Mourinho [Paperback]

Patrick Barclay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2006

When Jose Mourinho realised as a teenager that he was never going to be a great player, he decided he was going to become the best coach in the world. At 42, many would say he's done that - probably including Mourinho, who has called himself the Special One. From translator and assistant to Sir Bobby Robson at Barcelona, to Champions League-winning manager at Porto and on to (potentially) Europe's most successful football club at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho's ascent has been rapid. Backed by Abramovich's billions, Mourinho has weeded out those not fully committed to his methods, has made several astute signings and has improved the game of many Chelsea stars. The result: in his first season, Chelsea won both the Premier League title and the Carling Cup. Patrick Barclay interviewed those closest to Mourinho, including Sir Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal, as well as the players, to provide a revealing insight into what has made Mourinho arguably the most successful manager in the world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent." -- Christian O'Connell XFM radio, 20 Sept "One of the most insightful and respected journalists working in the game... a compelling, believable profile." -- Leo McKinstry THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, 25 Sept "One of the UK's leading football writers assesses the UK's leading football manager... Barclay is always worth reading." OBSERVER SPORT MONTHLY, 2 Oct "This is a special book by a special writer. Five stars" FOURFOURTWO "'An illuminating, thought-provoking and highly entertaining book by one of Britain's sharpest and most erudite football writers'.' WORLD SOCCER "A fine biography" NEW STATESMAN, 19 December "A rounded and entirely fair portrait, written with a good deal of wit and insight." DAILY TELEGRAPH, 15 December "Barclay resists producing a straightforward biographical account of Mourinho's inimitable rise... he instead builds up an informal picture of the man via an unusual cast of faithful witnesses. It is this determination to search out the sometimes less obvious characters which makes this narrative so compelling. Barclay offers a detailed and contemplative study. a refreshing change." THE SCOTSMAN, 17 December "Well informed... it puts flesh on the headlines, usually with a well-informed phrase." THE INDEPENDENT, 17 December --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Patrick Barclay is the football columnist for the Sunday Telegraph and has won the Sports Journalist of the Year award. He has previously worked for the Independent, Guardian and Observer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Orion Paperbacks (July 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752877658
• ISBN-13: 978-0752877655
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,293,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Book and delivery review, November 1, 2011

By 

TB12 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mourinho (Paperback)

The supplier over delivered, and I was gladly impressed with the level of service.

The book opens a bit slow, but it honors the critiques posted within it. It is interesting, and insightful, to the appropriate level. There is little to no contribution from Mourinho to this book, so that is gap, but the content does not lose any value because of that.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, fast entertaining, objective, February 6, 2011

By 

Caradhye - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mourinho (Hardcover)

I love Jose Mourinho as a manager and was thrilled to this book in the amazon market. Patrick Barclay is a recognized football journalist and it shows in his handling of the issues. This book presented a very fair and objective view of Mourinho's career at the time that the book was written. Of course, Jose has gone a long way since the publication of this book, and if Barclay was to write about that, i would be happy to read it as well.
Covering his controversies and managerial issues, this book gives a good peek into the character o Jose Mourinho. As the title of the book says, it is about the anatomy of Mourinho, his work persona, family persona, how he became what he is today. Many people (including me) fail to realize his struggles and hardships before he became the legendary manager he is today and this book made me aware of that reality, before Jose was Jose Mourinho.
With straight from the heart interviews from his gurus and coworkers and friends, Barclay has done a great job of profiling Mourinho. Again, this book is not about Mourinho's managerial strategies, but his managing gets its due mention. It is about Mourinho as a man, as a person, his 'anatomy' and the writing could not be more perfectly aligned with the theme of the book. Dont expect to read, "Mourinho decided to mark Ronaldinho with Khalid Boularouz and that changed everything" in this book. Rather, if you are lookign to understand what Jose stands for in football, among journalists, among fans, his public stature and personal endurance, this book is perfect for you. The only reason it got 4 stars instead of 5 was that it may be a bit too short. I wish it went for a 100 more pages.

4.0 out of 5 stars Did not go into a lot of depth, August 26, 2009

By 

Mr. Graeme L. Willis (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mourinho (Hardcover)

This book is not bad but if you are looking for an in depth analysis of Jose Mourinho's career so far then maybe look elsewhere. The book goes into great depth of Mourinho's role as an assistant to Bobby Robson but not probably not into as much detail to his time at Porto and Chelsea as I would have liked. From reading this book it seems that the majority of the material was obtained from interviews and so again there is not a huge amount of insight into his tactical approach and into his specific coaching philosophies. Much of the material is English focused as there is a constant comparing of Mourinho with previous British managers such as Brian Clough,Alex Ferguson etc. This book is neatly put together and altogether not a bad summary of Jose Mourinho and his career up to 2005. 4 stars