Jose Mourinho’s first words as Fenerbahce boss speak volumes about Chelsea

Such was the anticipation for Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Fenerbahce, the club started a live stream on YouTube four hours before he made his way out at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

The build-up was filled with old compilation highlights of Mourinho mainly from his time in the Premier League. While his stint at Tottenham Hotspur was ignored, both Chelsea and Manchester United memories featured heavily in the hype package – not that the fans crammed inside the Istanbul arena needed any help.

As cameras tracked Mourinho as he made his way through the stadium to the tunnel, the Portuguese head coach seemed oddly nervous about the cauldron of noise he was about to enter. He continuously recited some words on a small piece of paper before heading out into the blazing sunshine.

Once on the pitch, the ‘Special One’ aura returned and it was clear he had his new fanbase in the palm of his hand as noted when he commented: “Normally, a coach is loved after victories but in this case, I feel I am loved before victories. And that for me is a big responsibility that I feel and I promise you that from this moment I belong to your family.”

Each sentence was followed by a pause as it was translated but the supporters’ roars of approval drowned him out. His next comments though appeared to be as true to Fenerbahce as they are relevant to Chelsea.

“Since the moment I met with the president, I wanted to play for you because in the end, you are the soul of the football club,” he said. “Since I met him, I understood his project and I want to be the coach of all of you.

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“I want to work for Turkish football. I want to work for the Turkish league which I want to improve but the most important thing is not Turkish football or the league it is Fenerbahce.”

Speaking ahead of his unveiling, Fenerbahce President Ali Koc said via Fanatik: “I asked Mourinho ‘why us?’ He said, ‘My only goal is not to be a champion in Turkey, I am coming to be successful in Europe and to be successful there too.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, Mourinho was pitchside at Wembley Stadium decrying the Chelsea board for seemingly having no plan. “I have no idea,” he shrugged on Saturday night when asked about the plan at Stamford Bridge.

“Tottenham I have an idea, this is Tottenham, always fighting to be fourth, which would be amazing between fourth, fifth, sixth, next season the Europa League, of course, they can win it. They look [to have] stability, they are investing more, amazing club, amazing facilities, such a beautiful stadium, you can feel it.

“Chelsea, I really don’t know.” While Mourinho was never likely to be reappointed by Todd Boehly for a third stint with the Blues, it is telling that Mourinho thinks his new club, with seemingly lower expectations, has clearer plans from above.

A club that wishes to compete at an elite level needs a structured project and that was the point Mourinho has made twice this weekend. Boehly would do well to make it clear to Enzo Maresca what the vision is before the Italian faces his own unveiling.