The Special One: The Dark Side of Jose Mourinho

by Diego Torres, Pete Jenson (Translator)

An explosive and shocking biography of Jose Mourinho - revealing the dark side of 'the special one'. When José Mourinho announced his return to English football, it sparked celebrations from fans and press alike. As one of the most charismatic figures in the game, his reappearance could surely only be a good thing… But is there a darker side to the Mourinho? A mischievous, scheming, even tyrannical quality to the man beneath the veneer of charm? As part of El Pais, Diego Torres is one of the premier investigative journalists in Spanish football, and in this explosive biography of 'the special one' he uncovers secrets and lies that will change the way we see Mourinho. From dodgy dealings to assassinations of players both outside and within his own team, and other shocking revelations, Prepare To Lose reveals Mourinho as a man far removed from the hero so many people consider him to be.

Genres: Football, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction, Soccer, Ebooks

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2014

Reviews

[Dan Stapleton · Rating 2 out of 5]

An absolute hitpiece. The suggestion that Mou's time at Real was a failure is laughable and it is suggested numerous times throughout the book. Wouldn't believe half of this shit.

[Matthew Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst football books I have ever read. The author clearly has a dislike of Jose (and likely a close confidant of Casillas who supplied him with a lot of the material for this hatchet job of a book). Wins are glossed over in a few words but losses are dragged out with gleeful misery. I always pass my books on to others maybe to charity shops or to friends but this is going straight in the bin because I hate the idea of anyone else having to read this poor book. If you are reading this far because you are considering buying this book. Then don’t. Regarding the author I shall quote Jose “Maybe the guy drank red wine or beer with breakfast instead of milk.

[Kashish · Rating 2 out of 5]

3/5 stars. An interesting read even though it feels like a fiction woven around few of the well known facts about Jose.

How much of it is true? I don't know. Is any of it is true? Maybe but never before have I read a book that attacked its subject so viciously. Diego Torres is a well known critic of Jose Mourinho and although the book doesn't bore you, after first few chapters it starts to feel like that the author have an axe to grind.

The dark side of Mourinho is well known by almost every person who follows European football: his ability to manipulate the press, his going too far in the heat of the moment, his criticism of referee and scheduling. It's nothing new and it seems like the author has woven his book around the facts that are already known.

The author completely discredits Jose of the trophies won during his time at Real Madrid, attributing it to the players instead. Jose's time at Real Madrid was far from a happy one but the book portrays him as a Hitler/Stalin like Dictator and that players were really brave to win in spite of his dictatorship. Jose might have few quirks or a "dark side" but somehow I can't imagine that a person like that (how he is portrayed in the book) can be so successful as a coach and loved by so many of his old players (Lampard, Terry, Materazzi, Ferreira and many more)

[Subu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complex, egoistic, enigmatic, viscous, envious, intriguing.....one can never run out of things to say about mourinho....people who know me know how much I dislike the man...this book throws a lot of insight into jose's style of management...focussing a lot on those turbulent times at Madrid and his spate with Casillas...at times though the book does seem fictitious and as though the author has woven fiction within fact to keep the book readable...the book has a very strong anti mourinho vibe...while I enjoyed it a pragmatic and non biased football fan may find it far fetched....btw do pragmatic football fans exist ?

I think Man Utd fans in particular should definitely read the book.

[Adam Moore McCarthy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just really boring? Not what I expected at all I couldn’t even get halfway through, more of a hit piece than anything and the fact English isn’t the initial language it’s written in made it difficult

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insight. Joined a lot of dots for me because Madrid's style of play and results under Mourinho were simply bizarre. I have a feeling Casillas, Ramos and the others contributed to this book. There's lots of great content from behind the scenes. This book reveals the limitations of the man who thinks he's a footballing genius

[Yomi Olufidipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am an Arsenal Fan and this fella without a doubt is one of my biggest inspirations ever. It’s funny cause this book really showed the worst parts of him but it just made me appreciate and love him more casue his flaws were so clear to see and that kinda made me respect the unpolished version of him in this book more than anything. (It’s what I imagine the new Scorsese Documentary will do for me with him (from what I have heard of that))

What a guy. Leader Of Men! Genius. Flawed. Genius. Insecure. Genius. So Childish. Narcissistic. Genius. Machiavellian and finally. (you guessed it … GENIUS). 😭😭😭🤣🤣

Legit I can count on one hand the amount of books that I’ve gotten into so much to the point where I didn’t want to put them down as much as this … not since me reading The Fowl Twins in early 2020 has a book invigorated, fascinated and just taken me in as much as this.

I can honestly admit there are parts of my personality that I hope to have in my arsenal due to him (I have worded that in a strange way Ik but yeah he’s an inspiration, influence all of the damn above). I’ve studied his teams (his 2010 Inter Milan is my fave non Arsenal Team ever, I’ve rewatched his interviews and clips over and over and man I’ve rewatched his documentary in full hella times and rewatched portions of it 100s and 100s and 100s or times (not exaggerating if at this point it’s 1000s loool) so yeah … he’s that cool to me. Charm, Wit, Charisma and a true Performer in the greatest sense of the world. He called himself the special one and man was he right. Box Office feels like such an overused word but Prime Mourinho is up there with the best of em in my eyes.

(I think imma make an “art of style: Jean Cocteau” type documentary based on him btw 😅😅😅like I’m pretty sure of it and this book + the Barca one in also reading reaffirmed it - you see I don’t even know if it’s all true and I imagine a bit is embellished but like any great story retold again and again by different people over time - do I really give a fuck? 😭😭😭. Just adds to the lore and legend in my book)

(Also what’s especially perfect is me reading and finishing the last portion of this book on the way to and in Madrid (on the 9th of October 2025 and it’s only hit me as I wrote this up (on the 3rd of November 2025)).

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diego Torres is regularly cited on a podcast I listen to regularly, and eventually I got round to reading his book that was translated into English, about Mourinho's time in Madrid.

It took a while for me to get into it, but eventually I understood why he was given praise - he crafts a good story and on a less serious topic, he is a bit like Tim Shipman, in that he tells the story of what happens behind the scenes, and it was this that kept me reading. This is not an even account, Mourinho is paranoid, hypocritical, and cares about himself to the extent that he would rather lose narrowly than risk going for victory so that he can blame referees. If the story about Mendes having an office at the Real Madrid training ground is true, you wonder how it was ever allowed.

But the problem is that it just doesn't ring all that true. In Mourinho's second season his team set all kinds of records, and got to the semi-final of the Champions League. The players might not have liked him, but one of the prevailing narratives was of a team unable to penetrate defensive teams. With such an easy tactic, how did Real Madrid score over 100 goals in one league season? Perhaps a better or more concillatory manager would have won another Champions League with the team, but he still got to three semi-finals in Europe so the idea that they never beat good teams didn't really hold either. This was a great story, but it came across as fan fiction as much as anything, as managers who have genuinely lost the dressing room tend to earn much worse results.

And with non-fiction, a belief that it is written in good faith is key to taking it seriously. Many of the stories must be true in order to avoid libel, but the conclusion doesn't seem to follow, and the hapless Fabio Coentrao may well have received favourable treatment, but the stats show it was not as though he started every game. There just wasn't the nuance that was needed, especially when you can check the actual results, even if the Peking Manual was quite funny.

[Sergio GRANDE · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can admire Mourinho or you can hate him; you may respect, dismiss or envy him. But you cannot, ever, love him (unless you are a close family member -I assume some in his family love him).

In this book, the man comes across as a Machiavellian psychopath, a megalomaniac out of control who will stoop lower than the lowest just to maintain a self-created image.

It is possible, of course, that the book is libelous and brimming with inaccuracies and slander. But wouldn't the blusterous Mourinho we see storming out of press conferences every couple of weeks, have sued?

This book deals only with the three years he spent at Real Madrid, where "players found he had a bottomless capacity to provoke difficult -and unprecedented- situations". The worst three in the club's history.

“José Mourinho’s most amazing victory in his three years in Madrid was to convince thousands of people that the football was just an accessory. It did not matter that the team’s play was unrecognisable and ineffective, it was irrelevant whether the left-back was Marcelo or Coentrão, or that the goalkeeper was Diego López or the best goalkeeper in the history of Spain. (...)
"For many, what really determined his success was his ability to formulate a message, spread it tirelessly and be convincing. On the street, in certain TV studios, in offices and in the board room, the golden rules of the reality show had repealed the laws of football under a blanket of noise.”

[Malcolm Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is by no means a complete biography but is restricted to Morinhio’s time at Real Madrid.it does not present a flattering picture of him ,dark and bitter ,with prejudices against certain players but it does fit with his subsequent time at Chelsea and Man Utd.It doesn’t paint a nice picture of Real Madrid as an institution with all the politicking around the president of the club.
However the most worrying aspect of the book for modern football is the presence of the agent Mendes in the club ,his influence over player signings and selections so significant that according to the book he even has his own office at the club .Sadly this is now replicated at various English clubs .The book is an interesting read without being spell binding in any way

[Kelvin Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I question the authenticity or truth of all that is written, it does bear resemblance in all the clubs managed by Mourinho. Every club that he managed, he did not last more than 3 seasons and there is always tension and friction so much so that his stock had fallen especially since his second stint at Chelsea - squabbles with players, tension against journalists and complaints against referees. Never seen such caustic personality and this book provides good insight such that while we may never know how accurate the book is, what was written was hardly surprising.

[Filip Olšovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Controversial by all accounts. There is no way all of this is true and the author had access to so many inside sources. At the same time the stories only rarely defy logic, are generally believable and skillfully written. Of course, the narrative is much stronger than reality (Mourinho’s spell was much more successful than Torres dares to admit) but as an insight to the dressing room this pretty much works and manages to entertain with every new chapter.

[Ben Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book for those who enjoy soccer. A little dry at times with lists of lineups and results. Biased in the review of Mourinho but filled with plenty of facts about his managing style and effects on the teams performance. Can certainly see why he only lasts a few years at each club he joins. Worth a read if you are into European soccer and want to learn about one of the most recognizable coaches of the past 20 years.

[Matthew Burgoyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

You really have to love football to get through this book. It's pretty well written and carries quite nicely at points , however the mourinho bashing can get a bit tiresome and ended up having to put it down a couple of times because of it. I found a large chunk of it quite thought provoking either way and would recommend this book to any football fan.

[Álvaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bem documental. Faz o que se propõe com uma prosa boa e, por vezes, poética, com citações de Dom Quixote até J. L. Borges, as quais são feitas de certa forma bem adequada. Não sei, apesar de gostar desse trama do Mourinho, o gênero e a narrativa não me atraíram tanto. Terminar essa leitura foi mais complicado do que deveria.

[Y T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting insight as to what happened during Jose's time in Real and the fallout. However the book contains too much details into many of the matches, which I think could have been skipped over if you want to get a gist of the story.

Overall interesting read, to know that he's got so much links to his agent that the team selection might have been skewed.

[Manan Sheth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a die hard FC Barcelona fan, the book was a treat as it explained how one man single handedly poisoned a football club. Also, I really like Mourinho for his tactical prowess but the book provides you an insight into the amazing mental games and manipulations the man is capable of.

[Choz G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside details of his time at Real Madrid, the author seems to have some good sources from within the dressing room. Hats off to this book for making me dislike The Moaning One even more than I already did.

[Tomas Conefrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing

This was a very revealing look at Jose Mourinho’s time as Manager of Real Madrid. I knew he was sly but this blew my mind.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the book, but what are the assumptions based on? Which of the information is real? It's hard to know. Still, it was interesting to see the dark side of a very important manager again.

[James Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good account. Gloomy parallels to what is happening at my club (Tottenham) under Mourinho now. Seems like Mourinho’s priority is always preserving his ego above all else.

[Vasilis Kalandaridis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Απολαυστικό,για τον Ζοζέ που είτε τον λατρεύεις είτε τον μισείς,σίγουρα πάντως διασκεδάζεις μαζί του.

[Arpit Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on Mourinho's tenure at Real Madrid. Keeps you hooked.

[sneha · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh no.

[Max Frost]

He is the special one

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

How much of this book is true? I don't know. Does Diego Torres have some secret sources inside of Real Madrid that gave him information that nobody else has? I don't know that either. Could this picture of Jose Mourinho be true? You will have to decide for yourself.

Diego Torres writes about events that happened inside of the Real Madrid locker room that have never been talked about. He talks about a Jose Mourinho that nobody has seen. He tells how Jose Mourinho would use mind games to try to enhance his own image, while tarnishing his players. He says that Jose Mourinho would favor the players that had Jorge Mendes as an agent. He says that everything was manipulated so that Jose Mourinho would come out looking good no matter how badly he was at couching Real Madrid. There are so many interesting stories in this book about what went on during the time Jose Mourinho was at Real Madrid, I just wonder which ones are true and what is fiction. Did Diego Torres make up some of the stories, or was he fed misinformation by his moles? Or maybe it's all true.

If you check out the opinions that have come out across the internet about this book, it seems that the majority of people think that Diego Torres has an ax to grind. Most people take this book as a work of fiction with a few facts thrown in for good measure, but if they are wrong, and Diego is telling the whole truth about Jose Mourinho, then he is one crazy SOB. We will have to see what comes out from his time at Chelsea.

How can I rate this book? I'm not sure how much to believe. Do I rate it as an expose or as a novel? I think that I will give it 3 Stars out of 5.

If you follow football (soccer), especially the European leagues, then you probably like to read this, just so that you can discuss it with your friends. If you couldn't care less, then just move on, because you won't have any interest.

I received a Digital Review Copy from the publisher.

[Ankur Maniar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its one thing to criticize someone but criticism with such venom is rarely seen. Its exactly this which is the downside of this book. As the book drags along it seems that the author has some personal agenda / score to be settled with Jose Mourinho. Rather than an expose, which the book claims, its filled more with voices of discontent made by Real Madrid players during his term at the club. And whats more, with the continued and almost unparalleled success which Mourinho enjoys, the allegations in the book seems to lack potency. Agreed that his time at Real Madrid was not the most pleasant, but the author seems hell bent on making the reader believe that all failures were due to Jose and the league title won by Madrid during his reign was entirely due to the spirited players and no contribution from him. All said, Jose Mourinho wherever he goes would certainly be contoversial due to his style, communication, manipulative tendencies and eccentric moods but no one can deny that he is amongst the best coaches footballing world has ever seen and he has enough silverware to back that claim. And as I write this, as early as tomorrow he would be claiming one more of those for Chelsea. Lets just say you can love him, you can hate him, but you can't ignore him.

[Hasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is an expose of Mourinho's time at Madrid, personally it didn't give an insight into the man's psychology and mindset but made his tenure at Madrid as a somewhat megalomaniac.

Torres comes across as slightly contradictory as in the first chapter he outlines how Mourinho wanted to replace Sir Alex Ferguson and how he had cried, however he then outlines in the final chapter that Mourinho had agreed with Chelsea. The book doesn't articulate how Jose Mourinho achieved a league title and Spanish cup and accumulated 100 plus points in a season. Torres through his inside moles got the dirt on Jose Mourinho but failed to find the otherside of the story.

Overall the book lacked a balanced gravitas, but gave insight in how managing, playing or even representing Real Madrid has its perks but also the pressures.

[Shahzad Irani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights in to Mourinho's time at Real Madrid. Mourinho's peers reveal about his desire to be like Sir Alex (How that failed at Madrid and how his eventual goal is to be manager of Manchester United).

[Chris Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best football books I've read. So many revealing and shocking anecdotes. Brutal and in humane treatment of players at times. He put having power within the club ahead of results. Even telling his players not to win a CL second leg v Barca to emphasise his point of the ref losing them the tie in the first leg. Sources of Torres' rumoured to be 'the black sheep' Casillas and Ramos. Very one sided at times which does make you wonder how Madrid won so many games, even breaking the 100 point barrier in 2011/12. Still, a fascinating read which exposes how Mourinho behaves when the stage curtains are closed.