So, yet again, the ‘special one’, Jose Mourinho, has been sacked (18th December, 2018) after some two and a half years in charge at Manchester United.
The dismissal of Mourinho extends his run of never completing more than four consecutive seasons in charge of a club, only once having made it into a fourth campaign in his first spell at Chelsea in 2007.
Whilst having an initial limited success with Manchester United in winning both the EFL Cup and Europa League in his first season the subsequent time has seen the club slip, currently to its worst start to a season since 1990.
This season Mourinho has questioned the attitude of his star player, the French midfield player, Paul Pogba, recently calling him a ‘virus’ as well as publicly criticising several other players including Luke Shaw. Both are proven players, with Pogba, for instance, being a 2018 FIFA World Cup winner whilst Shaw is a capped England player.
Mourinho’s open criticism of players dates back to the 29th September 2015, when as manager of Chelsea Football Club he then questioned the ‘unstable attitude’ of some of his players given the club’s poor start to the season.
Mourinho, commenting then after 7 games of the campaign believed that the team lacked ‘serial champions’. His view was that: “Clearly it’s an attitude perspective of some individuals. And when you have individuals with that unstable attitude in terms of motivation, desire, and commitment you will pay.”
Mourinho continued by proposing that: “There are two types of champion – there are champions who win something and there are lots of them, but there are other champions who during their career win one, two, three, four, five, ten or twenty titles. We have 25 champions from last year but ‘serial champions’ in this squad, how many do we have?”
Mourinho’s closing comment was that: “I can be five or ten years without winning a title but I shall still be a serial champion in my approach and attitude; this is the problem we have at the moment.”
Continued losses of matches led to the Chelsea FC Board sacking Jose Mourinho for the second time on the 17th December 2015 ironically whilst he was attending the players Christmas lunch. His words at the time of “…you will pay” were profound for it was he, not the players upon whom he had commented, that paid the price for the ongoing failure of the team. Three years and a day later, he has paid the price again.
Crucially, there was in 2015 a burgeoning gulf of trust and confidence between the manager and the players that yet again has appeared to underpin his current sacking. Whilst Mourinho in 2015 saw the problem as ‘… an attitude perspective of some individuals’ the real problem is that of his own attitude - his beliefs - given that as the manager he is responsible for building the attitude of the players under him positively - not negatively - in terms of motivation, desire, and commitment in preparation for each game.
Mourinho, great manager that he is on pure results alone, has seemingly failed to learn, being too wrapped up in his own ego and beliefs, confirming yet again that he, not his players, possesses the ‘unstable attitude’ through his complete lack of self-knowledge, instead looking to criticise or blame others. This hypothesis is no better illustrated than by his post-match comment of ‘betrayal’ by his players after the loss to Leicester away on the 14th December 2015 – a week before his then sacking by Chelsea.
Mourinho’s excessive self-centred interest in, and self-admiration of, his capabilities coupled with a lack of consideration and understanding of others is typical of the manipulative and demanding individual - a narcissist - who through their historic and current beliefs hold the view about self that ‘it’s all about me’.
As their initial perfect façade slips, usually as pressure upon them increases, these people begin to cause damage, consequently making poor leaders and team members. However, such individuals frequently turn up at the top and across businesses and organisations causing problems and damage as they are too ‘wrapped up in them self’ lacking low level collaborative skills.
Unless such individuals can change their beliefs, which to date Mourinho has showed no indication of doing, they face increasing relationship problems that in his case have now twice been exposed. Can he change?
Whilst it is possible to change, is it probable?
Change is of course possible, but not easy for such people. However, given the evidence (that he has), support, and time, the latter of which he may have plenty, it is possible if there is in Mourinho’s own words, the ‘motivation, desire and commitment’. He has historically so far shown none of these.
This latest sacking will most probably have diminished his immediate attraction as a manager and could be an incentive to change, though not necessarily so given that football has a long record of ‘one club’s failed manager becoming another club’s great hope’.
As a consequence of this football belief, he may unconsciously (for this is where most of our beliefs come from) live in the hope, and delusion’ that as the ‘special one’ he is another club’s ‘next best hope’. This will leave him stuck in his skewed and repetitive belief system ready to repeat his recurring behaviours where he is actually the ‘unstable one’, not others: the players who have had, or may have in the future, the misfortune to work under him.