Skip to main content
ข่าว
การย้ายทีม

The good, the bad, and the José

The good, the bad, and the José

แชร์

It’s been just over a year since José Mourinho landed in Türkiye and as many predicted, including us – here, it has been absolutely mental. He’s fallen out with players, had bust ups with refs, and overall, cut a miserable figure. Classic José.

By Alex Roberts

To understand Mourinho is to understand a man out of time. He is no longer the young, charismatic manager that walked through the doors at Stamford Bridge, and he can no longer demand the things he used to of his players.

He was brought in to instil a winning mentality at Fenerbahçe, as usual, he would be there for a good time not a long time. By the time of his appointment, Fenerbahçe hadn’t won a title for ten years, of course, now it’s 11, sorry for the spoiler.

Fener finished second in the Süper Lig, 2024/25

As he always does, José demanding significant business be done in the summer transfer window. Youssef En-Nesyri was their biggest deal, coming in from Sevilla for a reported fee of €19.5 million.

Defensive reinforcements in the form of Diego Carlos and Çağlar Söyüncü were signed permanently, while Sofyan Amrabat, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Filip Kostić all joined on loan. When all was said and done, 13 players came in.

Right off the bat he was being a menace. Around 20 minutes into his first Süper Lig game he found himself getting on the wrong side of the referee, receiving a yellow card for, you guessed it, arguing with the match officials.

Four wins and one draw from his first five league games was an impressive start but he was still miserable. Incessantly moaning to the officials on the pitch and in press conferences came to a head after their 3-1 defeat to Galatasaray in his first game against them as Fenerbahçe boss.

For his comments after that game, whoever is in charge of Galatasaray’s social media department decided to hit back, sharing an image of a book with José crying on the cover, titled ‘The Crying One’ in reference to his self-appointed ‘Special One’ nickname.

Unmoved, he was back up to his old tricks in their next game against Antalyaspor. Frustrated with the ref’s decision to rule out Edin Džeko’s 76th minute strike, he decided to stage a little protest, José style.

He placed a laptop in front of one of the TV cameras, displaying a still image of the build-up, presenting evidence like a defence lawyer to a jury. The judge (referee) objected, however, and he received a booking.

Two games later, José came up against his old club, Man United, in their third Europa League game of the season, the competition he won with the Red Devils all the way back in 2016-17.

Domestically United were struggling but on the continent, they were looking pretty good. Erik ten Hag’s side took the lead through Christian Eriksen on the 15th minute before En-Nesyri scored the equaliser just after the break.

Shortly after, Fenerbahçe were adamant they deserved a penalty when Manuel Ugarte collided with Bright Osayi-Samuel. Mourinho agreed and was sent to the stands for his furious reaction. 

He later offered a sarcastic round of applause for the match official, praising his “incredible” talent for simultaneously keeping an eye on both the game and his own touchline behavior.

Mourinho is famous for fostering an ‘us against the world’ mindset amongst his players, invoking the ominous ‘they’ to keep them on side and get them to fight for each other as soon as they step out on to the pitch.

The most obvious way he does this is through his pressers. In early November, he picked up a one-game ban for insinuating the powers that be in the Turkish football federation and the Süper Lig were conspiring against him.

“I blame the Fenerbahçe people that brought me here. They told me only half of the truth. They didn’t tell me the whole truth because if they told me the whole truth, I wouldn’t come. But, with half of the truth and my boys, we fight opponents and the system.” He said after their 3-2 win over Trabzonspor.

Fast forward to February of 2025, José and his lads would face off against Galatasaray again. If you couldn’t tell by now, he hadn’t been too happy with the level of officiating since getting to Türkiye, so he requested a foreign ref come in for this one.

For some reason, Galatasaray and the Turkish FA indulged him and Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić took charge. The game ended 0-0 but it wasn’t until after the game it really kicked off, with José at the centre of the drama.

Fener’s goal stats, Süper Lig 2024/25

In his post-match press conference, José, once again, heavily criticised the standard of Turkish referees, telling reporters that the Galatasaray bench had been “jumping around like monkeys” referring to their reaction following an incident in the first half.

Things got a little heavy after that. Galatasaray took that comment as a racist remark, releasing a statement that said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against José, to which Fenerbahçe responded by saying the comment had been “deliberately taken entirely out of context and distorted in a misleading manner.”

Several of his former players came out to defend him, most notably former Chelsea and Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and nothing came of the accusation.

As the dust settle, he was soon back at it. While fielding a question following their shock 3-1 Europa League defeat to Rangers, that lasted over 50 seconds, he lost interest and pretended to fall asleep, fake snoring and everything. To be fair, that’s far too long for one question, take note future journos.

Working with José isn’t easy. former Fenerbahçe star, Elvir Baljic, claimed that a large majority (90%) of the players at the club do not want Mourinho to stay, Players like Fred and Anderson Talisca are reportedly unhappy with the team’s tactical approach, and there was a “mutiny” in the last game of the season when Edin Džeko and Dušan Tadić refusing to play.

Now, it would seem he’s fallen out with Saint-Maximin. As of writing this, he is still the Fenerbahçe manager, but that could change at any given moment, you never really know with him. Never change, José. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Süper Lig with FotMob next season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

The good, the bad, and the José

It’s been just over a year since José Mourinho landed in Türkiye and as many predicted, including us – here, it has been absolutely mental. He’s fallen out with players, had bust ups with refs, and overall, cut a miserable figure. Classic José.

By Alex Roberts

To understand Mourinho is to understand a man out of time. He is no longer the young, charismatic manager that walked through the doors at Stamford Bridge, and he can no longer demand the things he used to of his players.

He was brought in to instil a winning mentality at Fenerbahçe, as usual, he would be there for a good time not a long time. By the time of his appointment, Fenerbahçe hadn’t won a title for ten years, of course, now it’s 11, sorry for the spoiler.

Fener finished second in the Süper Lig, 2024/25

As he always does, José demanding significant business be done in the summer transfer window. Youssef En-Nesyri was their biggest deal, coming in from Sevilla for a reported fee of €19.5 million.

Defensive reinforcements in the form of Diego Carlos and Çağlar Söyüncü were signed permanently, while Sofyan Amrabat, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Filip Kostić all joined on loan. When all was said and done, 13 players came in.

Right off the bat he was being a menace. Around 20 minutes into his first Süper Lig game he found himself getting on the wrong side of the referee, receiving a yellow card for, you guessed it, arguing with the match officials.

Four wins and one draw from his first five league games was an impressive start but he was still miserable. Incessantly moaning to the officials on the pitch and in press conferences came to a head after their 3-1 defeat to Galatasaray in his first game against them as Fenerbahçe boss.

For his comments after that game, whoever is in charge of Galatasaray’s social media department decided to hit back, sharing an image of a book with José crying on the cover, titled ‘The Crying One’ in reference to his self-appointed ‘Special One’ nickname.

Unmoved, he was back up to his old tricks in their next game against Antalyaspor. Frustrated with the ref’s decision to rule out Edin Džeko’s 76th minute strike, he decided to stage a little protest, José style.

He placed a laptop in front of one of the TV cameras, displaying a still image of the build-up, presenting evidence like a defence lawyer to a jury. The judge (referee) objected, however, and he received a booking.

Two games later, José came up against his old club, Man United, in their third Europa League game of the season, the competition he won with the Red Devils all the way back in 2016-17.

Domestically United were struggling but on the continent, they were looking pretty good. Erik ten Hag’s side took the lead through Christian Eriksen on the 15th minute before En-Nesyri scored the equaliser just after the break.

Shortly after, Fenerbahçe were adamant they deserved a penalty when Manuel Ugarte collided with Bright Osayi-Samuel. Mourinho agreed and was sent to the stands for his furious reaction. 

He later offered a sarcastic round of applause for the match official, praising his “incredible” talent for simultaneously keeping an eye on both the game and his own touchline behavior.

Mourinho is famous for fostering an ‘us against the world’ mindset amongst his players, invoking the ominous ‘they’ to keep them on side and get them to fight for each other as soon as they step out on to the pitch.

The most obvious way he does this is through his pressers. In early November, he picked up a one-game ban for insinuating the powers that be in the Turkish football federation and the Süper Lig were conspiring against him.

“I blame the Fenerbahçe people that brought me here. They told me only half of the truth. They didn’t tell me the whole truth because if they told me the whole truth, I wouldn’t come. But, with half of the truth and my boys, we fight opponents and the system.” He said after their 3-2 win over Trabzonspor.

Fast forward to February of 2025, José and his lads would face off against Galatasaray again. If you couldn’t tell by now, he hadn’t been too happy with the level of officiating since getting to Türkiye, so he requested a foreign ref come in for this one.

For some reason, Galatasaray and the Turkish FA indulged him and Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić took charge. The game ended 0-0 but it wasn’t until after the game it really kicked off, with José at the centre of the drama.

Fener’s goal stats, Süper Lig 2024/25

In his post-match press conference, José, once again, heavily criticised the standard of Turkish referees, telling reporters that the Galatasaray bench had been “jumping around like monkeys” referring to their reaction following an incident in the first half.

Things got a little heavy after that. Galatasaray took that comment as a racist remark, releasing a statement that said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against José, to which Fenerbahçe responded by saying the comment had been “deliberately taken entirely out of context and distorted in a misleading manner.”

Several of his former players came out to defend him, most notably former Chelsea and Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and nothing came of the accusation.

As the dust settle, he was soon back at it. While fielding a question following their shock 3-1 Europa League defeat to Rangers, that lasted over 50 seconds, he lost interest and pretended to fall asleep, fake snoring and everything. To be fair, that’s far too long for one question, take note future journos.

Working with José isn’t easy. former Fenerbahçe star, Elvir Baljic, claimed that a large majority (90%) of the players at the club do not want Mourinho to stay, Players like Fred and Anderson Talisca are reportedly unhappy with the team’s tactical approach, and there was a “mutiny” in the last game of the season when Edin Džeko and Dušan Tadić refusing to play.

Now, it would seem he’s fallen out with Saint-Maximin. As of writing this, he is still the Fenerbahçe manager, but that could change at any given moment, you never really know with him. Never change, José. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Süper Lig with FotMob next season – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.