José Mourinho: Machiavellian
A decade ago, after Inter Milan’s historic treble-winning season, we witnessed a special sight. Marco Materazzi, a man hard enough to instigate and withstand a Zidane headbutt, was found sobbing uncontrollably on the shoulder of his equally teary-eyed Portuguese leader. Hidden away, but in plain sight, Materazzi’s show of emotion in one moment showed what is now understood as footballing folklore.
José Mourinho inspired an entire generation of his players to die for him on the football pitch. Now, as he approaches the twilight of a distinguished career —we look back at the method behind his Machiavellian madness.
Football has always been a game for the players. Sure, a manager can influence the actions of these players, sometimes in a very meaningful way, but it is up to the footballers themselves to administer the decisive action. How then, can a manager convince his troops that they are fighting for a cause bigger than themselves, building an indestructible siege mentality strong enough to withstand the sharpest arrows? The answer lies with José Mourinho, sport’s finest Machiavellian leader.
Basic Principles of Machiavellian Thought:
- It is better to be feared rather than loved, if you cannot be both.
- Consequentialism; the ends justify the means.
- The leader may commit immoral acts to further the interest of the state.
- The use of manipulation to achieve a common goal.
“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
The above quote is perhaps the most famous musing of Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian political philosopher. But it could just as easily come out of Mourinho’s mouth, at any of his weekly box-office press conferences. This is the underlying principle of his management style — ruling using love gives people the choice to opt-out; instilling fear leaves no room for doubt. Do it my way, or else. An approach based on instilling fear will not work coming from just anybody. It requires an individual of equal parts persuasive power and unassailable aura to carry such a message. Luckily, Mourinho’s unbreakable arrogance was more than enough to whip his men into line; big egos and great players such as Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, and Ramos all submitted to the wishes of their leader. And in turn, Mourinho delivered trophies wherever he went.
“It’s not important how we play. If you have a Ferrari and I have a small car, to beat you in a race I have to break your wheel or put sugar in your tank.”
Mourinho was not football’s first pragmatist, but is probably the most famous. Machiavelli was a different breed of philosopher to those that came before him — he worried less about what life should be, and more about what life actually is. These principles are mirrored in both Mourinho’s tactical style, and man-management. What was the point of having beautiful ideals, wondered Mourinho, if they do not help you win?
“There are a lot of poets in football but they don’t win titles.”
Similarly enough, Bernie Sanders and his noble yet currently unrealistic ideals may win hearts and minds, but they did not win the Democratic nomination. History may commemorate philosophers, but it immortalises winners. José Mourinho is a winner. At all costs.
Whether you consider Mourinho’s villainous persona immoral, or simply captivating, is a matter of personal preference. What is for certain is that his conduction of a media circus around himself takes all the heat off of the real centrepiece — the team. While the world is fixated on “arrogant” Mourinho and “disrespectful” Mourinho, the actual Mourinho is busy planning the next game, while his players escape scrutiny from yesterday’s loss. His teams are often described as ruthless and efficient, stemming from a willingness to behave badly to acquire the means to an end. José’s men are happy to be the bad guys, creating a theatre around the team that only stirs even higher performance levels.
In Machiavelli’s most famous book, ‘The Prince’ he talks of virtú, from the Latin root vir, meaning man. In this case, he is referring to something along the lines of prowess. Paramount in this is the ability to act decisively under pressure and at speed. Taking this course of action displays courage and inspires confidence in people, who then feel compelled to follow in their leader’s footsteps.
Virtú can best be seen in extremity, as audacious men thrive most in extreme situations. Creating chaos and drama out of nothing, finding arguments where there are none, and using that chaos to one’s benefit is something best personified by Mourinho. His Chelsea and Inter Milan sides in particular, were stoked by the fire of the media furore, Mourinho’s controlled chaos only served to the ends of the team itself, and no one else. Mourinho’s nine unbeaten years at home, and his underdog Champions League successes with Porto and Inter Milan, typify a heroic villain who will do anything it takes to win.
Finally, a word on the man behind the Machiavellian identity that made more than a decade of anti-heroism a trophy-winning reality. José Mourinho was not a great player, and he entered football’s elite as Barcelona’s translator. Machiavelli writes for the leader who reaches the top through his own force. Mourinho has become synonymous with the values that the Italian philosopher once preached — namely deviousness, creativity, and cunning. What is not mentioned enough next to the Portuguese’s name is the idea of genius. Player power has eventually led to his demise as an elite manager, but in a perpetually player-controlled sport — he led a group of varied egos as the main attraction, and elicited excellence and discipline for more than a decade.
Machiavelli has long been associated with the bad guy, the villain, the deceitful and manipulative commander. Mourinho was not and is not a bad man, but if you ask him to play the villain in football’s theatre, he will tell you there is no one better suited to the role.
“Look, we’re not entertaining? I don’t care; we win.”
Well, José, your teams might not always be entertaining, but your character always is. Is he the good guy? The bad guy? Ask him, and he’ll echo the words of WWE wrestler Scott Hall and tell you:
“Hard work pays off, dreams come true; bad times don’t last, but bad guys do.”
