Watch: The Jose Mourinho death stare that sums up his entire career

Fenerbahce manager bristled as a reporter quizzed him on “The Crying One” meme created by the social media team at Galatasaray

Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce are second in the Turkish Super Lig which is fine, but already five points behind Galatasaray, which is not. Their first defeat of the season came at home on Saturday, unhelpfully against Galatasaray. Fenerbahce were 3-0 down after an hour and when you assess their team it is hardly surprising.
One former Manchester United problem in the dugout and Fred in the centre of midfield, with Allan Saint-Maximin and Dusan Tadic on either side. Edin Dzeko scored a consolation, Cenk Tosun was on the bench. It is like a game of Football Manager 2018 ticking into the current day, the only surreal development is Mourinho managing in Turkey.
Fenerbahce have not won the league in the past 10 years, the longest spell without a championship in the club’s history. Mourinho may be president Ali Koc’s last roll of the dice and there is enough in his recent past to suggest some win-whatever juice remains in his tank. He won the Europa League in 2022, a first-ever European trophy for Roma, then returned to the final the following year.
The record (if you overlook Spurs) still speaks for itself, but it is how Mourinho conducts himself which explains his appeal. Enduringly, occasionally endearingly now, volatile, none of the spark has gone out of him, though the dashing insouciance of his youth has been replaced by a sort of philosophical bitterness. Those running football clubs are mostly beholden to talk of DNA and club-wide methodologies but someone, somewhere, probably in the Europa League will always risk it all for a doomed fling with Mourinho.
After Saturday’s game, he was made to wait for his press conference. “The game finished,” Mourinho said, “I congratulate the opposing coach. I went direct to the flash interview and then I was waiting 70 minutes to go to the press conference. I tried to go, I was not allowed to go. I’m sorry but it’s lack of respect. If anybody felt disrespected – I am the one who felt disrespected.”
But it was what happened in the mixed zone which demonstrated everything that makes him the manager he is. It was an interaction of barely 30 seconds, but all the key components are there. A reporter made the bold decision to ask for Mourinho’s reaction to a social media post showing the front cover of Mourinho’s face with Photoshopped tears added with the title “The Crying One”.
“One question, one question,” said the reporter. Mourinho engages but scowls at an unfamiliar microphone. “Who are you?” Mourinho asks, terrifyingly. The reporter answers. “Who’s that?” demands an unblinking Mourinho. “Turkish sport programme,” says the reporter. A curt nod, which counts as a nicety. Dominance asserted with seemingly zero effort.
Mourinho is nothing without friction, enemies and arguments are his fuel. The reporter holds up his phone, attempting to show Mourinho the social media image. “Are you serious or are you joking?” he asks, turning an admittedly ill-judged line of enquiry into an outrageous provocation.
Kadıköy civarındaki mağazalarda satışta. 🙂#FBvGS pic.twitter.com/6qnkDAtEXF
At no point does Mourinho glance at the reporter’s phone. Perhaps he has seen the image already. More likely he is sending a message via icy death stare to anyone attempting anything similar in future. Mourinho shall not be engaging with online bants in any form.
The former translator to Bobby Robson at Barcelona is capable of great invention. “With a dog, you hunt more and you hunt better. But if you have not got a dog and you have got a cat, you hunt with a cat,” he said of Karim Benzema. Obviously. Sometimes a non-statement is just as powerful, leaving the sense that what Mourinho could say is so powerful it would explode the world. Here he draws from one of his classic lines. “I’m sorry, I cannot speak.”
When you appoint Mourinho the countdown begins to his stroll away from a burning wreckage. Often the choice is made for him, but he innately understands when something has run its course. On this occasion, he wisely deescalates, shrugs and saunters off. Will he do the same after a trophy at Fenerbahce? If not the league, there is always Europe. Then, inevitably, always another club.