Jose Mourinho – Trouble & Squeak

Assad’s Propaganda: Summer, Palmyra, and Mourinho

April 24, 2016December 8, 2019Posted in Politics, SyriaTagged Bashar al-Assad, Football, ISIS, Jose Mourinho, Paddy Vipond, Palmyra, Propaganda, Public Relations, Sport, Summer in Syria, Syria, Twitter, Vladimir Putin1 Comment

What do Jose Mourinho, ancient artefacts, and tourism have in common?

At first glance, not much, but on investigation we find that they all play a role in the continuous, if somewhat confused, campaign of propaganda by the Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad.

A story that emerged recently, that immediately jumped out at me as somewhat strange, was the news that Jose Mourinho – of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid fame – had been targeted as the next manager for the Syrian football team.

Not one to shy away from controversy, Mourinho was said to be “honoured” at the approach, but ultimately rejected the job offer.

And whilst the audacious bid to land the “special one” came as a shock, in reality, we should not be too surprised when we see this move in the wider context of Assad’s propaganda machine.

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The Need for an Advanced Defensive Midfielder

October 8, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged Advanced Defensive Midfielder, Anchorman, Bundesliga, Chelsea, Claude Makelele, Danny Welbeck, Jonathan Wilson, Jose Mourinho, Paddy Vipond, Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson, Xabi Alonso, Zonal Marking3 Comments

If Jonathan Wilson’s bible of football, Inverting the Pyramid, taught me anything, it is that football tactics are a matter of action and reaction. A constantly changing and ever-evolving realm of innovation and countering. When one method of play appears to have taken over the world, defeating all that come before it, a coach will discover the tactic that nullifies the seemingly perfect system.

Since Jose Mourinho tore up the rulebook on the stereotypical English 4-4-2 by employing Claude Makelele as a defensive midfielder, sat in front of his centre backs, it seems that no team can be without one. Whilst other Premier League teams had defensive players in their midfield, none were as single-minded and as specialised as Makelele. His sole purpose in the team was to sit, break up attacks, and play simple passes to those in front of him. His inclusion in the team gave the more creative and attacking players the freedom they needed, and was the catalyst for the shift from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3.

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Coping In The Dugout – Part Three

March 21, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged Barcelona, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Eric Cantona, Football Manager, Jose Mourinho, Manager, Matt Busby, Paddy Vipond, Sir Alex Ferguson, Southampton, The 90-Minute ManagerLeave a comment

And so we head in to extra time. Following on from part one and part two, we now turn our attention towards development, recruitment and a vital skill that all great managers possess. The 90-Minute Manager has provided me with the spine of these articles, and as ever, all quotes are from that publication unless otherwise stated.

STRUCTURE AND FOUNDATION
In order for any project to be successful, the groundwork has to be laid first. The foundations must be solid, and if they are not, success will either be extremely short lived or very difficult to achieve. If a club is solely reliant on a billionaire owner then what happens when that owner decides to leave, or the money dries up? The club goes into free fall. Look at Portsmouth languishing down the bottom of League Two. Just five seasons ago Portsmouth were playing against the Likes of AC Milan in European competitions. How times change.

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Coping In The Dugout – Part Two

March 10, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged 90 Minute Manager, Chelsea, Galacticos, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Longevity, Luck, Paddy Vipond, Pressure, Roy Keane, Sir Alex Ferguson, Strength, Teamwork1 Comment

Welcome back, and welcome to part two. In part one we looked at the culture of a club, the treatment of its staff and the ambition and hunger of the manager. As was the case in part one, any quotes, unless otherwise noted, come from The 90-Minute Manager. The clock is ticking, let’s get back to the action.

FOCUS ON STRENGTHS
Unless you are at a very talented club, or have hundreds of millions of pounds in the transfer kitty, it is very unlikely that you will have world class talent covering every position on the pitch. The best managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their team and they set up the team to maximise the strengths and minimize its weakness.

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Coping In The Dugout – Part One

March 1, 2014December 8, 2019Posted in FootballTagged 90 Minute Manager, Ambition, Barcelona, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Culture, David Bolchover, Hunger, Jose Mourinho, Liverpool, Manchester United, Paddy Vipond, Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, Staff3 Comments

Continuing with my football related posts I have now turned my attention to the figure in the dug out. Arguably the most important, and the most difficult role in modern football, the football manager needs to be inspirational, tactically astute and calm under pressure.

A book I have recently finished reading, named the 90-Minute Manager, looked to compare the running of a business to the management of a football team, and although the book has its flaws and is a little dated, it is a pretty decent read. It has provided me with the inspiration for these articles where I focus on the role the manager plays, outside of the implementation of tactics and beyond the lone figure we see on match day.

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