At 10:25am on 17 Dec 2010, hackerjack wrote:
1. Good British managers are out there, they can prove themselves at other clubs before getting the top job. Porto is NOT a top job, they are roughly equivalent to a mid-table premier team at best and plenty of those have hired barely tested club managers over the last few years (Shearer, Martinez, Zola, Hughes...).
2. The last managers to be brought into ANY top club in Europe without a lot of experience were Leonardo and Roy Evans. How well did they turn out?
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Porto are a top club. Winning the European Cup/Champions League twice in their history. Only 3 English clubs (Liverpool, Man Utd and Forest) can emulate/surpass this record. Are you really comparing them to Wigan, West Ham and Fulham? Astounding ignorance.
How about Pep Guardiola? Didn't have much experience before he took on the Barcelona job. Didn't turn out too bad for him did it?
Please if you must comment on European football at least be prepared to look outside your Premier League bubble........
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Appointing a young coach to a top side is always going to be a risk although he has been in coaching and scouting for a few years to learn the trade and looks to be doing a very good job so far.
JamTay1 -I think a person in any other industry other than football would be concerned if a young person with no experience is appointed to the top job in a company as often happens with football.
Guardiola and Vilas-Boas have both gained the experience in other coaching jobs before being appointed so are in a slightly different position.
Lets see how Vilas-Boas is doing at this point next season before making too many judgements though...
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It is very obvious the writer of this blog is not telling the whole story. Perhaps because he has merely watched a few highlights and scoreboards and not watched most Porto and Benfica matches. While it is true Porto are playing some great football and Benfica have not played that well in comparison to the previous season, Porto have been very lucky in a few league matches whereas Benfica have been very unlucky at the losses to Académica, Nacional and Guimarães. At these three matches Benfica were scandalously robbed by the ref and at the match at Guimarães (refereed by none other than OLEGÁRIO BENQUERENÇA - I'm sure Sir Alex Ferguson and Guardiola have something to say about this man who is supposedly Portugal's best referee) was the worst of all with a wrongly-disallowed goal, ridiculous offsides for us and ridiculous yellow-card fo Javi Garcia and other players. It is true Benfica didn't play particularly well against these three but the opposition did not play better football than we did. We would have snatched draws from these matches if we had not been robbed. And if we had played better we would have surely won. On the other hand, Porto played well in all matches but have had some dubious penalties againt Beira-Mar and Setúbal. The writer of this blog should research on the "quality" of Portuguese referees.
Anyway, David Luiz and Luisão has been playing very poorly and this was evident against Porto at the Dragão. Cardozo has been rubbish and I would have rather sold Cardozo and David Luiz instead of Di Maria and Ramires. Jorge Jesus made a mistake in loaning Rodrigo and Urreta.
That's not to say Porto don't deserve to be on top of the table. They do and all credit should go to Villas-Boas. I wish Benfica was playing as well as last season, so as to make this season (against a superb Porto team) more interesting. He will soon be at a top European club. A manager who once worked with Mourinho and Bobby Robson can only be someone special. Porto will go very far in the Europa League and they are the strongest Portuguese contender to win it. Hopefully the final will be Benfica vs Porto with Benfica winning but this is very unlikely to happen!
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16. At 10:25am on 17 Dec 2010, hackerjack wrote:
1. Good British managers are out there, they can prove themselves at other clubs before getting the top job. Porto is NOT a top job, they are roughly equivalent to a mid-table premier team at best and plenty of those have hired barely tested club managers over the last few years (Shearer, Martinez, Zola, Hughes...).
2. The last managers to be brought into ANY top club in Europe without a lot of experience were Leonardo and Roy Evans. How well did they turn out?
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Another point to add, Shearer, Martinez, Zola, Hughes..... we need more young English coaches being given a chance, only Shearer there is English and he was given 8 games to save a team that was already as good as relegated. Also all of the people you have named are EX-PLAYERS! Mourinho no notable playing history, same with Andre Villas-Boas!
All well and good people saying British coaches, fine, but ultimately most people want an English manager in charge of the English national team and at the moment we are simply not doing enough to give young English COACHES not EX-PLAYERS opportunities. However the FA are looking at addressing this FINALLY!!
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Porto is NOT a top job, they are roughly equivalent to a mid-table premier team at best
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Appaling lack of football knowledge! Porto are a top club, they would be in the CL places in England probably 8/10 seasons, and as someone else mentioned, have 2 European Cups to their name.
I do however question this lauding of a manager after half a season, especially in such a poor league as the Portuguese league is!
And please - why does Mourinho get so much praise as a manager?? I'm not saying he's not good, but he inherited an unbelievably good Porto squad and left once they got a lucky CL win (in a remarkably poor season in terms of the quality of the usual suspects).
He then inherited a good Chelsea squad, and THEN had unlimited resources to build on that squad. However he couldnt win the CL with them, and couldnt rebuild a winning team once a few of those players past their best.
He then inherited a very good Inter squad, which had won their league 2/3 years running. Again, was then also given massive resources (and Barca's insanity) to be able to build a side capable of winning the CL.
Now he has gone to Real, and recently got destroyed by Barcelona, but no doubt, with the squad he already has, will still be given massive resources to see if he can win(buy) trophy's.
I know it's slightly off topic that, but why when a good young coach comes to everyone's attention, do the press isntatly talk about "the next Mourinho", as if Mourinho is some amazing benchmark for everyone to shoot for?!
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24. At 12:19pm on 17 Dec 2010, Nevs_A_Red wrote:
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Appaling lack of football knowledge!
And please - why does Mourinho get so much praise as a manager?? I'm not saying he's not good, but he inherited an unbelievably good Porto squad
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Before you criticise someone else for 'an appalling lack of football knowledge' you might want to consider that Mourinho didn't 'inherit' his side at FC Porto,
He signed Paulo Ferreira from Vitoria Setubal, Nuno Valente from Lieira, Maniche from Benfica, Carlos Alberto from Fluminense, Pedro Mendes from Vitoria Guimaraes, Benni McCarthy from Celta Vigo, Derlei from Lieira, and Jose Bosingwa from Boavista. They were part of his Porto squads from 2002-2004 and many of them went on to play for bigger teams and in the EPL.
He only inherited Baia, Carvalho, Jorge Costa, Costinha and Deco but they hadn't won European trophies two seasons in a row before he got there!
Also at Chelsea he signed Drogba, Essien, Malouda, Carvalho, Ferreira, Ashley Cole, Kalou, Ballack and even more important players for them than I care to remember.
For Inter, you say he inherited a team but who signed Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito, and Wesley Sneijder who were quite important for them in the last couple of seasons? Yes- you'll find it was Mourinho.
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Porto have been good this season and I think Villas Boas is creating something there, but they have had the luck unlike Benfica.
But I have to admit Benfica havent even reached the heights of last season. I hope they do soon..very soon.
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@16 Hackerjack....'The last managers to be brought into ANY top club in Europe without a lot of experience were Leonardo...'
Erm....
Guardiola..first head coach job in '08-09 won everything
Mourinho..Won the UEFA Cup, Portuguese league, CL and 2xEPLs within 5 years of his first head coach job.
There are plenty more as well
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....and Roy Evans was hardly inexperienced as a coach when he took over Liverpool. Roy had been a key part of the managerial team at LFC for 20 years when he became first team manager having worked with Paisely, Fagan, Dalglish, Souness and Moran.
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It is nice to see another young manager coming through, whether or not he is British.
It seems to me that he has the two best qualities I believe any young coach or manager could have, dedication and the ability to listen, observe and take in from others around him.
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#25:
My point was that he inherits already good side - the Porto side he inherited had won the title how many years on the trot prior to that?? Then the fact that he had a top class core to the side, and he could cherry pick who he wanted to put around them meant he could take that team to the next level.
All you essentially did was prove my point further! :)
Oh BTW - he didnt buy Eto'o - again....football knowledge?!
That was why my comment about barca's insanity!
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23. At 12:11pm on 17 Dec 2010, Lucas Radebe is a legend wrote:
'All well and good people saying British coaches, fine, but ultimately most people want an English manager in charge of the English national team and at the moment we are simply not doing enough to give young English COACHES not EX-PLAYERS opportunities. However the FA are looking at addressing this FINALLY!!'
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This is a great point and one I very much agree with. Obviously ex-players are seemingly getting a chance to become managers of professional clubs, but what they forget is there are a lot of good coaches working lower down who aren't ex-players.
I understand that fans want a big name generally, but it isn't always beneficial. Just because someone hasn't played at the top level doesn't mean they dont understand the game or are tactically inept, in fact in some ways I think it benefits them more. Guys like Mourinho & Villas Boas are proof that it can work.
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30. At 1:42pm on 17 Dec 2010, Nevs_A_Red wrote:
Oh BTW - he didnt buy Eto'o - again....football knowledge?!
That was why my comment about barca's insanity!
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Er...yes he did. Eto'o signed for Inter in the summer of 2009 when Mourinho was coach. he asked for him as part of the Ibrahimovic deal. Unless you know what goes on behind the scenes at Inter and know how much say Moratti or Branca had in the deal, Eto'o was a player that Mourinho wanted from Barca in return for Zlatan.
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30. At 1:42pm on 17 Dec 2010, Nevs_A_Red wrote:
#25:
My point was that he inherits already good side - the Porto side he inherited had won the title how many years on the trot prior to that?? Then the fact that he had a top class core to the side, and he could cherry pick who he wanted to put around them meant he could take that team to the next level.
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I'm sorry to come across as a know all but you were the one that has brought up the football knowledge aspect.
What you say not true- FC Porto won the Portuguese title in 1998-99 and then went three seasons WITHOUT the title until Mourinho's first season 2002-2003.
Again, nothing personal but when you make criticisms of a coach like Mourinho you've got to know your stuff otherwise it makes your criticisms look a bit silly. You can't just make stuff up or assume stuff to fit your opinion.
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3. At 2:22pm on 17 Dec 2010, Someone Less Imaginative Stole My Username wrote:
30. At 1:42pm on 17 Dec 2010, Nevs_A_Red wrote:
#25:
My point was that he inherits already good side - the Porto side he inherited had won the title how many years on the trot prior to that?? Then the fact that he had a top class core to the side, and he could cherry pick who he wanted to put around them meant he could take that team to the next level.
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I'm sorry to come across as a know all but you were the one that has brought up the football knowledge aspect.
What you say not true- FC Porto won the Portuguese title in 1998-99 and then went three seasons WITHOUT the title until Mourinho's first season 2002-2003.
Again, nothing personal but when you make criticisms of a coach like Mourinho you've got to know your stuff otherwise it makes your criticisms look a bit silly. You can't just make stuff up or assume stuff to fit your opinion.
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Well pointed out there SLISMU!
As for Nevs_A_Red, who would have thought that a Man Utd fan would have so little football knowledge? Still nevermind just munch that Prawn Sarnie and rejoice in the knowledge that ignorance is bliss!
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#32 and #33
apologies for my lack of clarity - I was talking about their period in the 90's. Yes they had a lean spell, but they came second and third in those 3 seasons, which was somewhat of a miracle with their team in that period - (Jardel scoring over 30 a season every year or something crazy). The difference was him being able to cherry pick the best players around Portugal at that time to take Porto back to the top. Lets not also forget that tactics of that CL winning Mourinho team too.
In terms of Eto'o - Mourinho did not make a bid for Eto'o. Barca bid for Ibra, and offered Eto'o because he was unsettled/causing un-ease in the dressing room. It was well publicised that him and Guardiola didnt get on, so to say Mourinho signed him is completely inaccurate.
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34. At 2:56pm on 17 Dec 2010, JamTay1 wrote:
Well pointed out there SLISMU!
As for Nevs_A_Red, who would have thought that a Man Utd fan would have so little football knowledge? Still nevermind just munch that Prawn Sarnie and rejoice in the knowledge that ignorance is bliss!
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I am a Man Utd fan and I bet I would beat you at any football knowledge quiz! Dont judge all us Man U fans by the few prawn sarnie eaters!!
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#34 - typical anti-United/anti-United fans comment - just insult someone for the sake of it...well done!
I can't stand Prawn's btw. :)
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Nevs_A_Red: If you fail to see that Mourinho is a fantastic manager and in the top three of his trade then you are blind.
Ronaldo and Abromavich stopped his Chelsea run. What is funny is that when he was appointed manager of Chelsea most Man Utd / Livewrpool fans etc were saying that he wouldn't stand a chance becuase managing in a top league with top players is a different story to the Portuguese league blah blah blah.
Do I even need to mention his unbeaten run at home?
Be serious if you want to comment.
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#38 - I'm not saying he isnt a top manager, I'm just questioning the logic of mentioning him as the benchmark for managers, when his resume - while impressive - is yet to show he is a manager that can build long term success at one club, or alternatively, win without inheriting arguably already the best squad in the league/cherry pick the best players.
I certainly wouldnt put him in anywhere near the same league as Fergie/Hittzfeld.
His resume is still not as impressive as Capello, and I wouldnt rate him as highly as Hiddink either.
On an even more extreme level - has he ever won a domestic cup with a bottom half team or taken a team from bottom of the league to CL knockout stages in 2 years a la Harry Redknapp. ( I await the comments on that one...but hey it's a bit of fun to throw that out there!).
Again, I admit he is a top manager, but the overhype the press give him is un-real!!
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Just the fact that he's got Walter "happily" sitting on the bench is incredible! Walter is a former Internacional player who is as talented as he is difficult to manage; he is very unprofessional and ambitious which when combined with his lack of any education (he can barely speak Portuguese and he is Brazilian) makes him a very unstable player. He forced his Internacional exit by not showing up for practice prior to important Libertadores Cup matches.
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Mourinho worked miralces with Beira Mar and Porto was a club in decline when he joined. Who knows what he could've achieved if he'd stayed on at Beira Mar (the equivalent of Blackpool).
Without Abromavich / Grant's disrupting of hic Chelsea team I predit he would've continued winning and probably won the CL by now.
Inter were winners of the league by default before he joined. Look where Inter is now without him? Bet if he was still in charge they'd be cruising.
Spurs were never a bad team with a bad squad even before HR joined. Just badly coached. I see there current status as in line with the squad they have and the money invested and a minimum of what should be expected. Mourinho could've worked wonders with that squad, afterall he made Porto's relatively small squad (full of no name players before he took over) win the UEFA and CL two seasons running.
If given the opportunity, Mourinho would've built a legacy to last at Chelsea. He is deservibly the benchmark for new managers making it in the game. Especially true when talking about Villa's-Boas as both are:
a) Young
b) Portuguese
c) Managers of Porto
d) Not successful footballers
e) Made a jump from a small team (Beira Mar / Academica) to Porto. Both were risks well taken by Porto
Add that Villas-Boas worked under Mourinho for years and alos Bobby Robson and the comparrison is logical to make.
Why you have a problem with it I don't understand.
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Mourinho did really well with Leiria too, top 5 If I am correct, before joining Porto.
Everytime Mourinho leaves a team, they go through some withdrawal symptoms, because whoever they get next, it surely isn't Mourinho.
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37. At 3:09pm on 17 Dec 2010, Nevs_A_Red wrote:
#34 - typical anti-United/anti-United fans comment - just insult someone for the sake of it...well done!
I can't stand Prawn's btw. :)
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@37 The reason for the tongue in cheek 'insult' was that you were stating facts that were simply not true!
@34 Bring on the quiz! :)
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#43...
How can it be a fact if it isnt true?? You realise the contradiction of your comment there right?
Oh and I've explained how what i said was true.....with some factual backing to it too.
To #41 -"If given the opportunity, Mourinho would've built a legacy to last at Chelsea"
You mean "given more money" right? and besides...that's your opinion, not fact. As I say, once he's proven he can build a legacy, then I'll rank him in the top 3.
We'll see how he does at Madrid for starters, if he can get them to the top and keep them there, then I might start to bow to the hype, but as I say, I dont rate managers on quick "smash and grab" spells at clubs.
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Even though he left years ago, Porto's status in Portugal and Europe has all to do with Mourinho.
At Chelsea he was forced to buy Schevchenko and to play him and deal with never ending interferance. Any manager of a top team has spent millions and millions. Look at AF at Man U and even Harry 'The Bankrupter'. But it's not easy to do it quickly and gel a winning team. Just look at Man City.
But there's a difference between a smash and grab a small domestic cup and what Mourinho has regularly done. Smash and grab the league, domestic cup and European Cup.
Your argument has little substance and is based on your dislike for Mourinho rather than the truth.
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Sorry Phil, big fan, just a small correction, in 1961 he was not in the team,the inside right, which was Eusebio's first position at Benfica, under Bela Gutman, was agreat player called Santana, also a player from a Portuguese possession, you guys would call it a colony, in Africa.
In 1962, Bela transformed the forward line from; Jose Augusto, Santana, Aguas, Coluna, Cavem... to Jose Augusto, Eusebio,Torres,Coluna,Simoes(Cavem moved to play fullback).
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Great article, thanks for writing Phil. I do not follow what goes on in Portugal and found this man's story very interesting.
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Good article,2 mistakes on it that I would like to clarify :
1- Mourinho won nothing with Porto on the first season as he started when the season was already half way done finishing 3rd hence why they ended up in the Uefa Cup the following season
2- Villas Boas told the media in Portugal the reason why Benfica was beaten 5-0 was simply because they played a better team and he publicly mentioned that the reason for the loss was not due to Jesus tactics (I disagree anyway )
He is showing good coaching skills but it is far too early to say he will be as good as many are saying
Lets wait for the end of the season and it is a pleasure to read an article about footbal in Portugal so thank you Phil!
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#22 you're a Benfica supporter if you guys win, no problem, if you loose it's the refs, Bequerence is one of the UEFA top refs but not good enough for Benfica, what a bunch of cry babies, besides you have the biggest cry baby in Italian football, Rui Costa!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Nevs_a_red,
What makes you an expert on Managers, you guys in England have one that at best finishes 4 on EPL,once in a while, you can't find a decent one to manage your national team!!!!!!!!!!!!!. on Porto, being 8/10 on CL, (the thump and run league) I'll give you a year,2004 CL, and its not the winning it, but nocking United out in their own backyard, guess who was managing them then?????????????
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This obsession in the U.K. that you MUST be a recently ex-player or manager is stupid.
It's obvious that the top managers spend YEARS researching how to play the game. Ian Holloway had a year out of football and all he did was look outside the boring 4-4-2 box we have in the U.K.
Ian Holloway isn't even a great manager, but he was prepared to take time out to RESEARCH and LOOK OUTSIDE THE BOX... Look where that's got him.
An awful lot of foreign coaches bring NOTHING new to the Premier League. All they bring is the tactic they stuck to religiously at their last club, and then usually fail to adapt it to their new team after not RESEARCHING enough...
There's this media perception that to manage a big club you need to have a "Clough or Mourinho" personality. It's nonsense.
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Minshull,
another day, another fawning article. Is it written into your contracts to write one of these articls every so often, whenever there's nothing to rite about?
Just stay quite and take the children to school or something, man.
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In an interesting seasoned brittish coach vs ex player battle, the next few years of sunderland vs newcastle could be pretty interesting.
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@ #50
Doesn't mean that if UEFA choose Bequenrença he is a top ref. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it him who had a shocker in an Inter Milan game at the San Siro? He is absuletely useless, most Portuguese refs are.
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