Chelsea: Is Jose Mourinho Really "The Special One"?

When Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay announced on June 3rd that his clubs' new manager would once again be Jose Mourinho, Chelsea fans the world over must have jumped with delight at the prospect of having "The Special One" back at Stamford Bridge. He became a hero of Chelsea during his first stint as manager, winning two Premier League titles and doing the League Cup and FA Cup double in 2007. After years of turbulent seasons Chelsea were finally back on top form and they had a world class manager at the helm, guiding them all the way. Since leaving Chelsea in 2008, Mourinho has won just about everything there is to win in an up and down managerial career that has once again led him back to Chelsea. He is now more experienced, more determined, and surely the perfect manager for Chelsea. But is that the case? A poor start to the season, and dubious tactical decisions have left every journalist and pundit involved with the game scratching their heads wondering why Mourinho hasn't followed the script that was laid out for him. Despite a string of under achievements at Chelsea, they have bought well in recent seasons (with the exception of a certain Spanish striker) and the platform was set for Mourinho to step in and make an instant impact. He has certainly done this, but not in the way the fans would have hoped. He has frequently dropped Juan Mata, the club's player of the year for the past two seasons, and also loaned out two promising strikers in Victor Moses and Romelu Lukaku at the same time admitting they are short of a striker. Here's reasons to question whether Mourinho really is the special one...

Invincible?

A look back at Mourinho's track record as a manager shows us that he is not afraid to take control of a team and go against the norm. Whilst at Real Madrid, despite leading the Galactico's to league glory in 2012, his time was still marred by conflicts with players. As everyone with even a modicum of interest in football knows, Jose Mourinho has an enormous ego. This came to the forefront during an ongoing saga with Cristiano Ronaldo whilst Mourinho was Real Madrid manager. Mourinho sensed an air of over-confidence from the Portuguese play-maker and was quick to bring him back to Earth by dropping him from crucial games if he felt Ronaldo had not performed at his best. This is all well and good as a manager should never be afraid to stamp his authority on his team. After all he is in charge. However, when it comes to "The Special One" there is always a sense that he is 'bigger' than the team and that he must be seen to be the club's greatest asset. Ronaldo is a world superstar, with his fans at Real Madrid shouting his praises from the rooftops, and it was clear that Mourinho did't like this. In his mind he was the superstar, "The Special One", and everyone else should know their place. This conflict with players, alongside strange tactical decisions and a string of unsatisfactory results, ultimately brought about his demise as he lost favour with the fans. It seemed that Mourinho had lost the battle and was shown up to be the manager...not the cult hero! Click "next" below to read part 2...