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.

5 successful managers Liverpool's board would have sacked

Rodgers - deserving of more time?

Although Brendan Rodgers' 166 games (equating to three-and-a-bit years) of employment for Liverpool Football Club represents eons in modern footballing terms, there are many who believe the board have acted with disappointingly clichéd haste. While it can be argued that the demand for results is correlated to the amount of money currently being pumped into the game, one can't shake off the romanticism of a try-hard who struggles and toils before getting it right. With Rodgers robbed of such an opportunity, here are five managers who would have succumb to his fate in a similar time period had Fenway Sports been assessing their position... 

 

Alex Ferguson (Manchester United 1986-2013)

Mandatory Fergie mention whenever a manager is sacked.

OK, let's get the obvious one out of the way. Everybody is sick to death of seeing Fergie wheeled out every time a chairman makes a knee-jerk decision, but the timing of Rodgers sacking when compared to Ferguson is notably apt. Three-and-a-bit years in was slap-bang in the middle of Ferguson's darkest period as Manchester United manager. 

The club had just spent a good chunk of money on reinforcements, including the additions of Paul Ince, Gary Pallister and Mike Phelan (Whose fees don't quite reach the heights of £20million Dejan Lovren and the like...), and the results were extremely poor. United ended 1989 on the brink of the relegation zone, having suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Manchester City in the process.

The rest, as they say, is history. The board kept faith with the scarlet-faced Scot, ignoring the grumblings of supporters, and Ferguson went on to become the most decorated manager in English football history. Yes, this is a worn-out example akin to losing an argument by Godwin's Law, but it builds an undeniably strong starting point for the defence case.

Dario Gradi (Crewe Alexandra 1983-2007)

Gradi - greatness without the glitz.

Dario Gradi's achievements may not be quite as sparkling at Sir Alex Ferguson's, but his legacy at Crewe Alexandra is just as huge. Gradi began his Crewe tenure as the club was teetering on Football League oblivion, with The Railwaymen having applied for re-election on more than one occasion. Gradi was able to haul the club from the very bottom of the Fourth Division, but the improvement was only marginal. Five years after his appointment, Crewe could still only manage 17th in the bottom tier.

Although one might argue that there is less pressure on a manager in the lower divisions, this is completely countered by the catastrophic effect of a club losing its place in the football league. The board had strong faith in Gradi, and the long-term rewards were huge. He led the team to multiple promotions, capping off with the club's highest ever finish of 14th in the second tier (2001). The Gradi era ensured Crewe Alexandra's status as a Football League mainstay. The story would have been very different without him.

Louis van Gaal (Ajax 1991-1997)

Ajax had an incredible period under van Gaal's management.

Had the knives been sharp enough, Louis van Gaal's excellent reign at Ajax may have been sliced to death before it hit full speed. Though van Gaal would go on to win three Eredivise titles, including an unbeaten season, success wasn't instant. The future Dutch national manager could only manage 2nd place in his first season, and Ajax fell to third the following year. Though this seems a world away from Liverpool's inability to challenge for the title, it's important to consider the context of Ajax's perpetual domination of the Dutch leagues (along with PSV and, to a lesser extent in this era, Feyenoord) and the resultant expectation to deliver. 

Perhaps the modern-day reaction to a slight decline in league performance would have been to find a new man, especially considering van Gaal was promoted from the assistant manager's position in the first place and therefore lacked the pedigree of a bigger name. However, it would be unfair for me to neglect mentioning the 1992 UEFA Cup win, which preceded van Gaal going one step further and winning the Champions League a few years later. So perhaps this would go down as a case in which the seeds of success were sewn, in contrast to the trophyless Rodgers.

Thomas Schaaf (Werder Bremen 1999-2013)

Schaaf worked wonders for Werder.

It was inevitable that Thomas Schaaf would end up managing Werder Bremen given his 17 years of service to the club as a player. When he was appointed in 1999, Werder Bremen were sliding uncomfortably towards relegation, so there is certainly an argument to say that Schaaf wouldn't necessarily have got the chop. His initial influence was to stabilise the club for the first few seasons, keeping them in-and-around mid-table. 

With consecutive finishes of 9th, 7th, 6th and 6th, it's unlikely that a reasonable board would have seen this as an issue that needed resolving. But perhaps if a manager with the prestige of Jurgen Klopp started making noises about finding a new club, a "business-minded" chairman would have taken the brave decision of cutting out a club-favourite for 'guaranteed success'.

As it was, Schaaf continued to enjoy his reign for many years, peaking with a league and cup double in 2004 - the first in the club's history.

Jurgen Klopp (Mainz 05 2001-2008)

Liverpool's next manager isn't a direct ticket to success...

Ah, the sucker punch! Although I must admit, in stretching this to cover the surface area of the argument, I am leaving quite enormous holes that I'm sure astute readers will be quick to point out. Jurgen Klopp's managerial career began at Mainz 05, with the club ambitious to secure promotion to the Bundesliga. After Klopp's second attempt fell just short, perhaps a panicky board would have looked elsewhere (although this would have been extremely harsh, even by modern standards).

Klopp led Mainz to 3rd place in 2004, snatching promotion and beginning the club's short stay in the top flight. He managed to keep Mainz in a comfortable mid-table hover for two seasons, before a disastrous 2007 plunged the club into relegation. Did Mainz sack him then? Not a chance, and if anything Klopp would enjoy the equivalent of a personal promotion by taking the Dortmund job in 2008.

So this is a bit of a clunky example, but how many managers have seen their club decline in such a way, only to be offered a massive position a year later? Let's hope Fenway Sports are aware that Klopp's record isn't entirely blotless, and that - whisper it - it might take a year or two before any strides towards progress are made...