I have held this opinion for a while and, in fact, I was against Benfica hiring José Mourinho because I honestly believe his time has already passed. The “Special One” has not really been special for more than a decade.
I am not trying, and do not want, to diminish the coach he was or what he achieved. I am talking about the recent past, the present and the future. Mourinho, right now, is a limited manager.
He went to Benfica and, in my opinion, he has to leave at the end of the season. He has not had a good domestic campaign, he was very poor in the Champions League, but that got forgotten because of the miracle against Real Madrid that put Benfica into the playoffs, where they then ended up losing to Real Madrid anyway. And in the big domestic matches, he cannot win. I am talking about Porto and Sporting. There were four games, five if you count the Super Cup, but I am not giving that relevance, and zero wins. Benfica were never really in the title race at the top, they kept sitting in third, and that simply cannot be allowed at a club of this size, a club that should be dreaming of every domestic trophy, just like Sporting and Porto do.
Mourinho is outdated and the recent past proves it. Fine, he did a decent job at Roma, but that is not the top of football, where in theory the “Special One” should still belong. Benfica is not that level, and Fenerbahçe is not that level either. Before that, he did a poor job at Tottenham. The last genuinely decent work he did at the top, at a true elite club, was at Manchester United, and he left there in 2018. We are now in 2026.
I understand the criticism toward Rui Costa as president, which has also been, at best, debatable, but should Mourinho not be capable of doing more with this Benfica squad? The team is not weak, but what has he actually extracted from it? Third place, without putting any real pressure on the leaders.
Jorge Mendes reportedly advised him to leave and I agree, but after that, what comes next? Saudi Arabia? The United States? From this point on, in my opinion, it is only going to keep going downhill, just like it has over the last few years.
Conclusion
Mourinho has to think seriously about his future and he has to leave Benfica, but I honestly do not know what clubs at this level would still want him, given that he is a limited manager at this stage. Every person goes through this phase, the decline, but it is up to each one to decide how long they want to keep forcing it or whether they are ready to accept reality. It is difficult, because he is a great manager historically, but the reality now is this.