TORONTO First impressions. Few have ever had quite the way with them that Jos� Mourinho has, and they've gotten better with practice.

In the time between his repeated arrivals, he tends to drive people insane. But somehow, he bathes in an electronic River Jordan once every few years, washing himself (and many memories) clean.

Mourinho announced what everyone had assumed on Monday, that he will resume command of Chelsea, once again shifting the landscape of European soccer.

In his introductory interview on the club's in-house TV channel, Mourinho began running his hand through the hair of supporters.

"I've never hidden that in my career I've had two great passions - Inter and Chelsea. Chelsea is more than important for me," he said in his slow drawl. "Now I promise exactly the same things I promised in 2004 (when he was first hired by the London club), with this difference, which is that I'm one of you."

A man of the people, then, though one who will earn a reported $16 million a year. He's far and away the best paid sports coach in the world, and will outearn all of his players once he's rid himself of Fernando Torres.

This is an entirely unique situation, and goes some way to explaining Mourinho's extraordinary ability to hold gigantic egos in his thrall. In professional sports, money is the only real indicator of status. Being lavishly paid is therefore a management tool for Mourinho rather than just a lifestyle perk.

Put aside his considerable tactical skills, and Mourinho's primary appeal is that of romance. In an age of clich�d blandishments about competitiveness, the Portuguese orates in sonnets. By comparison with him, stentorian field bosses like Arsene Wenger speak in R2-D2 beeps and boops.

Most of the rest still approach the game rationally. They have their jobs to think of, and it shows. Though his style of play can be plodding, Mourinho approaches his true work - that of seduction - with thrilling irrationality.

He is always pushing and pulling at the same time. Everyone is against him, including many of his own players. The officials are all crooked. Other managers are all frauds. He only loses because of conspiracies to cheat him personally of greatness. Then, at whiplash emotional speed, he's getting everyone around for a long, over-familiar group hug.

He captured some of this contrary spirit when he shambled off the field in March after his Real side's biggest win of the year, a comeback over United in Manchester and announced, "The best team lost."

Right. Wait. What?

He is football's unhatable cad, cruising owners, whispering in the ears of their customers and then dumping the bunch of them once he tires of their demands.

He made that clear as he left Real Madrid. In a televised break-up with the club, Mourinho put his finger on the problem - they'd become unbearable nags.

"I want to be where people love me," he said. "I know in England I'm loved. I'm loved by the fans. I'm loved by the media, that treats me in a fair way, criticizing me but giving me credit when I deserve it. I know I'm loved by some clubs, especially one (Ed. Note: the metaphorical moment when he handed over the note addressed, "Dear Juan"). In Spain, the situation is a bit different because some people hate me."

Doubtless, this sounds even more lacerating in a Romance language. The Spanish took it in the 'screw you' spirit it was intended, booing him off the pitch in Real's season finale.

One can only imagine the reaction if, say, an NHL or NFL coach tried this rhetorical tack: "Show me that you care."

They'd be laughed out of the shop. Their careers would wither under a hailstorm of scorn. They work from a small, deadly boring script.

This helps explain why football is the world's game, while every other sport is an essentially regional concern.

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In football, there is a place for a Dickens character like Mourinho. An arriviste, a rake, a charmer, a bully, a champion in his own lights and also in that of others. In other words, a very real and therefore unknowable person.

That universality of experience, encapsulated on a field, is the real draw of sports. No current actor on the stage better captures that diversity of feeling than Mourinho.

That football allows him to do so goes some way to explaining why it is the greatest of all sports.