A “perfect” on the European scene with a possible sixth title in six finals. AS Roma coach José Mourinho can achieve the feat of winning a sixth title in the Europa League final against Sevilla FC this Wednesday evening at the Puskás Arena in Budapest. All in six finals, since the first Champions League won with FC Porto in 2003, just 20 years ago.
Excellent relations with Luis Campos
The record of a man, who alone can make an entire club like Paris Saint-Germain blush, still in search of his first European title since the arrival of the QSI in 2012. That’s good, persistent rumors send le Mou on the bench of the Parisian club next season.
His excellent relationship with sporting director Luis Campos, who himself is very close to his agent Jorge Mendes, makes him one of the favorites to become the Parisian coach. What he however swept away, in his style which has become legendary. “If they’re looking for me, they haven’t found me because they haven’t spoken to me,” replied the “Special One” laughingly, before discussing his former Madrid club at a press conference before this final, rather than PSG.
Incredible work at AS Roma
Le Mou has something to brag about, he comes out of two “exceptional” seasons at Roma, the first of which was crowned with the Europa League Conference title, the first title since 2008 and an Italian Cup, before this new European final against Seville. “He’s doing something amazing, really. He changed the mentality of AS Roma and the way of working. By asking 100% of his team and the club every day. Incredible work,” says Andrea Di Carlo, journalist at La Republicca Roma.
Success after a more difficult period in terms of results, evidenced by his time at Tottenham, as recalled by Nicolas Vilas, author of the book Behind the Special One, from genesis to glory “He had the ability to start from a little lower in a championship where Inter, AC Milan, Juve and even Napoli can bring back titles. He had this humility, without a crazy workforce and without being able to recruit as he wanted, hence the rumors of leaving because he reached a glass ceiling, in a club with a lot of pressure and big expectations. And it’s a bit like PSG, you can win as many championships, as long as you don’t have the Champions League, there is media pressure, ”he lists.
“Too many roosters in one barnyard”
A glass ceiling reached with AS Roma, which does not automatically send him to the side of PSG, according to the Italian journalist. A possible qualification for the Champions League, in the event of a victory this Wednesday evening, could still change everything. “I don’t really know if he wants to leave. I think the Europa League final is important for his future, we still have to wait a few hours. I know he considers PSG to be a bit of a strange club, where there are too many roosters in the same barnyard. With a lot of players who are not easy to manage. I’m not sure if Mourinho would be the right coach for PSG at this point in his career.”
Nicolas Vilas, on the contrary, sees many reasons for Mou’s arrival at PSG. “I think it excites him. Campos has known him for years and there is the challenge of going to another championship. And I know that he and his family love the city”. But would he make a good coach at PSG? “I tell myself that Paris has tried everything in terms of coaching. And in a somewhat caricatural way, it would be nice to have a guy who knows how to be firm in the face of the PSG locker room. With his almost dictatorial way, he knows how to do in terms of management. And even if he is able to decide, and sometimes display some of them, in the end few players say anything bad about him. So I don’t want to sum it up to its dictatorial side either, ”adds Nicolas Vilas.
“It must follow above”
His possible success at Paris Saint-Germain, in the event of arrival, would in any case not necessarily boil down to his ability to lead such a star locker room, he has already done so at Real Madrid, but more in the freedom that he should get from his management. “Whether at the level of the players or the coaches, nobody can do it. Whether you recruit a confirmed player or not, it looks like his cousin is playing. And almost all the coaches who have left PSG have won elsewhere. As in all clubs, decisions come from above and the coach is only one element of this pyramid. The president must follow the postures at the level of the players. Imagine that Mourinho makes the strong decision to part with a player. It must follow above. For me the difference will not be made at the relational level with the players, the vast majority say good things about Mourinho, it will be with the management, ”says Nicolas Vilas.
Imagine publicly disavowing him Presnel Kimpembe, at random, as he was able to do with his side Rick Karsdorp last November, after his team’s draw: “I am sorry that our efforts were betrayed by a player with an attitude not professional. I feel betrayed by one of my players, I told him to find a team in January”. Or being suspended for several matches for criticizing Clément Turpin, again randomly, as he did with referee Daniele Chiffi, in Italy: “Chiffi is the worst referee I’ve come across in my career and I I’ve seen some bad ones! He had no influence on the result, but that does not change anything: he sucks, technically horrible, and has no empathy, does not create constructive relationships with the players. What give some white hair to Nasser al-Khelaïfi.
Ability to reinvent oneself
Now 60 years old, the Mou has certainly evolved, “a player is overtaken by his body, but a coach always improves over time, with the accumulation of experience”, he confided recently, but it has not fundamentally changed, as André Di Carlo and Nicolas Vilas agree: “It’s still the Soft, still the special one. Both on and off the field. José is always the same”, estimates the first, when for the second “Mourinho, has always been the same, since his beginnings with Benfica, and his very clear postures, until today and his outspokenness”.
An ability to reinvent itself while remaining the same, which, according to Luis Fernandez, would fit well with the needs of the capital club. “He has proven himself where he has had the opportunity to express himself. And he does not train clubs without means, which PSG can offer him. He is a respected trainer, competitor and whose track record speaks for him. It’s up to him to take charge of the group and bring it as far as possible through the state of mind with a straight talk that we accept, or not, ”lists the former PSG coach. With one reservation: the game plan. But at PSG, we want to win more than play well.