Shadow of Jose Mourinho glory days hangs over Enzo Maresca - and Mourinho himself - on Chelsea return | OneFootball

When it comes to media moments, Jose Mourinho still delivers. Even when he’s not at his most sparkling, which was the case as he returned to Stamford Bridge with a fourth different club, he always says one line he knows will get clipped up and shared.

The one he offered before Benfica’s meeting with Chelsea also served another purpose. It was typical Mourinho deflection.

The Portuguese had been asked about the investigation into some of Roman Abramovich’s time at Stamford Bridge over alleged breaches of agent regulations, a period which covers the coach’s third league title here. To his left, the picture of Mourinho celebrating that very title - and sticking up three fingers - had already been pointed to, and he made great play of how “I helped them to become a bigger Chelsea and they helped me to become a bigger Jose”.

So, given that he has previously spoken about the Manchester City investigation and how he should potentially have more Premier League medals, does that mean he thinks any potential sanction should see Chelsea stripped of titles?

“Not Man City?” Mourinho countered.

Job done. City insist on their innocence. Mourinho just pleaded ignorance on the investigation into the Abramovich period. “I've no idea. I've no idea about it. I've no idea what the charges are, I will try to understand.”

The past naturally weighs over this entire fixture, something that seemed all the more fitting given that we were watching a Mourinho that looked more jaded than we’re used to. There were of course handshakes and smiles for the English press after the media conference, but he didn’t give the full charm offensive in the way he’s done on other visits back.

Mourinho did speak about those pictures on the wall of the Bridge’s Drake Suite, however, images that suddenly carried a greater symbolism given what’s going on at Chelsea right now. Enzo Maresca’s pre-match press conference took place in the same room, under the same photos, putting an extra weight on him. The Italian looks nowhere close to reclaiming that title, and a recent run of poor results have refuelled fan disgruntlement about his coaching. That might stand in quite a contrast to the raucous reception that Mourinho is bound to achieve.

Working at Manchester United and Tottenham has long been forgiven. He is still the manager with the most titles in Chelsea’s history, at three, despite the clouds from that era due to Abramovich’s sanctioning. “I’m the biggest one until someone wins four.”

The comment about the pictures was unintentionally more pointed because of those clouds. “Many clubs do not do this, because there is a fear of what happened in the past. They want to delete people who made history in the club. I think this shows Chelsea are a big club because big clubs are about principles.”

Right now, the club have certainly made it clear they are fully standing by Maresca. There were numerous strong messages to that effect on Sunday night. The defeats have been put down to circumstances outside the manager’s control, particularly red cards.

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Enzo Maresca was overlooked by images of Mourinho as he spoke to the media (PA Wire)

That does seem a bit of a stretch, given that such a pattern tends to be a product of bigger issues, rather than just circumstantial. Maresca himself admitted errors in recent decisions - especially in substitutes - which stood in such a contrast to Mourinho’s assertiveness once he was roused.

When he was asked about one moment when the Stamford Bridge crowd seemed to boo him, he said that was because of a misunderstanding of an altercation with one of Maurizio Sarri’s staff.

“The result was 1-1 and Chelsea scored in the last minute and people thought I was reacting against the goal and that was not the case. The coach was Sarri and he was absolutely top in the way he reacted to his assistant. Also Chelsea was top in the way they dealt with it. Also, I was top because Chelsea wanted to sack the guy but I said no: ‘not because of what happened in a football match’. I said leave the man in peace. On the bench, everyone can do shit things and I said leave the man in peace. I don’t think Chelsea fans will boo me because... at least on the street, they are the ones that disturb me for pictures and autographs.”

Top. You can get why some people at Chelsea are tetchy about the return of the Portuguese, even as former staff made sure to turn up and greet him.

Mourinho was pressed on this current Chelsea model, and said that the Conference League and Club World Cup gave “a base of trust and confidence”… even if he didn’t seem especially effusive about either competition.

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Cameras made sure to pick up Mourinho’s affectionate exchanges with Chelsea staff (PA Wire)

“The Conference League is made for a big club to win it. I did it with Roma. It’s quite an easy competition to win with a big club. And then the Club World Cup, I always say the Champions League is much more important, but the [gold] badge means a lot.

“I feel it at the supporters’ level. I feel it. I live five minutes from here and my son comes to the stadium every weekend. It was a period of disappointment. It was a period of doubt. But in this moment, it's a period of happiness and trust, so Chelsea is back on track.”

And yet his own team might disprove that - at least as regards Maresca’s side. Their creativity without Cole Palmer is set to again be questioned. The Benfica manager essentially confirmed that his side will come to dig in, partly due to fitness right now. Others would say that’s vintage Mourinho.

It’s perhaps the evening for that. This is not the old Chelsea, and this is not the old Mourinho. He has really only gone back to Benfica because of the steady decline of his career at the elite level, and even remarked that he expected to go back to Portugal for the national team job.

Some around Benfica have even described it as a “desperate” move by president Rui Costa, the playing legend, in order to win the next election.

There is no better man for a media bite, even if these days you can find better coaches.

At the end of the press conference, Mourinho had some endearingly warm exchanges with media and staff. They were of course in full view of the cameras.