As Jose Mourinho wildly celebrated guiding Manchester United to Europa League glory on Wednesday night, a weight appeared to have been lifted from his shoulders.
The Portuguese has often cut a sullen figure during a testing debut campaign in charge at Old Trafford, railing against officials, the authorities and even his own players at times.
But all the tension seemed to suddenly drain away as goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave United a 2-0 win over Ajax with a performance that had Mourinho’s stamp all over it.
The Reds’ combination of physicality, defensive resilience, ruthlessness in front of goal and savvy game management proved far too potent for their talented but inexperienced opponents in Stockholm.
Mourinho is now basking in the warm glow of a third trophy in the 12 months since replacing Louis van Gaal - he’s counting the Community Shield as well as the EFL Cup, of course – and, just as importantly, Champions League qualification.
But as he cavorted at the Friends Arena, it was tempting to wonder if the celebrations betrayed more of a sense of relief than genuine elation within a man not traditionally predisposed to self-doubt.
Mourinho’s post-match interview, in which he admitted relishing the chance to activate “holiday mode”, hinted at the strain he has been under to deliver this season, whether self-inflicted or not.
The 54-year-old had already provided a similar insight in a fascinating exclusive chat with former United defender and BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand ahead of the Europa League final.
“In this club, it makes me feel like I did nothing [in my career],” he said, when asked about some of the legendary managers in whose footsteps he is following at United.
“Especially because you have two legends in terms of titles and trophies in Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I feel that I am nobody.”
Perhaps Mourinho finally felt like somebody when he woke up this morning and reflected on securing the only silverware missing from United’s bulging trophy cabinet.
But his thoughts will already be turning to recapturing the Premier League crown in his second season, having effectively sacrificed domestic matters in recent weeks in favour of ensuring last night’s Europa League success.
United eventually finished sixth, adding to an underwhelming previous set of finishes – seventh, fourth, fifth - since Ferguson’s title-winning departure in 2013.
There were high points – a club-record 25-match unbeaten run and the evergreen Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s scoring feats prior to suffering a serious knee injury, to name just two.
Yet the league campaign will be remembered more for United’s stuttering early months, inability to ever really get into the top-four battle and a smattering of Mourinho-led controversies.
One of the most prominent episodes was the ex-Chelsea boss tapping the United badge on his training top after masterminding a 2-0 win over the then-champions-elect at Old Trafford.
The gesture enraged Blues fans, many of whom still idolise him for his achievements with the club, regardless of how bitterly his second spell came to an end in December 2015.
Reflecting on the incident, Mourinho re-affirmed his respect for the Stamford Bridge faithful, but admitted it was a premeditated move designed to prove a point to his former employers.
“I wore the tracksuit, which I don’t normally do,” he said.
“I did it because it was Chelsea. I wanted to make it clear that I’m not Chelsea anymore.
“Chelsea is in my history, I’m in Chelsea’s history. I have huge respect for the fans – they gave me so much – but I am not Chelsea anymore. I am Manchester United.
“I did it because I wanted to finish the story of my connection with Chelsea.
“If one day I am not at Manchester United and I am at a different club, I will do exactly the same.”
Mourinho has also been widely criticised for his public dressing down of players he feels are not meeting his exacting standards.
Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Luke Shaw – “he played with his body and my brain” – are among those to have seen their dirty laundry with the manager unceremoniously aired in the press this term.
Mourinho offered Ferdinand an intriguing insight into this unique man-management style, conceding that his failure to warm to players who do not share his mindset can work against him at times.
As a reference point, he highlighted United striker Marcus Rashford as a prime example of someone who ticks all the right boxes.
“What I love in this kid is he copes with the pressure and I can press him. I can be very demanding with him," he said.
"He’s the kind of kid where the training session finishes, but it doesn’t finish for him. He wants more. He lives for football.
“This is the kind of character I like. I like to squeeze the player [Mourinho makes intense squeezing gesture with his hands] and the player to cope with it, to react to it.
“For me players with fragile mentality are more difficult. I would say it’s my weakness as a manager. It’s difficult for me to understand people with a different mentality than I have.
“Sometimes I ask my assistants to help me on that because maybe they have a different profile than I have.
“For me, I want to be in love with a player, his character, his personality – and Rashford is the best example of that in this club.”
So what next for Mourinho and United?
Although he could never envisage the sort of longevity Busby and Ferguson achieved, he is at the stage of his career where he yearns for a long association with one club.
He admitted as much when he returned to Chelsea, which is why the manner in which his empire collapsed so dramatically around his ankles at Stamford Bridge clearly still cuts him deep.
Mourinho has a three-year contract and the evidence of his career to date suggests that the abrasive nature of his methods tends to stop yielding maximum results in the latter stages of such a cycle.
He revealed that, at this stage, there are no plans for him to stay beyond the conclusion of his current deal.
“I couldn’t resist this challenge, knowing that the team, for some reason, was in trouble,” he said.
“The three years of contract gave me the idea that ‘I’m going to have these three years’.
“The feeling I got from the board, the owners, was exactly that - I’m going to have these three years to build, to change things and to try to put things on the right track.
“It’s a phenomenal challenge.”
Mourinho also told Ferdinand that he has another 15 years left in him as a top manager.
How many of those are spent patrolling the Old Trafford dug-out remains to be seen.
But if he can deliver more glory nights similar to Stockholm, this complex, compelling character could yet succeed in building the long-term legacy he so desperately craves in Manchester.
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