When Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich dismissed Jose Mourinho as manager in 2007, it was presumed that the oligarch wanted to win with more style than was being displayed under Mourinho.
But Mourinho is back, and the winning is as pragmatic as it ever was.
When Chelsea inched toward reclaiming the English Premier League title last Saturday with a snatch-and-grab victory against Manchester United, Abramovich looked as happy as a child given his first soccer ball. The Russian leaped out of his seat, high-fived his associates and beamed as we rarely have seen him do.
The impression is that Mourinho has taught his boss that winning is the only thing that counts. Style is for the birds.
“The game was the game that we wanted to play,” Mourinho said on television after it ended 1-0 at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium. “Exactly the game we wanted,” he repeated. “We decided to play strategically. I know what people can think, but it is three points in the pocket, and we are waiting to be champion.”
From Mourinho's words and Abramovich's high-fives, we can surmise that the remarriage -- the word Mourinho used to refer to his return to London two years ago -- is satisfying to both parties.
Abramovich, though, said nothing in public when he dispensed with Mourinho, nothing when he rehired him and nothing after Saturday's win.
How some of us would enjoy it if Abramovich would talk once in a while and if his manager would be the silent one.
Let's get one thing straight: the winning goal against Manchester United was a thing of beauty. Oscar, the Brazilian midfielder for Chelsea, ran with the ball before back-heeling it to Eden Hazard. And Hazard, who all season long has been Chelsea's best player, took it in stride, drew out the goalkeeper David De Gea and then sweetly shot it through the legs of the keeper as he rushed toward him.
Quite magnificent, and quite in keeping with the way that Hazard has been the creative star on a team that is otherwise built around a solid work ethic, efficiency and obediently sticking to the game plan.
“This is a massive win,” said John Terry, the Chelsea captain. “You could see the passion from the players. We've not been playing as well as we can, but we've been grinding out results, and that's the sign of champions.”
The grinding was planned. Against a United team that has gradually raised itself to third place after a poor start to the season, Mourinho positioned two men -- Nemanja Matic and Kurt Zouma, who is normally a centre-back -- to anchor the midfield in front of the back line of four defenders.
Their purpose was to snuff out the supply line of United's forward rhythm, to isolate Radamel Falcao in attack and Marouane Fellaini as the link player. In effect, Mourinho eschewed the chance to attack a Manchester side weakened by injuries to four defenders.
It meant the home team had the ball less than 30 percent of the contest. It was a waiting game, reminiscent of Mourinho's highly successful team of 2007.
That side allowed free expression by one decorative winger, Arjen Robben, who now plays for Bayern Munich. The current team gives similar licence to Hazard, who most observers expect to be named the outstanding player in the Premier League this season.
When one thinks of the other hugely creative talents in Chelsea blue -- Oscar, Willian or Cesc Fabregas, for example -- it seems a pity to put them into a straitjacket. And quite pitiful to see gifted men playing time-wasting tactics to run down the clock in their own stadium.
Chelsea has had the look of a champion since the start of this season. And should it avoid defeat against Arsenal on Sunday, who are in second place and on a roll of nine successive wins in all competitions, Chelsea will need just two more victories from five games to take the title.
Louis van Gaal, the veteran Dutch coach who made his debut in English soccer at the age of 63 when he joined Manchester United this season, once taught Mourinho much of what he knows about management. They remain friends and fierce rivals.
After hearing what Mourinho, his former assistant coach at Barcelona, said following Saturday's game, van Gaal retorted: “Everybody can have his opinion, and the winner takes it all.”
The Dutchman was smiling, at least outwardly. “We had three chances in the first half, and Chelsea none,” he pointed out. “In the second half we had eight chances to three by Chelsea. In football it is always the better team that wins; did you think that you saw that today?”
When it comes to sarcasm, the two coaches are a match. But Mourinho, and his boss Abramovich, are where they want to be. Chelsea's lead in the Premiership is 10 points over Arsenal and 11 points above United, with Manchester City and Liverpool fighting it out for the fourth spot.
Nobody will now catch the Blues of Stamford Bridge. Arsenal, which struggled to overcome second-tier Reading, 2-1, in overtime in the FA Cup semifinal last Saturday, might put off the coronation of Chelsea for a week or so. And it might do it with a style that is easier on the eye.
But there are, as every critic keeps on reminding Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger, no points for style -- only for wins, or at least for avoiding defeats.
Mourinho is the ultimate winner, not simply in England, but also in Portugal, where he is from, and Italy and Spain. He has coached major clubs in those three countries to European or national titles, or both.
We cannot, and should not, detract from that. But when opponents play negatively against his team, Mourinho is the first to talk disparagingly about “parking the bus.” When he does it, even on home turf in front of his club's own customers, he grins and is smug about his clever strategy.
But if Abramovich is smiling and handing out high-fives, who cares what outsiders think or say?
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