LaLiga: Spain's take on Milkgate and Mourinho's past actions

Milkgate. A wonderful way to describe the events of Sunday evening following Manchester City’s victory over local rivals Manchester United.

If reports are to be believed a City player threw milk at Jose Mourinho. Wild, eh?

This was after the United coach had entered the visitor’s dressing room to complain about their over-exuberant celebrations. The irony.

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Mourinho is a master of ignoring his own advice

Yes, this outrage is coming from the man who himself ran down the touchline at Old Trafford before sliding on his knees after Porto had knocked United out of the Champions League.

Mourinho also charged onto the Camp Nou pitch following Inter Milan’s aggregate victory over Barcelona. The celebration, Shearer-esque, was done purely to provoke a reaction from a set of fans which openly hate him. Victor Valdes asked him to stop, without milk in sight, but Mourinho brushed him aside to continue his one-man show.

So there’s an irony that playing music a little loud in the dressing room would cause Mourinho’s moral compass of what is acceptable in times of celebration to go off the charts.

In Spain they claim: ‘City started it’

Of course the antics of Mourinho didn’t go unnoticed in Spain either. The former Real Madrid coach is as equally loved as he is hated in Spain’s capital. A core of fans didn’t like his style of football, even if effective, and others put achievements over aesthetically pleasing football.

In this morning’s ‘MARCA’ they claim to know the cause of the ruckus – and it wasn’t Mourinho’s fault. Instead it all kicked off because a City coach goaded Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “Ibra, you talk a lot but move little.” Oh I say.

The rest of the story follows the same timeline already known. Mourinho and Ederson got into a war of words in Portuguese. This caused the City lot to back up their player and supposedly launch bottles at Mourinho. United players got wind of this and ran in to defend their boss. Romelu Lukaku allegedly hit Mikel Arteta with a bottle. No doubt inspired by Conor McGregor.

Jose is king at distracting people from his own failings

And here we stand, two days on, and talk remains centred on the fracas. The fact Mourinho’s side played poorly at home, against their city rivals, is lost in the shuffle. In fact, let’s talk about everything except the outcome. This is a classic Mourinho trait.

Do you honestly believe Mourinho went to the City dressing room to diplomatically cool a tense situation? As previously mentioned, Mourinho knows what it is like to score a significant win against a rival. He’s the master of rubbing salt into the wound but doesn’t like it when the shoe is on the other foot. His intentions were to take the gloss off City’s victory and it worked.

The eye poke heard around the world

Who can forget when Barcelona beat Real Madrid in the Spanish SuperCup and tempers flared at the end of the second leg? Madrid were beaten. Mourinho actively encouraged his side to make each game a battle in a long-standing war. Get under their skin, tarnish each victory of the rival team and exaggerate any win.

In that ill-fated second leg tie, Mourinho crossed the line. As players from both sides were pushing and shoving on the pitch, Mourinho dug his finger into the eye of the late Tito Vilanova. It was disgusting, needless and completely unprovoked.

The aftermath of Real Madrid’s loss was all about the fights on and off the pitch. In particular, Mourinho was the chief villain. There was no apology from the Portuguese coach for his indefensible actions and it took the shine off Barcelona’s triumph. Mission accomplished.

One face to the media, another in private

According to Mourinho’s spokeman, Eladio Parames, there was no immediate remorse either. “Mourinho doesn’t care what the press says, he only cares about what Madrid’s fans think.”

In private we later found out this wasn’t entirely true. Mourinho contacted Vilanova to personally apologise for his actions. Publically he admitted he was wrong a year later in an interview with FOX Sports. The two coaches actually became quite close until the former Barcelona coach lost his battle against cancer.

But the bottom line with Mourinho is he creates moments to distract the masses from his failures as a coach. Everyone loses. No one has gone unbeaten throughout his or her entire career. No coach has a 100% record in each competition available to them. But Mourinho’s tactic of deflecting attention is growing thin for those who have seen this show before.

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Is the Mourinho show entering it’s final season?

You won’t find a person in football who claims Mourinho is anything but an elite coach. If he retired tomorrow, few would match his achievements across three of the biggest leagues in football. But his method of dealing with disappointment will mean he’ll never become the most popular coach.

Mourinho will argue that he doesn’t care to be popular, only successful. But as with every act, the more you see it, the more repetitive and boring it becomes.

No doubt the aftermath of the City defeat will see Mourinho handed another considerable amount of money to spend. The idea the squad he built is so much weaker than City’s only highlights his own failings. Yet those loyal to the coach instead blame the board and what they are calling a lack of support.

There isn’t a shred of blame being accepted by Mourinho despite his reputation for protecting his team. Demanding £200m-£300m to match City is a slap in the face to those currently on United’s books – as well as Mourinho himself.

It must be a great drain on the person behind the mask to keep this never-ending fight going. And this is probably why, before the Mourinho ‘show’ gets cancelled, he’ll walk away.