{"id":1179471,"date":"2025-09-18T10:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1179471"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:19:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T09:19:06","slug":"jose-mourinho-performance-tottenham-real-madrid-man-utd-inter","status":"publish","type":"cult-corner","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/cult-corner\/jose-mourinho-performance-tottenham-real-madrid-man-utd-inter\/","title":{"rendered":"The eight best examples of ‘Mourinho-ball’ from Jose Mourinho’s career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Winning is everything to Jose Mourinho and criticism of how he achieves it is of little interest to the Portuguese manager.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such debates have arisen regularly throughout his managerial career, surfacing from fans, pundits and players whenever an extreme example of Mourinho\u2019s tactics occurs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should fans be allowed to object to the team\u2019s style when they are getting results? Is a defence-first tactical system less worthy than one focusing on free-flowing attacking play? Does style matter as much as substance?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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    Mourinho himself is clear in his view. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cFootball is full of philosophers, people who understand much more than me,\u201d he said in April 2014 following criticism of his Chelsea side.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAmazing. But the reality is the reality. A team that doesn’t defend well doesn’t have many chances to win.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cIf the opponent is very fast and needs space behind your defence and you give them that space, you are stupid.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Does Mourinho, a man who has won two Champions League titles and eight league titles across four different countries, really have to defend his methods?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here we look back at some of his most polarising performances to assess whether his critics have a point.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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