The dust has barely settled. Not after yesterday’s game but after after yesterday’s game. The scenes at the Nou Camp were both awe-inspiring and ugly, depending on which side of the fence you’re watching from. Sometimes it was plain comical, if you were sitting on the said fence through the 100 minutes of madness. It didn’t help of course that the scenes took place at the Broadway of football with 90,000 Catalans simply not amused by what was going on. And yet the scenes unfolded, because the man who had made it happen is a man born for the stage.
A little bit of Italian to add variety to the blog now: Catennacio n. – To bolt the door. The style of play which caused total football to be created to counter it. That in itself, is the single greatest compliment it can get. 38 years later and the same system is used to keep out the most attacking football team in the world for 82 minutes, and keep them out of another goal for the remaining 8 to knock them out of a cup that they hold. The rest, as they say, will soon be history.
And behind all that history will be one man. Not the team which did it, which with 10 men, would’ve been hailed as heroes equivalent to the Spartans from 300. No, this game will purely be remembered for the return of the ‘Translator’, and his Tarantino-esque look of vengeance as he pointed to the 90000 people baying for his blood as if to say ‘Remember me now. Remember me as the man who knocked your beloved team out of its beloved competition. Remember what the translator did to you.’ It has been claimed on this very blog that Sergio Busquet’s ‘oh no he shot me’ act will take credit away from the Inter back six (surely you can’t call it a back four with a straight face). But single-handedly, in a mad minute of running across the massive Nou Camp pitch, Mourinho has taken all the attention away from even that. Because that’s the kind of man he is. That’s what he does. And that’s why he’ll never make it to United.
A minor digression to point out a couple of above-mentioned comical moments from the match as a neutral (simply because I couldn’t pick which team to hate more). Barcelona’s usage of the ‘protect my players’ rule is a little known aspect of their game, but if you’ve watched enough games of theirs, especially at Nou Camp, you’d see that they go to ground clutching their face at the slightest whisper of contact from the opposing player. Mourinho’s teams of course, are bound to. I mean, if he managed it at Chelsea, I’m sure he can manage with sneaky Italians. Maicon’s shoulder-barge into the advertising boards outside the field and then coming back on to the field to lie on the ground and start groaning was classic. As was Sneijder sliding across Pique on a rare Inter break and then stay down rolling in agony as the Barca man emerged with the ball. When Barca went on to get a corner from that move, all the Inter players surrounded the Barca front line angrily demanding why they hadn’t put the ball out for their stricken comrade. Are you friggin kidding me? End of digression.
Manchester United are a club built on massive, massive history. The manager’s been in charge about the same number of years as my age. Players have come and gone and not a single one has become bigger than the club. The few who threatened to were shipped off to the club where the players are encouraged to be bigger than the club, because apparently that’s their policy. The on going protests at the current ownership situation at the club is proof enough for that- the club comes first. In such a setting to import Mourinho and his ‘I come first’ policy seems to present a fundamental discord. However, it does seems a perfect match for the other club mentioned here. Though it’ll also be interesting to see between the players and the manager, who has the bigger ego.
Mourinho’s claims of being The Special One might well stand vindicated now, not only by yesterday’s triumph but his record of getting lesser known teams to their greatest heights. Sure his tactics are not the prettiest, but it’s legal and it’s football. But, does he truly deserve the tag of The Special One? I think not, and that’s simply because he’ll just never be adored by anyone. That’s how he wants it to be and fair play to him for that. But if you’re really good at what you do, you’d acknowledge it with a slight bit of humility towards all those who stand up and applaud you for it. Because unless they applaud, you’re nothing really. And the one man who’s done that for almost the same number of years as Fergie now (no, I was not going for Fergie),with the 1000-times burden of pressure on him than Mourinho and Fergie put together have seen and still managed to be in the good books of a Billion people and counting, shall remain forever, The Special One. S.R.T
The Real Special One
“I think not, and that’s simply because he’ll just never be adored by anyone.”
Cough, cough.
Hah. As Clive Tyldesley put it yesterday, “His most favorite match is him vs. the rest of the world.”
But you make a good point. United have always put club before everything. Mourinho might adhere to that philosophy, but he’d stop being Mourinho then.
Whattaayy surprising turn this article took. Sachin kku consolation prize for losing to CSK eh
And, good point. Then Mourinho should go to Real, obly. Which will be very interesting, especially after this.
putting tendulkar and jose in one picture? shows ur biasedness….. tendulkar is a superstar of a very small sport cricket!
@moscow delight :
He’s not comparing the sports. He’s comparing the performance under pressure and the reaction of the crowd to them.
@moscow delight :
He’s not comparing the sports. He’s comparing the performance under pressure and the reaction of the crowd to them. A billion people’s respect for a small sport. quite an achievement, don’t you think?
Hey Duck…much as I like the article and support ManU, I’m not sure if Fergie ever came under the scope of the “not greater than club” argument. While he has had his fair share of anti-ref and anti player rants, somehow his name survived being brought into such a debate. At the same time, how often have people wondered (whether reasonably or not) how the club will do in Fergie’s absence ?
Fergie’s time at the club has been characterised by the player never being bigger than the club. But never has the “manager bigger than club” debate cropped up. For all you know, if by some twisted fate, Mourinho ended up at OT, it could yet again be a case of manager preventing players from growing bigger than the club while he could continue to take the heat/glory like he always does….
aiyyo, whatte feel article.
Anyaya twist end.