Mourinho at Porto vs Amorim at Sporting: How do they evaluate?

For one week in 2018, Jose Mourinho had a second shadow.

Hovering behind each transfer made by the then-Manchester United supervisor was a freshly retired Portuguese midfielder learning for his teaching badges by the identify of Ruben Amorim. The connection between these compatriots has come full circle following Amorim’s appointment as United’s newest head coach.

Very similar to Mourinho, who established himself as Europe’s most promising younger supervisor because of a trophy-laden spell at Porto within the early 2000s, Amorim wooed United with a staggering array of accolades at Sporting CP.

Mourinho left Portugal for Chelsea within the Premier League, swiftly ending the membership’s lengthy look forward to a Premier League title as the primary managerial appointment of the membership’s new possession. As Amorim makes an attempt to copy the identical feat for INEOS at United, here is how his Sporting compares to Mourinho’s Porto.

“There are many poets in soccer,” Mourinho as soon as mentioned, “however poets do not win titles.” Amorim – who was dubbed “the poet” by Cristiano Ronaldo throughout their shared time within the Portuguese nationwide crew – would disagree.

The most recent Portuguese teaching phenom has led Sporting to a pair of top-flight crowns throughout his 4 full seasons in Lisbon. Earlier than overseeing final time period’s title, Amorim steered Sporting to the 2020/21 trophy, ending the membership’s 19-year look forward to nationwide glory. By the way, Sporting’s earlier triumph (2001/02) got here throughout Mourinho’s first marketing campaign on the helm of Porto.

20 years in the past, the Portuguese giants had been pressured to show to a 39-year-old former translator who had overseen simply 34 skilled matches after slumping to fifth place on the midway stage of the season. Mourinho managed to salvage a top-three end however that also represented the membership’s lowest league place in 20 years. They’d win the league title in every of his two full seasons.

Amorim’s Sporting boast remarkably comparable statistics to Mourinho’s nice aspect, even when they had been pipped to the title in 2022 and 2023. Between Amorim’s arrival in Lisbon and his appointment at United, Sporting’s 77% win fee represented the very best of any crew in any of Europe’s high ten leagues.

“We will do some good issues,” Mourinho mentioned forward of Porto’s first season within the Champions League. “However I do not suppose we are able to win it. Solely the sharks who can afford to spend £40m on one participant can do this.”

That monetary disparity has solely widened over the following twenty years, which helps clarify why Amorim’s Sporting by no means made it past the quarter-finals of a UEFA competitors throughout his tenure. That is to not say that they have not claimed some notable scalps, memorably beating Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, however Amorim can’t come near Mourinho’s European pedigree.

Main Porto to the 2003 UEFA Cup was spectacular sufficient – even when the ultimate conquer Celtic was a gruelling affair – however that lofty crown pales compared to the unthinkable achievement of Champions League glory one yr later.

Ditching his 4-3-3 for a extra compact 4-3-1-2 for the continental clashes, Mourinho’s aspect misplaced only one recreation en path to the final Champions League title for a membership exterior Europe’s high 5 leagues. That sole reverse got here away to Actual Madrid’s Galacticos in a group-stage marketing campaign which concluded with a draw at house to the Spanish giants.

Porto then knocked Manchester United out of the final 16. After a 2-1 win in Portugal, Mourinho’s aspect snatched victory within the tie with Costinha’s Ninetieth-minute strike at Previous Trafford, which the enthusiastic younger coach infamously celebrated by tearing down the touchline. Lyon, Deportivo La Coruna and eventually Monaco would topple as Mourinho outwitted Europe’s sharks.

Earlier than embarking upon his teaching profession, Amorim informed Tribuna Expresso in November 2017: “I like [Pep] Guardiola, however for me, the position mannequin is Mr Mourinho.”

Whereas Mourinho finally developed into the anti-Guardiola, conceding possession and mastering the artwork of defending deep earlier than putting on the counter, he had not gone via his intentionally villainous arc when taking up Porto.

Upon his appointment in 2002, Mourinho declared: “I promise that I intend to play on the assault.” The youthful coach, but to be scarred by Barcelona’s resolution to rent Guardiola as an alternative of him in 2008, added that this model would “by no means embody a defensive method of enjoying”.

Amorim is way extra pragmatic than the younger Mourinho. Solely keen for his aspect to huddle in a compact 5-4-1 block off the ball, Sporting conceded the fewest pictures of any crew in final season’s Portuguese high flight. Amorim’s brilliantly drilled outfit can spring ahead in transition or dominate possession. Mourinho, by comparability, was an enormous advocate of conserving the ball at Porto.

The previous Barcelona assistant coach spoke about “resting with the ball” and deliberating conserving “possession for possession’s sake” throughout his time in Portugal. This represents a dramatic shift in philosophy in comparison with his time at Actual Madrid, when considered one of Mourinho’s guidelines learn: “Whoever has the ball has concern.”

This obsession with possession represented a method for Mourinho’s sides to get their breath again after haring across the remaining third in an aggressive press. This can be a trait shared by Amorim’s sides, however trying past the particular particulars, his wider method to match preparation is clearly taken straight out of the Mourinho playbook.

As Amorim has defined previously, he admires how Mourinho “analyses the opponents very effectively and units his crew up, not simply with a sure model of play however considering quite a bit about adapt to win”. That’s one other behavior the pair share: profitable.

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