Mourinho's pervasive patterns led to predictable outcome
LONDON --
The third season, the great Hungarian coach Bela Guttmann coach once said, is fatal. In terms of personality, there's probably no coach in the modern game quite so similar to Guttmann as Jose Mourinho and, indeed, for him the third season has always been when it's gone wrong. This is only the third time Mourinho made it through to a third year with a club and, for all the promises he made when he arrived that he was more relaxed, and that he wanted to build a dynasty, the same pattern has repeated itself.
Ex-England manager Fabio Capello suggested last month that Mourinho drains players emotionally, that they can't take him for more than 18 months. Perhaps that is again what's happened. After the team doctor Eva Carneiro was forced out of the club in August, whispers began to leak out of the normally hermetic Stamford Bridge. Players were said to be unhappy not merely at her departure -- it's often the case that doctor and physios become confidantes for players -- but also at Mourinho's antics after Diego Costa had been banned for his stamp on Emre Can at the end of January. The end of last season was marked by a string of lackluster performances that at the time where put down to physical fatigue. In retrospect, perhaps it was more down to emotional exhaustion.
It appears that Guus Hiddink will be appointed as interim manager, and in a sense he's the obvious solution. The 69-year-old is a highly respected elder statesman who has been here before. Hiddink did a fine job stepping in as a caretaker at Chelsea following the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2009, leading the club to the FA Cup. A poor stint as national manager of the Netherlands suggested his powers are perhaps fading, but he's a laid-back figure who should be able to soothe ruffled egos in the squad.
Because of his age there'll be no expectation that he might take over on a long-term basis, leaving Chelsea to pursue its major targets, who would appear to be Diego Simeone, Josep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti. That adds to the expectation surrounding Guardiola's decision on whether he is going to extend his contract at Bayern Munich, which is expected early next week.
The German magazine Kicker, though, has reported that Guardiola has already informed the club he plans to leave when his contract expires next summer, with Manchester City his probable destination. Chelsea may try to derail that, and Manchester United is also understood to be interested. Ancelotti has already emerged as the favorite for the Bayern job and may anyway not fancy a return to the club that offloaded him in 2011, the season after he'd won the double. That leaves Simeone, who has performed minor miracles on a limited budget at Atletico, as the most likely long-term answer at Stamford Bridge -- and his style of football is perhaps the most natural fit for Chelsea and the squad Mourinho has left.
But where next for Mourinho? The perception now is increasingly that he cannot be trusted for long-term projects, and Ferran Soriano, Manchester City's CEO, made clear in his book "Goal: The Ball Doesn't Go in By Chance" that Barcelona turned to Guardiola rather than Mourinho in 2008 because of the sense that Mourinho, although he has had success everywhere he has been, also brings turmoil.
Perhaps Paris Saint-Germain, still trying to make a real impact in the UEFA Champions league, might turn to him, although it is arguably having its best season under Laurent Banc. But the more intriguing option is Manchester United.
Last week United briefed that it was more than happy with Louis van Gaal's performance (United is just four points off the top of the table) but the staid football on display has led to discontent at Old Trafford. That message was interpreted in some quarters as an admission it had missed out on Guardiola; if Mourinho were available -- as it's no secret he wanted the job when Sir Alex Ferguson retired -- perhaps van Gaal's position is not as safe has been made out.
None of that affects Hiddink. His job is to lift Chelsea away from the relegation zone -- it lies two places and one point above the drop zone -- and, if possible, look to close the 14-point gap to the top four and get Chelsea into the Champions League. If the club's form has recovered by February, it may even end up being like 2011-12 when Roberto Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas and, able to focus on the Champions League, went on to win the competition.
Hiddink's task -- or whoever assumes the leadership role at Stamford Bridge for the next six months -- is simply to get players who had turned against Mourinho back and focused on playing for the club.
