"The Special One' becomes 'The Special Four"

"Seriously, I don't want to be taken arrogantly," said the man who returns to England for the fourth time. It is Tottenham Hotspur who welcome one of football's strongest personalities, the man who upset both his own fans and others and that, to many people's disappointment, has tamed with the passing of time.

Because Mou is not what he used to be, atleast in terms of the media. His 'showtime' in press conferences stayed in Madrid and his fiery character has been extinguished. There are no longer the "why," references to Unicef and lists of errors.

Maybe that's why he has got another chance in England. He has been sacked from his last three teams, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United, with the last dismissal being the worst.

But Mourinho already warned years ago, when he his case was compared to that of Manuel Pellegrini's. "What happened to him won't happen to me. When I get out of here, I'll go to a great team in England or Italy."

And time has proved him right. The latest big team to knock on his door is Tottenham, a team very much with his winning style from earlier years. A big club, but not winner, atleast not yet. 

As was Porto or Inter before his arrival, clubs he transformed with titles previously unimaginable.

But his Champions League counter has been standing at two ever since. Since 2010, the top continental competition has been elusive to him and now he has arrived at a club that has recently reached the final.

The new stage in London will test his ability to retrain. Manchester United's Mourinho is no longer good, no matter how low the bar is set at White Hart Lane for titles.

He has to overcome the great work of Mauricio Pochettino in the last five years and will have to do it against the clock, because in London they are tired of waiting.