Source: Liverpool_Echo
David Prentice: Could Jose Mourinho ever manage Liverpool Football Club?
IF Liverpool fans are divided on the subject of Rafael Benitez's future, they are cleaved asunder when it comes to the discussion of one man who harbours ambitions to replace him.[LNB]Could Jose Mourinho ever manage Liverpool?[LNB]To some he's the most gifted manager in world football - a coach who would guarantee the league title four Anfield managers have tried and failed to capture. An outspoken, charismatic boss in the mould of the man who created the Anfield dynasty.[LNB]To his critics he's arrogant, scheming and graceless. A man who strode down the Anfield touchline with his finger pressed to his lips, who threatened a riot with his gestures at the Millennium Stadium in 2004, and a manager who shamelessly courted Steven Gerrard.[LNB]But he's being spoken of as the next Liverpool boss - even before the present incumbent has departed.[LNB]Regardless of the respect you may have for Rafael Benitez - and I have enormous respect for both the man and his achievements - it's pointless trying to avoid the issue.[LNB]The speculation has started already.[LNB]Last weekend's Sunday tabloids marked out this summer as the end of Benitez's Anfield tenure.[LNB]The interview Rafa gave to the Echo on Monday spoke in broad, 'it's not about me it's about Liverpool' terms, but crucially fell short of declaring a desire to see the job through.[LNB]The same day one Fleet Street sports editor told Sky News of his 'gut instinct' that Mourinho would land at Anfield this summer.[LNB]The idea is already out there.[LNB]But would Anfield embrace it?[LNB]Six years ago the prospect of Mourinho's Armani overcoat prowling the Anfield touchline was about as likely as the dark knight from the other end of the East Lancs Road pitching up at Melwood.[LNB]Brash, self-obsessed and controversial, Mourinho was nevertheless discussed as a possible replacement for Gerard Houllier, but discarded in favour of the more reserved - and at the time just as successful - Rafael Benitez.[LNB]The moment the Anfield board's lips curled was when Mourinho slid down the Old Trafford touchline on his knees. Liverpool managers act with a little more decorum and dignity, they decided, and switched their search elsewhere.
