José Mourinho.
A Portuguese.
He had been Robson's translator when he coached at Barcelona and Van Gaal's translator. His coaching career officially began with Benfica, a Portuguese powerhouse, but he resigned after nine games because of a disagreement with the board of directors. He then coached Portugal's weak team, Leiria, and led the team to the fifth place in the league in half a season, setting the best result in the club's history.
In January 2002, he became the manager of another Portuguese powerhouse, Porto, and helped the team out of a bad state in the first half of the season and eventually finished third in the league.
In 2003, Mourinho's first full season in charge of a team, he led the team to win three titles in the league tournament, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Europa League, becoming the Treble.
In 2004, it was a brilliant year in Mourinho's coaching career. He not only helped the team defend the honor of the league title, but also advanced to the UEFA Champions League final, defeating Monaco with three goals and leading the team to the top of Europe.
In 2005, he helped the team win the league title after half a century in his first season after joining Chelsea.
In 2006, Chelsea defended the league title.
It was an honor that Mourinho had won, but the manager, who had been in limitless glory, was now in big trouble.
Chelsea did not have a good record in the league tournament and encountered the same problem as the Forest team in the Champions League group stage — one draw and one loss in the first two games of the group stage. It was also in the third game that they ushered in a victory and saved a "match point." The English media compared the two men together, saying that both of them were very young, had strong personalities, and were both talented. But now the two representatives of the young managers here had encountered a serious challenge in their coaching careers.
On the surface, it looked like this. Nottingham Forest and Chelsea's recent results were very unstable, sometimes good and sometimes bad. But if one looked at the essence through the phenomenon, one would find that Twain was much happier than Mourinho. Because the Forest team's boss trusted and supported Twain. The Forest team's problem was just a problem at the competitive level. It was easy to solve. Chelsea's problem had nothing to do with the competitive level. It was related to Mourinho and Abramovich, the two unruly men. Once it was related to a person's character, the problem could not be solved.
Since September 18th, when Chelsea was forced into a 1: 1 draw by the weak team Rosenberg at home in the first game of the Champions League group stage, rumors of Mourinho's dismissal had not stopped. There was a lot of news that Mourinho and Abramovich were not on good terms, that Mourinho and Ballack and Shevchenko were not on good terms, that Mourinho and Grant were not on good terms …
There was a lot of negative news.
However, Mourinho still managed to lead the team to this point and was not really sacked.
Usually, Tang En did not care much about how Mourinho was doing. After all, the media would always report on him, and he could get a general idea of what was going on by looking occasionally. But this time, he had no choice but to pay attention to it. Because Mourinho was at their doorstep.
On November 11th, Singles' Day, Nottingham Forest hosted Chelsea.
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As soon as the Champions League was over, the media began to hype up the league game between Chelsea and the Forest team while hyping up the Forest team's eight-goal massacre of Beşiktaş. If this game was just a confrontation between two teams, it would not be the most eye-catching, because at the same time in this round, there was also a confrontation between Arsenal and Manchester United.
This game schedule made the media feel that there was a lot of value in hyping it up.
Before Mourinho came to England from Portugal, when Tony Twain was still a "puritan" in the Forest team's youth team, Arsenal's manager, Wenger and Manchester United's manager, Ferguson, had always been a special scene in the Premier League. The feud between the two of them could be written into ten books, made into five movies, and made into a video game product. China's media once described the relationship between the two men as "insulting each other in times of need." This idiom was adapted very well and perfectly showed the complex relationship between the two men — they were sworn enemies, but at the same time, they were also the people who understood each other the best. It was really complicated and could not be simply attributed to friend or foe. At the same time, it was not "heroes cherishing heroes." This unclear relationship was not only a factor of the two men's different positions, but also a result of the two men's personalities.
These two men could be said to be the most famous and classic foes in the world of football.
Their war of words accompanied the Premier League for almost a decade. It was not until Mourinho's arrival in 2004 that the delicate relationship between the two men was broken. After Mourinho came to Chelsea, he frequently launched psychological attacks. Whether it was Wenger or Ferguson, they both became his targets. As a result, the rivalry between the two became a tripartite confrontation between the three.
The good times did not last long. A year later, Nottingham Forest returned to the Premier League under Tony Twain's leadership. This time, the Premier League's manager's seat was even more interesting.
Tony Twain was a man with an eccentric temper and character. His sharp teeth were not inferior to those of his predecessors. His appearance excited the British tabloids. Some people compared him to a "mad dog" — he would bite anyone he saw, and as long as it was an opponent, he could not escape.
The "tripartite confrontation between the three" became the "four kings." There were also people who preferred to separate the four men into two pairs. Ferguson and Wenger represented the past ten years of the English Premier League, while Mourinho and Tony Twain represented the next ten years of the English Premier League, or even longer … The English readers and fans would never have to worry that they would be lonely after Ferguson retired. The tabloid reporters also did not have to worry that there would be no off-field tidbits to report.
In the past, the confrontation between Wenger and Ferguson would definitely attract the most attention. But this time, their limelight was overshadowed by the two young men.
There were too many reasons for this game to be so closely watched.
"Madman versus Madman."
"The record that embarrassed Mourinho — his unbeaten record against Tony Twain."
"The ultimate showdown between Mourinho and Tony Twain?" The last was the headline used by a London media, but it was not just sensational. There were many indications that this game was likely to be the last confrontation between Mourinho and Tony Twain in the Premier League.
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Mourinho's hair on top of his head had turned a lot white recently, and his beard had unknowingly grown. His eyes were still sharp and awe-inspiring. When he pulled his face and pursed his lips, the expression on his face was like a Greek marble sculpture, sharp and angular.
But it gave people the feeling of "a hero at the end of his road".
The man who entered Stamford Bridge with the glory and halo of the "UEFA Champions League winning manager" was now in an unprecedented crisis. The team's locker room had been divided. The group of people with him as the core and the group of people with Abramovich as the main force pulled Chelsea into two halves. In the past, he always had a headache about how to deal with his opponents on the field. Now he had to have a headache about how to win in the tug-of-war with the club chairman — even if it was only in stages.
In early November, London had begun to have frequent hazy drizzles. The nickname "City of Fog" was born from the exhaust gases emitted by the factory chimneys in the early Industrial Revolution in the city of London. Now, London no longer had a forest of chimneys and a sky full of exhaust gases, but at this time, London was still a "City of Fog" — misty and rainy.
The Stamford Bridge stadium was empty. It was not a game day. There was no one here except for some tourists and staff.
At this time, there was a black dot in the blue stands. He was the only person in the stadium at this time.
José Mourinho sat alone in the middle of Stamford Bridge's "Matthew Harting" grandstand. This was the north grandstand of Stamford Bridge, now the home team's fans' grandstand. Opposite him was the famous south grandstand, the former "Sid" grandstand, the favorite place of the die-hard Blues fans.
The Portuguese, wearing his famous "Armani" trench coat, sat motionless in the grandstand in the drizzle. He crossed his hands and padded his chin, like a statue of "The Thinker."
He had been sitting here for ten minutes.
An hour ago, he had a private meeting with the club's owner, Abramovich. No one knew about it, and he did not intend to tell anyone.
Abramovich's face was ugly, apparently because of the team's recent bad results. Generally speaking, when a team's results were bad, the first person to look for was the manager. No matter how brilliant the manager had been before, glory could only represent the past — this was an unbreakable truth in professional football.
Unfortunately, Mourinho now personally experienced this cruel truth in football.
Abramovich was dissatisfied that he had not won the Champions League title as promised after four years of leading the team. In the just-concluded fourth game of the Champions League group stage, Chelsea could not break through FC Schalke 04's goal in the away game. Abramovich's favorite, Shevchenko, sat on the bench for ninety minutes.
During the meeting, Abramovich asked Mourinho why he did not consider sending Shevchenko to play when the team's offense could not break the situation. Mourinho's reply was a little stiff. "The Ukrainian felt muscle soreness during the pre-game warm-up, Mr. President." Even a fool would know that it was an excuse. What made Abramovich angry was that Mourinho had played him like a fool, but he suppressed his anger and asked about the league tournament, especially about an opponent that Chelsea was about to face that would embarrass them. When Chelsea swept England, the only team that had not won was Nottingham Forest.
It was a record that made all the Chelsea people uncomfortable, and so did Mourinho. He was a proud man and could not accept the reality that he could not beat a person like Twain for three years.
"I promise to win this game, Mr. President." This time, his answer was what Abramovich wanted to hear.
In fact, it did not matter if he did not promise. Anyway, if he lost to Twain again, his days would not be good.
But to be honest, the meeting made Mourinho's recent bad mood even more gloomy, just like the weather in London now. He knew what kind of person his immediate boss was because he was the same kind of person. The fatal problem was that people with this kind of character could not work together for too long. Otherwise, there would be a lot of contradictions, big or small, which would accumulate and eventually become the beginning of a breakdown.
And he had already heard the sound of rubble falling from the cornerstone.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter …
Mourinho looked up at the roof of the stadium above. The raindrops hit it and made a concentrated sound. Only then did he notice that the rain was getting heavier.
A man in a yellow raincoat appeared under the stands. He found that there was an extra person in the originally empty stands. After staring for a while, he found that it was the team's manager. He quickly waved and shouted, "Sir! Mr. Mourinho! What are you doing here? "
Mourinho got up from his seat and walked to the railing. Braving the rain falling from the sky, he said, "Ah, I suddenly wanted to take a walk, so I came here. Am I interrupting your work? "
The other man waved his hand. "No, not at all. I'm just here to patrol. " He saw the rain drenching Mourinho's hair and coat, so he pointed to the sky. "Rain, sir."
Mourinho followed his hand and looked up at the sky. The cold rain hit his face, but he did not avoid it. He just squinted his eyes.
"Thank you. This rain is not too heavy … Then I'll take my leave. Goodbye … "He glanced at the other man's face covered by the raincoat." … Mr. Scott Lawrence. "
The other man clearly did not expect that an ordinary player and turf maintenance worker like him, the famous manager Mourinho, could call out his name. For a moment, he was so excited that he froze in place. By the time he came back to his senses, Mourinho had already disappeared.
Scott Lawrence looked around the stadium stands and did not see Mourinho's dark figure in any corner. The sound of conversation was gone. Stamford Bridge was quiet again. There was nothing but the rustling of the rain.
Although this ordinary stadium turf maintenance worker was also a member of the entire club, he was the most ordinary member. They did the most important work, but no one would mention their name anywhere. He did not expect Mourinho, a manager he had never been in contact with before, to be able to accurately call out his name.
He thought of how Mourinho looked when he saw him below just now — his whole body was almost wrapped in a black Armani trench coat, sitting alone in the huge stands. The black dot in the middle of the huge blue looked very small.
Lawrence recalled the various rumors that had been circulating recently.
This man's days at Stamford Bridge seemed to have entered a countdown? Abramovich was his boss and the person who paid his salary, but he was a Chelsea fan. If he had to choose, he would choose Chelsea. If he had to choose, the one he would rather leave was Abramovich, not this man.
But what could he do? He was just an ordinary stadium turf maintenance worker. He could not influence the club's decisions. He could not play on the field to help the team win and get the manager out of the crisis of trust.
He could only wish you good luck, Mr. Mourinho.
※ ※ ※
When Mourinho led Chelsea to Nottingham the next day, the media swarmed around him and threw a lot of questions that everyone was concerned about at him.
"Mr. Mourinho, may I ask if the news that you're about to be dismissed is true?"
"I don't want to answer questions that never came. At least now I'm the manager of this team."
"Mr. Mourinho, there are rumors that you and Abramovich have a deep conflict …"
"We work together happily and there is no conflict at all. Of course, he is the club's chairman and he has the right to express some views on his team. "
"About Grant …"
"You have to ask him about his questions."
"Let's talk about the game against the Forest team, Mr. Mourinho. Will Shevchenko play? And you haven't beaten Tony Twain yet … "
Mourinho stopped squeezing out when he heard the question. He stood and looked at the reporter who asked the question. He had some impression of him. He seemed to be a sports reporter for a local newspaper in Nottingham.
"The Ukrainian may or may not play. As for the fact that I've never beaten Tony Twain? Then it will all be history, 'he added,' to-morrow night. '
With that, he did not answer any more questions. He broke through the heavy encirclement of reporters and followed the team into the hotel where they were staying.
A group of reporters were not satisfied. They raised the cameras in their hands and took a flurry of shots at Mourinho's back.
Under the flashing lights, the back of the figure in the black Armani trench coat was the only focus. Whenever the flashing lights came on, he was the most dazzling figure. But when the flashing lights went off, he blended into the black background and was difficult to distinguish.
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