Crystal Ball Gazing: Mourinho for England?

I’m sure mostly upturned noses and sardonic scowls would greet the thought of Mourinho one day managing the England national team. In fact, if anyone were to ask him that today, he himself most probably would dismiss this possibility and restate that he’s focussed on the Chelsea job. But, I just have this feeling that after club football, the man would like a challenge with a national team and he won’t be looking beyond Portugal or England.

Mourinho strikes me as a very ambitious man who would want to climb to the highest in his chosen field. He knows he’s already a great coach, but he would still want to test himself with a different kind of challenge after club football. The mere fact that no manager in the history of the game has had the twin success of club and international football is a challenge he would relish. When he continues to ask the English press why they think the English national team is not doing as well as they should, I just get the feeling that he’s already began to work on that as a possible next stage in his career.

Now, one thing I know is that Mourinho is in Chelsea for the long-term. He has the confidence of everyone there and I’m sure they wouldn’t hesitate to renew his contract before this initial one of three years runs out. But Mourinho is a restless spirit; if he leaves Chelsea, it would not likely be because he is sacked, but because he needs some other challenge, especially if he’s taken Chelsea as far as he thinks he can by then. Abramovich’s money may be attractive, but Mourinho fancies the idea of making history more.

So, supposing England’s Germany World Cup outing ends poorly; would anyone still want Eriksson around? Not likely. And that is where the Mourinho attraction for England will become strong. So far, watchers of the English game are impressed by the way he’s sustained the development of Terry and Lampard and how he has finally nailed down the otherwise elusive talents of Joe Cole, turning him into a disciplined player without taking away his flair. These are the boys that will be the mainstay of the England national team for sometime and they all owe something to Mourinho.

It is instructive that when Wenger fielded a team without an Englishman recently sparking a debate on foreign players and how they’re affecting the development of English talents, Mourinho’s response was simple — he owes the national game the responsibility of developing English talents and he would never field a Chelsea team without an Englishman.

It is against this background therefore we must begin to analyse the transfer rumours in relation to Chelsea. By this morning, the news is that Chelsea have already sewn up a deal for Wright-Phillips. Mourinho’s admiration for Gerrard isn’t in doubt and few would bet against the chap being a Chelsea player next season. He’s understood to be looking at Michael Owen and his misadventure in search of an English left-back brought upon him the Ashley Cole troubles.

When I put these things together, I see a man trying to prove a point here in England. He’s intent on developing English talents or making the good ones world class and letting them go out there to prove this in the national team. While he’s doing this, he would use them as a core to build a dominant Chelsea team in world club football. But a few years down the line, anything can happen. He may decide he’s had enough of club football and decide to try his skills on the international stage. A failed England will jump at the chance of having him if the players then at the core of the team are players he’s groomed.

Mourinho may have a secret agenda of capturing English hearts! But while he’s with us at Chelsea, we will enjoy every minute of it, with all the success his presence portends.

Now, don’t take me seriously, it’s the rambler in me on the loose.

by Kenn Emetulu

Related links:

• Why Eriksson owes so much to the manager from another planet
• Mourinho’s decade target