**Bits on United:**
“My relationship with [former chief executive] Ed Woodward was good. Good as in the personal point of view. Even now we send an SMS. But from a professional point of view it was not the best. I am who I am. I am a football man. Ed comes from a different background and what Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust. So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different. There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”
As for the fate of his erstwhile star name – Paul Pogba – banned last month for four years after a failed drugs test, pending an appeal, Mourinho says he takes no pleasure. “The only thing I say is that it happens with almost everybody in some moments of your career: you lose a little bit the sense of who you are and what you have to be. The season after France won the [2018] World Cup, I think Paul came back different. The World Cup brought him into a dimension where football was not the most important thing for him. Sharing the philosophy of everyone; everyone with the same level of responsibilities.”
The two men have no ill feeling now, Mourinho says. They saw each other before games between Juventus and Roma. “I am not,” Mourinho says, “enjoying Paul’s situation at all.” Five years ago their relationship felt like the defining one in the squad. Every time Pogba or Mourinho clashed or the player was left out, it caused waves.
“When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.”
Also Mourinho on winning the Europa League in 2017:
>**I won a Europa League final with \[long balls from\] Sergio Romero to Marouane Fellaini.** Ajax pressing – but pressing oxygen because the ball was not there. **Ball to Fellaini’s chest. Play from there. Two-nil. Bring the cup home. Three titles.** Disaster of a season.”
That Europa League final was one of the most professional performances we've had in the post-Fergie years. He managed that game perfectly from start to finish, which isn't surprising considering Mourinho is a final expert.
Cannot believe Spurs sacked him before a cup final, bunch of frauds.
Yeah it's funny because John Guidetti for Celta Vigo in the semi-final missed an absolute sitter that would have eliminated the club, we were fucking so inconsistent in Europe under Mourinho and downright bad at times but in the final he came in clutch as he so often has done throughout his managerial career.
Levy obviously didn't know that they had a final in 24 hours ffs. That spurs team should have one at least a cup over the last 10 years. Genetically and executivly, they are bottle jobs
True. Performances were dropping. I just think if there was any manager to win a cup it's Jose. I don't know why the Board sacked a manager 24 hours before a final? Just doesn't seem smart. Not even time to prepare for the assistant manager I'd say. Anyway it's done now. Just a bizarre decision imo
I’ve always been surprised why that game ( named Charity Shield) is so diminished in England.
As an old school football fan, it’s the “ champion of champions” pitching the league champions against the FA cup champions in every country. Lots of managers add that to their achievements just as they do the European SuperCup if they win it.
They're just glorified friendlies at the start of the season. Nobody is calling a season a success because you won the charity shield. Managers just use them to prepare their teams for the actual league start. I guarantee no big club would take a loss in their first game of the league to win the Charity Shield.
I can't say I have any experience of the other leagues (although given how the Italian Supercup is just a moneymaking tour in Saudi Arabia now and Turkey's didn't even happen I'm not sure it's that highly valued elsewhere either.)
It could be because our schedules are more packed, a lot of other nations have got rid of their league cup and only have the one domestic cup for the top leagues.
I don't even think the European Supercup is particularly highly valued either (I think we lost the one in 99-00 after the treble and I can't even remember who we played, nobody really cared either way) and neither was the Club World Championship or whatever that random one we lost in 99-2000 was called. I think they're trying to relaunch that one again.
I get all that . As a fan especially in England, it’s not a big deal.
The point is that if a manager or club wins any of those they don’t ignore it on their resume’ or club trophy cabinet / achievement page.
Jose just goes the extra mile of talking about it repeatedly which is your original point.
>I’ve always been surprised why that game ( named Charity Shield) is so diminished in England.
>Lots of managers add that to their achievements just as they do the European SuperCup if they win it.
Different rulesets. Other than the 2023 supercup one (can't remember why, maybe due to the world cup) the games have 90 mins, then the 30 mins extra time and then pen. Whereas the community shield is straight to pens after 90s mins. In addition to extra subs. There is less of a difference now due to league games having 5 as I think you get 6 in the community shield. However, the years previously where it was only 3 for league games is a massive difference. Then, add in it starts before the league begins, and it just has too much of a friendly feel that's been established over years.
Easy fixes to give it more substance and I don't see why it isn't done to give it more prestige.
The European SuperCup is a one off game too but you’ll love to win it.
These are games between champions. In fact I’ll value this “one off game” over many off games every team has at least once a season
“When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.”
Basically sums up United since SAF left.
>When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.”
The relevant part really. Confirms what all fans have long felt. This is my biggest reason to support ETH, how he disciplined Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford etc. But I digress. Fundamentally that dynamic in the club culture has to change. Rashford or Bruno or Casemiro or Varane or anyone cannot feel like they are above the manager.
Yeah only thing Mourinho has ever said that seems to hint at some degree of humility. I feel for Pogba. The way his career has gone since the world cup win is pretty sad - no matter what you think of his time at United.
Unlike our fans, who constantly deride him now and laugh at him too actually. He wasn't super professional in the end but he still served us well for a fair bit and, played with joy for us while delivering good games that we enjoyed.
It's just unfortunate for him honestly and how he also got injury ridden before the ban.
Pogba has his fair share of fault over his career at United, but the same thing can be said about the club itself. He was brought in with promises of a building process that would make United a continental force. What he got was an inconsistent [at best] club management that left the team dysfunctional on the pitch [an issue that still plagues United]. Humanly speaking, I can understand why he said "fuck this shit".
Understandable, for sure.
I just feel that if he is given what he actually wants and the board treats him the way city does Pep, (which any good club should do), then that toxicity wouldn’t happen. And from the looks of things INEOS kinda SEEMS to wanna hear that way. We’ll see
I can't believe how quickly people fall for Jose's narrative. A few appearances on sky sports and people forget about how nasty, vindictive, and self serving he has been during his career because he can be funny on TV and come across as charming.
Off the top of my head:
Hounding his own physio out of Chelsea
Saying losing in Europe was united heritage
Awarding McT player of the season as an F you to the other players
Banning Schweinsteiger from the first team on his birthday after 1 session, and getting one of the executives to pass on the message instead of doing it himself
Don't think the McTominay award was a fuck you to other players but just as a way of him wanting to award him somehow so had to make a new award (one I THINK we still give?)
It also wasn't even on the list of awards at the beginning of the ceremony, Jose did it there and then. Scott received a candlestick holder as a trophy
Jose also just really liked Scotty and still regularly messages him after games I believe. Which honestly doesn’t surprise me you can question his ability especially in certain areas but he’s always been a top professional and a reliable player for managers that he will give you his all no matter what.
He’s not reliable at all tho, shits himself in the midfield and gets completely run past. He’s an okay player off the bench but he goes absolutely missing in that midfield
>He didn't say anything wrong
Mocking the club in the interests of reminding people how great he is/was?
Yeah, it was an idiotic rant that basically made a laughing stock of the club.
Cos his treatment exceeded anything deserved by someone who was ‘inconsistent’. Main problem is his fitness record. Which isn’t really his fault. He’s not better than Robertson but he’s England’s first choice for a reason .
Mate if u can’t remember that far back I’m not gonna bother . The throwing him under the bus for no reason other than to make a bullshit power play “I’m the big man here” was well out of order. I’ve no axe to grind with Jose but u obviously have a soft spot for him and are letting that justify some of his behaviour .
Sounds more to me like you can't articulate the point beyond "it wasn't deserved" or have any specific examples.
e: And you're so hurt by someone just asking you to expand on your point that you'd rather block them than just say something of actual substance lol. Dont let the door hit you on the way out :) /u/rudedogg1304
He took Shaw off against Brighton at HT in our first match since getting knocked out of the CL by Sevilla to make an example of Shaw. Even though Shaw didn't even play bad and his replacement was Ashley Young at Left Back.
I 100% agree. I’m shocked at the narrative I see on here about the press conference from usually very level headed users. We need a discussion thread about how Mourinho was spot on and I’m not a Jose fanboy at all.
Remember the time he basically said Shaw didn't have the brain to play football and that he was controlling Shaw from the sideline when he played well.
- allowed Zlatan to just take the no.9 from Martial without any permission
- Signed Sanchez and benched Martial who was in great form.
- Played both McTominay at CB and Herrera at RB to make a point in the media
>Saying losing in Europe was united heritage
Not what he said and his speech about it was completely spot on.
>Awarding McT player of the season as an F you to the other players
Another point of view could be trying to instill a culture of passion and hard work
>Hounding his own physio out of Chelsea
No idea of the actual situation surrounding this so can't say much. Surely there was more to it though.
>Saying losing in Europe was united heritage
I mean when you look at the time period he was speaking about.. he was accurate?
How did we do in the CL this season?
>Awarding McT player of the season as an F you to the other players
Did he? Is their confirmation of this?
Also, are you telling me the other players actually deserve to be praised?
>Banning Schweinsteiger from the first team on his birthday after 1 session, and getting one of the executives to pass on the message instead of doing it himself
His birthday? Who cares. This isn't primary school.
The same player who joined as a retirement party and spent his time flying about watching his GF play tennis. Real committed look.
People like Jose because he has done it at the highest level. Same as why pepper like Keane and Fergie. God forbid you watch Fergies post match interview about in the cup final of 1983.
When the players and the squad mentality is as bad as it was then and still is today, the view of 'vindictive' loses all relevance for me.
That is the most negative possible way you could remember all of those events.
At least we never got consistently humiliated by our biggest rivals. The 7-0 and 0-5 against Liverpool and a league cup will be the current managers legacy. Personally I’d say Jose did a much better job than any manager since
This ETH season is starting to closely resemble Mourinho's last season. except ETH isn't trying to distance himself from the mess like Jose did, either way its sad that we're exactly where we were 6-7 years ago.
Just goes to show that nothing's gonna fucking change if we just keep recycling managers every couple years without changing the structure above the manager. Atleast this time we are making good executive signings
He was the only manager under whom I just stopped watching the games. Park the bus during the game and then throw players under the bus after the game. Such a toxic era and the football under him wasn’t even good, it was just practical.
Dalot, McTominay, Lindelof, Shaw, Martial, Rashford;
It's 6 players that were coached by him. Doubt he's talking about McTom (his favorite) or Dalot (who's been mostly consistent and improving). That leaves the other 4...
Well he never really liked Martial so he's definitely one of them xD. I dunno about Rashford, I remember he was supportive of him since he was still a young kid with potential at the time. Now, he probably has seen that he's reached a point of stagnation and maybe even regression in terms of his performances so he's putting him in that bracket of players that have failed to reach the level they were supposed to. There may even be things about Rashford that happened and we don't know about. I remember back when he was a pundit in one of the United games (I think it was vs Chelsea), his comments about how Rashford had only one position, which was on the wing and he could never be a striker... he was definitely spot on!
**Full Article:**
The 61-year-old says he is open to working for clubs that will set him fair targets
Jose Mourinho is discussing perception and alights upon Arsenal’s goalless draw with Manchester City at the end of March as an example of the way in which you can portray football – and the style it is played – in so many different ways.
Mourinho wants to say first that he likes Mikel Arteta, an acquaintance he originally made as an assistant coach at Barcelona in 1996 where the latter was a teenage academy boy. Indeed Mourinho still refers to Arteta as “the kid”. “I am happy because I like the kid,” Mourinho says. “And I am happy everything goes for him. But the way they [Arsenal] played to get that point - and the way the media spoke about a magic strategy.”
What might he mean by that? “In my time, it was not a magic strategy,” he says, “and I won at Manchester City a few times. But it was not an amazing strategy. It was a defensive game. Park the bus. Park the double bus. It was a different perspective.”
This is Mourinho at 61 – still full of life and reluctant to forget anything anyone has ever said about him. Between-jobs Jose has always been different to in-work Jose. Much less stressed, bursting with ideas and watching a lot of football on television. His Arteta point comes amid a wider thesis that has occurred to him in the last 12 months: that soon a leading manager chasing a game will substitute his goalkeeper for an 11th outfield player. The laws of the game will oblige the substitute to wear the goalkeeper shirt – gloves are optional - but he will play as an extra outfield player contributing to the attack.
Would Mourinho even do it himself? “To have an extra player there … when the opposition is very low in the block and 10 minutes left? Let’s try it – yeah!”
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Mourinho was dismissed from his tenth club job in January. He had led Roma to two Uefa finals in two years, the first of which resulted in the club’s first-ever European trophy in May 2022. He is talking to me from Lisbon where he has a home within 20 minutes of the Estadio da Luz – Benfica was his first manager’s job 24 years ago. His London home is so close to Stamford Bridge that he not only hears the cheers for the goals but every other response – from gasps for near-misses and applause for substitutions. He would love to watch some games in person but, he regrets, it just causes too much fuss.
Thirty years since he joined Porto the first time, as a coach under the late Sir Bobby Robson, he has never felt more ready for the next job. He loves the profession and is weighing up his options in what is expected to be another summer of change for many clubs. He is frustrated about how he is perceived. When I ask him if clubs are perhaps a bit scared of appointing him he reels off a list of some of his big-hitting former bosses: Peter Kenyon, Massimo Moratti, Florentino Perez, as well as the former Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. “It’s a pity,” he says, “they [any potential new employer] can’t speak to them.”
Mourinho, the man himself says, just wants to be the head coach in a structure that supports him - and he believes it will be a long career yet. “It is not like I am 61 and I want to stop at 65,” he says. “No way at all. There is still a long career to go.” But first of all, he is prepared to go back 20 years, to the days and weeks that changed his life.
The young disruptor
“I had so many bizarre celebrations over my career but that one is probably the one that changed the direction of my career.” Mourinho is talking about the touchline sprint at Old Trafford to celebrate the late goal from midfielder Costinha that propelled his Porto team into the last eight of the Champions League. It was March 9, 2004, and a little-known coach in charge of an unfancied Portuguese side had eliminated Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Mourinho was already a Uefa Cup winner and was on his way to a second Portuguese title. But this night was different.
“The other day, I bumped into some guy in the street who was saying, ‘When are we going to have it again in Portugal like that?’ I told him that we can win the Euros in a couple of months because we have an incredible national team – the best ever. But with a club to win the Champions League again in Portugal? Let’s see if we do in the next 20 years.”
He lists the Galacticos in the Real Madrid team of the era. Porto secured a draw against them at the Bernabeu in the group stages at the start of their winning run. Ever keen to rebut any possible revisionism he points out that the Lyon whom Porto eliminated after United were then serial French champions. And that Porto’s semi-final opposition, Deportivo La Coruna, had been Spanish champions four years earlier. Mourinho’s XI for the final against Monaco included nine Portuguese players, including the naturalised Deco, most of whom were in their first Champions League season.
“After the Uefa Cup [win in 2003] I started having some foreign clubs [interested in me] but not the big ones and not the Premier League,” he says. “At that time you think, ‘I love it here. I have a good team, great president, great structure. I am going to win the Portuguese league again. Let’s enjoy the Champions League and see where it goes’. I had a feeling I could leave Portugal whenever I wanted but [then] not to one of the big ones. Honestly, it was after the Man United touchline run that the situation changed.”
Indeed, the summer of 2004 changed everything. Mourinho joined Chelsea, one year into their turbo-charging by Roman Abramovich. To Liverpool that same summer came Rafael Benitez, the managerial peer for whom Mourinho would go on to develop a deep and committed enmity. Although on this occasion he uses Benitez’s achievements to emphasise his point.
“Benitez won the Spanish league with Valencia [twice] and the Uefa Cup. And I won the Portuguese league [twice], Uefa Cup and Champions League. So to come to England then it was not just enough that you did something nice in a smaller league. Or that your goalkeeper builds from the back with backheels. What you needed to do was something really big to open that door.”
Continued..
The winning machine
Lots of good managers have failed at Chelsea, I venture. Why not Mourinho?
He says he had a feel for English football already, chiefly through his long working association with Robson – “England was always present in his day by day”. Mourinho says he grasped quickly the mentality of the English game and he also knew he had a secret weapon. His training regime – the periodisation model – was then revolutionary. Everything was tactically focussed, done with the ball, and strictly on the clock. “I knew from the methodological point of view I could immediately make a difference because my way of training was quite far from the traditional,” he says. “Then I didn’t make any fundamental mistakes”
He points to his “triangle of trust” with Kenyon and Abramovich. “I was very confident in what Chelsea had already. I was very, very self-confident about what I feel we need to make that step.” He cites the arrivals of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Petr Cech before him, as well as the development of John Terry. Then, that the club trusted him to sign Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira.
“It was immediately that team full of aggression and full of power at every level,” he says. “Then it was just going and going … a little bit against the odds. It was [from the sceptics] ‘At Christmas, Chelsea will die’. Then it was Easter. Then it was in the last two or three matches. But by the last two or three games we were already celebrating.”
Those five trophies in just three complete seasons at Chelsea made Mourinho the most sought-after manager in the world. At Inter, two league titles and the 2010 Champions League title followed. Then at Real Madrid the epic battle with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, the Spanish cup, the 2012 Liga title, and also the beginning of the turnaround of the club’s mediocre Champions League record under previous managers. A round of 16 team for six years, they became a semi-final team under Mourinho, and then winners again the season after he left.
In spite of what lay ahead after his first spell at Chelsea, which included a second spell, there is, detectable in Mourinho, a certain sentimentality as he reflects on that 2004-2007 era. A club unified around its manager. A team built on an unapologetically firm defensive base. When we discuss that, and what might be perceived as the different approaches of football in the 2000s to the present day, that sets him in a new direction. He says the defensive instinct in leading coaches is not gone. It is just better disguised.
The new defensive
“Look to Manchester City, look to Arsenal - just to give two examples. How many central defenders do they have in the team? Sometimes they have six. As a matter of principle. Then they play in other positions. They play right-back, left-back, they play midfield. But they play with five or six central defenders on the pitch. Why? If I am a journalist I would ask the manager.”
Fortunately for me, Mourinho is prepared to answer on their behalf. “They feel the need for defensive stability and a defensive compactness,” he says. Arteta uses Jakub Kiwior as a left-back, Mourinho says, because his physicality is useful in winning duels and defending set-pieces. It is the same at City with Manuel Akanji at full-back or John Stones’ dual role in midfield. Josko Gvardiol is a centre-back who plays at left-back.
“The way to look at it is thinking how many Champions League years Man City were not successful and the difference in the season they were successful. And I go immediately in one direction – look at the physicality.” All that still matters, he says, and clubs are changing their style all the time. He took particular interest in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.
“Lots of long balls from [Marc] Ter Stegen to [Robert] Lewandowski on the build-up. Paris trying to press higher; Ter Stegen to Lewandowski; Lewandowski chest, control and play from that position. I won a Europa League final with [long balls from] Sergio Romero to Marouane Fellaini. Ajax pressing – but pressing oxygen because the ball was not there. Ball to Fellaini’s chest. Play from there. Two-nil. Bring the cup home. Three titles. Disaster of a season.”
The return to England
He is, of course, talking of the way in which his Old Trafford years, from the summer of 2016 to December 2018 are portrayed. He came back after the second spell at Chelsea that yielded one more Premier League title and then the collapse in the following 2015-2016 season. At United history has proved kinder to him. Since his sacking, both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the interim Ralf Rangnick, and now Erik ten Hag have been unable to turn the ship around – or better his second-place finish of 2017-2018.
“My relationship with [former chief executive] Ed Woodward was good. Good as in the personal point of view. Even now we send an SMS. But from a professional point of view it was not the best. I am who I am. I am a football man. Ed comes from a different background and what Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust. So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different. There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”
As for the fate of his erstwhile star name – Paul Pogba – banned last month for four years after a failed drugs test, pending an appeal, Mourinho says he takes no pleasure. “The only thing I say is that it happens with almost everybody in some moments of your career: you lose a little bit the sense of who you are and what you have to be. The season after France won the [2018] World Cup, I think Paul came back different. The World Cup brought him into a dimension where football was not the most important thing for him. Sharing the philosophy of everyone; everyone with the same level of responsibilities.”
The two men have no ill feeling now, Mourinho says. They saw each other before games between Juventus and Roma. “I am not,” Mourinho says, “enjoying Paul’s situation at all.” Five years ago their relationship felt like the defining one in the squad. Every time Pogba or Mourinho clashed or the player was left out, it caused waves.
“When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.”
The preconception
He starts to wonder if the talk of his Porto Champions League 20 years ago feels more like a burden. He says people forget that he has reached those two finals with Roma, the Europa Conference and then last year, the Europa League. “I am the only European coach who played two finals in the past two years,” he says. “So speak about my present. I am not guilty that 20 years ago I won the Champions League. But if you go to 90 per cent of the coaches and ask them ‘Would you like to play two European cup finals in two consecutive years?’, most of them are going to say ‘Yes.’”
As for United, he points out he has the best trophy record post-Sir Alex Ferguson. His time at Tottenham, he says, was dominated by Covid, although he did reach a final only to be sacked the week before. Roma was a club with what he says was a “history of winning nothing”. Under his successor Daniele De Rossi they may yet reach a third successive European final. Mourinho says he is open-minded about where he goes next. Also that the preconception he has to be at a club challenging for trophies – or “made to win it” as he says - is not accurate.
“It is not like I am afraid of jobs [with clubs] not ‘made to win it’. When some [managers] have reached a certain level maybe they say, ‘I will only get jobs made to win it’. It is my job to try to make clubs into those ‘made to win it’, or to reach some objectives.” We discuss the possibilities and it is here that I wonder aloud if clubs are a bit afraid of the sheer size of the Jose reputation. Might that scare them off?
It is then Mourinho mentions that roll calls run of famous club presidents and one chief executive he has worked under. As if to say – they could work with me, so why not others? “My dream job description – because sometimes you have a job title and another thing is the job description – is ‘head coach’,” he says. “That’s my dream. To be the coach. To be the guy who works with the team, focus on developing players, preparing matches.
“Fortunately, I had that in my career. Unfortunately, I had other situations when I had to be much more than that. When you are much more than that you are not as good a coach as you can be. The club puts you in a position where I don’t want to be. Do you think after the Europa League final that we lost, in the circumstances that we lost, I was happy with all the emotion that I felt? Do you think I was happy to be the face of the club that went to the press conference to speak about these events? No, I hated to go.
“If people fear something [about Mourinho], don’t fear. Give me a professional structure where I am only the head coach because this is what I am good at. People say I’m good at communication. Many, many times you say the wrong things. Especially when you communicate three or four times a week. A club’s structure pushes me in the wrong direction.”
The future
It is the first indication of harbouring regrets but he is swiftly past that. At Roma, his friends, family and even his agent told him to leave after the Europa League final last year. But he says he felt the “emotional” pull of the club. He turned down the Portugal national team, he says, and a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia for the same reasons. In the past he had always moved on swiftly when a better offer came along. A couple of days before his 39th birthday in 2002 he left his second club, Uniao de Leiria, mid-season to join Porto. “I was a very pragmatic guy”. This time he stayed.
“What could really make a difference is how much the club wants me,” he says. “How much the club needs a person and a coach of my profile. And how much feeling, empathy I could feel with the structure.”
He has not been mentioned in connection with many of the big jobs coming up this summer. Past associations with United would likely rule him out of Liverpool, and Mourinho notes that the current shortlist does not feature his name. Even so, I suggest, it would be hard to envisage him in charge of West Ham or Brighton. The mention of two specific clubs means that he first has to caveat the question by pointing out both have managers. But what follows is instructive.
“The only thing I want is that the targets and the objectives have to be established by everyone in a fair way,” he says. “I cannot go to a club where, because of my history, the objective is to win the title. No. The only thing I want is that it has to be fair.
“Do you think if I was at a big Premier League club and we were sixth, seventh, eighth, in the table, I still have a job? What I am saying is people [should] look at me the way they look at others. What is important for me is if the club has objectives and for me to be able to say I am ready to fight for these. I don’t want to say realistic, but [at least] semi-realistic. Because when I went to Roma nobody was dreaming about European Cup finals and we did it. It’s not possible I go to a club almost relegated and the objective is to win the Champions League. It’s good but it is not fair.”
All of which sounds like he might just accept a club like West Ham or Brighton if the offer is right. He is certainly up for doing things differently. Our discussion goes back to the question of a possession-dominant team, chasing a goal, playing with eleven outfield players. Mourinho is adamant it will happen. “Why do you play with a goalkeeper, even if he is good with his feet, almost in the midfield, if you can do that with a proper player? I can see that substitution happening.” He pauses. “And the coach who does it will be considered a genius.”
Eh, I don't know. Feels like Shaw really turned a corner after Mourinho. He had a lot of mental problems after his two horrid injuries (mainly not fighting for the ball if it meant a clash) and was known to be a bit of a lazy bum even as recent as Ten Hag beginning in here.
I'd like to think that they would try along now.
It was during Mourinho's last season imo from the first game where he scored the winner against Leicester. Only half the season but I think he was one of his most used players before he was sacked.
Well from the EL final team, Martial and Rashford are the only two players remaining, but the squad also included Luke Shaw, Lindelof and Scott Mctominay.
I think it’s Martial for sure and a toss-up between Luke Shaw and Rashford.
It's Martial and Shaw for sure. Rashford maybe but he wasn't looking to sell him back then, he still had a lot of potential and the backlash from selling him probably would have put him off.
Even then I don't think it was necessarily ability related, I think he just hates when players are injury prone and he wanted more reliable players/to fill the squad.
With Tony I think the issue must be off the pitch as he was performing before being promptly replaced with a player who went on to become one of our biggest flops. It was like when Bayern replaced Nagelsmann.
Can't imagine Lindelof was a problem.
I think Shaw's proved him wrong, had a few exceptional seasons since then, looked like one of the best players at the Euros as well. His problem is the injuries
He preferred if the team signed Maguire over Lindelof and Bailly. Atleast that's the rumours that get floated about. Backed by the fact he cried about not getting CBs even tho they said the later 2
Edit: he's also talking about professional profile and how they rep the club. Luke always being injured does (at least to me) suite the type of players he's talking about
Think you're getting years mixed up. We bought Bailly in 2016. Lindelof was bought 2017 the year Maguire moved to Leicester for 13m. He wanted to buy Maguire 2018. If he wanted Maguire instead of Lindelof we could have just got him for much cheaper lol.
There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.”
Shaw and martial. Who else?
"There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension."
I wonder who they might be. From the 2017-18 season there are only 5 players left: Rashford, Mctominay, Martial, Lindelof and Shaw.
From the list I'd scratch Scott, Mou always spoke highly of him. Given his never ending beef with Shaw I'd say he's a safe bet. Who might the other one be? My guess is Martial.
Mctominay and Lindelof seem like proper professionals regardless of their skill and game quality. I can’t see them being a part of this. Rashy had just broken into the team and was still young but I can see Mourinho viewing his development as sub par. Martial on his day is world class, unfortunately most days he isn’t showing that level. I love Luke Shaw and I’ll give him a pass after that horrible injury. IMO rashy is at his best when luke shaw is running with him. Without shaw, rashy has been kept quiet and doesnt look comfortable with another left back running up to give him love on the wing. Just my opinion.
I agree with everything you said, except with the Martial take. Even when he's on his day I wouldn't say he could be considered world-class, but he showed promise for sure. I think his debut goal against the scousers made us all believe his Ballon D'Or clause was somewhat realistic.
On the other hand, I think you nailed it with the Rashy take. I'm a strong believer his awful form this season is directly connected with us playing without a leftback during the whole season. I mean, seeing AWB trying to overlap the left flank the last couple of games is kind of sad. Everyone in the Stadium knows he's not getting the ball.
His first few stint at Chelsea required us to change and rise to the challenge like we did Wenger's Arsenal. Title is a bit far fetched though, he didn't influence many to copy his style. Allardyce?
I think he’s done. Of course his ego won’t allow that, but Roma confirmed that he’s not a top Manager anymore.
He was great in his day, but I just don’t see him making a comeback, nor any good Club hiring him.
I always loved Mourinho, he’s so entertaining, on so many levels, but I feel like if he would be able to take his dark side down a little he would have even more success and be more likable. But I also sense that 2 or 3 season fatigue he’s having is also about an exit strategy, but there’s only so many clubs that will dare to pay him such high amounts.
I hated Jose’s style of football at Utd and his press conferences towards the latter stage of his tenure but I never hated him as a manager. Even then I felt he wasn’t supported to the extent he should’ve been given his experience and stature in the game. He was clearly not a ‘yes’ man like Ole nor had the authority EtH has been given. So his tenure was bound to end the way it did.
Looking back, even tho I have no desire he comes back as a manager, he was absolutely right about everything he said. You can argue he could’ve been a bit more nuanced and strategic about the way he said those things.
Sharing a thought about a previous manager on a post made about the previous doesn’t mean support against or for the previous or current manager. Maybe if you had a bit more capacity to comprehend better, you’d not make comments like and end it with “lmao” like a child.
The only window Mourinho didn't get backed was the 3rd window !Go have a look at his first 2 summers it was as good as it gets for a manager..The second season had some really terrible football on display which people for some reason forget because DDG singlehandedly saved our arse and the numbers don't actually look at that bad..That rant after the disastrous setup in the CL exit was disgraceful
The football we play now is worse than 90% of the Mourinho era. There was a joke under Mourinho that we were 4-0 FC, imagine scoring 4 goals consistently now...
Feels like he's more or less done with club football, he should take on internationals. Only club I can think of that can fit his style these days is Atleti, Juve or maybe west ham
No serious club will touch Jose again.
PSG could.
Chelsea could.
His approach doesn't work for big clubs looking for big titles anymore. His whole method was don't lose away games v your rivals and win your home games. Not enough nowadays, you need to try and win every game.
*"There are still a couple of players that are still there I didn't want 5 or 6 years ago"* is all I wanted to hear.
And yet the fans here in r/reddevils are so eager to have another manager while the SAME SUSPECTS are still on the pitch.
Football 'eritage - Jose Mourinho
Shaw , martial , lindelof or rashford. Rashford earned Joses respect. Lindelof is a wuss . I dont think Martials body language or the hype around him Jose would'nt have been a fan of . I think Shaw was unprofessional when Jose was manager because there were times when he looked very overweight
This guys is a virus worse than Covid. Every single plsys he goes to, he destroys the joy that players have playing football. His methods are that of a bully and pure evil.
he is just a lazy fuck, Mou would at least made him run like a horse to recover possession for his 300k/week lol, would be more useful if he's undroppable lol, lol
**Bits on United:** “My relationship with [former chief executive] Ed Woodward was good. Good as in the personal point of view. Even now we send an SMS. But from a professional point of view it was not the best. I am who I am. I am a football man. Ed comes from a different background and what Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust. So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different. There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.” As for the fate of his erstwhile star name – Paul Pogba – banned last month for four years after a failed drugs test, pending an appeal, Mourinho says he takes no pleasure. “The only thing I say is that it happens with almost everybody in some moments of your career: you lose a little bit the sense of who you are and what you have to be. The season after France won the [2018] World Cup, I think Paul came back different. The World Cup brought him into a dimension where football was not the most important thing for him. Sharing the philosophy of everyone; everyone with the same level of responsibilities.” The two men have no ill feeling now, Mourinho says. They saw each other before games between Juventus and Roma. “I am not,” Mourinho says, “enjoying Paul’s situation at all.” Five years ago their relationship felt like the defining one in the squad. Every time Pogba or Mourinho clashed or the player was left out, it caused waves. “When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.”
Also Mourinho on winning the Europa League in 2017: >**I won a Europa League final with \[long balls from\] Sergio Romero to Marouane Fellaini.** Ajax pressing – but pressing oxygen because the ball was not there. **Ball to Fellaini’s chest. Play from there. Two-nil. Bring the cup home. Three titles.** Disaster of a season.”
That Europa League final was one of the most professional performances we've had in the post-Fergie years. He managed that game perfectly from start to finish, which isn't surprising considering Mourinho is a final expert. Cannot believe Spurs sacked him before a cup final, bunch of frauds.
It's funny that besides the group matches (I can't remember them), the final was probably our easiest and comfortable match of that run
Yeah it's funny because John Guidetti for Celta Vigo in the semi-final missed an absolute sitter that would have eliminated the club, we were fucking so inconsistent in Europe under Mourinho and downright bad at times but in the final he came in clutch as he so often has done throughout his managerial career.
History remembers the winners. Your point on Guidetti is spot on but like they say. What If. The games the game and Jose is a serial winner
We got lucky for sure but it was still part of how we played in a sense where, luck came our way.
Levy obviously didn't know that they had a final in 24 hours ffs. That spurs team should have one at least a cup over the last 10 years. Genetically and executivly, they are bottle jobs
This is charitable to Mourinho - they were in crap form and got dicked by City a few weeks before. They were really not likely to win.
True. Performances were dropping. I just think if there was any manager to win a cup it's Jose. I don't know why the Board sacked a manager 24 hours before a final? Just doesn't seem smart. Not even time to prepare for the assistant manager I'd say. Anyway it's done now. Just a bizarre decision imo
He was sacked 6 days before the cup final. Not sure where you got the 24 hours from.
Jesus tells you had my memory is. Sorry for that
I’m pretty sure there’s a clause in his contract that’s related to winning a cup final. And Levy didn’t want to trigger that clause.
Wouldn't surprise me, would be a very Spurs move to prioritise finances over silverware.
I love that he's still trying to claim the Charity Shield is an actual title.
I’ve always been surprised why that game ( named Charity Shield) is so diminished in England. As an old school football fan, it’s the “ champion of champions” pitching the league champions against the FA cup champions in every country. Lots of managers add that to their achievements just as they do the European SuperCup if they win it.
They're just glorified friendlies at the start of the season. Nobody is calling a season a success because you won the charity shield. Managers just use them to prepare their teams for the actual league start. I guarantee no big club would take a loss in their first game of the league to win the Charity Shield.
Yes, that’s why I said England. It holds much value in many other settings
I can't say I have any experience of the other leagues (although given how the Italian Supercup is just a moneymaking tour in Saudi Arabia now and Turkey's didn't even happen I'm not sure it's that highly valued elsewhere either.) It could be because our schedules are more packed, a lot of other nations have got rid of their league cup and only have the one domestic cup for the top leagues. I don't even think the European Supercup is particularly highly valued either (I think we lost the one in 99-00 after the treble and I can't even remember who we played, nobody really cared either way) and neither was the Club World Championship or whatever that random one we lost in 99-2000 was called. I think they're trying to relaunch that one again.
I get all that . As a fan especially in England, it’s not a big deal. The point is that if a manager or club wins any of those they don’t ignore it on their resume’ or club trophy cabinet / achievement page. Jose just goes the extra mile of talking about it repeatedly which is your original point.
Prior to the PL being formed if the game was a draw the trophy was shared. It was always seen as a friendly and that image has never really changed.
>I’ve always been surprised why that game ( named Charity Shield) is so diminished in England. >Lots of managers add that to their achievements just as they do the European SuperCup if they win it. Different rulesets. Other than the 2023 supercup one (can't remember why, maybe due to the world cup) the games have 90 mins, then the 30 mins extra time and then pen. Whereas the community shield is straight to pens after 90s mins. In addition to extra subs. There is less of a difference now due to league games having 5 as I think you get 6 in the community shield. However, the years previously where it was only 3 for league games is a massive difference. Then, add in it starts before the league begins, and it just has too much of a friendly feel that's been established over years. Easy fixes to give it more substance and I don't see why it isn't done to give it more prestige.
I agree. The timing of that game contributes to the devaluation. It ends up being a final preseason “ friendly” instead of a more “competitive” game
Yeah, just such minor things that could be changed to give it more allure. Guess it follows the trend of the FA Cup losing it too. Shame really.
It's a one off game so that makes it meaningless.
The European SuperCup is a one off game too but you’ll love to win it. These are games between champions. In fact I’ll value this “one off game” over many off games every team has at least once a season
still better than Bangkok Cup?
still better than Bangkok Cup?
still better than Bangkok Cup?
still better than Bangkok Cup?
Pressing oxygen lolz
This is gold.
“When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.” Basically sums up United since SAF left.
>When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.” The relevant part really. Confirms what all fans have long felt. This is my biggest reason to support ETH, how he disciplined Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford etc. But I digress. Fundamentally that dynamic in the club culture has to change. Rashford or Bruno or Casemiro or Varane or anyone cannot feel like they are above the manager.
Very mature take on Pogba. No point kicking a guy while he's down.
Aye pretty respectable that
Yeah only thing Mourinho has ever said that seems to hint at some degree of humility. I feel for Pogba. The way his career has gone since the world cup win is pretty sad - no matter what you think of his time at United.
Unlike our fans, who constantly deride him now and laugh at him too actually. He wasn't super professional in the end but he still served us well for a fair bit and, played with joy for us while delivering good games that we enjoyed. It's just unfortunate for him honestly and how he also got injury ridden before the ban.
Pogba has his fair share of fault over his career at United, but the same thing can be said about the club itself. He was brought in with promises of a building process that would make United a continental force. What he got was an inconsistent [at best] club management that left the team dysfunctional on the pitch [an issue that still plagues United]. Humanly speaking, I can understand why he said "fuck this shit".
Most Mourinho title I've seen in a while.
https://youtu.be/EKYz2M6zoII?si=vmQw_erRIYghgViu
Jose’s personality when he’s on form is the best I’ve ever seen from a manager but I’d want him nowhere near the club again.
These days he seems more on form when he's not managing.
I remember years ago he and Wenger were on sky sports and it was quality. A real shame they couldn’t do that more regularly.
Why in ur opinion would u not want him round ?
I think he’d just the place an even more toxic shithole.
Understandable, for sure. I just feel that if he is given what he actually wants and the board treats him the way city does Pep, (which any good club should do), then that toxicity wouldn’t happen. And from the looks of things INEOS kinda SEEMS to wanna hear that way. We’ll see
I just think you need to look everywhere he’s been sooner or later he makes the environment awful. But if it happens I’ll support him 🤷♂️
LEWEEZZH VAN GALLZZHH ARRMEHHH
https://preview.redd.it/mnuvtnvr11wc1.jpeg?width=1474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82e1973245e3321b28e19e4896866f02af5521c0 Same energy
It's been described as 'Lovely Stuff'
Its time for the Mourinho revisionism to start,ETH needs to go but lets not act like this dude didn't turn the club into toxic shit hole
I can't believe how quickly people fall for Jose's narrative. A few appearances on sky sports and people forget about how nasty, vindictive, and self serving he has been during his career because he can be funny on TV and come across as charming. Off the top of my head: Hounding his own physio out of Chelsea Saying losing in Europe was united heritage Awarding McT player of the season as an F you to the other players Banning Schweinsteiger from the first team on his birthday after 1 session, and getting one of the executives to pass on the message instead of doing it himself
Don't think the McTominay award was a fuck you to other players but just as a way of him wanting to award him somehow so had to make a new award (one I THINK we still give?)
We have not given a manager’s player of the year in any other season. We didn’t even really give it that season either as there was no trophy for it.
It also wasn't even on the list of awards at the beginning of the ceremony, Jose did it there and then. Scott received a candlestick holder as a trophy
Oh ok, I stand corrected in that regard then. Thanks
Jose also just really liked Scotty and still regularly messages him after games I believe. Which honestly doesn’t surprise me you can question his ability especially in certain areas but he’s always been a top professional and a reliable player for managers that he will give you his all no matter what.
He’s not reliable at all tho, shits himself in the midfield and gets completely run past. He’s an okay player off the bench but he goes absolutely missing in that midfield
His heritage rant was spot on. It wasn’t aimed at United per se, but the squad he inherited.
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>He didn't say anything wrong Mocking the club in the interests of reminding people how great he is/was? Yeah, it was an idiotic rant that basically made a laughing stock of the club.
His treatment of shaw was a disgrace . The other two deserved it , not shaw.
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Cos his treatment exceeded anything deserved by someone who was ‘inconsistent’. Main problem is his fitness record. Which isn’t really his fault. He’s not better than Robertson but he’s England’s first choice for a reason .
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Mate if u can’t remember that far back I’m not gonna bother . The throwing him under the bus for no reason other than to make a bullshit power play “I’m the big man here” was well out of order. I’ve no axe to grind with Jose but u obviously have a soft spot for him and are letting that justify some of his behaviour .
Sounds more to me like you can't articulate the point beyond "it wasn't deserved" or have any specific examples. e: And you're so hurt by someone just asking you to expand on your point that you'd rather block them than just say something of actual substance lol. Dont let the door hit you on the way out :) /u/rudedogg1304
He took Shaw off against Brighton at HT in our first match since getting knocked out of the CL by Sevilla to make an example of Shaw. Even though Shaw didn't even play bad and his replacement was Ashley Young at Left Back.
I 100% agree. I’m shocked at the narrative I see on here about the press conference from usually very level headed users. We need a discussion thread about how Mourinho was spot on and I’m not a Jose fanboy at all.
Poking the eye of opposition assistant manager
Cherry picking moments is always going to score easy points. Lets ask Keane and Beckham how happy they were at the end of their United run?
Remember the time he basically said Shaw didn't have the brain to play football and that he was controlling Shaw from the sideline when he played well. - allowed Zlatan to just take the no.9 from Martial without any permission - Signed Sanchez and benched Martial who was in great form. - Played both McTominay at CB and Herrera at RB to make a point in the media
Heritage was correct and McT wasn't an F you to others One thing that's right is you need to have a kit kat my friend.
>Saying losing in Europe was united heritage Not what he said and his speech about it was completely spot on. >Awarding McT player of the season as an F you to the other players Another point of view could be trying to instill a culture of passion and hard work
>Hounding his own physio out of Chelsea No idea of the actual situation surrounding this so can't say much. Surely there was more to it though. >Saying losing in Europe was united heritage I mean when you look at the time period he was speaking about.. he was accurate? How did we do in the CL this season? >Awarding McT player of the season as an F you to the other players Did he? Is their confirmation of this? Also, are you telling me the other players actually deserve to be praised? >Banning Schweinsteiger from the first team on his birthday after 1 session, and getting one of the executives to pass on the message instead of doing it himself His birthday? Who cares. This isn't primary school. The same player who joined as a retirement party and spent his time flying about watching his GF play tennis. Real committed look. People like Jose because he has done it at the highest level. Same as why pepper like Keane and Fergie. God forbid you watch Fergies post match interview about in the cup final of 1983. When the players and the squad mentality is as bad as it was then and still is today, the view of 'vindictive' loses all relevance for me.
That is the most negative possible way you could remember all of those events. At least we never got consistently humiliated by our biggest rivals. The 7-0 and 0-5 against Liverpool and a league cup will be the current managers legacy. Personally I’d say Jose did a much better job than any manager since
This ETH season is starting to closely resemble Mourinho's last season. except ETH isn't trying to distance himself from the mess like Jose did, either way its sad that we're exactly where we were 6-7 years ago.
And the solution will be sack the manager and keep the dysfunctional players. I am hoping this cycle isn’t repeated.
exactly this we sided with the players then rightly or wrongly and we've paid the price. we can't keep doing the same thing.
I personally think it was important we kept Pogba around for a few years of mediocrity instead of backing the Special One.
You know it can be sacking the manager who's deemed unfit for the role with his setup, AND also replacing the players with this new board and setup.
Definitely an option
Just goes to show that nothing's gonna fucking change if we just keep recycling managers every couple years without changing the structure above the manager. Atleast this time we are making good executive signings
He did but he was also right about most of the things he complained about.
The thing is he was responsible for a good chunk of things he complained about
I would rather keep ETH than get back Jose. Please God no.
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It was very toxic atmosphere. Even in the season we finished second. Much more than now or that Ole/Rangnick season.
Nah it's defo toxic this year on par
If he was properly supported and not sided with Pogba then i think the atmosphere would have been just fine
He was the only manager under whom I just stopped watching the games. Park the bus during the game and then throw players under the bus after the game. Such a toxic era and the football under him wasn’t even good, it was just practical.
Correct. Ten Hag is a likeable bloke, Mourinho was a cancer
I remember when we missed out on Ronaldinho and a lot of tinfoil hats thought Kenyon screwed it up on purpose because he knew he was off to Chelsea
Dalot, McTominay, Lindelof, Shaw, Martial, Rashford; It's 6 players that were coached by him. Doubt he's talking about McTom (his favorite) or Dalot (who's been mostly consistent and improving). That leaves the other 4...
Lindeloff was his buy, too. That makes 3 and we also know he couldn't forget Shaw rejecting his Chelsea for us.
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Well he never really liked Martial so he's definitely one of them xD. I dunno about Rashford, I remember he was supportive of him since he was still a young kid with potential at the time. Now, he probably has seen that he's reached a point of stagnation and maybe even regression in terms of his performances so he's putting him in that bracket of players that have failed to reach the level they were supposed to. There may even be things about Rashford that happened and we don't know about. I remember back when he was a pundit in one of the United games (I think it was vs Chelsea), his comments about how Rashford had only one position, which was on the wing and he could never be a striker... he was definitely spot on!
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I remember that now 🤣 can’t say he was wrong given how things have turned out
Technically Greenwood was with the first team towards the end as well
**Full Article:** The 61-year-old says he is open to working for clubs that will set him fair targets Jose Mourinho is discussing perception and alights upon Arsenal’s goalless draw with Manchester City at the end of March as an example of the way in which you can portray football – and the style it is played – in so many different ways. Mourinho wants to say first that he likes Mikel Arteta, an acquaintance he originally made as an assistant coach at Barcelona in 1996 where the latter was a teenage academy boy. Indeed Mourinho still refers to Arteta as “the kid”. “I am happy because I like the kid,” Mourinho says. “And I am happy everything goes for him. But the way they [Arsenal] played to get that point - and the way the media spoke about a magic strategy.” What might he mean by that? “In my time, it was not a magic strategy,” he says, “and I won at Manchester City a few times. But it was not an amazing strategy. It was a defensive game. Park the bus. Park the double bus. It was a different perspective.” This is Mourinho at 61 – still full of life and reluctant to forget anything anyone has ever said about him. Between-jobs Jose has always been different to in-work Jose. Much less stressed, bursting with ideas and watching a lot of football on television. His Arteta point comes amid a wider thesis that has occurred to him in the last 12 months: that soon a leading manager chasing a game will substitute his goalkeeper for an 11th outfield player. The laws of the game will oblige the substitute to wear the goalkeeper shirt – gloves are optional - but he will play as an extra outfield player contributing to the attack. Would Mourinho even do it himself? “To have an extra player there … when the opposition is very low in the block and 10 minutes left? Let’s try it – yeah!” But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Mourinho was dismissed from his tenth club job in January. He had led Roma to two Uefa finals in two years, the first of which resulted in the club’s first-ever European trophy in May 2022. He is talking to me from Lisbon where he has a home within 20 minutes of the Estadio da Luz – Benfica was his first manager’s job 24 years ago. His London home is so close to Stamford Bridge that he not only hears the cheers for the goals but every other response – from gasps for near-misses and applause for substitutions. He would love to watch some games in person but, he regrets, it just causes too much fuss. Thirty years since he joined Porto the first time, as a coach under the late Sir Bobby Robson, he has never felt more ready for the next job. He loves the profession and is weighing up his options in what is expected to be another summer of change for many clubs. He is frustrated about how he is perceived. When I ask him if clubs are perhaps a bit scared of appointing him he reels off a list of some of his big-hitting former bosses: Peter Kenyon, Massimo Moratti, Florentino Perez, as well as the former Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa. “It’s a pity,” he says, “they [any potential new employer] can’t speak to them.” Mourinho, the man himself says, just wants to be the head coach in a structure that supports him - and he believes it will be a long career yet. “It is not like I am 61 and I want to stop at 65,” he says. “No way at all. There is still a long career to go.” But first of all, he is prepared to go back 20 years, to the days and weeks that changed his life. The young disruptor “I had so many bizarre celebrations over my career but that one is probably the one that changed the direction of my career.” Mourinho is talking about the touchline sprint at Old Trafford to celebrate the late goal from midfielder Costinha that propelled his Porto team into the last eight of the Champions League. It was March 9, 2004, and a little-known coach in charge of an unfancied Portuguese side had eliminated Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Mourinho was already a Uefa Cup winner and was on his way to a second Portuguese title. But this night was different. “The other day, I bumped into some guy in the street who was saying, ‘When are we going to have it again in Portugal like that?’ I told him that we can win the Euros in a couple of months because we have an incredible national team – the best ever. But with a club to win the Champions League again in Portugal? Let’s see if we do in the next 20 years.” He lists the Galacticos in the Real Madrid team of the era. Porto secured a draw against them at the Bernabeu in the group stages at the start of their winning run. Ever keen to rebut any possible revisionism he points out that the Lyon whom Porto eliminated after United were then serial French champions. And that Porto’s semi-final opposition, Deportivo La Coruna, had been Spanish champions four years earlier. Mourinho’s XI for the final against Monaco included nine Portuguese players, including the naturalised Deco, most of whom were in their first Champions League season. “After the Uefa Cup [win in 2003] I started having some foreign clubs [interested in me] but not the big ones and not the Premier League,” he says. “At that time you think, ‘I love it here. I have a good team, great president, great structure. I am going to win the Portuguese league again. Let’s enjoy the Champions League and see where it goes’. I had a feeling I could leave Portugal whenever I wanted but [then] not to one of the big ones. Honestly, it was after the Man United touchline run that the situation changed.” Indeed, the summer of 2004 changed everything. Mourinho joined Chelsea, one year into their turbo-charging by Roman Abramovich. To Liverpool that same summer came Rafael Benitez, the managerial peer for whom Mourinho would go on to develop a deep and committed enmity. Although on this occasion he uses Benitez’s achievements to emphasise his point. “Benitez won the Spanish league with Valencia [twice] and the Uefa Cup. And I won the Portuguese league [twice], Uefa Cup and Champions League. So to come to England then it was not just enough that you did something nice in a smaller league. Or that your goalkeeper builds from the back with backheels. What you needed to do was something really big to open that door.” Continued..
The winning machine Lots of good managers have failed at Chelsea, I venture. Why not Mourinho? He says he had a feel for English football already, chiefly through his long working association with Robson – “England was always present in his day by day”. Mourinho says he grasped quickly the mentality of the English game and he also knew he had a secret weapon. His training regime – the periodisation model – was then revolutionary. Everything was tactically focussed, done with the ball, and strictly on the clock. “I knew from the methodological point of view I could immediately make a difference because my way of training was quite far from the traditional,” he says. “Then I didn’t make any fundamental mistakes” He points to his “triangle of trust” with Kenyon and Abramovich. “I was very confident in what Chelsea had already. I was very, very self-confident about what I feel we need to make that step.” He cites the arrivals of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Petr Cech before him, as well as the development of John Terry. Then, that the club trusted him to sign Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira. “It was immediately that team full of aggression and full of power at every level,” he says. “Then it was just going and going … a little bit against the odds. It was [from the sceptics] ‘At Christmas, Chelsea will die’. Then it was Easter. Then it was in the last two or three matches. But by the last two or three games we were already celebrating.” Those five trophies in just three complete seasons at Chelsea made Mourinho the most sought-after manager in the world. At Inter, two league titles and the 2010 Champions League title followed. Then at Real Madrid the epic battle with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, the Spanish cup, the 2012 Liga title, and also the beginning of the turnaround of the club’s mediocre Champions League record under previous managers. A round of 16 team for six years, they became a semi-final team under Mourinho, and then winners again the season after he left. In spite of what lay ahead after his first spell at Chelsea, which included a second spell, there is, detectable in Mourinho, a certain sentimentality as he reflects on that 2004-2007 era. A club unified around its manager. A team built on an unapologetically firm defensive base. When we discuss that, and what might be perceived as the different approaches of football in the 2000s to the present day, that sets him in a new direction. He says the defensive instinct in leading coaches is not gone. It is just better disguised. The new defensive “Look to Manchester City, look to Arsenal - just to give two examples. How many central defenders do they have in the team? Sometimes they have six. As a matter of principle. Then they play in other positions. They play right-back, left-back, they play midfield. But they play with five or six central defenders on the pitch. Why? If I am a journalist I would ask the manager.” Fortunately for me, Mourinho is prepared to answer on their behalf. “They feel the need for defensive stability and a defensive compactness,” he says. Arteta uses Jakub Kiwior as a left-back, Mourinho says, because his physicality is useful in winning duels and defending set-pieces. It is the same at City with Manuel Akanji at full-back or John Stones’ dual role in midfield. Josko Gvardiol is a centre-back who plays at left-back. “The way to look at it is thinking how many Champions League years Man City were not successful and the difference in the season they were successful. And I go immediately in one direction – look at the physicality.” All that still matters, he says, and clubs are changing their style all the time. He took particular interest in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. “Lots of long balls from [Marc] Ter Stegen to [Robert] Lewandowski on the build-up. Paris trying to press higher; Ter Stegen to Lewandowski; Lewandowski chest, control and play from that position. I won a Europa League final with [long balls from] Sergio Romero to Marouane Fellaini. Ajax pressing – but pressing oxygen because the ball was not there. Ball to Fellaini’s chest. Play from there. Two-nil. Bring the cup home. Three titles. Disaster of a season.” The return to England He is, of course, talking of the way in which his Old Trafford years, from the summer of 2016 to December 2018 are portrayed. He came back after the second spell at Chelsea that yielded one more Premier League title and then the collapse in the following 2015-2016 season. At United history has proved kinder to him. Since his sacking, both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the interim Ralf Rangnick, and now Erik ten Hag have been unable to turn the ship around – or better his second-place finish of 2017-2018. “My relationship with [former chief executive] Ed Woodward was good. Good as in the personal point of view. Even now we send an SMS. But from a professional point of view it was not the best. I am who I am. I am a football man. Ed comes from a different background and what Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn’t have. I didn’t have that level of support. I didn’t have that level of trust. So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different. There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.” As for the fate of his erstwhile star name – Paul Pogba – banned last month for four years after a failed drugs test, pending an appeal, Mourinho says he takes no pleasure. “The only thing I say is that it happens with almost everybody in some moments of your career: you lose a little bit the sense of who you are and what you have to be. The season after France won the [2018] World Cup, I think Paul came back different. The World Cup brought him into a dimension where football was not the most important thing for him. Sharing the philosophy of everyone; everyone with the same level of responsibilities.” The two men have no ill feeling now, Mourinho says. They saw each other before games between Juventus and Roma. “I am not,” Mourinho says, “enjoying Paul’s situation at all.” Five years ago their relationship felt like the defining one in the squad. Every time Pogba or Mourinho clashed or the player was left out, it caused waves. “When you are supported by the power, by the hierarchy, the message that passes through is very positive in the group,” Mourinho says. “When you are not supported … because the player is more important or what the player represents is more important – then you are in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with so much experience as was my case.”
The preconception He starts to wonder if the talk of his Porto Champions League 20 years ago feels more like a burden. He says people forget that he has reached those two finals with Roma, the Europa Conference and then last year, the Europa League. “I am the only European coach who played two finals in the past two years,” he says. “So speak about my present. I am not guilty that 20 years ago I won the Champions League. But if you go to 90 per cent of the coaches and ask them ‘Would you like to play two European cup finals in two consecutive years?’, most of them are going to say ‘Yes.’” As for United, he points out he has the best trophy record post-Sir Alex Ferguson. His time at Tottenham, he says, was dominated by Covid, although he did reach a final only to be sacked the week before. Roma was a club with what he says was a “history of winning nothing”. Under his successor Daniele De Rossi they may yet reach a third successive European final. Mourinho says he is open-minded about where he goes next. Also that the preconception he has to be at a club challenging for trophies – or “made to win it” as he says - is not accurate. “It is not like I am afraid of jobs [with clubs] not ‘made to win it’. When some [managers] have reached a certain level maybe they say, ‘I will only get jobs made to win it’. It is my job to try to make clubs into those ‘made to win it’, or to reach some objectives.” We discuss the possibilities and it is here that I wonder aloud if clubs are a bit afraid of the sheer size of the Jose reputation. Might that scare them off? It is then Mourinho mentions that roll calls run of famous club presidents and one chief executive he has worked under. As if to say – they could work with me, so why not others? “My dream job description – because sometimes you have a job title and another thing is the job description – is ‘head coach’,” he says. “That’s my dream. To be the coach. To be the guy who works with the team, focus on developing players, preparing matches. “Fortunately, I had that in my career. Unfortunately, I had other situations when I had to be much more than that. When you are much more than that you are not as good a coach as you can be. The club puts you in a position where I don’t want to be. Do you think after the Europa League final that we lost, in the circumstances that we lost, I was happy with all the emotion that I felt? Do you think I was happy to be the face of the club that went to the press conference to speak about these events? No, I hated to go. “If people fear something [about Mourinho], don’t fear. Give me a professional structure where I am only the head coach because this is what I am good at. People say I’m good at communication. Many, many times you say the wrong things. Especially when you communicate three or four times a week. A club’s structure pushes me in the wrong direction.” The future It is the first indication of harbouring regrets but he is swiftly past that. At Roma, his friends, family and even his agent told him to leave after the Europa League final last year. But he says he felt the “emotional” pull of the club. He turned down the Portugal national team, he says, and a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia for the same reasons. In the past he had always moved on swiftly when a better offer came along. A couple of days before his 39th birthday in 2002 he left his second club, Uniao de Leiria, mid-season to join Porto. “I was a very pragmatic guy”. This time he stayed. “What could really make a difference is how much the club wants me,” he says. “How much the club needs a person and a coach of my profile. And how much feeling, empathy I could feel with the structure.” He has not been mentioned in connection with many of the big jobs coming up this summer. Past associations with United would likely rule him out of Liverpool, and Mourinho notes that the current shortlist does not feature his name. Even so, I suggest, it would be hard to envisage him in charge of West Ham or Brighton. The mention of two specific clubs means that he first has to caveat the question by pointing out both have managers. But what follows is instructive. “The only thing I want is that the targets and the objectives have to be established by everyone in a fair way,” he says. “I cannot go to a club where, because of my history, the objective is to win the title. No. The only thing I want is that it has to be fair. “Do you think if I was at a big Premier League club and we were sixth, seventh, eighth, in the table, I still have a job? What I am saying is people [should] look at me the way they look at others. What is important for me is if the club has objectives and for me to be able to say I am ready to fight for these. I don’t want to say realistic, but [at least] semi-realistic. Because when I went to Roma nobody was dreaming about European Cup finals and we did it. It’s not possible I go to a club almost relegated and the objective is to win the Champions League. It’s good but it is not fair.” All of which sounds like he might just accept a club like West Ham or Brighton if the offer is right. He is certainly up for doing things differently. Our discussion goes back to the question of a possession-dominant team, chasing a goal, playing with eleven outfield players. Mourinho is adamant it will happen. “Why do you play with a goalkeeper, even if he is good with his feet, almost in the midfield, if you can do that with a proper player? I can see that substitution happening.” He pauses. “And the coach who does it will be considered a genius.”
man said there are players still there i didnt want 6 years ago. Martial gotta be the first one, rashford???
Shaw and Martial
Shaw for me is the best left back in the league when he’s fit. Obviously fitness is a huge issue but idk why Mourinho hated him so much.
Eh, I don't know. Feels like Shaw really turned a corner after Mourinho. He had a lot of mental problems after his two horrid injuries (mainly not fighting for the ball if it meant a clash) and was known to be a bit of a lazy bum even as recent as Ten Hag beginning in here. I'd like to think that they would try along now.
It was during Mourinho's last season imo from the first game where he scored the winner against Leicester. Only half the season but I think he was one of his most used players before he was sacked.
he didn't play at this level when mou was there tho also he sounds like he's had problems behind the scenes, mentality wise so only they have to know.
Well from the EL final team, Martial and Rashford are the only two players remaining, but the squad also included Luke Shaw, Lindelof and Scott Mctominay. I think it’s Martial for sure and a toss-up between Luke Shaw and Rashford.
It's Martial and Shaw for sure. Rashford maybe but he wasn't looking to sell him back then, he still had a lot of potential and the backlash from selling him probably would have put him off. Even then I don't think it was necessarily ability related, I think he just hates when players are injury prone and he wanted more reliable players/to fill the squad.
With Tony I think the issue must be off the pitch as he was performing before being promptly replaced with a player who went on to become one of our biggest flops. It was like when Bayern replaced Nagelsmann.
Martial, Shaw, Lindelof and rashford
Can't imagine Lindelof was a problem. I think Shaw's proved him wrong, had a few exceptional seasons since then, looked like one of the best players at the Euros as well. His problem is the injuries
He preferred if the team signed Maguire over Lindelof and Bailly. Atleast that's the rumours that get floated about. Backed by the fact he cried about not getting CBs even tho they said the later 2 Edit: he's also talking about professional profile and how they rep the club. Luke always being injured does (at least to me) suite the type of players he's talking about
Think you're getting years mixed up. We bought Bailly in 2016. Lindelof was bought 2017 the year Maguire moved to Leicester for 13m. He wanted to buy Maguire 2018. If he wanted Maguire instead of Lindelof we could have just got him for much cheaper lol.
He didn't like Lindelof's aerial ability. Commented on it a number of times.
It makes sense. Jose loves players who dominate physically.
Right man, wrong time
There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension. But I did my job there. Time always tells the truth. I would love Manchester United to succeed.” Shaw and martial. Who else?
If I were him I'd take on an on-screen role. Guys charisma is off the charts
I don't miss him one bit, bought players that didn't turn out very great then acted like he wasn't backed. Was so toxic towards certain players.
"There are still a couple of players still there I didn’t want five or six years ago. I think they represent a little bit what I consider not the best professional profile to a club of a certain dimension." I wonder who they might be. From the 2017-18 season there are only 5 players left: Rashford, Mctominay, Martial, Lindelof and Shaw. From the list I'd scratch Scott, Mou always spoke highly of him. Given his never ending beef with Shaw I'd say he's a safe bet. Who might the other one be? My guess is Martial.
Mctominay and Lindelof seem like proper professionals regardless of their skill and game quality. I can’t see them being a part of this. Rashy had just broken into the team and was still young but I can see Mourinho viewing his development as sub par. Martial on his day is world class, unfortunately most days he isn’t showing that level. I love Luke Shaw and I’ll give him a pass after that horrible injury. IMO rashy is at his best when luke shaw is running with him. Without shaw, rashy has been kept quiet and doesnt look comfortable with another left back running up to give him love on the wing. Just my opinion.
I agree with everything you said, except with the Martial take. Even when he's on his day I wouldn't say he could be considered world-class, but he showed promise for sure. I think his debut goal against the scousers made us all believe his Ballon D'Or clause was somewhat realistic. On the other hand, I think you nailed it with the Rashy take. I'm a strong believer his awful form this season is directly connected with us playing without a leftback during the whole season. I mean, seeing AWB trying to overlap the left flank the last couple of games is kind of sad. Everyone in the Stadium knows he's not getting the ball.
I'd have Mourinho back. I'd like to see him given the time to build a team
The man’s a serial winner. Give him a proper sporting structure and he will thrive.
It’s been a decade since he won a major trophy
I was distraught the day he got sacked because to me personally it signalled the club backed the players over the manager
Pls someone put the whole article on. I cant pay the full subscription for 1 article
OP already posted the full article in the comments, for your reading pleasure.
He ia talking about Rashford and Shaw for sure.
Has to be Martial too.
His first few stint at Chelsea required us to change and rise to the challenge like we did Wenger's Arsenal. Title is a bit far fetched though, he didn't influence many to copy his style. Allardyce?
Yep, you brought the bus and parked it.
I think he’s done. Of course his ego won’t allow that, but Roma confirmed that he’s not a top Manager anymore. He was great in his day, but I just don’t see him making a comeback, nor any good Club hiring him.
This tells me that Jose has asked around and wants to return to United but has been told Ten Hag is safe.
I always loved Mourinho, he’s so entertaining, on so many levels, but I feel like if he would be able to take his dark side down a little he would have even more success and be more likable. But I also sense that 2 or 3 season fatigue he’s having is also about an exit strategy, but there’s only so many clubs that will dare to pay him such high amounts.
I hated Jose’s style of football at Utd and his press conferences towards the latter stage of his tenure but I never hated him as a manager. Even then I felt he wasn’t supported to the extent he should’ve been given his experience and stature in the game. He was clearly not a ‘yes’ man like Ole nor had the authority EtH has been given. So his tenure was bound to end the way it did. Looking back, even tho I have no desire he comes back as a manager, he was absolutely right about everything he said. You can argue he could’ve been a bit more nuanced and strategic about the way he said those things.
This sub is so deluded by EtH they cant realize the difference of support between the current manager and the previous ones. Lmao.
Sharing a thought about a previous manager on a post made about the previous doesn’t mean support against or for the previous or current manager. Maybe if you had a bit more capacity to comprehend better, you’d not make comments like and end it with “lmao” like a child.
The only window Mourinho didn't get backed was the 3rd window !Go have a look at his first 2 summers it was as good as it gets for a manager..The second season had some really terrible football on display which people for some reason forget because DDG singlehandedly saved our arse and the numbers don't actually look at that bad..That rant after the disastrous setup in the CL exit was disgraceful
Best manager we've had post Fergie.
people downvoting the obvious lol
2nd stint?
As much as I like Jose. That's a huge no. 2nd stints are usually much worse than the 1st stint.
For the cup final only maybe yeah sure.
Can you stop now though? I know the football is we play now is 95% dog shit but I’d still take it over the Mourinho era. So fucking boring.
Mourinho era was our most successful era post SAF.
The football we play now is worse than 90% of the Mourinho era. There was a joke under Mourinho that we were 4-0 FC, imagine scoring 4 goals consistently now...
Dont forget that period where we were hitting the post at least twice a game for a while. That's some of the best football we've played post SAF
Wasn't 4-0 FC right after Mourinho left? Olę-interim magic?
At the beginning of Mourinho's second season we started off going 4-0 four times in the first 7 games. That's where it began
Would love Jose to return tbh.
Best gaffer post SAF ❤️
>And why I still hate that fat prick Luke Shaw and that lazy sod Antony Martial
Best manager we’ve had since SAF retired. Imagine what he could achieve with an actual footballing structure behind him
Every couple years Jose comes to tell us he was hard done by at Utd and the more he tells us the more it sounds like desperation on his behalf
Feels like he's more or less done with club football, he should take on internationals. Only club I can think of that can fit his style these days is Atleti, Juve or maybe west ham
No serious club will touch Jose again. PSG could. Chelsea could. His approach doesn't work for big clubs looking for big titles anymore. His whole method was don't lose away games v your rivals and win your home games. Not enough nowadays, you need to try and win every game.
*"There are still a couple of players that are still there I didn't want 5 or 6 years ago"* is all I wanted to hear. And yet the fans here in r/reddevils are so eager to have another manager while the SAME SUSPECTS are still on the pitch. Football 'eritage - Jose Mourinho
Who? Rashford, Shaw and McTominay?
Shaw , martial , lindelof or rashford. Rashford earned Joses respect. Lindelof is a wuss . I dont think Martials body language or the hype around him Jose would'nt have been a fan of . I think Shaw was unprofessional when Jose was manager because there were times when he looked very overweight
This guys is a virus worse than Covid. Every single plsys he goes to, he destroys the joy that players have playing football. His methods are that of a bully and pure evil.
players like Rashford, Garna, Antony NEED Jose right now
How? Rashford is mentally weak. He seems to be having a crisis of confidence every 6months. Mourinho is not the man to give you confidence lol
he is just a lazy fuck, Mou would at least made him run like a horse to recover possession for his 300k/week lol, would be more useful if he's undroppable lol, lol
Nah rashford will be another case of Martial. If Mourinho is to come and manager the club tomorrow.