Mourinho Commits

How different do things look over in Spain now compared to how they did this time last year?

At the end of last season Barcelona had just won the Champions League, alongside retaining the domestic league title! Now with Madrid winning La Liga whilst breaking records, as well as Guardiola stepping down from his post with the Catalan club, you'd be forgiven for saying Real Madrid could dominate for years to come...

Rewind a year more to the end of the 2009-2010 season, when Mourinho had just clinched the treble with Inter Milan, and Barcelona had won La Liga whilst accumulating one loss the entire season. Imagine Mourinho sitting down at his desk as he contemplated overturning the Spanish giants, who's team had six of the eleven starting players as part of the World Cup winning side in the Final. Seven if you include David Villa who had made his way to Nou Camp after Spain's glorious summer. Javier Mascherano also joined the squad the same transfer window.

For the 2010-2011 season, Madrid had actually been top of the table up until they lost... to Barcelona... 5-0.

This was during the same time of the season where in the league, Barca had won sixteen matches in a row as well as remaining unbeaten for thirty one! During this spell, Messi bagged his second hat-trick of the season and 100th La Liga goal when his side beat Almeria 8-0 away from home. Barcelona went on to win La Liga as well as the Champions League. The press couldn't conjure up enough superlatives for this team. They revolutionised football. Their style of play was second to none. Guardiola had notched up thirteen trophies during his three years at the club by this point. Unstoppable.

Barcelona added Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas to add depth to their already star-studded squad for the new campaign. The first Clasico match of 2011-2012 (that came mid-December) finished as a 3-1 win for Barca at the Bernabeu. After this they went on to win the World Club Championship in Japan. Was this their downfall? A long gruelling season followed by a World Cup, straight into the new season. Where other clubs in Spain were having a Christmas break, Barca were jetting across the globe in the quest for another trophy. No matter how you see it, it's the way the Galactico's responded to the set back that is so impressive. From the twenty two league games that followed the loss in El Clasico they went unbeaten, winning nineteen and drawing three. Finishing the season on one hundred points, a league record. All this as Messi scored a ridiculous amount of goals!

Looking back at Mourinho's time so far you try to pick out specific players and say who was most influential. Obviously, Ronaldo getting a goal a game goes a long way, but without his team mates he is nothing. You just have to watch them and see how disciplined they are defensively. They're almost robotic the way they get players behind the ball whilst maintaining pressure when they lose possession. Ozil, Khedira and Di Maria seem to have proven their worth after Mourinho had brought them in during his first transfer window. Perhaps it's the way he's changed the players who were already at the club that was vital. Sergio Ramos to centre half. Marcelo becoming a better all round full back. Benzema moving to Madrid looked a bad move until he had found a new gained confidence.

Just when Barcelona looked to be on top of the world with their never ending passing and free flowing football. Thankfully Mourinho was at hand to create a great derby war. The Portuguese manager obviously feels as though he can accomplish more with his club. As if knocking Barcelona off their perch wasn't a great achievement in itself!

Ruthless Roman

With Di Matteo doing more than just 'holding the fort', it would not come as a surprise if the Italian was given the job permanently. But Abramovich is ruthless. Very ruthless.

Avram Grant guided Chelsea to the League Cup Final and more memorably, a Champions League Final in the 2007/2008 season. His first game came just a few days after Jose Mourinho had parted company with The Blues towards the end of September '07, it was a 2-0 loss against eventual champions, Manchester United. Grant then took his side on a sixteen match unbeaten streak, thumping Sven-Goran Eriksson's newly-ambitious Manchester City, 6-0. During December of 2007 he was rewarded with a 4 year contract. At the end of the season he was sacked despite finishing just two points behind the title winners and losing the Champions League Final on penalties.

Scolari began the 2008/2009 season for Chelsea but his time at the club wasn't as successful as he would have liked, being sacked in February after dropping off the pace in the race for the title. The Brazilian was the first World Cup winning manager to take charge of a Premier League club, so where you'd expect other owners would have more patience, his departure was another example of Abramovich's short fuse.

Guus Hiddink was appointed temporary manager and only lost once in his time at the helm even after playing Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Barcelona twice. His side won the F.A Cup and although there was overwhelming support and seemingly, majority of the fans pleading for him to stay on, he stuck to his word and returned to his post with the Russian National side.

Next up was Carlo Ancelotti who's team was a force in his first season (2009/2010), with Drogba grabbing the Golden Boot Award with 29 goals. They ended the season monumentally with a crushing victory over Wigan. 8-0 was the scoreline with Cech, Terry and Cole keeping a clean sheet, Malouda and Lampard providing Drogba with the ammunition to ensure all three points were going their way. This capped the season brilliantly as they had performed so well throughout.
His second season wasn't as impressive as they had finished with 15 less points and a goal difference of +36, compared with +71 for their previous campaign. Subsequently Ancelotti was sacked.

Andre Villas-Boas, a young Portuguese with supreme success in his homeland, but unknown here in the UK - familiar story? Before winning the treble in Portugal he had actually been working under Mourinho at Chelsea as a scout, so he knew the club well. At the beginning of March he was sacked after a win percentage of less than 50%.

Who is likely to take over for next season? Fabio Capello. The former England boss has indicated he very much wants to manage a team in the Premier League: "England would be very interesting for me because I know very well the teams and the players". He knows the English players at the club from his time with the National side and because he has built up contacts over the years you feel he would attract big name players. More importantly, looking back at Abramovich's appointments, there is one word you could use to describe them all, they are tacticians. Capello you could also put into this category.

Will Abramovich go for a young apprentice in Di Matteo, like he did last season with Villas-Boas? Or will he go back to what he knows best and bring in a wise old head?