Keep Jose, but give him a holiday

Just one of many back pages which have mounted the pressure on Mourinho.

Haven't we been here before? Yet another weekend's back pages are dominated by the crashing reputation of 2015's hero-to-zero fall guy. Jose Mourinho has been on the brink for some time - somehow squirming inches towards the precipice without the final push being delivered. Defeats continue to rain down on the Portuguese manager like a traditional English summer. 

The mercilessly awful form that Chelsea are exhibiting is compounded by Mourinho's antics, which are increasingly illustrating The Special One as a desperate, agitated character who has completely lost control. Far beyond the debasing rant against doctor Eva Carneiro, Mourinho shows no shame in ramping up his blame tactics to eleven. This weekend saw another display of irate flouncing and sardonic gestures on the touchline, before the inevitably bizarre post-match interview.

The familiar sarcastic laughter aimed at the referee.

It doesn't take a body language specialist to see that Jose Mourinho is under intense, inescapable pressure (although try telling that to the BBC, who decided to get a body language specialist to show that Jose Mourinho was under intense, inescapable pressure). The Chelsea boss is unlikely to have ever experienced anything close to this sort of scrutiny in his high-profile career, with the renowned hawkish behaviour of the British media coupling delightfully with one of the most surprisingly weak title defences in recent history.

It is precisely the nature of this pressure's ubiquity, coupled with the sensible truth that Jose Mourinho is a world-class manager capable of creating and directing a team that can challenge at the very highest level, that leads to my solution: Jose Mourinho needs a break.

Perhaps one or two months. Perhaps the rest of the season. A break from football, far away from the prying eyes of the tabloids and 24-hour sports news networks. A chance to forget about Chelsea, the referees, and the undiminished hunger to see Jose fail. 

Currently, every interview can only be another stage of hell for Jose.

My interpretation of Mourinho's recent antics are that he is trapped. It's never been uncommon for The Special One to deflect criticisms against his team towards all manner of outrageous targets. When things are going relatively smoothly, it's an effective tactic - Sir Alex Ferguson knew the value of protecting his players from the media too. 

However, Mourinho's most recent efforts are not a result of careful thought and deliberation - anyone with a clear head would have known that another animated touchline outburst, followed by a shirty interview, is a bad idea given the media whirlwind surrounding the club. It seems far more likely that Jose Mourinho is starting to freeze up under this pressure, returning to his most learned response as a coping mechanism.

The increased prevalence of 'the conspiracy theory' correlates directly to poor results.

Mourinho is stuck in a cycle. Chelsea lose, the pressure grows. The pressure grows, Mourinho reacts. Mourinho reacts, the team morale continues to fall. The team morale continues to fall, Chelsea lose. There was a stage earlier on in the season where a couple of favourable results, whether the fruit of good performances or lucky breaks, would have plugged the leak of seeping pressure. However, the job is now irreparable, and even a few victories would still leave Mourinho looking precarious, as it is extremely unlikely that Chelsea will reach their pre-season expectations of retaining the Premier League.

Many have commented that Mourinho has never had to lift a club out of this volume of mire before, and that this situation is test of The Special One's true resolve. Perhaps Mourinho feels he needs to prove something to these people, but it would be far more in his interests to admit he needs some help. Chelsea never hired The Special One to revive a failing squad, because that has never been what made him special. Mourinho should bite the bullet, ask Abramovich for a month or two off, allow an interim manager to get the team motivated again, and return to work in order to harness the relentless and clinical ability he has to win trophies.

Mourinho and trophies go hand-in-hand - could Chelsea afford to lose that?

It is most certainly an unorthodox approach, but Chelsea are facing a unique problem. No-one questioned Mourinho's managerial prowess before the season started, but it is clear that he is in no mental state to reach his own lofty standards. Chelsea would be foolish to let one of the world's top managers go, but to keep him will only do further damage. It might be a blot on his copy book, but if Mourinho could get past admitting that he's not the right manager in this specific situation, perhaps there is a solution that will benefit all parties beyond.

Boas Constricted

You're a young football manager. You've just won the Division Four title with Titchy United. Suddenly the phone rings. You excitedly press it to your ear, and it's Richy Moneybags, the chairman of MegaGiant Rovers (the champions of the Premiership). He wants you to replace the retiring Beloved McAwesome as manager. Are you ready for it? No. But you're not willing to turn down a shot at the title. You enthusiastically mutter "Yesss" over the phone, and a contract is sent your way.

It all goes wrong though. Through inexperience, you fail to get the stubborn millionaires in the team to perform in the first three months and Moneybags calls you into his gigantic office made of solid gold. He licks his fat lips and dismisses you with an iron grin. You beg, plead, implore. He looks down his nose at you and points to the door. Your career is over. His never will be.

Pull away from that dramatisation, and we have a slight resemblance in the Andre Villas-Boas situation. The 34-year old is apparently already "under pressure" according to certain media outlets, having only been in the Chelsea hotseat for three months. Several recent defeats leave the Blues in fifth; a far cry from their initial title ambitions.

However, when you appoint a very young, inexperienced manager, what do you expect? Though Villas-Boas' success with Porto was immediate, the canyon between the Portuguese and English leagues is vast. It is wildly unrealistic to expect Villas-Boas to win the title in his first season at Chelsea, and if Abramovich really appointed him with such instant achievements in mind, he really has no idea how to run a football club.

I was of the opinion that the implementation of such a young manager was a plan for stability at the club. With him in charge, a few seasons of leeway could be given as he built the team up and worked out his style of play, allowing him to gradually make a squad stronger than Chelsea have ever had. Though a rare example, Sir Alex Ferguson now defines the rewards of this patient approach, with his first few years in charge being a huge struggle before the part of the story where you go "the rest is history".

However, if the suggestions of Villas-Boas being under pressure are true, the patient approach is thrown away completely. The Portuguese manager has at least shown certain levels of competence, bringing in the excellent Juan Mata and keeping the team tight to the top four. It would be a little bit insane not to even give him to the January transfer window in order to get things the way he wants them.

If Andre Villas-Boas is sacked within the first season of his reign, the board must admit they made a huge error. Ancelotti was presumably fired because they felt a replacement would bring more trophies in the long run. They had to pick his successor carefully to ensure this, and Chelsea aren't exactly the sort of side that will struggle for resources when looking for the man they want. They went for Villas-Boas, fully aware that his lack of experience would mean he'd need a few months to get to grips with the English game.

It's all about how Chelsea wanted to approach the appointment of a new manager, and they went for the young, long-term option. Sacking him now would be an admission of failure. Villas-Boas, I'm sure, is doing his job to the best of his ability at the moment, and it's not his fault if that isn't enough.