GENOA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 28: José Mourinho, head coach of Roma, looks on prior to kick-off in the … [+]
Is lightning striking for a fourth time for Jose Mourinho?
That appears to be the case following Roma’s humiliating 4-1 away defeat to newly-promoted Genoa. Roma have had a disastrous start to the season, and Mourinho’s men find themselves in the bottom half of the table with only one win in six games.
In fact, Roma are two points off the relegation zone, and their defeat to Genoa marks the lowest point of the Mourinho era. What was more galling for the Portuguese coach was that he utilised his strongest attackers against Genoa. All three of Romelu Lukaku, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Paulo Dybala started against Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. In midfield, first choice options Leandro Paredes and Bryan Cristante operated in the middle of the pitch.
In short, Mourinho can have no excuses for how his team capitulated in Genoa. The hallmark of any good Mourinho side is defensive solidity, yet Roma have now conceded 13 goals in six games. Last season, it took until mid-November for his side to concede the same number. This season, Roma have kept only one clean sheet, in the 7-0 thumping of Empoli, and there is an alarming fragility to Mourinho’s side defensively that has echoes in his third season at previous clubs.
“The third season is fatal,” claimed the legendary Benfica, Milan and Porto coach Bela Guttmann. Guttmann, one of the most esteemed managers of the post-WW II period, never hung around at clubs too long; never quite outstayed his welcome. To Guttmann, two seasons was more than enough for players to get sick of a coach’s demands; familiarity bred contempt, felt Guttmann, and he would make an impact on any given side, and subsequently leave before there was a backlash and inevitable downfall.
Mourinho in that regard could be viewed as the modern Guttmann. Third seasons at Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United have been disastrous. He was sacked at both Chelsea (second stint) and United in the early stages of his third season, with players tiring of his methods. He wasn’t sacked at Madrid, but it was this season that he started a feud with first choice goalkeeper – not to mention club legend – Ilker Casillas, which in turn caused such internal upheaval within the Madrid locker room that there was no choice but for Mourinho to leave in the summer of 2013. Casillas’ career was also never the same.
At Roma, Mourinho isn’t causing tension behind the scenes, but many of the players have been with him since the beginning and are now showing signs of fatigue. Rui Patricio has been especially culpable for several of Roma’s conceded goals this season and doesn’t look the goalkeeper he was six months ago; Chris Smalling is yet to recover his form, Roger Ibanez has been sold to help the club’s FFP issues; while Gianluca Mancini has always blown hot and cold.
Roma has never performed so poorly in the three-points-per-win era, one that stretches back nearly 30 years now, and question marks are being asked whether Mourinho can turn Roma around. This wasn’t how the season was supposed to go. The goal was to make it into the top four and qualify for the Champions League, yet six games in and Roma seem further away than ever, it’s difficult to see them overcoming any of the big three, Napoli, Lazio or even Atalanta.
Mourinho has been hamstrung by FFP issues throughout his time in the Italian capital, yet Napoli have spent less than Roma in that period and won the league last season, so money isn’t entirely the issue.
What’s happening could be the strike of the third season curse, and given Mourinho’s track record, the beginning of the end could be nigh.