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Tag: Jose Mourinho

  • Joe Hart signing helps me sleep better – Mourinho

    Joe Hart signing helps me sleep better – Mourinho

    Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho says Joe Hart’s arrival will help him sleep better.

    Hart has arrived as Michel Vorm was allowed to come off contract this summer.

    And Mourinho explained: “Michel (Vorm)… I don’t know if he was in the last year of his career, but he was close to it, and to bring in Joe, 75 caps for England, lots of experience, that’s great protection for us to have these three goalkeepers, all of them internationals, all of them good goalkeepers.

    “You can sleep well because you know any injury, illness, any problems, we have three goalkeepers and with some crazy fixtures that are waiting for us, playing all the competitions, starting the Carabao Cup immediately at the same time as Europa League and Premier League, even goalkeepers cannot play every match, so it’s very, very good business for us.”

  • Mourinho aims dig at Fernandes for penalty record

    Mourinho aims dig at Fernandes for penalty record

    Jose Mourinho has taken a light-hearted swipe at Bruno Fernandes for his Manchester United penalty record, joking that the midfielder “had about 20 to score” in the second half of the season.

    United set a new Premier League record for the most penalties won in a single campaign when Anthony Martial was brought down in the box during a crunch clash with Leicester on Sunday.

    Fernandes, a €55 million (£50m/$65m) January signing, stepped up to convert the Red Devils’ 14th spot-kick of 2019-20, which set them on their way to a 2-0 victory at the King Power Stadium.

    Mourinho told Portuguese newspaper Record: “Bruno came in, was fit, played very well, improved the United team and also proved to be a great penalty taker, one of the best in the world, because he had about 20 to score”.

  • Referees are now in the office, not pitch – Mourinho

    Referees are now in the office, not pitch – Mourinho

    Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho on Thursday questioned the point of having referees on the pitch, saying VAR was bad for the game.

    His comments came after his side were victims of a controversially disallowed equaliser in a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United in the 2019/2020 English Premier League (EPL).

    Harry Kane thought he had levelled for Spurs almost immediately after Sander Berge had given the hosts the lead in their EPL clash at Bramall Lane.

    But VAR officials at their bunker in Stockley Park ruled that Lucas Moura had used his arm in the build-up.

    This was in spite of the Brazilian being shoved over and then having the ball booted against him while sliding headlong on the turf.

    A pundit, Jamie Redknapp, described the decision as one of the worst he had seen and called for common sense.

    Mourinho looked furious at the time but the Portuguese coach refused to turn his ire on referee Chris Kavanagh.

    “I think the referee should always be the man on the pitch and the man in the office should support and assist,” Mourinho said of the incident. “But that’s not the way that it is.

    “Especially a referee who’s not very good on the pitch, we can’t expect him to be very good in the office. `

    “We’re going into a direction that is very bad for a game which was the game that everyone fell in love with.

    “Normally I am an emotional guy on the bench. But, in this moment, I never complain with the man with the whistle because he’s not the referee anymore.

    “I used to go to the fourth (official). But the man on the pitch is the assistant referee and today the man and the lady with the flag, (who) used to be the assistant referees, are now assistant’s assistant. The ref is in the office.”

    Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been a critic of VAR and felt wronged when his side had a goal ruled out in their 1-1 draw at Tottenham in November.

    He felt Mourinho’s angst.

    “I’ve got a back catalogue of decisions that have gone against us. We’re the unofficial champs of Europe with decisions against us,” he said. “I think it’s a nonsense rule.

    “I totally understand the frustration of their (Tottenham’s) manager and players. We’ve had the rub of the green tonight on that one, well overdue. But we’ll take it.”

    Mourinho, whose side slipped to ninth, nine points adrift of the top four, questioned his side’s reaction to the decision to chalk off Kane’s goal.

    “We have to do better, we have to be mentally stronger to cope with what happened during the game,” he said.

    “It was a kick in the teeth but with 50 minutes to go, we have to be stronger. I don’t think we were strong enough mentally.”

  • Robben snubs Mourinho, names Guardiola best coach

    Arjen Robben has described former Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola as the “master of offensive football” and says the Catalan is the best coach in the world.

    The 36-year-old was brought to Bavaria by Louis van Gaal and also worked with Carlo Ancelotti, Jupp Heynckes and Niko Kovac at the Allianz Arena.

    Meanwhile, Mourinho bought Robben in 2004 in his first stint at Chelsea, while he played under Guardiola in Germany for three seasons. He developed into one of the most feared wingers of the world under the coaches over the last decade.

    But Robben feels the Spaniard is the coach who helped him to improve the most.

    “I love football and, above all, the offensive football – and Pep is a master at it,” he told Socrates magazine.

    “He focused on attack and total ball control. Of course, I particularly liked that. We were on the same wavelength.

    “He made sure that I became more complete. For me, Pep is the best coach in the world. The three years with him in Munich were extremely instructive.”

  • I ran away from Inter to join Madrid – Mourinho

    I ran away from Inter to join Madrid – Mourinho

    Jose Mourinho has admitted he “ran away” from his Inter players after winning the Champions League in 2010 – because he was afraid he would not be able to leave the club for Real Madrid otherwise.

    A decade ago, Mourinho guided Inter to a unique Italian treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League, completed by winning the latter after defeating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the final at the Santiago Bernabeu.

    Mourinho told The Athletic : “When I had these last words with Materazzi, it was like I was hugging every player which is something I tried not to do. I was on the pitch with them in the celebrations, in the medals, in the cup. I was with them but then I didn’t go back to the dressing room because I didn’t want to say goodbye.

    “It was too hard for me and I didn’t want to leave with them for Milan because people were saying I had a contract with Real Madrid. It was not true. I had an agreement, but I did not have a contract signed.

    “I really wanted to go to Real Madrid at that time. I really wanted to try to win the Spanish league after the English and Italian leagues – but I feared that if I go back to Milan with the team and, with the reaction of the players and the fans, I was afraid of not being able to leave. I can say that I ran away. I ran away from them.”

  • Solskjaer reveals his first chat with Mourinho

    Solskjaer reveals his first chat with Mourinho

    Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has lifted the lid on his first exchange with predecessor Jose Mourinho.

    The Norwegian has recalled how they held their first proper chat ahead of Tottenham ‘s clash with the Red Devils at Old Trafford this season.

    Solskjaer’s side ran out 2-1 winners after Marcus Rashford scored twice as Mourinho left empty handed on his return.

    He told the United We Stand fanzine: “We had a chat before the game [vs Tottenham].

    “I’d not really met him before, only briefly when he was at Chelsea and they played Cardiff.

    “We had a nice chat. He was complaining about the away dressing room, the one that he’d changed!”

  • Mourinho confronted me about joining Arsenal – Essien

    Mourinho confronted me about joining Arsenal – Essien

    Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho once confronted midfielder Michael Essien about a possible move to Arsenal.

    Essien and Mourinho were first together at Chelsea.

    Mourinho called him to ask about the rumoured move to Arsenal, and then pitched him the idea of going to Real Madrid instead.

    The Ghanian eventually went to Real on loan and played a valuable role for Mourinho.

    “I was with Chelsea in Monaco for the Super Cup and a strange number called me but I didn’t want to answer it but my cousin who was in the room with me that day told me to pick it up,” Essien said on Instagram Live with Carol Tshabalala.

    “The number kept calling so I picked and as soon as I said hello and another hello came from the other end and I realised who was on the phone so I told my cousin it’s Jose Mourinho.

    “We started talking and he said, ‘I heard you’re on your way to Arsenal’. But I told him it’s not true. I had not heard anything from Arsenal. Then he said don’t go to Arsenal, come to me and I asked him where, and he said Real Madrid so I told him I’m ready.

    “It was the last day of the transfer window and he said okay give me your agent’s number. I told him I’m ready even if it means I have to leave in the midst of the Super Cup game.

    “He said Lassana Diarra was supposed to move to Russia so if he accepts to go then they will process my transfer and I told him, ‘OK, I’m waiting, just chilling in my room’. He said give me a couple hours I’ll call back and I said cool.

    “My agent called after a few hours and said what happened and I told him I spoke to Jose about moving to Madrid and said he gave Jose my number. He told me to relax because Madrid will come and I just said OK.”

  • Why I rejected Chelsea, Mourinho – Joaquin

    Why I rejected Chelsea, Mourinho – Joaquin

    Real Betis great Joaquin has recalled turning down Chelsea in 2005.

    Jose Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea at the time.

    Joaquin told AS: “First, because I didn’t want to leave Betis.

    “A week before we had played at the Bernabeu against England. I had a great match and Jose was there, he was interested.

    “A few days later I recorded an advertisement in Madrid and when I returned on the AVE [high-speed rail], my father tells me that Mourinho is in Seville, waiting for me at the Alfonso XIII hotel.

    “And I’m on the train thinking about England, the weather, the language… I made a cocoa and when I arrived, I told to my father: ‘Dad, I’m not going’. Anyway, he’s going to convince me, I thought.

    “And I did not go. The next day Mourinho returned and [Manuel Ruiz de] Lopera [former Real Betis chairman] told me that I had to sell myself for the future of the club. I answered no.”

  • Mourinho reveals one result that left him in tears

    Mourinho reveals one result that left him in tears

    Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has recalled the one result which left him in tears.

    Mourinho has revealed how losing a Champions League semi-final to Bayern Munich with Real Madrid in 2012 left him crying in his car.

    He recalled to Marca: “That is also football. Cristiano, Kaka, Sergio Ramos. They are three monsters of football, there is no doubt about that.

    “But they are also human. That night is the only time I have ever cried after a football match.

    “I remember it well: me and Aitor [Karanka] parked in the car in front of my house, crying. It was very hard to take because in that 2011-12 season we were the best team in Europe.”

  • EPL: Completing the season will be good for football – Mourinho

    EPL: Completing the season will be good for football – Mourinho

    Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho believes resuming the Premier League season, halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and playing it to completion will be good for the sport.

    Soccer in England was suspended indefinitely last month due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has caused more than 26,000 deaths in the United Kingdom. Premier League clubs are set to meet on Friday to discuss ways to finish the season.

    Spurs’ first-team squad returned to the club’s facilities for individual training sessions this week as they prepare for a possible resumption.

    “If we play the remaining nine matches this season it will be good for every one of us. It will be good for football, for the Premier League,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.

    “If we play football behind closed doors (without fans) I’d like to think that football is never behind closed doors.

    “With cameras, it means that millions and millions are watching. So if one day we walk into this empty stadium, it will not be empty, not at all.”

    The suspension has given Spurs’ injured players such as Harry Kane, Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn time to recover but Mourinho said he was unsure of how long it would be before they were able to play competitive football again.

    “For them, it’s many, many weeks of injury. And when the injury was arriving at an end, we stopped training,” Mourinho said.

    “I don’t know, they don’t know, we have to wait for the right permission for them to train again in groups to see if they can come back to a normal competition level.”

    Spurs were eighth in the Premier League standings with 41 points, seven points adrift of fourth, before the season was suspended.