It’s fair to say the manner in which Jose Mourinho utilised the talents of one Marouane Fellaini at Manchester United was not really an approach anyone at the time labelled particularly ‘modern’.
But as even the arch purist in Pep Guardiola adds a little streak of pragmatism to his tactical approach, can the former Old Trafford boss claim to have been a little ahead of the curve?
Jose Mourinho, never one to downplay his own achievements, certainly feels that there were similarities between the way Manchester United bypassed Ajax’s frantic press to win the 2017 Europa League final and the manner in which Barcelona approached their Champions League quarter-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain this month.
Jose Mourinho on Marouane Fellaini
“Lots of long balls from (Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre) Ter Stegen to (Robert) Lewandowski on the build-up. Paris trying to press higher. Ter Stegen to Lewandowski. Lewandowski chest, control and play from that position,” Mourinho tells The Telegraph, the veteran Pole outstanding during the 3-2 first-leg win in the French capital.
“I won a Europa League final with (long balls from) Sergio Romero to Marouane Fellaini. Ajax pressing, but pressing oxygen because the ball was not there. Ball to Fellaini’s chest. Play from there. 2-0. Bring the cup home. Three titles.
“Disaster of a season,” Mourinho adds with a heavy dose of sarcasm and a triumphant twinkle in his eye.
The veteran Portuguese, who won a trio of trophies during his first season in the Red Devils dugout, also feels that his former sparring partner in Guardiola – the Spaniard so often painted as the saviour of football going up against the game’s cackling Lex Luthor – has added a splash of Jose-esque cynicism to his own game of late.
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The Man City boss going from flying full-backs to a four-man defence made up entirely of centre-halves. Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake all started together during that 0-0 draw against title rivals Arsenal in March, Mikel Arteta also adopting a similar approach with converted centre-halves Jakub Kiwior and Ben White on the wings.
A new era of ‘physicality’
“(Consider) how many Champions League years Man City were not successful, and the difference in the season they were successful,” Mourinho adds, pointing out that Guardiola finally got his hands on Europe’s biggest prize after embracing the ‘physical’.
“I go immediately in one direction – look at the physicality.”
Mourinho, no matter what you may think about him, is one of the most successful managers of all time for a reason. In an era where teams press higher than ever – Peter Bosz’s youthful Ajax side a prime example of that – Mourinho found a way to negate such an approach simply by chipping the ball over the top of an advancing hoard and onto the chest of a 6ft 4ins targetman.
Fellaini’s tally of 15 successful aerial duels, per Goal, was the highest in a single Europa League game at the time.
The £27 million signing from Everton officially announced his retirement a few months ago, the Europa League one of four trophies he won as a Manchester United player.