BEVERLY HILLS, February 04, (THEWILL) – The typical antics of Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho to involve in mind games against managers before they meet on the field of play have been a standard operating procedure for the Portuguese manager from time to time.
It has brought the sometimes controversial coach a bag of mixed benefits from even before his days in Real Madrid and he has kept it up at every club he has managed, helping him win the mental battle before his players have to slug it out physically against the opposition.
In the English Premier League, his taunts have been fired at some of his counterparts in such direct manner that it famously got a very reserved gentleman like French coach, Arsene Wenger of Arsenal, at the time, furious enough to almost resort to fisticuffs on the sidelines of one of their mostly cantankerous encounters.
A few managers, like the quiet-spoken Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, who experienced Mourinho from their days in La Liga, and Liverpool’s expressive Jurgen Klopp, already understand the game as Mourinho plays it and are impervious to it. And, though Mourinho knows that, he has not stopped playing it every time.
He is at it again, this time against a fresh target. The Portuguese gaffer has fired his first shot at his Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel just before they are scheduled to meet in Thursday’s EPL tie. He came out publicly to claim that it is not as hard to manage at Stamford Bridge as presumed.
Chelsea has not been in the Premier League title picture for a while now, much of which led to the firing of former manager and Chelsea legend, Frank Lampard. Former coach Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard both failed to secure anything better than qualifying for the Champions League.
The responsibility for winning trophies now rests squarely on Tuchel’s shoulders. And Mourinho is standing in front of Chelsea’s hopes of climbing up the table. That desire will be immensely boosted if Tuchel can get a good result against Spurs on Thursday. But, it will thoroughly clog the wheel of progress for their London neighbours and Mourinho.
Therefore, the mind tricks are out of Mourinho’s bag of tricks again. He is seemingly doing his utmost to increase the pressure on Tuchel ahead of the London derby with the slight digs at the ease with which a manager can get victories at Stamford Bridge.
The sly fox that Mourinho is put it this way: “I don’t think it’s very difficult to coach at Chelsea because I was champion three times, (Carlo) Ancelotti was champion, Antonio Conte was champion. It cannot be very, very difficult because we win titles there.
“I believe Chelsea always has great players and great squads and good coaches are happy to work with these clubs and with players that give you a very good opportunity to be successful and to win titles.”
The managerial loophole at Chelsea has been the trigger-happy approach taken by owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian oligarch has a track record of cutting ties with his managers almost as soon as things start to go wrong, irrespective of previous achievements and the cost of contract terminations.
Mourinho admitted this much when he said: “Of course a coach needs time and needs stability and is a very good thing to feel stability.
“I’m not saying stability helps you sleep, I’m saying that stability gives you a different way of thinking, and you are not just thinking about today, you are also thinking about tomorrow, you are also thinking (about) the future.
“That’s the way it is. It’s Mr Abramovich’s club, and you have to understand that it’s up to him to make his decisions.
“In my case, I was there in two different periods, and I was champion in two different periods, and I’m very happy to have been there before and have that opportunity.”
Whether these tricks play a number on Tuchel is a hypothsisl no one can confidently determine now as this is the first encounter between these two in the League. But, that has never stopped Mourinho giving it a shot. A win for either manager will be a boost for their teams and how their season progresses heretofore.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
