ORIGINAL: warspite1
Once again you provide an answer that is either disingenuous or simply shows that you have no understanding of how football has changed. It also continues to use the phrase 'mickey mouse team' as though this is something I have accused Porto of being i.e. yet more disingenuous comment. [&:]
Porto had won a Champions League already. Correct. You then raise Benfica and then Steaua Bucharest. Also correct. So? Football, at least European football has been moving inexorably in one direction - certainly since the birth of the Champions League - and that movement is only accelerating. The big clubs are getting richer and the clamour for a closed shop amongst those clubs continues to reverberate.
You mention clubs winning the European Cup from the 80's and the 60's [8|] as though that proves your point. But in doing so you totally ignore the reality. Well based upon your skewed analysis and faux conclusions, based on the past (which of course is ALWAYS a guarantee of the future [8|]) it would not be a shock for Celtic (winners in the 60's), Feyenoord (winners in the 70's), PSV Eindhoven (winners in the 80's) or Red Star Belgrade (winners in the 90's) to win the Champions League any time soon. Why stop there? a Greek team were finalists in the 70's, as was a Swedish team. No doubt Panathinaikos and Malmo will be in the Champions League final shortly. Er right....
Of course the unexpected can happen in football - and it is possible that Monaco could win it this year - but then given that France is the 5th of the top 5 leagues - while that feat would be impressive - it would hardly be in astounding territory. But if they won it, it would be a great feat and who knows, here's a radical thought.....maybe, just maybe, they have a really good manager..... [:'(]
I agree with you. Here in Portugal we argue, that nowadays, the UEFA Cup is the only chance for a Portuguese team have for winning again a European trophy. In order to win the Champions, we must have all the stars aligned in the right position, like it happened with Leicester last year. [:)]
By default, only one of the big "sharks" can win it. They have the best players, resources (money) and some have also the best managers.
This trend started around the middle of the 90's.
The one that Mourinho won with Porto in 2004 came as a surprise although not totally unexpected. Porto had a good team that year. But besides having good players, it had a good manager... Mourinho. He made the difference. This was before he becomes a superstar and the special one.
We (me and all unbiased football fans here in Portugal who don't support one of the three big teams) knew that he was a different type of manager, the moment he was hired by Benfica to replace Jupp Heynckes in the beginning of the season (2000-2001). Almost instantly, the team started to play well and getting good results. He was sacked 3/4 months later, but that was due to inner problems inside Benfica (a new president was elected) not because he was incompetent.
Then he was the manager of União Leiria, and after a couple of months he was hired by Porto. The rest you know.
It was a shock in the beginning, as we weren't used to his level of arrogance.
It took me many years to accept and understand why he does it (although I still don't like it).
That's the main reason why some people hate him.
