Page 81 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

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THE first time I recognised José Mourinho as a potential threat was at his opening press conference as

Chelsea manager in the summer of 2004. ‘I’m the special one,’ José announced. ‘What a cheeky young
sod,’ I thought, as I watched him entertain the press with richly quotable material.
An internal voice told me: New kid on the block. Young. No point in discussing him. No point in
taking him on. But he’s got the intelligence, the confidence, to deal with the Chelsea job.
I had spoken to Carlos a lot about José and he had told me, ‘He is a very clever boy.’ His

knowledge of Mourinho stretched back to a time they had shared in academia. José was one of
Carlos’s students in Portugal. ‘My best student by far. By far,’ Carlos told me. Forearmed with that
knowledge, I watched him ride the wave of expectation he had created for himself; the wave that
carried him from Porto to London to work for Roman Abramovich. José was one of those guys on a
surfboard who can stay longer on the wave than everyone else. I knew straight away it would be
unwise to engage him in psychological conflict. I would find another way to tackle him.
In the period from August 2004 to May 2006, we won one trophy: the 2006 League Cup. Chelsea
and José won the Premier League in both those campaigns. As Arsenal dropped away, Abramovich’s

wealth and José’s managerial ability became the biggest obstacle to our rebuilding.
Traditionally, our preparation for a new season had emphasised the second half of the 38-game
programme. We always finished strongly. There was science as well as spirit behind our talent for
winning games in the months that really mattered.
José was fresh in town, working for an employer with stacks of money, and with hype clearing his

path. In the autumn of 2004 he needed to make a strong start in his first weeks at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea skated to a six-point lead and we could never make it up. Once they hit the front in the title
race, José made sure they won plenty of games narrowly. It was all one- and two-nil victories. They
would take the lead in games and then consolidate. Chelsea were becoming an incredibly hard team to
break down. They were much better organised than before. I didn’t win a game at Stamford Bridge
after Mourinho arrived.
José put in lots of pre-season work on the defensive shape and played initially with a back three,

two wide men and a midfield diamond. Very hard to play against, that formation.
Our first encounter had been the 2003–04 Champions League campaign, when José’s Porto
knocked us out. I had a spat with him at the end of the first leg. But I often had disagreements with
fellow managers when first running into them. Even George Graham and I clashed after our first
meeting when George was at Arsenal. Later, we became good friends. The same is true of Mourinho.
I always found him very helpful and very communicative. I think he realised he was dealing with