Jose's Chelsea Return

Jose Mourinho is back at the helm at Chelsea and the question on everyone's lips is how the fiery manager is going to perform this time around. The general consensus is that Mourinho has learnt a great deal from his time away from the spotlight and the image he's presenting to the world is a more subdued one so far. He seems to be in control of himself and how he comes across, which is what you would expect from someone as skilled at working the media as he is. If he shows the same kind of ability to whip up a media frenzy before a game that he has in the past, that alone could boost Chelsea's performance this season. Jose Mourinho has always been a colourful character - he called himself a "special one" when he was first appointed by Chelsea back in 2004. Certainly, if his success rate is anything to go by, he was justified in thinking of himself that way - he lead his team to back-to-back titles, winning two Barclays Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups until he left by mutual agreement in 2007. Mourinho now describes himself as "the happy one." Chelsea has always been important to him and this time around, Mourinho is in it for the long haul, having managed Inter and Real for relatively short periods. He's always been very vocal about how much he enjoys English football and he's publicly stated that he intends to work as hard as he can to prove that he should be with Chelsea for the foreseeable future, long beyond the four year term of his current contract. Mourinho's style of management has always been focused on picking the best player for the job, regardless of personality and this strategy has served him well - after his winning streak at Chelsea, he took Inter Milan to victory in the 2010 Champions League before moving to Madrid, where he was equally successful. Refusing to be drawn on Rafael Benitez' decision not to play John Terry as much as he could, especially since he'd had a similar policy towards Iker Casillas, the Real and Spain captain last season, Mourinho insists that he will play the right man for the job, regardless of how high profile a player may be. This means that it's likely we'll see more controversial decisions from the Portuguese manager. It cannot be denied, however, that his focus on the game rather than personalities is what's brought him the results in the past. As Chelsea's pre-season tour of the Far East begins this week, and the players return to pre-season training, Mourinho has promised to play the 'sexy' football Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has said he wants to see. This is likely to produce some interesting outcomes given Mourinho's preference for pacey and powerful football. However, Mourinho has said that he is aiming to please the fans on all fronts, not just with good results, but with entertaining football as well, and given his history and reputation, he's likely to deliver.