18 Jose Mourinho

Mourinho arrived in the UK in June 2004 as a reigning European Champions' League winner with Porto. A protege of Sir Bobby Robson, he immediately set about spending some of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's money on players such as Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba and took the premiership by storm in his first season. He immediately demanded to be known as 'a special one,' which became the special one in the British media. Mourinho's approach to tactics focuses on the 'transition points' in matches: he believes games are lost and won when possession shifts from one team to the other and goals result from how one copes with that change in possession and consequent change in team organisation from attack to defence and vice versa. He led a team that had already finished close to the summit of the premiership to their first league championship in 50 years and won the league cup along the way, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the champions' league. The next season brought Mourinho's second successive league championship with Chelsea and his fourth successive title including his two championships with Porto. A third season was marred by the signing of Schevcenko, which was thought to be at the request of owner Abramovich rather than at Mourinho's request. This season was felt to be a disappointment as Manchester United reclaimed their premiership trophy and Chelsea finished second, though achieving success in both the FA cup and league cup. Winning two cups in one season and finishing second in the league and being viewed as a failure aptly demonstrated the great expectation of success at Chelsea - which has crippled subsequent managers of the club and resulted in a series of managerial changes. Mourinho's period at the helm was marked by a remarkably astute grasp of tactics, great motivational skills and a series of spats with other managers, most notably Arsene Wenger. His frequent outspoken comments rekindled the spirit of Brian Clough, as did his absolute conviction that he was the best of managers. While his team was very successful and Germanic in its physical strength and unwillingness to be broken down, it is generally thought that the lack of flair of his team as well as the power struggle with Abramovich cost him his job. After the power struggle, Mourinho left early the following season and joined Inter, whom he guided to the Italian title. Having won 5 domestic titles and a champions' league title in just 6 seasons, Mourinho is regarded as one of the greatest managers in the world. However, as a foreign coach who spent a lot of money on a good team and won just 2 British titles, his achievement has to be measured against the very high expectation of silverware at Chelsea. As a result, he is one of the all-time great world managers but only manages 18th place in the British list. If and when he returns to Britain, he will surely climb the rankings further.

British league champions: 2
Foreign league champions: 3
European cup: 1