He was appointed boss of Serie A club Roma in a blaze of publicity last May.
Just a few weeks after being sacked from Spurs for justifiably speaking out – and days before their first final in years which he had guided them to – Jose Mourinho wasted little time in returning to football management.
In the meantime, Spurs owner Daniel Levy was made to pay for his folly and has only just regained some credibility with a third boss in 12 months finally securing some respectability in North London (a top four finish and Champions League football next season).
But how did Mourinho fare after the whole episode?
Well, not too bad if you consider everything, given his maiden season back in the Italian top flight – a decade after he was deemed a ‘God’ in Milan for his achievements at Inter – ended in more silverware as his team held off a spirited comeback from Dutch side Feyenoord, who were twice denied by the woodwork, to ensure Mourinho became the first manager to win a European trophy with four different clubs.
Take note of the wise words of experienced UK sports writer Oliver Holt though.
‘It was hard not to feel pleased for him when emotion overcame him in the wake of Roma’s victory over Feyenoord in the final of the Europa Conference League in Tirana last week. Tears come to him readily on the touchline these days.
‘What I don’t quite understand is the rush to use the triumph in this particular competition as evidence Mourinho is still the world’s leading manager. It’s bizarre.
‘Roma beat Vitesse Arnhem, Bodo/Glimt and Leicester in a bad year on the way to the final. That’s all. Ten years ago, Mourinho would have been embarrassed by winning the Europa Conference League.’
Every word rings true really.
For the competition, set up this year to grant more clubs access to European football, really is the poor relation of football’s trophies and is anything but prestigious.
It has little kudos and, only if this triumph sparks improvement and tangible success for the club from the capital in the years to come, will it be considered a worthwhile launchpad.
Remember, there were few Serie A highlights for Roma in 2021-22 as their two draws against Napoli were as good as it got in clashes with the league’s big boys where they lost every other encounter – the home defeat to Juventus a particularly low moment.
On that occasion, they were leading 3-1 with 20 minutes remaining – and seven minutes later were 4-3 down. Their misery was compounded by Lorenzo Pellegrini’s late penalty miss.
However, the club from the Eternal City now have something to build on and it will be interesting to see where they are placed among the SBOTOP Serie A betting odds when next season arrives.
They were certainly deemed back and ready at the start of this campaign but what followed wasn’t quite what some optimists had hoped.
Indeed, Roma’s entire campaign has been one of inconsistency: never losing more than two matches in a row and, only on two occasions, winning three consecutive games.
The way the season panned out, with Roma’s best league form coming during the period where there was no European football, can justify Mourinho’s claim that, despite spending more than €100 million in the summer, his team lacks depth.
Yet with another summer of spending in that ballpark, expectations will grow for a club which was Champions League regulars throughout the 2000s and 2010s but has now been missing from the competition since 2019.
The biggest credit for Mourinho in a season in which he gained just one more point than his predecessor Paulo Fonseca, was the form of the man he signed from former club Chelsea.
Swapping Stamford Bridge for the Stadio Olimpico, Tammy Abraham’s €40 million transfer made quite the impression as he became the first English player in 30 years to bag more than 10 goals in a single Serie A campaign.
In total, netting 24 goals and five assists in 51 appearances across all competitions, Abraham also elevated his game as a complete all-around striker, going above and beyond to help the Roma cause.
While the club’s recent history of star retention makes it difficult to project how lengthy his tenure will be, there is no denying Abraham’s status as one of the top strikers going in Italy under Mourinho’s supervision.
For the moment then, Roma players and fans will enjoy the summer after securing their first continental title since success in the former Fairs Cup in 1961. The real tests, however, are only just beginning.
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