0:34 Mauricio Pochettino reflects on where his next job could be and ‘good friend’ Jose Mourinho
But the wobbles began when Mourinho was unable to keep Newcastle in title contention without the goals of Shearer.
And the manager left in 2008 wanting “new challenges”, leaving red-faced Tyneside town planners to rethink their proposal to rebrand the famous statue as the Jose of the North.
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City slicker
Mourinho wasn’t out of work for long though, picking up the reins in October 2008 at Manchester City – another team with new cash and desperate to join the European elite.
With Jose running the ship, City didn’t need any last-gasp Sergio Aguero magic to secure their first-ever Premier League crown.
They would have long since wrapped up a third straight title and would go on to quickly end their Champions League hoodoo.
On the flip side, no second Jose stint at Stamford Bridge means an overhaul in personnel. Who knows, Frank Lampard and the Blues might even still have a forward line of Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku.
2004 Champions League winners are…
Back to the start of this story and the 2004 Champions League. With Porto out, who goes on to lift the trophy in Gelsenkirchen?
Manchester United fans will no doubt be clamouring for the honours but with Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson ruling the midfield, maybe we should look to the beaten finalists?
Monaco were useful but they were soundly beaten 3-0 by Jose’s Porto boys in the final, suggesting a team from the other side of the draw should be considered.
Look no further than the squad who beat Juventus home and away in the round of 16, came back from a 4-1 first leg defeat to beat holders AC Milan in the last eight, and then give Porto a mighty battle before losing 1-0 on aggregate in the semi – with just a penalty between them.
It’s Deportivo La Coruna.
It has been a tough time for Depor of late (currently in La Liga 2), but just to add to your woes Deportivo fans, if it wasn’t for one small goalkeeping error, it seems like you would have won the Champions League in 2004!
Look out for our next What If and how some very famous English studs finally ended 30 years of hurt.
Sourse: skysports.com
