Jose Mourinho: Out Of Character Or Out Of Sorts?

Some suggestion, I understand, after Real Madrid's defeat by Barcelona in the El Clasico epic, is that Jose Mourinho and his team are bad losers. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Is being unsporting really unsporting? Consider, for instance, these two cherished American quotations: "Good losers get used to losing" and "We didnt lose, we just ran out of time."

There was also of course Vietnam, and there is Iraq where we await the final whistle. 

Bad losing has been a featured English disease and one would think to ponder if Mourinho caught up with it during his time as Chelsea manager. 

It took the British 100 years to lose against the French and they claimed their throne until 1801.They also burned down Washington some time after they had surrendered America. Closer, we remember with affection Sir Alex Ferguson blaming defeat on the colour of his players shirts. 

Jose Mourinho has been successful at highlighting the darker side of the game in his short tenure with the club. His tactics in the Champions League game, and the behavior of his players in getting those red cards wont win him much sympathy but yes, sports people deserve our sympathy, as the impotence of any attempt to impose fairness on life is shown most starkly when it should be simplest.

Make no mistake, Jose Mourinho is already plotting his next move. He might not be a very good loser, nor does he in fairness portray grace in defeat. His negative tactics (Champions League game debacle) might have raised a few eyebrows from his supporters but one thing is for sure, with him around, its always a fight till the end.