{"id":1094567,"date":"2019-06-19T16:06:20","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T15:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1094567"},"modified":"2019-06-19T16:19:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T15:19:02","slug":"fifas-top-five-national-teams-line-up-jose-mourinho","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/fifas-top-five-national-teams-line-up-jose-mourinho\/","title":{"rendered":"How Fifa’s top five national teams would line up under Jose Mourinho"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jose Mourinho could be about to embark on a new journey in football management as he opens the door to a job on the international stage, rather than at club level.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Portuguese coach has been out of the managerial hot seat since Manchester United relieved him of his duties in December, following a turbulent first half of the 2018\/19 season.<\/p>\n

Friction in the camp \u2013 most notably his soured relationship with Paul Pogba \u2013 as well as poor results on the field, with the Red Devils enduring their worst start to a season for 28 years, culminated in his eventual dismissal from the Old Trafford dugout.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7291399-man-utd-s-galaxy-brain-move-trade-pogba-for-two-real-madrid-midfielders<\/p>\n

Following the sack, Mourinho has continuously dropped hints of a return to “top football” management, even name-dropping Borussia Dortmund<\/a> and fanning the flames on a Bundesliga switch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But his recent comments, in an interview with Eleven Sports, have brought to light the possibility that his next coaching venture could be in international football: “Right now, I see myself more at a national team than with a new club.”<\/p>\n

With that, should a move to international football materialise, how could Fifa’s top five national teams line up under Mourinho?<\/p>\n

5. Portugal<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mourinho has never kept secret his ambition to one day take the Portuguese reigns, intimating in 2013 a desire to do so<\/a>: “I would love to be the national team coach one day. I think the Portuguese people are waiting for that to happen.”<\/p>\n

Well, his latest comments could pave the way for a marriage between Mourinho and his homeland, but how would he set his stalls out with the Navigators’ current crop?<\/p>\n

Mourinho has tended to utilise a 4-2-3-1 across his career, which could work out perfectly for Portugal. Rui Patricio would operate as the sweeper ‘keeper in front of a strong centre-back partnership of Pepe \u2013 a man he knows exceptionally well from their Real Madrid days \u2013 and Ruben Dias.<\/p>\n

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With an excellent passing range, Dias is a more modern centre-back, and so, alongside Pepe, the duo could form a formidable, no-nonsense-contemporary\u00a0defensive duo, allowing Joao Cancelo and Raphael Guerreiro to push forward and aid in the final third.<\/p>\n

William Carvalho and Ruben Neves would be the creator-destroyer double pivot; Neves playing similarly to that of Esteban Cambiasso during the famous 2009\/10 Inter Milan treble-winning season, dictating the tempo of play while looking to sit back and instigate attacking moves.<\/p>\n

Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes will be the inside forwards, but also functioning as almost defensive wingers, dropping back and helping shift the formation to a 4-4-1-1 when out of possession, particularly the former, who has had to operate on a similar level under Pep Guardiola at Man City.<\/p>\n

Joao Felix will be Mourinho’s No. 10 fulcrum \u2013 similar to Mesut Ozil or Wesley Sneijder under Mourinho \u2013 looking to collect the ball between the lines and find openings for Cristiano Ronaldo, who has reinvented himself as a deadly No. 9 at Juventus.<\/p>\n