When Leicester City managed to surprise the English Premiere League, Montpellier who had emerged as an unexpected champion in the French League, and Wolfsburg who were blindly able to ravage the Bundesliga, FC Porto was here as a team that managed to shake up Europe’s highest competition. It’s not a coincidence, because indeed, FC Porto comes with all the preparations that not everyone understands.
For the success achieved by the Portuguese club in the European Champions League competition, they should be grateful to the genius figure with Jose Mourinho. Thanks to him, Porto, which previously was a team that had difficulty winning a title, turned into one of the best forces that had ever stunned everyone.
Before carving an extraordinary story with FC Porto, Jose Mourinho was not a flashy man in the world of football. Previously, he was just an interpreter who worked for coach Sir Bobby Robson when he handled FC Porto from 1994 to 1996. He then followed the coach’s footsteps to FC Barcelona and met many other amazing figures. The experience gained then pushed Jose Mourinho to become a football coach.
As a thinking man, Jose Mourinho does not carelessly carry out his duties on the sidelines. He, who has never been involved in the world of football as a player, continues to refine knowledge from coach Sir Bobby Robson. What not many people know, Mourinho also learned from a professor from Lisbon named Manuel Sergio, who taught that football is closely related to psychology, public speaking and science.
Apart from that, he also learned from a man named Vitor Frade who is a sports scientist. From this figure, Mourinho learned about the concept of periodization. Periodization itself is a training plan that is arranged in such a way that peak conditions or peak performance can be achieved at a predetermined time. This peak condition can be achieved by manipulating the volume and intensity of the exercise.
Players who utilize the concept of periodization in their training process will get peak performance at the right time, achieve optimal training effects, and undergo a more objective training process. Understanding the psychological and mental importance of a player, the role of science in football, as well as clear concepts and objectives such as periodization, it is not a surprise that in the end Jose Mourinho can become the ruler of Europe with a squad worth 150 million euros, and only spends no more from 10 million euros to bring in new players.
Describing Jose Mourinho’s golden journey at FC Porto at that time, a football analyst from Portugal, Tiago Estevao, said the coach really deserved sky-high praise. “He managed to manage players who were past their golden age, and combine them with young players. It was a very difficult job and Mourinho succeeded in revolutionizing it all.”
Although currently known as a coach who has spent a lot of money to buy players, Jose Mourinho was a simple figure when he handled FC Porto. The club can’t afford to give him big money. However, he managed to turn that disadvantage into an advantage.
Come in January 2002, FC Porto at that time was fifth in the league. However, when Mourinho started to handle the club, Porto immediately sat in third place with a collection of 11 wins from a total of 15 matches undertaken. Then when he served as coach for a full season, Mourinho managed to present the league title, league cup, Portuguese super cup and European league.
The title was won with names like Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Deco and Costinha. In the 2002/03 season, Jose Mourinho, who had inherited a gem squad at FC Porto, only needed a little money to perfect the squad. At that time, he brought Derlei and Nuno Valente from the Leire club, Maniche who was brought in for free, Ferreira who was brought in at a cost of 1.8 million pounds, and Jorge Costa who was returned from his loan spell at Charlton.
These names made him successful in stealing the Europa League title by getting rid of great teams like Lyon, Panathinaikos and Lazio. Arriving in the final, the underestimated Porto managed to beat Celtic, the team that was captained by a top manager, Martin O’Neill.
A season ago, or right in 2003/04, Jose Mourinho has perfected the team again in a number of areas. He bought a number of players where the funds obtained from the sale of Helder Postiga to Spurs amounted to 9 million euros, being the biggest source. At that time, Mourinho chose to bring in Benni McCarthy, Carlos Alberto and Jose Bosingwa. In total, this group of players only spent 9.45 million euros.
In that season, FC Porto was included in the squad with a small transfer value, considering that the favorite European champions like Real Madrid had to spend 37 million euros just to bring in David Beckham. Then there is Manchester United, which had to spend more than 50 million euros to hook Cristiano Ronaldo, Kleberson, Tim Howard, and many more.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, recently acquired by Roman Abramovich, also spent 150 million euros to improve the overall squad, which was the biggest in the summer of 2003. The purchase of Jose Mourinho, which did not reach 10 million euros, was also very telling. Jose Bosingwa, who was brought in as a young player from Celta Vigo, successfully became one of Mourinho’s best pillars in winning the European Champions League title. Meanwhile, Benni McCarthy successfully won the golden boot after scoring two goals against Manchester United in the round of 16.
Yes, in that season, FC Porto managed to frustrate Manchester United which was inhabited by a number of legendary names coached by Sir Alex Ferguson. That was arguably the start of their success in the 2003/04 European Champions League competition, after in the group phase they finished runners-up in Group F under Real Madrid.
Successfully thrashing Manchester United’s resistance, FC Porto then defeated French giants, Lyon, with an aggregate score of 4-2. In the semifinals, they were also able to beat Deportivo La Coruna’s dramatic journey with a final score of 1-0.
In the final round, without any significant difficulties, Jose Mourinho was able to bring FC Porto to beat Didier Deschamps’ AS Monaco with a landslide score of 3-0.
Using a diamond 4-4-2 game scheme, Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto relies heavily on a solid defensive line. The Portuguese coach will instruct his team to immediately counterattack when there is even the slightest gap from the opposing team.
In the goalkeeper position, Vitor Baia, who was then 35 years old, managed to be transformed into an important figure in most matches. In defense, there are the names Ricardo Carvalho and Jorge Costa, who show perfect cooperation. Jorge Costa is a formidable figure who often tackles opponents. He is good at ball recovery and often becomes the starting point for FC Porto’s counterattacks.
Meanwhile Ricardo Carvalho is often referred to as one of the best Portuguese defenders of all time. He has the interesting ability of being good at controlling the ball, making the right decisions when making tackles, and often sending long balls to the front line.
FC Porto’s back line was also enhanced by the role of two Mourinho-trained fullbacks, namely Nuno Valente and Paulo Ferreira. These two figures are often the start of FC Porto’s attacks from the side of the field. Mourinho himself often instructs Nuno Valente to go up to help attack considering he has a pretty good offensive character.
Meanwhile, Paulo Ferreira, who is more solid in defense, is more often behind to help thwart opponent attacks. In the middle of the field, Mourinho was cleverly able to combine the abilities of three mainstay players, such as Costinha, Pedro Mendes, and also Maniche. The three players managed to balance the team and connect the lines. With the advantages of each player, FC Porto often looks neat in making transitions both in attack and when defending.
The ball, which is often sent forward from the role of the central midfielders, will usually land first at the feet of their best and creative midfielder, Deco de Souza. When the ball is at Deco’s feet, FC Porto’s attack will be richer. He can dribble alone or shoot from outside the opponent’s penalty box if needed.
Then when the situation requires him to provide a pass, then the two attackers who are usually occupied alternately by Derlei, Carlos Alberto, or Benni McCarthy, will not hesitate to immediately break into the opponent’s goal.
Seeing the fact that FC Porto has become the last surprise in the European Champions League competition so far, Jose Mourinho’s name deserves to be called “the special one”. The coach who is now in charge of AS Roma is not only good at concocting tactics, but also finding the best talent.
When he has succeeded in getting the player he wants, he will become the most highlighted figure when the player is experiencing rapid development.
ASL
