Mourinho: The Master of Media Diversion

With an average age of 27, Jose Mourinho's current Chelsea team is a far cry from the one he had in 2004. Different teams require different methods, but the outcome remains the same.

Mourinho is a media dream. It is hard to recall a manager so comfortable in maintaining such a position, especially in the top tiers of European football. His abrasive yet infectious charisma in his first stay in the Premier League endeared him to journalists - if for nothing else than the fact he gave some of the most memorable headlines in the last decade.

Mourinho's approach now is different. He is older, wiser and - as he stressed at the start of the season - calmer. Nevertheless, as we enter the results-end of the season, now seems as good a time as any to reflect what can only be described as a genius tactic - media diversion.

The first taste of this came after the defeat of Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich. For those who have managed to erase the painful memory from their mind, our Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku missed the penalty which handed Bayern the Super Cup. Shortly after he was shipped off on loan to Everton, after Ramires was sent off for two yellow cards. Mourinho's comments straight after the game were incredibly important.

‘I’m disappointed because the best team lost. The team that most deserved to win, lost. But that happens in football. People who earn their living in football always feel there’s a very important rule: the passion for football. If you are in love with football, you don’t kill a final with a second yellow like this'.

Mourinho's post match words were certainly provocative. More than stating the loss was undeserved, he questions the referee and, through the broadness of his claims, draws the wider footballing community into the equation.

The following day the back pages of the majority of newspapers had the face of Mourinho, not Lukaku.

Mourinho knew his striker needed some degree of protection after such a heartbreaking loss - and that's exactly what he got. He diverted the focus of the loss away from his young, developing players and took the brunt himself. 

With this in mind, let's look at Mourinho's most recent quotes, taken from the triumph against Manchester City. When asked about the title race, his response was:

"Two horses and a little horse. A little horse who needs milk and to learn how to jump"

Chelsea, of course, are the little horse in this analogy. But after beating Manchester City home and away, and keeping a clean sheet against what he described as "the best team in the league, for sure", why isn't Mourinho staking his claim for the Premier League title? He is, after all, a self-proclaimed winner.

The answer, in line with the title, is his tactic of diversion. He is moving the focus away from the players and in this case indirectly to himself once again. As has been pointed out on many occasions, our team is young. Two of our most integral players - Oscar and Hazard - aren't even in their mid-twenties, whilst the number of first-team players 25 or under swelled with the arrival of Matic. Like the horse in Mourinho's analogy, young players need nurturing. They might be able to 'jump' on their own eventually, but far better they learn in a season where the focus - for the time being, at least - isn't on them.

Mourinho is training his troops for next year, but don't be surprised  if Chelsea are right at the very top come May. It's embedded in their DNA but more than that, they are fully capable of doing so.

Another positive effect of remaining coy on Chelsea's chance of the title is that it piles the pressure on City and Arsenal. You wouldn't expect a little horse to beat Kauto Star in a race, would you? Yet here we are: Chelsea level on points with City and two behind Arsenal. The Pensioners can work their way up quietly, leaving it to City and Arsenal to take the brunt of the pressure and either rise to it or suffer from it.

Mourinho certainly has toned down over the past few years. Nevertheless, he still remains something of a media darling; whether they realise he is working them like putty between his fingers is another matter entirely.

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