There is a definite yin and yang to Jose Mourinho - he is part egotistical, part cynical and part brilliant.
It would be hard not to admire his ability to motivate and create a game plan with tactical genius - I am definitely in line for the Jose Mourinho fan club.
On the heels of Inter Milan's crucial UEFA Champions League victory over Chelsea, Matt Dickinson of the Times writes of how Chelsea fell to their prodigal son.
So now Chelsea know what it is like to be Mourinho’d. To face a team wound up to manic heights of intensity. To hit a brick wall of organisation.
To face a manager in the opposing dugout who, even as Chelsea rushed to take a throw-in, refused point blank to give back the ball.
Welcome back, José. Egotistical, cynical and brilliant. A few Chelsea fans cursed his name as they faced up to defeat and another failure in the Champions League last night, but it was the bitterness of envy. They would have him back tomorrow.
Mourinho himself had disappeared down the tunnel before the final whistle in one of those classic gestures when he claims to be staying out of the limelight but only draws more attention to himself. It’s not all about me, honest.
As he sat in the away dressing room, he could reflect on a plan superbly executed. His bold selection of three strikers shaped the game just as he had plotted and in Wesley Sneijder — rejected by Chelsea last summer, just to increase Carlo Ancelotti’s agony — Inter Milan had the game’s decisive player.
Sneijder is the brilliant schemer Joe Cole once dreamt of becoming. Not now, though. Compared to the Holland midfield player, Cole’s brief contribution was pitiful.
Inter also boasted the man in charge who made a difference; the familiar figure in his overcoat, rushing out to bark instructions to his players, to demand yet more endeavour, to harangue the fourth official. Mourinho was like a jack-in-the-box.
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