The Special One on the rack

When a manager arrives at a post-game press conference complete with a prop, you know he's on the rack.

I had to search the term “rack”. It is defined as “...under intense pressure, worry or extreme distress while waiting for a difficult outcome”.

That is the dictionary definition of José Mourinho's demeanour after the damaging defeat to Atlético Madrid. It is a classic deflection tactic for a manager who doesn't want to dwell on his own team's inadequacies.

Mourinho, clutching two printouts of tackles he thought were deserving of red cards, was right up there with Rafa's rant at Liverpool, the late Kevin Keegan's “love it” meltdown in his Newcastle days, and my favourite Ian Holloway moment. The madcap manager arrived post-match complete with a video player and insisted on playing two controversial moments before he'd conduct an interview. Sadly, we couldn't find a plug socket!

José wasn't taking any risks with an electricity supply; I'm doubting he printed the offending images himself as they were printed pristinely - I struggle to print a letter.

Clearly, his savvy media team assisted him with the props. The Real Madrid website declared that: “a dreadful refereeing performance decide[d] the derby”. They were firing up the conspiracy theorists while conspiring to undermine the referee. This is the club where the TV station gives a critique of the referee in the build-up to the games.

“They've put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience. The poor chap has come here and hasn't been able to cope with the pressure,” said Mourinho. He did have a point that there were a couple of controversial challenges on his players, but the second sentence has irony: “The poor chap has come‌here and hasn't been able to cope with the pressure.”

That could be self-reflection... It is the first time he's shown any fire since his second-coming. He looks a forlorn and tired figure when the television cameras catch him during the matches; it looks like he's lost his spark.

He hasn't found the answer on how to unite a changing room full of egos. The heat maps of Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé suggested they were piggy-backing each other around the pitch. He didn't address Dean Huijsen's unnecessary dismissal or his decision to take off Jude Bellingham before he was sent off. There are lots of questions and very few answers.

At least his predecessor Xabi Alonso tried to impose himself. He confronted the Vinícius Júnior conundrum, took on senior players like Fede Valverde and attempted to shake things up. Eventually, player power cost him his job. Bear in mind that Alonso lost only one of his opening 14 La Liga games; Mourinho has lost two of his first seven.

The old José would be flexing his muscles; he'd address the Viní Júnior situation; he'd instil discipline in the likes of Bellingham and Huijsen; and he'd be waving his arms around on the touchline, rather than sitting in the shadow of the team bench. Time may be running out for The Special One.

Talking of time running out... This is my last SUR column. Thanks to my son Ellis for checking all my typos, and thanks to everyone for reading my considered views over the past decade. I will continue to be an avid reader of an excellent publication.