Desperate times, desperate measures as José Mourinho goes back to the future | OneFootball

The season started shakily for Lisbon giants Benfica. Bruno Lage asked the board for players in the close season and got what he wanted. “This has been the best transfer window in terms of the coach and board working on the same ideas,” he said. He even won the Super Cup against the reigning champions Sporting.

In the Primeira Liga, he also won the first three games. However, the fans were not happy. Benfica played poorly, with low pace and almost no soul, even though the only “bad result” was a draw in Turkey against Fenerbaçhe.

However, after a poor performance against Alverca (an unconvincing 2-1 win away), the ghosts of Christmas past started coming to life for Bruno Lage. First, a humiliating draw at the Estádio da Luz against Santa Clara. Benfica played more an hour against 10 men and suffered the equaliser in stoppage time after an excruciating mistake by Otamendi.

Then, all chaos broke loose after this week’s loss in the Champions League against Azeri side Qarabag. Benfica lost 3-2 at home after being two goals up early on. It was by far the most humiliating performance by a Portuguese club in Europe in a long, long time. It dictated the termination of Bruno Lage’s contract.

Desperate times, desperate measures

Beleaguered Benfica president Rui Costa, already under immense scrutiny after just one championship title in his four-year reign, found himself under a tonne of pressure. With the presidential elections just one month away, and without a manager, Rui Costa had to do something fast.

Bruno Lage’s “body” was still warm when José Mourinho’s name appeared on the screens. The perception of it was not the best by the Benfica fans. Even though Rui Costa guaranteed it was the best for the club, it was seen as a desperate move due to the recent polls that suggest the former Benfica idol would not be re-elected.

Back to the Future

The Special One returns to his first home with Benfica in something resembling turmoil. 25 years later, José Mourinho is the new SL Benfica manager and will start right away, on Saturday against AFS, barely 48 hours after signing his latest contract.

Mourinho started his extraordinary career that cemented his place as one of the greatest ever football managers at Benfica. However, it was in Porto where he conquered the country and Europe for the first time. One week ago, he received a standing ovation at the Estádio do Dragão. Something tells me that on 5 October, he will not be welcomed in the same manner, as the coach of the Dragons’ biggest rival.

Reasons why it might work

The main goal of every presidential candidate of the Eagles is to bring back the glory days of a club, capable of being highly competitive amongst the best in Europe. If there is a manager who knows how to do that, it is the Special One. He is the only manager to win all three European club competitions, but more significantly he was the last one to win the Champions League from a league other than the “Big Five” of Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France, when he lifted the greatest prize in club football at Porto almost 21 years ago.

He also brings a certain level of aura, fear and respect in the light of the sheer weight of his incredible career. Benfica has clearly been the club with the most expensively assembled squad in Portugal in recent seasons, but it has been difficult to translate that into becoming the best team in the country. José Mourinho has the experience with high quality squads to make the Eagles not only a great squad, but a great team.

Reasons why it might not work

The pressure at the club is something I have never seen, even in the pressure-cooker environment of Benfica. According to some friends, it feels like the early days of a repeat of what they call “our Vietnam” a reference to a disastrous decade between 1994 and 2005 when Portugal’s biggest club failed to win a single league championship. The elections have put a lot of pressure on the president, and that transfers down to the manager and the team.

That is the whole reason why Mourinho arrived. Pressure to do something that would keep the fans excited at least until the elections. Rui Costa seems to be trying to hold on to his position at the club by any means.

It is important to state that the Special One is not so special anymore. The last title he won was the Conference League with Roma in 2022, four seasons ago. The failures and dismissals have been piling up: Tottenham, Roma, Fenerbahçe. Only one title across these three clubs where he was always dismissed due to poor results.

I don’t know if the Special One will be able to bring himself and Benfica back into the limelight. One thing is for sure: if it works, it might be the greatest gamble of the century; if it doesn’t, it is for sure the final nail in the coffin of Rui Costa.