José Mourinho: Alone With The Gods

"Go all the way. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision, mockery, isolation. Isolation is the gift, all the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And you’ll do it. Despite rejection and the worst odds and it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods and the nights will flame with fire,"-Charles Bukowski.

The mind of José Mourinho is something to marvel at. Between his fiery, tell-all press conferences, his shrewd in-game management, his cunning game plans, Mourinho has carved out a reputation as one of the most intriguing minds in football. He is a complex man whose continued stubborn approach has yielded less than pleasant results for Manchester United since taking over in 2016, but this wasn’t always the case. His stint at Porto established him as a revolutionary force, yet it was at Chelsea where Mourinho was truly formed.

Arriving in the midst of a takeover, Mourinho brought everything which the English media would come to love. The charm, the prestige, the nous and the arrogance. It was clear that Roman Abramovich's takeover signified a change, that a new English titan would soon muscle its way into being a perennial Champions League side, but in order to do so, in needed something else...a siege mentality.

Nearly 12 months after becoming owner of Chelsea, Abramovich sacked Claudio Ranieri as manager, and replaced him with José Mourinho, fresh off winning the Champions League at Porto. He had new energy, a spirit that would live on despite the continued attacks by the media. Shortly but surely, Chelsea became the kings of England. Leading the army was the Portuguese himself, putting himself in the firing line to protect his players. The only weapons he needed were his brain and his mouth. Leading behind the pack was the ever faithful Old Guard, who carried out Mourinho's instructions, and satiated their hunger for trophies.  Chelsea would go on to take the Premier League by storm, winning back-to-back league titles, stunning opponents with a precise, merciless form of play that could only have been contrived by one man.