
<p>Manchester City suffered a second half slump in their <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/champions-league-tv-schedule/">Champions League</a> trip to RB Leipzig on Wednesday. The reigning Premier League champions dominated the first half but could only muster a draw on the road. <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/inter-milan-tv-schedule/">Inter Milan</a>, on the other hand, grabbed a home win against Porto thanks to a late Romelu Lukaku goal.</p>



<h2>Leipzig fight back after lackluster first half</h2>



<p><a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/manchester-city-tv-schedule/">City</a> dominated the early stages of the game in Germany. The visitors had 80% possession and all of the shots in the opening 25 minutes. Riyad Mahrez then capitalized on the dominance with a goal in the 27th minute of the match.</p>



<p>Jack Grealish pounced on a loose ball deep into Leipzig teretory. The winger then played in Ilkay Gundogan, who slipped a clever pass to the goalscorer. Mahrez emphatically put the ball into the net from the top of the box. Janis Blaswich didn’t even move in the host’s goal.</p>



<p>Despite the first half dominance by City, Leipzig looked like a different team in the second. The hosts had six shots in the first 25 minutes of the second period, with the sixth landing in the back of City’s net. Marcel Halstenberg lofted a cross into the box and <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/josko-gvardiol-i-want-to-play-in-the-premier-league-7m9x5jhh9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Josko Gvardiol</a> headed the ball in for the equalizing goal. </p>



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<p>The draw means that the return match in Manchester will ultimately decide which club advances to the quarterfinals.</p>



<h2>Lukaku grabs late goal to win match</h2>



<p>Although not quite as commanding as City, Inter clearly had the upper hand in the first half an hour in their match. The Italians put Port under pressure quite a few times in the early stages. Lautaro Martinez sent a shot over the bar in the 13th minute and then Diogo Costa smartly saved a Hakan Calhanoglu shot five minutes later. The Portugal international also made a massive save just seconds from halftime on a shot by Alessandro Bastoni.</p>



<p>Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Inter keeper Andre Onana also displayed some incredible saves as well. The former Cameroon international made an amazing double save to keep the scoreline level in the 57th minute. Mehdi Taremi had a glorious chance to grab the lead for the visitors, but Onana made two stops from close range.</p>



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<p>Porto went down to 10 men in the 78th minute after Otavio received his second yellow card for a bad foul on Calhanoglu. The Portugal international attacker previously picked up a warning in the first half for not giving the ball back to Inter after Onana put the ball out of play on purpose.</p>



<p>With a man advantage, Inter finally broke the deadlock. Substitute Romelu Lukaku put his club ahead in the 86th minute. The Belgium first struck the post with a header and then put the rebound into the back of the net. It was Lukaku’s fourth goal of the season in all competitions.</p>



<p>Inter will now only need a draw in Portugal to move on to the Champions League quarterfinals.</p>



<p><em>Photo credit: Imago / Nicolo Campo</em></p>


With Inter, Porto, Leipzig and City all in action, the one star who stood out among the rest in the Champions League was Lukaku.

Inter beat Porto, Leipzig fight back for draw against Man City - World Soccer Talk

Inter beat Porto, Leipzig fight back for draw against Man City

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<figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-366147" src="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/fall-of-Jose-Mourinho.jpg" alt="fall of Jose Mourinho" width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/01/fall-of-Jose-Mourinho.jpg 1200w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/01/fall-of-Jose-Mourinho-300x200.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/01/fall-of-Jose-Mourinho-600x400.jpg 600w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/01/fall-of-Jose-Mourinho-150x100.jpg 150w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/01/fall-of-Jose-Mourinho-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure>
<p>The fall of Jose Mourinho is the concluding act seen in his performances at a number of clubs.</p>
<p>This season, AS Roma’s <a href="https://www.legaseriea.it/en/serie-a/league-table" target="_blank" rel="noopener">32 points through 21 games</a> represents its worst league start in over 40 years. Most recently, Roma threw away a two-goal lead, suffering a crushing loss to Juventus, 4-3.</p>
<p>The loss displayed the antiquity of manager Jose Mourinho’s style of sitting on leads. His of pragmatic management style fails to fit the game now like it did 10 to 15 years ago.</p>
<p>In the last 15 years, the sport fundamentally changed. Therefore, Mourinho’s stylistic preferences are less in vogue today than in the past. The same applies to his emphasis on one-off tactical setups suited to negate the opposition. The most successful sides in elite club football have a set style of play and consistent playing principles. These persist irrespective of the opposition at hand.</p>
<p>Mourinho burst on to the scene as one of the great managers at Porto, thriving at Chelsea then Inter Milan. He drew praise for his incredible motivational skills, tactical nous and ability to play the media. Essentially, he created favorable storylines for himself.</p>
<p>Of late, AS Roma fans criticize Mourinho’s man management skills. This is not the only thing holding back <i>I Giallorossi.</i> Mourinho’s failure to properly adjust his tactical game to modern football is also at issue. His relationship with the media also depleted in recent years.</p>
<p>Here is the fall of Jose Mourinho broken down piece by piece.</p>
<h3>The Fall of Jose Mourinho</h3>
<h5>Man Management</h5>
<p>Questions arose regarding Mourinho’s man-management at Real Madrid. However, it did not blow up until the fall of 2015. That year, Mourinho struggled at the helm of defending Premier League champions Chelsea. The season opened with a 1-1 draw against Swansea City. After the game, Mourinho openly criticized the club physio. He later lost the backing of the dressing room. In the end, he lost support from the board, and they sacked the “Special One” before Christmas that season.</p>
<p>Arriving at Manchester United months later, Mourinho’s tenure provided a mixed bag. On one hand, some performances showed brilliance. Deploying Ashley Young at wingback helped knock off eventual EPL champions Chelsea in 2017. Ironically, Young impressed Chelsea manager Antonio Conte so much that he sought out the defender to be part of Conte’s Scudetto-winning Inter Milan side in 2020/21. Also, the 2018 comeback at The Etihad prevented Manchester City from lifting the Premier League trophy that afternoon.</p>
<p>But, more often than not, Mourinho’s Manchester United failed to develop flowing chemistry. Mourinho’s management of stars like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku drew ire from those in and around the club. That being said, he pulled the best out of Jesse Lingard and allowed Marcus Rashford to develop into a true scoring threat as a teenager.</p>
<p>Still, the general consensus remained; Mourinho was having trouble with the modern superstar.</p>
<p>At Tottenham, <a href="https://amzn.to/3I2KUDn" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary</a> put Mourinho’s management style on full display. Mourinho often compared his squad to the likes of Manchester City or Liverpool, calling his players “soft” and “too nice”. Even in the sanitized form of a club-sanctioned documentary you, could clearly see a disconnect between Mourinho’s management style and the players.</p>
<p>Currently at AS Roma, Mourinho makes similar complaints about his players despite a monster budget. This indicates a manager whose ideal vision of a footballer doesn’t match that of what we commonly see in this era.</p>
<h5>Playing the Media</h5>
<p>Mourinho has had a penchant for playing the media to his own tune going back to his days at Porto. But, in recent years, that ability dissipated. Bad will ensued in England when in 2014. That year, Mourinho dubbed Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger “a specialist in failure.”</p>
<p>From that point forward, Mourinho faced a more critical British press.</p>
<p>The view of Mourinho on the continent was never quite like it was in Britain. By the time he arrived at Real Madrid, many top writers openly questioned the Portuguese. This trend intensified after a Mourinho rant implying a conspiracy that favored Barcelona in the spring of 2011.</p>
<p>Currently in Italy, the press shows a healthy skepticism toward Mourinho’s AS Roma side.</p>
<h5>Tactics</h5>
<p>As mentioned above, in on-off clashes like those referenced with Chelsea and Manchester City, Mourinho’s scouting and tactical nous can impact individual big matches in ways most managers’ tactics cannot. However, one trend in particular arose over the last five years or so. The most dominant European clubs dominate via a clear and consistent style of play and setup. Mourinho, generally speaking, prefers to mix things up. Although, particularly during the 2005-06 season at Chelsea, his sides did not deviate from certain playing principles within a 4-3-3 setup.</p>
<p>In general, Mourinho is a pragmatist. He sets up a team based on opposition and the players available to him. Historically, this makes for a strong management philosophy. Yet, few sports changed in terms play and management like top-level European competition in the last 15 years.</p>
<p>Critics long derided Mourinho’s tactics within a match as reactive and regressive. Again, that once worked. Sitting on 1-0 or 2-1 leads in the era before constant high-pressing and playing-out-of-the-back seemed like a reliable tactic.</p>
<p>The most recent Mourinho sides combined playing principles. Roma incorporate pressing and slow build-up play with traditional counter-attacking and defensive shape. Oftentimes, it just doesn’t work well. A mixture of tactical ideas and a random set of players don’t adjust well to such a setup.</p>
<h5>Mourinho’s legacy</h5>
<p>It seems very simplistic to say the game is passing Mourinho by. Similarly, it would be flawed analysis to not make that claim in some fashion. The bottom line is that the Special One is no longer seen as an elite manager by many. His current problems at AS Roma further the view that his best days of coaching are behind him.</p>
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<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/worldsoccertalk" title="World Soccer Talk Podcast" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener">World Soccer Talk Podcast</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/worldsoccertalk/a-chat-with-brent-maximin-about-jose-mourinho" title="A chat with Brent Maximin about Jose Mourinho" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener">A chat with Brent Maximin about Jose Mourinho</a></div>

The (not-so) inevitable fall of Jose Mourinho

The fall of Jose Mourinho is a trend persisting across his tenures at different clubs. Has timed passed the Special One by over the years?

The (not-so) inevitable fall of Jose Mourinho - World Soccer Talk

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The (not-so) inevitable fall of Jose Mourinho