No Way, Jose: Mourinho's Unbeaten Streak Over, But He's Still Special

And so it ends. Jose Mourinho’s remarkable, nine-year home unbeaten streak in league competition was broken this weekend after Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sporting Gijon. Mourinho’s record was extraordinary given its length (150 league matches at home without a defeat), as well as its sheer difficulty. It meant that the Special One did not lose a single match at home during his time in the Premier League and Serie A, when he was managing Chelsea and Inter Milan, respectively. Of course, the streak also goes back to his time in Portugal as manager of Porto, but the level of competition found in England and Italy makes his achievement all the more impressive.

Mourinho is a polarizing figure for me, and I'm not alone in that assessment. Grant Wahl's profile of Mourinho in Sports Illustrated last month makes for a great read, painting Mourinho in a captivating light for American readers who may not be familiar with the man or his accomplishments. Best bud Sir Alex Ferguson was interviewed for the story, and is full of praise for his heir apparent to the Manchester United managerial role, placing Jose up "at the top" among managers working in the game. There are numerous, fascinating anecdotes in Wahl's article (too many to mention here), and for that alone it's well worth a read. Here's one of my favorites:

Milan, May 2010. The news is out. Mourinho is leaving Inter Milan for Real Madrid. Outside the Bernebéu after the Champions League final, an Italian TV camera captures Mourinho ducking into a luxury sedan. The car advances, then abruptly stops. Mourinho emerges from behind the smoked-glass windows and walks 20 yards to Inter defender Marco Materazzi, the hardman best known for absorbing Zinédine Zidane's head butt in the 2006 World Cup final. Mourinho and Materazzi embrace for five, 10, 20 seconds. Both men's shoulders are heaving. Two of the toughest men in soccer are sobbing like Dick Vermeil.

Mourinho polarizes fans, players, coaches, and pundits alike, and for many different reasons depending on who you are. For me, Mourinho is a genius whose tactical acumen and psychological mastery of man-management put him among the greatest minds to ever work in the game; he's also the cocky prima donna whose tactics and philosophy, often calling for a defensive and unattractive approach, constitute what some have labeled "anti-football." I like to think of him as the man who never got the best of Rafa Benitez, my true managerial hero; yet those battles with Rafa's Liverpool when Jose was at Chelsea resulted in some of the most dramatic and tactically sophisticated matches of the era. He brought the best out of Anfield (and most of the grounds his teams traveled to) as an antagonistic villain, yet he's always been a master at deflecting media scrutiny and attention off of his players and onto himself. His 4-2-1-3 formation, implemented at Inter last year during their historic treble and again this year at Real Madrid, has proven to be a masterstroke as Mourinho put an distinct accent on the traditional 4-3-3 and ended up with a customized, closely-crafted work of tactical brilliance.

But the home league record that he knowingly cherished is now gone, something which was certainly inevitable. Regardless, Jose doesn't seem to be having the best time of his career in Madrid and recently restated his desire to return to the Premier League and his beloved England. Where exactly, nobody really knows, but everybody can see how much he appreciates Sir Alex and Manchester United, and the consensus is that he'll wait until Ferguson walks away from the game to take over his role at Old Trafford. While he appreciates Liverpool's club culture and the magnificent atmosphere generated at Anfield, it appears to be a love-hate relationship that he enjoys more from the perspective of an adversary. He's stated that certain things in the past make it impossible for him to coach there, and seems to view the club much like he does Barcelona (with begrudging respect, but as an opponent). Besides, Jose likes to work in a situation where he has adequate financial backing to buy players handpicked by himself for his own system (developing young players is something he has notoriously neglected as manager), and that's just not Liverpool's style at the moment. Manchester City could be an option, as well as a remarkable homecoming to Chelsea, but most bets seem to be on Mourinho at some point returning to the site of his infamous touchline sprint; only this time, he'll be sitting in Sir Alex's seat.

Personally, I think Mourinho has unfinished business in Madrid, regardless of what happens this year. Madridistas are the soccer version of Yankees fans, except 50 times crazier, and they expect nothing less of their coach than the remarkable trophy haul he brought Inter fans. The crazy thing is, if we know anything about Jose Mourinho, he probably expects the same of himself. The La Liga title looks to be out of reach this year, but the Champions League is the true holy grail for Los Merengues; if Madrid can get by Tottenham, a date with destiny and Barcelona is in order for the semi-finals (as well as a chance to avenge this). Plus, considering the fact he has this guy at his disposal, as well as this guy, and has only started to craft a team full of fantastic, world-class players in his own image, I think we can expect the Special One to stay at Madrid for at least another year or two. At least, as long as it takes for him to live up to the extraordinary standards he's set for himself thus far.