page_title: José Mourinho
section_title: 2006–07 season
hierarchical_section_title: José Mourinho / Managerial career / Chelsea / 2006–07 season
caption_attribution_description: Português: O treinador de futebol português José Mourinho.
context_page_description: José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix, GOIH, is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time, and is one of the most decorated managers ever.
  After an uneventful career as a midfielder across Portugal's football pyramid, Mourinho first entered the sphere of management as an interpreter for Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting CP and Porto, before gaining success as an assistant at Barcelona under both Robson and his successor, Louis van Gaal. After impressing with brief managerial stints at Benfica and União de Leiria, Mourinho returned to Porto as manager in 2002, where he won the Primeira Liga twice, a Taça de Portugal, the UEFA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League; the latter being Porto's first European Cup title since 1987. That success earned him a move to England with Chelsea in 2004, where he won two Premier League titles, a FA Cup, and two League Cups in his three seasons at the club, before he departed in 2007 amid reports of disagreements with club owner Roman Abramovich.
context_section_description: The 2006–07 season saw growing media speculation that Mourinho would leave the club at the season's conclusion, due to alleged poor relations with owner Roman Abramovich and a power struggle with sporting director Frank Arnesen and Abramovich advisor Piet de Visser. Mourinho later cleared doubts regarding his future at Stamford Bridge, stating that there would only be two ways for him to leave Chelsea: if Chelsea were not to offer him a new contract in June 2010, and if Chelsea were to sack him.
  The signing of Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko in the summer of 2006 for a club record fee would also prove to be a point of contention between Mourinho and Abramovich. Shevchenko, at the time of his signing, was one of the most highly regarded strikers in Europe during his time with Milan, where he won the Champions League, Scudetto and Ballon d'Or awards in his seven years in Milan. Chelsea had attempted to sign Shevchenko in the preceding two years but Milan rebuffed Abramovich's interest in him. Shevchenko's first season at Chelsea was viewed as a major disappointment by the Chelsea fans, as he only scored four league goals and 14 in all competitions.
  Shevchenko's strike partner, Didier Drogba, had the highest scoring season of his career that year and this led Shevchenko to be dropped from the starting line-up towards the end of the season by Mourinho. Notably, in the Champions League semi-final match against Liverpool at Anfield, Shevchenko was not even included on the bench. Abramovich's insistence on Mourinho playing the Ukrainian was widely viewed as a further source of friction between the two men. The other high-profile arrival besides Shevchenko was German captain Michael Ballack, a free agent from Bayern Munich who was signed to strengthen the midfield. The Icelandic striker Eiður Guðjohnsen departed the club for Barcelona.
  Despite the unrest, Chelsea won the League Cup again by defeating Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium. The possibility, however, of the quadruple was brought to an end on 1 May 2007 when Liverpool eliminated Chelsea from the Champions League on penalties at Anfield, following a 1–1 aggregate draw. Days later, Chelsea drew 1–1 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, which secured the Premier League title for Manchester United. This was Mourinho's first season without a league title win in five years. Mourinho led Chelsea to a 1–0 victory against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Cup Final, winning in the first final to be played at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium. This was his first FA Cup win which meant that he had won every domestic trophy available to a Premier League manager.
  There was, however, to be further friction between Mourinho and Abramovich when Avram Grant was appointed as director of football, despite objections from Mourinho. Grant's position was further enhanced by being given a seat on the board. In spite of these tensions, the 2007–08 transfer season would see the departure of Dutch winger Arjen Robben to Real Madrid and the arrival of French midfielder Florent Malouda from Lyon.
caption: Mourinho with Chelsea in 2007
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