According to José Mourinho, it took him “20 years to become an overnight success”. Having spent a few days this week on the final part of my Uefa pro licence coaching course, I am beginning to appreciate what he meant when he said that. Hours in the classroom and on the pitch, as well as giving presentations to fellow students, has made me more appreciative of the hard work that goes into qualifying to be able to do a job that I don’t even know if I will one day be lucky enough to get.

Studying also gives an insight into the commitment, passion and application which someone like Mourinho has had to put into football in order to achieve the level of success he has. In a week when the world has been praising the courageous and attacking football which has taken Liverpool to the Champions League final, I have to say that I have just as much admiration and respect for the Manchester United manager as I have for Jürgen Klopp.

Mourinho brings his team to the Amex Stadium on Friday evening for a match which is significant for both sides as we aim to secure our Premier League status and United attempt to finish the season in second place, with the added incentive of preparing for an FA Cup final against Chelsea just a couple of weeks away. Mourinho has proved himself a master of winning games in cup competitions and it’s no wonder, given his pragmatic approach to preparing for every game in a specific way.

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There have been a few times this season when he has been hammered for playing so-called negative football – his tactics at Liverpool were a case in point – but criticising a coach for selecting a team and forming a gameplan to counter an opponent’s strengths is like using a mallet to crack an egg.

Every coach will have his own beliefs about how the game should be played and that philosophy will be borne out by the way his team carry out instructions, but it is a very narrow mind which contests that one way is definitively better than another. Like everything else in the world, football undergoes cycles and you cannot tell me the high-scoring, attacking football of this season’s Champions League is not an antidote or a reaction to the more defensive and cautious football which had been prevalent in the past 10 years or so.

The foundation for change in the game is a difference in style of coaches. Mourinho is unlike Pep Guardiola or Klopp in his philosophy, but his adaptability and core values are proven to achieve success against the very best.

You may remember that it was Mourinho’s Real Madrid side who won La Liga in 2011-12 against arguably the greatest club side of all time in Guardiola’s Barcelona. Real did not beat or even challenge Barça at their own game because Mourinho believed he knew how to get the better of them and they achieved that courtesy of his forensic attention to detail in preparations for a match. The modus operandi is to ensure the players are ready for the battle with their direct opponent and that they are drilled to react to any scenario – from conceding a goal to finding your team reduced to 10 men.

Players who have won major trophies in Mourinho teams, such as Frank Lampard at Chelsea or Internazionale’s Marco Materazzi, have spoken about his attention to detail and how that inspires confidence in his players and while Mourinho may have a mixed persona in public, one certainty is that the majority of his players love him and would run through brick walls for him.

However, it’s not that simple. Arsène Wenger has correctly been praised for revolutionising English football in the late 90s with his introduction of sports science and diet changes, among other things, at Arsenal. It seems as if he could not or would not evolve with other changes in the game, though, and that’s where the chameleon-like Mourinho may have the edge as he has incorporated the best of the rest into the running of the teams he has managed and then added his skill-set to succeed.

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United have come up against a phenomenal Manchester City side who are very worthy champions this season, but in the same time frame as Guardiola has been manager at the Etihad Stadium, Mourinho has won the Europa League and League Cup, and could still add an FA Cup.

It is true that Guardiola’s team and the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson have set a high bar for him but ask fans if they prefer winning to losing and I know the answer you will get.

As an aspiring coach I have a firm handle on how I want my team to play and I admire and wonder at the way the likes of Guardiola, Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have gone about their work. At the same time, I look at Mourinho and what he has won in his career by adopting a less evangelical approach to the game we all love. He has still managed to achieve great success regardless.

Howard Wilkinson has been one of our tutors on the pro licence course and he is adamant that you have to survive your first 70 games as a manager if you are to have any chance of succeeding long term.

Should I get the opportunity to coach one game, never mind 70, then I would be looking to combine the beautiful with the practical.