Mourinho's impact at Benfica? Some say it's nothing new | OneFootball

José Mourinho has been in charge of Benfica for almost a month now, however, the changes are yet to happen. According to Catarina Pereira, the impact of the Special One at Clube da Luz has been felt everywhere except on the pitch, where the defeat against Newcastle further highlighted the Eagles’ problems.

In her opinion piece published in the newspaper A Bola, the columnist recalled the Special One’s latest statements: “In Newcastle, the coach was, as they say, true to himself. Before the match, he lamented the pace of play the team was used to, but curiously, that was enough to eliminate the pace of play of his Fenerbahçe. At that time, the praise from the then opposing coach for the Benfica squad was enormous.”

However, between his time at Fenerbahçe and his current work at Luz, Catarina Pereira claims that the pattern is the same: “Nothing new in the modus operandi: in the past, Mourinho wanted to put the responsibility on Benfica against the Turks, now he wants to pave the way for winter reinforcements.”

“After the biggest investment ever in the summer transfer window, and with elections in the meantime, the coach whose greatest achievement so far in this return to Luz was not losing at the Dragão looks to January as the first opportunity he has to make a difference,” she added, pointing to the lack of consistent results from the Portuguese manager.

Finally, Catarina Pereira reiterates her view: “When Mourinho returned to Benfica, there was much debate about how different the coach once feared throughout Europe is now. In my opinion, I curiously don’t see many differences in his discourse. The mind games are still there, as is the respectable arrogance.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.