Jose Mourinho’s Unbeaten League Home Record Is Quite “Special”

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho reached a nine-year milestone last weekend, with an unbelievable record of 147 unbeaten home league matches.

Matter of fact, the last time he did have the disadvantage in the score-line in a home league match was during his FC Porto days in his native country of Portugal on February 23, 2002 when Beira Mar beat Porto in Estadio das Antas, 3-2. Since Porto, he has commanded Chelsea, Inter, and currently Real Madrid and has impressively remained a king in his own house in all four different leagues.

Jose Mourinho was a professional soccer player for several years in the 80′s but never had enough talent to make a huge name for himself on the playing field. Eventually after working his way through the ranks of coaching the Youth Squads of his hometown club Vitoria de Setubal, he accepted his first job in professional management with Estrela de Amadora under Jesualdo Ferreira. About a year and a half later he was called upon the great Sir Bobby Robson as an interpreter. Sir Bobby Robson was name coach for Sporting Clube de Portugal and the British manager wanted a local coach as an interpreter which worked out well for Mourinho.

He earned Robson’s respect and soaked in his knowledge as they discussed tactics, formations, and football. In late 1993, Sporting sacked the Englishmen and he was appointed the new coach for rivals FC Porto, where Mourinho continued by his side coaching and interpreting. After two seasons, Sir Bobby Robson went to Barcelona and brought Jose Mourinho as his assistant as he dedicated himself to learning Catalan for the new experience.

Mourinho stayed in Barcelona with Robson’s successor the Dutch, Louis van Gaal who furthered The Special One’s job in being in charge over Barcelona’s B team. In September of 2000 he was appointed the manager for Benfica and last 9 league matched before resigning due to Benfica’s president Manuel Vilarinho refusing a contract extension offer.

Mourinho next top-flight head coaching gig was with Uniao de Leiria, where Mourinho helped train the team to the highest ever finish in the table at 5th place. His recent success caught the eye of Portuguese giant Porto who were in need of a new head man to replace Octavio Machado in January 2002. He finished the year strong with winning eleven of the fifteen matches and finishing Porto in third, and vowed to bring titles to the club next season.

In the 2003 season, Mourinho won a trifecta with the Portuguese League and was 11 points clear of second place Benfica as well as the Portuguese Cup and UEFA Cup final against Celtic. After his successive first full season as head coach, Mourinho recaptured the League in 2004, and the UEFA Champions League again AS Monaco.

In his last 38 home league matches Mourinho had Porto win 36 games and draw 2.

The stage was set calling for Mourinho. The giant Premier League offers came pouring in and the two most satisfying were Liverpool and Chelsea. Liverpool decided to go to Spaniard Rafa Benitez to take reigns of the team and that led Mourinho to Chelsea.

Mourinho had great success in Chelsea, leading them to their first championship in over 50 years. Mourinho productivity in England continued as he claimed the 2005 and 2006 Premier League, the 2005 and 2007 League Cup, 2005 FA Community Shield, and 2007 FA Cup. After a fall out with owner Roman Abramovich, he left Chelsea unexpectedly in September of 2007 by mutual consent and parted ways with the London squad.

In his 60 home matches at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho’s side had came out victorious 46 times and level 14 times.

In June 2008, Mourinho accepted his new coaching job in Italy with Inter Milan. He won the 2008 Supercoppa Italiana, back to back Serie A titles in 2009 and 2010 as well as the 2010 Coppa Italia and 2010 UEFA Champions League once again, completing the second treble of his career.
The Italian side had a dominant side in the two years under Mourinho extending his home league unbeaten streak to 111 winning 29 of his 38 games at the San Siro.

Then in 2010, he signed with the most famous club in the world: Real Madrid. With 11 home league matches, Los Blancos have emerged victorious in all 11. He is claimed to be the best manager in football today, despite his young age. Although his remarks and attitude sometimes may get him in trouble, there is no doubt that he has a golden thumb of some sort. The master tactician has turned all teams he’s coached into gold and will search for his 149th unbeaten match in the Santiago Bernabeu against Malaga this evening Wed 3rd.

An outstanding 29 individual achievement awards, 17 club trophies, 9 years, 4 teams, countries, and leagues with 1 impressive record; Jose Mourinho has redefined the definition of success for aspiring football coaches and deserves every bit of credit.

Individual Achievements

Portuguese Liga Manager of the Year (2): 2002–03, 2003–04

Premier League Manager of the Year (2): 2004–05, 2005–06

Premier League Manager of the Month (3): November 2004, January 2005, March 2007

Serie A Manager of the Year (2): 2009, 2010

Albo Panchina d’Oro Coach of the Year (1): 2010-2011

UEFA Manager of the Year (2): 2002–03, 2003–04

UEFA Team of the Year Coach of the Year (4): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010

BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award (1): 2005

La Gazzetta dello Sport Man of the Year (1): 2010 [71]

Onze d’Or Best Coach (1): 2005

FIFA Ballon d’Or Best Coach (1): 2010

IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach of the Year (3): 2004, 2005, 2010

World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year (3): 2004, 2005, 2010

International Sports Press Association Best Manager in the World (1): 2010

CNID Best Portuguese Manager in Foreign Countries (2): 2008–09, 2009–10

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Related news :

JOSE MOURINHO has ruled out managing one of Chelsea's rivals — if he was to ever leave Real Madrid.

Mourinho said: "If I were to leave Real I would like to coach a big club in the English or Italian league.

"But I would not coach a rival of a team with whom I have been happy.

"For example, I could never go to Barcelona seeing that I come from Real, or Juventus after what I went through at Inter."