ABSTRACT

Andrew Kirby tries to investigate

whether the controversial move made by
the club’s owner is a marriage made in
heaven or hell. This book tries to tackle
eight key question which also includes:
Is Mourinho the best manager in the
game? What is the management
approach of Jose Mourinho? Can
Manchester United tolerate the dark side
of Jose Mourinho? What is the role of
the modern day Premier League
manager and how has this changed over
the years? And: “Once a Blue (Chelsea
Manager), always a Red (Manchester
United Manager)?” Can a manager who
is so recognizably a Blue become a Red?

BOOK REVIEW
Title: JOSE MOURINHO: THE ART OF WINNING
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform Mayank Kashyap
Originally Published: 19th August, 2016 PGP10093
Author: Andrew Kirby Section - B
Page count: 276
 “The manager everyone loves to hate”
It was on 27th May 2016, Jose Mourinho signed a
three-year contract with Manchester United and
was appointed as Manager. The news sent
shockwaves through the Old Trafford faithful –
generations of whom have pledged their loyalty to
a succession of managerial legends including Sir
Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson. Being a
football enthusiast and moreover a Manchester
United supporter I was very excited about
Mourinho, managing our team. The book gives a
good insight into Jose Mourinho and how he became one of the most successful and talked
about managers currently in-game. Jose Mourinho: The Art of Winning is an entertaining
character study of the man who in many ways has come to define modern, elite-level football.
This book endeavors to determine what effect the Jose Mourinho show will have on
Manchester United as a football club and the Premier League as a whole. Stuffed full of
statistical detail and flavored with a wistful view of a game, he sets the spectacular scene for
a showdown of showdowns in this season’s Premier League campaign where the ultimate
prize for United will be the crucial return to the Champions League.
The main protagonist in this book is José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix. He is a
Portuguese professional football coach and former player who currently works at Sky Sports
as a football pundit. During his managing career he has won 25 major trophies making him
one of the most successful & greatest managers of all time. Jose Mourinho became the first
Manchester United manager to win a major trophy in his debut season i.e English Football
League (EFL) cup.
The book is written in Expository style. Jose Mourinho: The Art of Winning: What the
appointment of the Special One tells us about Manchester United and the Premier League is a
Sports and Outdoors book.
Following are the reasons why one might will like this book: -
 An excellent study of one of the world's most iconic managers
 Subline player management techniques
 Fresh & Engaging content
 Controversial topics
Following are the reasons why one might not like this book:-
 Lack of images (which might make this book a little boring for beginners)
 A collection of articles about Mourinho and quotes from other sports writers
The main purpose of the book is to analyse and interpret the way Jose Mourinho use to play
his team, how he managed all-star players, the process of selecting players for a particular
game, the journey of Jose Mourinho from a translator to one of the most successful &
greatest manager of all time, why Jose Mourinho is compared to Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex
Ferguson, Whether Jose Mourinho will be able to get back Manchester United the way it used
to play (Attack, Attack, Attack). Andrew Kirby has perfectly described the long standing

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rivalry of Jose Mourinho with Pep Guardiola as a professional player and manager. In chapter
8, the

“The Special One”

author explained Pep Guardiola’s

obsession with education has nothing
to do with Intellectualism. He says,
“It’s not about acquiring knowledge
for the sake of it, it’s about
developing his understanding so that
he can manage better, direct the
action better.” Andrew Kirby tries to
investigate whether Jose Mourinho’s
move from Chelsea (Blue) as a
Manager to Manchester United (Red)
as head coach & manager will be a
profitable one or a deal for which
Manchester United will regret for life.
One of the key questions this book posits is whether a blue can really become a red. He
discusses how the players were brought to the club (and how/why they left) and his analysis
of each of the players, both good and bad. For those looking for insights into his managerial
or tactical styles in this book, you will not find a ton of that.

JOSE MOURINHO: THE ART OF WINNING – The name of this book does justice to the
content available in the book, though the book could have been made more interesting by
adding few images of Jose Mourinho managing the team, by interviewing top level
management of previous clubs in which Mourinho acted as Head Coach/Manager, by
interacting with Journalists, by interviewing the club (Manchester United) legends such as Sir
Alex Ferguson, Sir Matt Busby, Sir Bobby Charlton etc.

Jose Mourinho is no stranger to controversies, in fact “The Special One” has a strange love
for controversies. The author could have mentioned few controversies the manager had gone
through. For eg:- False accusation on the referee, Sneaking into Barcelona dressing room, his
interaction with media, Broken terms with Paul Pogba etc. Furthermore we can also add Jose
Mourinho’s interaction with all-star players such as Ronaldo, Milito, Zlatan, Rooney, Ramos,
Kaka, Sneijer etc.

For all Manchester United fans out there, this book is simply a must-read and provide the
ultimate behind-the-scenes look at the club. Even the ones who hate/dislike Manchester
United or Jose Mourinho, a lot can be learned from “Jose Mourinho: The art of winning.”
Love him or hate him Jose Mourinho is undoubtedly one of the best & one of the greatest
manager in the history of football. Jose Mourinho has redefined football defence by
introducing tactics such as Park the Bus from which one can learn a lot about how defence is
the best form of attack. Attack may win you games but defence will win you titles. Going
with this philosophy of Jose Mourinho and the statistics provided in the book, one can simply
say that, Hands down, Jose Mourinho is “The Special One.”

#GGMU
GLORY GLORY MANCHESTER UNITED

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