Tag: Mourinho

THE Portuguese coach could not resist aiming a dig at his rival after admitting that Manchester United’s draw with Arsenal felt like a defeat

Jose Mourinho took another shot at his rival Arsene Wenger after Arsenal snatched a 1-1 draw against Manchester United, saying: “Finally I lost to Arsene.”

Olivier Giroud popped up in the 89th minute to salvage a point on an otherwise disappointing day for the Gunners.

Juan Mata’s goal looked to have secured United a deserved victory, but they slumped to a third Premier League draw at home in a row and remain six points behind Arsenal.

Mourinho has never lost to Wenger in the Premier League – a run that stretched to 12 meetings on Saturday – but the Portuguese could not resist a dig at his great rival after admitting that United’s failure to see the game out left them feeling like they had lost.

“It feels like a defeat and, for sure, for Arsenal it feels like a victory,” Mourinho told reporters.

“So finally I lost against Arsenal. Finally I lost against Arsene.”

“Of course it is two points dropped,” he added, speaking to the BBC. “It was another defeat.

“They had no chances to win. They could not be Arsenal the way they normally play football.”

Jose Mourinho has described his living arrangements in Manchester as a “disaster” as his wife and children remain in London while he stays in the Lowry Hotel.

The Portuguese was appointed as United manager at the end of last season to replace Louis van Gaal, and the former Chelsea boss is having to adjust to being apart from his family.

He does not envisage his family joining him in Manchester in the near future and he also has a regular paparazzi presence for company at the hotel.

Mourinho told Sky Sports: “The reality is that my daughter will be 20 next week. My son will be 17 in a couple of months. They are very stable… university in London, football in London, friends.

“So, they are at an age where they can’t chase me like they did before. So, for the first time, the family lives in a different way. We try to feel it, we try to see the evolution of our feelings and see how we cope with the situation.

“But maybe, if I can get a good apartment… not these giant houses that the press says I’m going to buy. I will never buy that! But if I find a nice apartment with a good connection from the garage to the apartment, maybe I do it – but I can’t cook!”

He added: “You know the history of the paparazzi. For the hotel and the brand that sponsors me, the clothes brand, it’s amazing because they are there every day.

“Everybody knows the name of the hotel. Everybody knows the last arrivals of that brand. So, for them, it is amazing.

“For me, it’s a bit of a disaster because I want sometimes to walk a little bit and I can’t. I just want to cross the bridge and go to a restaurant. I can’t, so it is really bad. But I have my apps and I can ask for food to also be delivered, which I do sometimes.”

JOSE Mourinho says he has no hard feelings about his sacking by Chelsea last year but admits Blues owner Roman Abramovich is not his “friend”.

The Special One’s second departure from Chelsea was billed as mutual consent, but he now admits he was sacked.

He says there is no animosity but says he was never close to Blues owner Abramovich.

“He was never my friend,” said Mourinho. “We always had the relationship of owner-manager; very respectful relationship; we were never friends; we were never close to each other.

“I leave clubs with a very good feeling, the feeling of doing everything to succeed. I gave everything to the club. I don’t like to go back and speak specially about the bad things. I want to keep the good things, and at Chelsea I had so many good things, in terms of results, friends I have for life, an amazing empathy with the supporters.”

Mourinho does not care what kind of reception he receives from Chelsea fans. Mourinho is the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history, having won three Premier League titles across two spells, the last of which ended in December following a miserable run of form.

The Portuguese has said he does not expect a negative reaction from supporters, who continued to back him last season despite Chelsea’s on-pitch struggles.

However, Mourinho, who faced Chelsea while he was in charge of Inter Milan in the Champions League in 2010, will not concern himself with such matters and will treat the game like any other.

MANCHESTER United manager Jose Mourinho made his thoughts clear on two penalty decisions that went against his team in their 2-1 derby defeat by Manchester City on Saturday.

‘It was a penalty and a red card for (Claudio) Bravo. For sure outside the box it is a free-kick and a red card. Inside the box it has to be the same, but obviously even the best referees make mistakes.’

Bravo had played himself into trouble when he cut the ball back to his left in the penalty box, and suddenly faced a 50-50 ball with an onrushing Wayne Rooney.

Claudio Bravo caught Wayne Rooney as he was trying to clear a ball in the penalty area

Bravo cleared the ball, but caught the United captain with a nasty studs-up challenge.

‘The second one, (Nicolas) Otamendi, I think it’s a penalty.’

Later in the second half, City’s Argentine defender had spun away from an Antonio Valencia cross while he was in City’s penalty area – the ball hitting his trailing elbow.

‘You can tell me you think he has no intention. I think he has intention, because even though the arm is behind his body, he knows the cross is not going in his face, it’s going in his back.’

‘We are very disappointed with the result, but I am very disappointed with two decisions of Mark,’ Mourinho said.

The pundits on hand for Sky Sports’ TV coverage were split on the Otamendi handball controversy, with Graeme Souness agreeing with Mourinho and Thierry Henry lining up with Mark Clattenburg, but they were unanimous when it came to Bravo’s foul.

Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho will reportedly speak to as many as nine players about leaving the club throughout Thursday.

Mourinho is understood to want to trim his squad down to 24 players before the start of the new season, with the first-team roster currently containing 34 players.

The likes of Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind have been linked with permanent moves away from the club, but the Daily Mail reports that Mourinho will first focus on sending a number of players out on loan.

Andreas Pereira, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair are all expected to leave Old Trafford on a temporary basis, while Adnan Januzaj, Will Keane and James Wilson will also meet with Mourinho.

United will take on Leicester City in the Community Shield on August 7 before beginning their Premier League campaign away to Bournemouth a week later.

Manchester United have reportedly not reached an agreement with Jose Mourinho for the ex-Chelsea boss to become the club’s new manager.

Since getting sacked by the Blues in December, Mourinho has been linked with a move to Old Trafford due to rumours that current boss Louis van Gaal could be sacked at the end of the season.

There have been conflicting reports over the last few months, but recently it was widely claimed that Mourinho is on the verge of being confirmed as United’s new manager.

According to Sky Sports News, though, no agreement has been reached between the two parties, and executive chairman Ed Woodward is still undecided on whether or not to let Van Gaal see out his three-year contract, which would keep the Dutchman at Old Trafford for one more season.

Mourinho has also been linked to Paris Saint-Germain, but it is believed that the Portuguese coach wants to take over at United.

Former Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen believes Jose Mourinho was too demanding of his players as the team could not cope with the Portuguese’s intensity.

Mourinho guided Chelsea to the Premier League title and League Cup in 2014-15, but was eventually fired in December last year after a dismal start to this season.

On Monday, midfielder Cesc Fabregas stated that Mourinho gave the players extra time off following their title win, and the Spaniard felt he and his team-mates had let the manager down in their defence of the crown.

But Arnesen believes Mourinho’s methods were ultimately what cost him his position at Stamford Bridge.

“Mourinho is very demanding and sometimes the players can’t take it,” Arnesen told Omnisport.

“He made some drastic changes and it cost him.”

Mourinho eventually made way for caretaker boss Guus Hiddink, who will be replaced by Antonio Conte come the end of the season and Arnesen has high hopes the former Juventus coach will succeed.

“Conte has the winning mentality in his blood,” Arnesen added. “He is disciplined and tactically very strong.

“But we don’t know how he will deal with the pressure at Chelsea.”

Mourinho remains a free agent following his Chelsea departure and has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, with current boss Louis van Gaal under heavy pressure.

Nevertheless, Arnesen has urged the Old Trafford side to stick with the Dutchman.

“Van Gaal could not buy all his players, but he has done tremendously well with the young kids,” Arnesen stressed.

“Manchester United should give him at least one year more.

“What would happen if they replaced Van Gaal with Mourinho? The philosophy of Manchester United will go out of the window. But maybe they are that keen to have success…”