Of all the memorable quips throughout José Mourinho’s illustrious career, there is one that still echoes back toward him. Famous soundbites nominating himself as “The Special One” and “not Harry Potter” immortalized him in the banter Hall of Fame, but in 2018 with Manchester United, after an early-season loss to Spurs, he issued a measure to his career.
“Hegel says, ‘The truth is in the whole,’” Mourinho said with his trademark arrogance.
Citing one of the founding figures of western philosophy in Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the soundbite answered whether he could still consider himself “one of the greatest managers in the world.” His point: Look at the entire portrait, not just one snapshot before you judge a career.
