Dr Jekyll and Mister Mourinho

Leaving aside his success with Real Madrid, José Mourinho's real achievement since coming to Spain just under two years ago is that in that time he has managed, far and away, to become the most controversial figure in the country. It would be no exaggeration to say that he is a candidate for the most divisive character since the days of General Franco.

How come? He spent four very happy years in London as coach of Chelsea: as he himself said when he left Stamford Bridge: "The only problem I ever had in London was the episode with my dog."

The incident of the dog in the night had its funny side, even though Mourinho ended up under arrest; if nothing else, it showed a very human side to the man, very different to the image he now presents to the world. According to the media, and he has never denied this version, he received an anxious telephone call from his wife during an award ceremony at Chelsea. Two police officers were at his house, and wanted to take away the family pet, a Yorkshire terrier.

Mourinho left for home immediately, and upon arrival, snatched the dog from the two officers. Following a struggle, he managed to hide the animal; nobody knows how or where to this day. But as Scotland Yard later confirmed, Mourinho was arrested and taken to a nearby police station. The police later said that they suspected the animal in question had been brought into the county without having undergone the necessary quarantine period and other veterinary checks. Unsurprisingly, rather than prompting anger among the animal-loving British public, Mourinho emerged from the incident something akin to a national hero. Had the event taken place in Spain, the country's Mourinhistas - a word that now exists in Spanish, to describe his followers - would have drawn the same conclusion.

Of course there is another interpretation for his actions, and one that doubtless those in Spain who detest him (and many do) would have reached: Mourinho believes himself above the law and that his international success as a soccer coach allows him to do as he pleases.

There is no denying that he has chalked up a few successes. He has good reason to be pleased with himself. His coaching career has been nothing less than stellar, more than making up for his frustration at not making the grade when he was a young professional player. In less than 12 years he has won the Champions League twice; the first, and perhaps still his most extraordinary feat, with Porto in 2004; and the second with Inter Milan in 2010 after overcoming the mighty Barcelona in the semifinals. He has won the Portuguese and Italian leagues once each, and the English Premier League twice. His collection of silverware since joining Real Madrid includes the King's Cup, and with a seven-point lead over second-placed Barcelona, he is on track to take the Spanish league for the first time. In short, few have achieved so much in such a short period of time. When Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez says that he is the best trainer in the world, few would disagree. Little wonder that Pérez has given the Portuguese coach a free rein since he joined in 2010; no other coach has ever enjoyed such power at the Bernabéu.

His 10-million-euro annual salary aside, Mourinho should be the most popular man in the country. But he has a tendency to make life difficult for himself; perhaps he suffers from a Jekyll and Hyde complex. At home, in the bosom of his family (and dog), nobody would question that he is a loving, happy husband and father. But his public face is one of somebody permanently angry, a paranoiac sensing enemies on all sides. That said, he does have many enemies, but he is largely responsible for accruing them: his statements, even his body language, seem designed to generate hostility among as wide a cross section of the population as possible. And in large part, his supporters love him precisely for this reason. You either love him or hate him, and if you love him, then you are almost certainly a Real Madrid fan.

But... there is now growing resentment toward him from some sections of Real's support. On January 22, despite another sublime performance resulting in a 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, he was booed in some areas of the Bernabéu.

The reason? Barcelona had beaten Real Madrid 1-2 the previous Wednesday in the first leg of the King's Cup quarter finals, making progress to the semifinals at Camp Nou an unlikely eventuality in the return match the following week. Mourinho could still take the club to Champions League glory, and he looks set to take the league title, but Real Madrid have not beaten Barcelona in eight matches, and have only won one out of the last 10.

It must never be forgotten that Mourinho was brought in to topple Barcelona from the pedestal they have sat atop since Pep Guardiola took over as coach there in 2008. The fans' anger wasn't just the fact of losing to Barcelona, again, and being unceremoniously dumped out of the King's Cup, it was also the way that Madrid lost. The first leg had been a grubby affair, with Real Madrid defender Pepe inflicting needless fouls and dirty play on Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

The Madrid sports press, which puts the long term interests of Real Madrid above those of its coaches - who, after all, come and go - was for the first time highly critical of Mourinho's tactics. Sports daily Marca published an embarrassing front-page story on the day of the encounter with Athletic Bilbao that quoted, word for word, a conversation at a training session following the defeat against Barcelona that highlighted tensions between players and coach. In short, Marca wanted to point out that the team increasingly feels that never having been a high-level player himself, Mourinho doesn't fully understand what goes on during a game, and that it is not always possible to follow his instructions to the letter. In other newspapers normally loyal commentators suggested that if it came down to a choice between players and coach, then perhaps the time had come for Mourinho to go.

Mourinho is used to controversy, and has courted it, but his strong point has always been his skill in locker-room relations, and in getting the players behind him. But there is now a groundswell of opinion that maybe Mourinho isn't the man for the job any longer, and that his confrontational "they all hate us" approach won't wash any more.

There is no doubt that the obsession with beating Barcelona lies at the root of the problem; the first appearances of Mourinho's Mr Hyde doppelganger came around the time of his first encounter with Guardiola's side as manager of Real, which Barcelona won 5-0 on November 29, 2010.

Around this time came snide remarks about his predecessor, Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, who had gone on to coach Málaga: "I would never work for a club like that," said Mourinho at a press conference, earning the animosity of an entire city famous for supporting Real Madrid. Then there was the war of words ahead of a game against Sporting Gijón in early November 2010, with Manolo Preciado, which the former Gijón boss won, calling Mourinho a "scumbag" after he had accused the side of deliberately losing earlier to Barcelona ? in the rematch in April, Gijón brought about Mourinho's first home league defeat in 150 games; and worse, there was the run-in with Real Madrid's sporting director Jorge Valdano - a former player and coach at Real, and a member of a World Cup-winning Argentina side - that Mourinho pursued until Valdano was sacked in early 2011.

Then came the tantrums; the very public tantrums. Some Real Madrid press conferences have seemed more like psychoanalysis sessions, with Mourinho taking up arms against a sea of troubles, blaming the world for his problems, blaming referees, or rival sides. Driven by his ego, or alter-ego, he increasingly seems blind to reason, failing to see that referees make mistakes that benefit his side, as well as prejudicing the chances of opponents, and that just as rival players play to the gallery, so do his.

His repeated "why? why? why?" at the press conference following Real's defeat to Barcelona in the semifinals of the Champions League last year will go down in history; the ultimate sporting existential question, worthy of Camus or Sartre, a howl against the indifference of the universe, or perhaps that of Abraham crying out to a seemingly unfeeling God.

Since then there has been a constant series of locker-room leaks, never denied, alleging all kinds of internecine fighting between the Spanish and non-Spanish players in the team, of Mourinho's instructions to his players that they tout the anti-referee line, that they refuse to acknowledge their rivals' merits. When Iker Casillas called on Barcelona's Xavi Hernández, a colleague in the national side that he captains, to help calm things down between the two sides, Mourinho punished him by putting him on the bench for a match.

In short, Mourinho now gives the impression that he believes himself the target of multiple conspiracies by referees, rival sides, the media, and certain sections of his own club, including some players.

Threatened on all sides, he will no doubt have been able to justify (he has never apologized) the worst act of hooliganism he has so far committed at Real Madrid, and for which he will long be remembered: poking Barcelona's assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye, an entirely unprovoked attack during the mêlée that followed Real Madrid's defeat in the Spanish Supercup last summer.

Such cowardly off-the-field antics are increasingly reflected on field, say his critics, who point to the defensive strategy he took in the first leg of the two last games against Barcelona, and which will be best remembered by the image of Pepe deliberately treading on Messi's hand as he walked past the Barcelona striker, seated on the ground. In the aftermath, Mourinho's only response was to repeat the threat he made last year to leave the club. This prompted Alfredo Relaño, the editor of sports daily As, to compare Mourinho to the captain of the Italian cruise ship that sank off the coast of Italy, and who fled the vessel before most of the passengers.

The explanation for the growing hostility toward Mourinho among Real Madrid's supporters in Spain and abroad is that he combines two very unattractive qualities: the immaturity of a difficult adolescent with the demand for total loyalty of a military dictator. This at least was the opinion of one well-known figure from the world of Spanish soccer last week, who added that Mourinho's defining character trait is a disregard for the side that he is managing, given that its successes are just a mirror to reflect his own achievements. Soccer is merely the stage upon which he performs: he gives no indication of loving the game; he could just as easily have been successful in baseball, banking, or politics.

As is often the case with difficult adolescents and dictators, the public face of Mourinho (who really knows what he is like in private, with his family and close friends?) betrays an absolute lack of emotional intelligence. Everybody makes mistakes, offending those around us without meaning to, and revealing our insecurities and vanities in the process. When we realize our mistakes, or they are pointed out to us, most of us see sense, and try to make amends, or at least promise to ourselves to do better next time. Mourinho puts his foot in it time and again, making a fool of himself or offending people without, it seems, realizing it, and never apologizing. He sees no need to change his behavior, and in the absence of a father figure to reprimand him he continues to stomp around like a moody teenager. Success has spoiled him, which might explain why, coupled with his failure to topple Barcelona, growing numbers of Real Madrid fans are now beginning to question his approach. Unsurprisingly perhaps, he still retains the absolute loyalty of the side's Ultras Sur, the crypto-fascist bovver boys who applauded the poke in the eye, and who cheered him on while others booed.

Mourinho just can't seem to help himself. Immediately after last week's 2-2 draw against Barcelona in the second leg of the King's Cup, a match that Real Madrid arguably deserved to win, out came Mr Hyde. As the coach left the Camp Nou car park, he hurled abuse at the referee, accusing him of "fucking over people who are trying to do their job."

What was interesting about that epic match was that it might just have been the turning point for Mourinho, it might just allow him to leave behind the scars of that 5-0 defeat to Barcelona. Perhaps if he can get that chip off his shoulder, and win the league, and who knows, even take the Champions, then he will be carried further aloft to new, unscaled heights.

But the question that Real Madrid and its fans should be asking is if more silverware, and a win over Barcelona, are worth more than the image Mourinho is projecting of the club and of his influence on the side's younger fanbase - even if he does love his dog.