Monday 21 April 2014

Of Mourinho, Failure, Brendan Rodgers & Recency Bias

Of Mourinho, Failure, Brendan Rodgers & Recency Bias


Thank you, all Mourinho supporters, for your 'labour of love' when it comes to defending Mourinho. You are all true Mourihistas!

It takes one to know one

It's amazing how a Mourinho loss elicits a boat-load of comments. You have to be important for this to occur. Nobody cares about a nobody. ( Manchester United 2013-14, I see you! )

The mistake his critics make all the time is that they fail to separate his personality from his achievements. There are Ninjas, on most forums I participate in, who tap dance on my last nerves by what they say (or not say when they should! ) but I still like reading them sometimes. ( I'd like to think that they feel the same way about me too )

See- you can separate the persona from the achievement, if you try!

Mourinho loses matches and suddenly everyone starts screaming: he has failed! He didn't say he won't lose games, he just said he'll win more than all others ( something he's been doing well for more than a decade -under different circumstances)

Yeah, he has got a few key decisions wrong this season, and that may mean he doesn't win any Trophy. If you compare it to his first stint then that is failure

( key- you are comparing Mourinho to Mourinho here)

Crucial- Nobody stays exceptional forever, not even Jose

Having said that, you must bear in mind his most famous saying: "Judge me in my second season"

What I find even more preposterous is the comparison to Managers who are just 'cutting their teeth' on achievements. In this instance - Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers.

I'm not going to bother about Martinez ( who is a very likeable character)

He led Wigan to relegation last season!!

I'm going to talk about this Jizzfest ( deserved, but a Jizzfest is still a Jizzfest ) surrounding Rodgers & Liverpool recently.

This Liverpool side is not better than Chelsea's on paper but Rodgers may win the league with them. Kudos to Brendan Rodgers if he pulls it off.

This unlikely triumph is what happens when the Galaxies align in your favour ( you'll not have any European distractions at the start of the season, you'll concede 2 or more goals in many matches and still outscore the opposition, your main rivals will lose matches they should have won, you'll be eliminated early from all domestic cup competitions)

It was how the Galaxies aligned for Roberto DiMateo ( RDM) & Chelsea in 2011-12 Champions League. I think it'll be uncharitable to simply call it luck ( 'cos there's a lot of hard work involved in both cases) Let us just say that this game has a way of turning everything you believe about it on its head sometimes

Just like RDM, Rodgers will have no hiding place again from next season ( IF he pulls this EPL thingy off) He will enjoy a reputation for incredible technical acumen among his peers after this season, it will be interesting to see how he uses such newfound authority.

Compare him to people like Mourinho then- if he translates that to more success!

In other words: don't fall into the trap of allowing what is good now make you forget what has been great previously ( Recency bias)

 

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