As the dust settles on Inter’s disciplined display of anti-football, the footballing world’s attention remains entirely focused on just one man. What may have been a team effort of gargantuan proportions became solely fixed on the efforts and undoubted ability of ‘the special one’, Jose Mourinho.

Now, it is far from my wish in this article to focus predominantly on football. Instead I will attempt to justify my seemingly outrageous claim that Jose Mourinho can be described as one of the greatest leaders of the modern era. A bold claim certainly, but one that seems less so if one compares the attributes and effects of Mourinho on the people, be they friend or foe, he comes into the theatre of conflict with.

To dismiss this claim simply due to the sphere in which Mourinho works, would be unwise. The stakes may be slightly lower than say the global diplomacy of a Churchill or the revolutionary politics of a Lenin (although with the amount of capital in football and its global popularity perhaps that is unfair on football) but his excellence in manipulating the environment in which he works, is unparalleled in modern times. The skills in which he boasts are universal and to dismiss Mourinho’s exhorted position as a premier leader in the modern world just because of his vocation is unfair. After all politicians are not experienced in running Government, yet they are often thrust into Governmental positions they are in no way qualified for.

His external persona, and his outrageous comments have often led to his vilification in the media, but it is this ‘us against the world mentality’ that gives Mourinho his edge. Instead of creating disunity in the ranks of his teams, he gains hero status amongst his players. His charisma is perfectly cultivated for this and leads to a seemingly unbreakable ‘never say die’ spirit.

And it is this charisma, which working in tandem with the often downright petty and scathing ‘ad hominem’ attacks on his opponents that draw allusions to Churchill.

Churchill himself was not known for his ‘politeness’ either, indeed he once laughed and shut the door in the face of an old women, rebuking her with the comment, ‘I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly’. Despite this, his effective rallying of the British public with a Mourinho style ‘us against the world’ mentality, as well as his assured tactical ability went so far in Britain’s defeat of Nazi Germany and led to his elevation to cult status.

Lenin had similar gifts, the ability to command absolute faith in oneself through natural charisma, as well as being able to explain his beliefs clearly and succinctly, a trait Mourinho also shares. Sadly it is almost impossible to locate anyone of the Mourinho, Lenin and Churchill ilk in modern British politics. It is hard to see Brown, Clegg or Cameron inspiring a nation in the manner natural to these leaders of men.
Thus it is my firm belief that if Jose Mourinho were to be placed on the platform shared by these other historical figures he would have a similar effect on the world. Although as in the case of Churchill and Lenin, the wheels will inevitably fall off. These ‘larger than life’ characters though undoubtedly successful end up antagonising just about everybody, but their most devout followers and losing their position, a sad formality. As it is, I shall just have to be content that Mourinho is a part of one of my life’s passions and hope that in the future, he will make an ‘Arny’ style transition into politics. It will not last long, of course, but his effect would be almost unparalleled.

by Ash Waters

Share on Facebook