Champions League/Where next for Mourinho: Jose Mourinho likes to widen the conversation, in order to show that he has life and football in perspective.
"When my team lost the Portuguese cup," he said on the eve of his victory in the European Cup final, "my children told me, 'You're still the best daddy.' When my children say that, nothing else counts. Then I don't want to be the best coach. I want to be the best father. Of course," he added, looking out over a room full of journalists, almost all of them men, "each of us wants to think he's the best father."
When the whistle blew on Porto's 3-0 win in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday, Mourinho spent a couple of minutes on the touchline with his family rather than celebrating on the pitch with his players. His expression was almost sombre, as if he were intent on disguising his emotions. Whatever he may do or say in his more philosophical moments, however, he is burning to prove that he is the best coach, too.
"As a manager," he said after the match, "I've got to do more. I want to continue to be ambitious, to become better and better. I believe a lot of things can grow in my performance."
His predicted arrival at Chelsea seems certain to liven things up next season. At 41, the Portuguese coach will present a fiery challenge to the elder statesmen of the Premiership. The 54-year-old Arsene Wenger and the 62-year-old Alex Ferguson will need to keep their wits about them as he goes about the task of deploying Roman Abramovich's vast resources.
In the wake of Wednesday's win, Mourinho refused to confirm the belief that he'll start next season at Stamford Bridge. But, being Mourinho, he could not resist giving some sort of clue.
"I can't speak about Chelsea," he said. "But there are two things I can't hide. One is that there are some clubs interested in my future. The other thing is that I have a contract with Porto. And I will have to go and see the president and the board and open my heart to them. I haven't changed my mind. What I said some time ago is still true. The country where I would like to work is England."
At this stage it is impossible to know whether Mourinho is motivated by an admiration for the raw passion of English football or whether he has been offered a salary so humungous that clubs from La Liga and Serie A simply cannot compete. We have yet to work out the precise ratio of ambition, confidence, coaching ability and administrative skills within the character of a coach who has now guided a club from one of Europe's middle-ranking leagues to the Continent's two major club trophies in successive seasons.
The cockiness is certainly there. "It's a great feeling," he said on Wednesday. "When you look at the great managers of history, some of them never had the luck to win a UEFA Cup or the Champions League. But if you tell me that in 10 years' time these will be the only trophies I've won, I'll be very sad."
His self-confidence was noted by observers after the defeat of Manchester United at the Estadio do Dragao back in February, when Ferguson refused to shake his hand after the final whistle. "That's football," Mourinho observed that night. "I can understand him being a little sad because his team were clearly dominated by a team who have maybe 10 per cent of his budget." Mourinho's wild celebrations a fortnight later, when a draw at Old Trafford took Porto into the quarter-finals, were thought by some to be excessive.
For all his undeniable success, however, the fact remains that on Wednesday night the Arena AufSchalke witnessed a match devoid of poetry. His players functioned efficiently but nothing was added to the glittering heritage of Alfredo di Stefano, George Best, Johan Cruyff and Zinedine Zidane. The really big clubs will be kicking themselves over the chance they missed this season, their negligence in allowing a promising young manager to graduate with honours from this phase of his career and to put the final touch to his next job application.
The one man who is in no doubt of his ability to take the next step is, of course, Mourinho himself. "I know that football is not success season after season," he said. "I know that I'm going to have a bad season." Given a choice, however, next season would not be the one to pick.
Guardian Service
