5 Biggest Jose Mourinho meltdowns

Jose Mourinho is one of the most successful football managers of all time – this much is undeniable. However, while success has tended to follow The Special One throughout his career, he has also been no stranger to controversy.

Today, we’ll look at five of Mourinho’s biggest meltdowns as a head coach – from fighting with members of the press at Inter Milan to his own backroom staff at Chelsea, here are five occasions where Mourinho lost his cool.

Fighting with the press at Inter Milan

Mourinho ran into trouble with the Italian press in 2009, when he was alleged to have struck journalist Andrea Ramazzotti.

He was disgruntled with Ramazzotti’s close proximity to the Inter Milan team coach and, in no uncertain (nor polite) terms, told him to go away.

Mourinho denied making physical contact with Ramazzotti, but did admit to insulting him ‘twice’. He was actually found to have grabbed the journalist’s forearms, but nothing more than this – it was a glimpse of Mourinho’s perenially fractious relationship with the media.

Mourinho blows a gasket at Marco Ianni

While the previous incident took place away from the cameras, this one was broadcasted across the globe. While boss of Manchester United, the Red Devils looked set to record a win over Mourinho’s old club, Chelsea, in a heated Premier League encounter. However, Ross Barkley swooped in at the last second to score a late equaliser for the Blues.

Immediately following this, Chelsea second assistant Marco Ianni ran over to Mourinho and celebrated wildly right in the Portuguese’s face. This incensed Mourinho, who leapt from his seat like a pub-goer whose pint had been spilled, charging after Ianni in a fit of rage.

A touchline melee ensued, with over 20 players and staff members getting involved. After the game, Ianni apologised to Mourinho and was fined £6,000 for his moment of madness.

Spat with Eva Carneiro

This was an occasion where few were willing to take Mourinho’s side – his dismissal of Eva Carneiro did little to cover him in glory. It came off as mean-spirited at best and spitefully discriminatory at worst.

The incident took place during Chelsea’s opening game of the season against Swansea in 2015/16. During the encounter, Carneiro and Jon Fearn ran onto the pitch to give treatment to Eden Hazard, who had pulled up with an injury. As such, Chelsea were forced to play with nine men for a portion of the game, due to Thibault Courtois‘ dismissal earlier in the outing.

The Blues would ultimately draw 2-2 with the Swans and Carneiro recieved the brunt of Mourinho’s anger. He reportedly shouted insults at her as she entered the field of play and criticised her ‘impulsive’ intervention in a press conference. She was also demoted by Mourinho, for which she sued the club after her departure – the two parties eventually settled for an undisclosed amount paid to Carneiro.

‘Nobody wants to watch the Turkish League’

Mourinho has never minced his words when it comes to the quality of the league he is managing in. If he believes it is lacklustre, he will make everyone aware of it – and he was perhaps never more scathing in his criticism as he was of the Turkish Super Lig during his time at Fenerbahce.

In a gloves-off press conference, Mourinho exclaimed that ‘nobody abroad wants to watch the Turkish league’, branding it ‘grey’, ‘dark’ and that it ‘smells bad’. We’re not sure exactly what he meant by that last remark.

His comments earned him few friends in Turkish football circles – he also insinuated that he was lied to by the Fenerbahce board before he was given the job. Amazingly, Mourinho was not sacked for this diatribe.

2023 Europa League final

The Europa League final in 2023, between Mourinho’s Roma and Sevilla, marked the first time The Special One lost in a European Final. Naturally, a meltdown was always going to follow.

Mourinho took exception to Anthony Taylor’s refereeing display throughout the game – so much so that he followed him out of the Stadium and into the car park. He uncorked a tirade at the Englishman as he tried to leave the building – his comments were harsh enough for him to be charged with using ‘insulting or abusive language’.

This isn’t the first time Mourinho took a swipe at Taylor. He criticised his performance during a game between Chelsea and Southampton in the 2014/15 season and also aimed a subtle jab at him in 2016 when he was appointed as head official for a match between Manchester United and Liverpool.