In Orson Welles’ 1941 film Citizen Kane, the subject of the film, Charles Foster Kane, rises to fame and fortune through a media empire that utilizes yellow journalism. Yellow journalism is presently used most often to refer to unethical journalistic practices, but in Kane’s day, it was simply the emphasis of sensational, eye-catching headlines and the emphasis of shock value over quality journalism. This is a practice that many journalists and bloggers use, and not just unethical ones. An eye-catching headline is important, and there are certain names that a writer can use to catch a reader’s eye when writing about football.
Jose Mourinho, ‘The Special One,’ Is The Citizen Kane For A New Era
With an intellect, an ego and a mouth that dwarfs that of his peers, Jose Mourinho is football’s version of Charles Foster Kane.
Predictably, almost all of those names belong to players. However, there is one non-player whose name just as much to drive website hits and sell newspapers as any player. If you are reading this piece, there’s a very good chance that you are already aware that the only man with this status in the world of football is Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho is, simply, a cult of personality. His arrogant demeanor and fantastic press conferences, combined with his great results on the pitch, have turned him into a larger than life figure. While Mourinho is an incredibly tactically adept manager and an intelligent dealer in the transfer market, he is more renown for his mind games than anything else.
Upon his arrival at Chelsea FC from FC Porto in 2004, Mourinho told the media "Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one." He was dubbed 'The Special One' by the English media, and the moniker stuck. It even lead to a humorous parody of Mourinho, Special1TV, and a variety of similar parodies on BBC Radio and the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show, including this fantastic Jose Mourinho musical. Even Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello don't have this kind of notoriety.
Before Mourinho's Real Madrid side faced FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League semifinal, first leg last week, The Special One issued these comments regarding Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola and the result of the Copa Del Rey final, which Real won 1-0:
There is a big group, of whom I am one, who criticize the referees when they make huge errors. But it is also a group who are happy to highlight the good work of the referee.
And now, with the declaration of Pep the other day [that Pedro Rodriguez’s disallowed goal should have been allowed to stand], we are entering a new era with a third group, which for the moment includes only him, who criticise the correct decision of the referee.
I am not asking the referee to help my team. If the referee is good everyone will be happy - except Guardiola. He wants them to get it wrong. This is something I have never seen in the world of football.
To this, Guardiola responded by stating that he did not want to get into a war of words with Mourinho because he is the “f--king master” of the press conference. If that is the case, than The Special One has likely achieved one of his goals. He was once quoted as saying “When I go to the press conference before the game, in my mind the game has already started.” Football isn’t just about the players on the pitch for Mourinho; the game is just as much a psychological endeavor as it is a physical one.
Mourinho would be famous off the back of his results on the pitch by themselves, but he would not be a global icon without his fantastic press conferences and his stunning arrogance. He is firmly inside of Bill Simmons' Tyson Zone. He is, quite possibly, a bigger name in football than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, at this point. He might even be bigger than Real Madrid. He is Citizen Kane.
Much like Charles Foster Kane, Mourinho came from relatively humble beginnings. His father played professional football and transitioned into coaching, but his family was never wealthy. This does not perfectly mirror the story of Kane, whose family became wealthy through pure luck, but the basic concept is the same; Mourinho knows what it is like to not be privileged.
Though Mourinho spent years serving under icons like Sir Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal in addition to his first two short stints as a manager, his management career really began at Porto. Both Kane and Mourinho found major success with their first major professional endeavors, and as a result, both achieved massive fame and fortune in a short period of time. As Mourinho has gotten older and achieved even more professional success, his ego has seemed to grow exponentially, along with his resume. He even bought a stupidly awesome house in Portugal right after he got hired by Inter Milan, complete with all of the awesome things that arrogant rich people need. From The Spoiler:
In addition to stunning views, the new place has a swimming pool, tennis courts, marble floors and carefully selected antique furniture for his beloved pooch Gullit to make a mess of. The mansion also has a helipad, meaning trips into Milan that would take an hour or so by road can be completed in minutes.
It’s probably not nearly as outrageous as Xanadu or the real life home it’s based on, Hearst Castle, but Mourinho’s home doesn’t exactly scream “humble.” Seriously, marble floors and a helipad. Good lord.
By all accounts, Mourinho is not a womanizer with serious marital problems like Kane, but instead, a great family man. It’s unlikely this is a lie, but from watching Mourinho on the pitch and in press conferences, he doesn’t seem like a man who is satisfied with the way his life has gone, does he? It’s actually a bit surprising to read about the great family life of Mourinho, who has been married to his high school sweetheart for more than 20 years.
Mourinho comes off as a grumpy, often frustrated, though this may sound harsh, borderline amoral person. If someone wrote a profile of Mourinho depicting him as a sinister sociopath with no regard for the feelings of others and more mistresses than Tiger Woods, most people who do not know him personally would believe it. Whether or not it is intentional, this is the character that Mourinho plays on television.
Perhaps Mourinho is just all of the things it’s easy to love about Kane and none of the things that it’s easy to hate. Or, perhaps The Special One’s supposedly flawless personal life is just a charade. Maybe our modern day hero will read a tactics book on his death bed, recalling the events of his professional life. As he sees the light, he’ll drop the book on the floor and say “Robson...” in a dying whisper, remembering the last time in his life when he was truly happy.
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