Mourinho must be given time to build a dynasty at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho has something of a reputation as a short term manager. He spent 2 years at Porto, just over 3 with us, 2 at Inter and finally 3 with Real Madrid. While on the surface that looks poor, we all know just how successful he has been at each of those clubs, including Chelsea. However, if Mourinho’s return to Chelsea this year is to be a successful move, there has to be a change of directive. Historically, Roman Abramovich has sacked managers for their perceived failures, but if Chelsea are to become a truly dominant force then Roman is going to have to accept that not every year will be a runaway success.

It takes time to build a team. Mourinho’s speciality is to ignore this time and mould together tittle winning teams in no time at all. It’s something he does better than any other manager in the world…and it’s not what we need now. We need Mourinho to build a squad that can leave a legacy. This means putting together a team with just the right combination of experience and potential. In players like Oscar, Mata, Hazard, Luiz and Azpilicueta, we have the potential to become one of the strongest squads in the world. That needs to be carefully built upon.

Now is not the time for brute force. If we can add some world class players then it will of course we welcomed, but we also need to make sure we are signing players who will stay with us for the long run. Mourinho needs to know that if he doesn’t win anything next year he won’t be dismissed on the spot. I have no doubt that if told he simply has to win the league next year then Jose could do it, but that is not the right approach. We’ve spent too long looking at the specific players, and not at the team as a whole. Given two years of careful construction, a Mourinho led Chelsea could destroy all comers. For that to be a reality, Roman needs to assure Mourinho that short term success is not his only goal.

If we do this correctly, Jose and Chelsea could build a legacy that will be remembered for decades. Let’s do this the right way.