Beyond The Score

“What is ambition? My house is in London. To have a London club, to fight to be sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, make a miracle and qualify for the Europa League? Is that ambition? I love Italy. To have a team where you have to make a miracle to win a European competition and you stay fifth, sixth, seventh, is that ambition? To be in Portugal, to be at home, visit my mum every day, is that ambition? Ambition is to play to win, to feel the pressure you have to win every match to be champion. This is the reality of Fenerbahce. It means I’m not in my comfort zone. The project had an impact on me… now it’s my time to have an impact on the project.”

Slagging off his former teams, defending his record at previous jobs, boasting about his ambition. Prime Jose Mourinho. Just months after being relieved of his duties at Roma, he is back in the hot seat to take the reigns of Turkish giants Fenerbahçe to try to win their first title since Ersun Yanal’s side in 2013/14.

It’s an eye-opening move that perhaps reveals how far his stock has fallen since his prime days when he took Porto to UEFA Cup and Champions League glory before building the most efficient defensive side the Premier League has ever seen. In the 2004/05 season, his Chelsea side conceded just fifteen league goals across a whole season, eclipsing the 17 goals that stood as the record previously thanks to Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side.

Whether you view it as positive or negative essentially comes down to your perception. The former Chelsea boss could have accepted a post in the MLS or Saudi for the paycheck. Instead, he has gone to the league home to arguably the most passionate fans in the world (even if a little crazy).

Besides, his record at Roma wasn’t to be scoffed at. A side stuck in a cycle of mediocrity before he stepped foot in the door would lift their first piece of silverware as they beat Feyenoord in the inaugural Conference League campaign. Plus, they reached a Europa League final the following season when they could only be stopped by the competition specialists Sevilla over penalties.

Despite ending rather dully, he still had the hearts of the Roma faithful, as videos of himself and fans sharing an emotional cry as he packed his bags went viral.

How it all happened

The “special one” wasn’t out for long. After accepting his role as Fenerbahçe’s head coach, he walked out to 30,000 fans with his personal walkout music blaring through the speakers. He was greeted with a flurry of passion, screaming and waving scarves. This was different. This was more than football. This was two crazy entities coming together to a crescendo, creating a moment of beautiful madness.

Onlookers could’ve mistaken it for a scene in medieval times of a leader preparing his nation for battle. No, this was football.

In many ways, it’s a match made in heaven. A league with incredible passion, that spills into controversy and conspiracy all too often, it’s a metaphor of Mourinho. He eluded to the culture saying “That culture (of Fenerbahce) makes it fun. It’s for the president, the directors, the board to be stable and to be balanced, but not the fans. They have to be crazy. They have to be demanding, to put pressure on us. That passion is part of my motivation.”

The fact he is even their manager in the first place speaks to the conventional formalities that the league ignores. Let’s not forget that this side reached ninety-nine points last season before giving Jorge Jesus the boot. They are not easily satisfied.

Transfer dealings

Yet, they have plowed ahead on the transfer front, wasting no time to provide their new boss with all the armour needed. Michy Batshuayi has been the only major departure meanwhile loan spells last season for Soyuncu and Krunic have become permanent with deals negotiated from Atletico Madrid and AC Milan. Cenk Tosun has also joined as well as Youssef-En Nesryi for £19.5 million from Sevilla. Former Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximan decided to get in on the action as well, as he joined the Yellow Canaries on loan from Al Ahli.

It’s a squad bursting with talent and potential but is also quite unorganised. It portrays a FIFA Career Mode when you buy as much quality as possible and worry about fitting the jigsaw together and keeping everyone content later.

On a bigger scale, we saw PSG execute something similar. In a bid to finally win their first Champions League, PSG brought Lionel Messi, Nuno Mended, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi, Danilo Pereira and Sergio Ramos all in one window. Shock horror, they failed to gel and were knocked out by Manchester City in the round of 16.

Victory over Lugano

Last night’s clash with Lugano was in sync with everything about the appointment, utter chaos. A four-three win away from home, hundreds of miles from Lugano’s official home stadium, played on a poorly kept plastic park, it had all the ingredients for a classic.

Lugano burst into an early lead when Ayman El Wafi was unmarked in the box and able to head home. Fenerbahçe responded with an Eden Dzeko penalty just on the stroke of halftime. The second half saw the clash burst into life. Mourinho’s side began to play some free-flowing stuff, their second goal being a thing of beauty. Osayi-Samuel linked up well with Tadic before the perfectly timed run of Dzeko arrived, ready to slam the ball into the back of the net.

It was a back-and-forth clash till the end with the score finishing 4-3 and the Turkish side holding the advantage returning to the Surku Saracoglu. Perhaps it’s not what you would associate with a typical Mourinho side but we did see something similar in his tenure at Roma. The Italians started as one of the Serie A’s most expansive and exciting teams before gradually adopting a more stereotypical blueprint.

What to expect

How will this turn out in the long run? Does he have his eye on another job down the line?

The general feeling is that this will be a short-term stint either way. He will excel for a year and move on or step down if they fail to end the eleven-season trophy drought.

Whatever the outcome you can guarantee one thing, it will be typically box office.