Jose Mourinho: Why he's a Special One?

by Bob Holmes

Jose Mourinho is a roundhead, not a cavalier. But when the pressure to win is mounting, Clubs will trade swashbuckling and styles for a manager who is a proven winning manager. His good fortune was as evident as the way he subdued Lionel Messi and how much the 985km coach journey the Barcelona team had to endure. The likelihood is that the volcanic ash cloud will have cleared by Wednesday to allow Inter Milan safe passage to the Nou Camp next week.

Mourinho may be lucky, but he makes his own luck and deserves the breaks that come his way. Some men profess to move mountains but the Special One has got the nod from a volcano.

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Lessons to be learned:

You got to make your own luck; but you can't cause the volcano to erupt. It's timing and preparedness.

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Jose Mourinho was named the world's best football manager by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) for both the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.

He doesn't just talk the talk, though; he's done his share of walking, managing FC Porto to the top of the Champions League in 2004 and, in a more profiled job, leading Chelsea to their first English Premiership title in 50 years, in 2005 and repeating it in 2006.

Jose Mourinho is considered to be one of the best coaches in Europe, having won five consecutive league titles (two at Porto, two at Chelsea and one at Inter Milan) and also the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup with Porto. This year, Inter Milan is chasing the double - European Championship and Italian League.

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