🚨 Could Jose Mourinho's surprise return to Real Madrid lead Chelsea to change course?

Are we nearing the end of the 'project' manager craze?

Trends can change quickly in football. Up until this season there had appeared to be a near-worldwide consensus on possession football - playing out from the back, emphasis on dominating the ball and winning it back as quickly as possible. Then suddenly, some time early on in the 2025/26 campaign we all realised we were back to lumping it forward, set-pieces, and even long throws. The arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards vindication for Tony Pulis’ Stoke City eventually.

The era of Pep Guardiola coming to an end suddenly meant that even the man himself deployed a low block away to Arsenal back in October, happy to sit back on just over 30% possession of the ball and try to hit the Gunners on the break. It seems fitting, then, that his old nemesis Jose Mourinho now looks set to land back at Real Madrid after over a decade.

Guardiola adopting Mourinho-style football earlier this season now looks like not only a sign of tactical trends shifting, but also the men football clubs might start hiring in response to the change in style.