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Jose Mourinho takes a dig at Manchester United and Chelsea in his first interview as Spurs manager

Tanish Chachra
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Jose Mourinho takes a dig at Manchester United and Chelsea in his first interview as Spurs manager

Jose Mourinho takes a dig at Manchester United and Chelsea while giving his first interview as Tottenham Hotspur manager.

Jose Mourinho has replaced outgoing Mauricio Pochettino as the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur manager, the Portuguese was announced just a few hours after the sacking of Pochettino.

After the appointment, Mourinho reached to the club’s training centre and gave the first interview as the manager of Spurs. in the process, he took a dig at his previous Premier League clubs- Manchester United and Chelsea.

The Portuguese manager feels that the groundwork was not laid for him to do so in previous jobs, whilst he believes that Spurs have an academy that can be utilised.

“I really like this squad and looking to the young players – there is not one manager in the world that doesn’t like to play young players and to help young players to develop – not one,” Mourinho said to Tottenham’s official website .

“The problem is that sometimes you get into clubs where the work that is below you is not good enough to produce these players, so I look to our history and you see that the academy is always giving the talents that the first team need. Of course, I look forward to [working] with that profile.

“To play against Tottenham at White Hart Lane was always hard but beautiful. It was one of these places where I used to go with passion but also with respect. I always [spoke] about the club’s potential. I always [spoke] about the qualities of the players. I always [spoke about] the magnificent work the club was doing.”

“When you say, ‘beautiful stadium’, you are too humble. You have to say, ‘best stadium in the world’. I think that is the reality. The training ground is second to none. It probably can only be compared with some American Football training grounds. You cannot compare with European football at any level – and I’ve been in the majority of the best places.

“It’s impossible to compare anything [to] the stadium. I think it’s something that has to make us all very, very proud. But not just that, the conditions you have to work in are absolutely amazing.”

Mourinho insisted that he will lift Spurs from the bottom half of the Premier League table but fell short on words to assure a top 4 finish to the club this season.

“In relation to the Premier League, I think we know where we are, and we know that we don’t belong there. We should just play match after match, the next match we want to win and that’s the same about the next, and the next and the next until the last.

“At the end of last season we will see where we are, but I know that we are going to be in a different position than we are now. I look forward to the challenge, to the responsibility [of bringing] happiness to everyone that loves the club.”

Related story: 3 players Mourinho can sign including Gareth Bale after taking up Tottenham job

Mourinho will manage his first match for Spurs against West Ham, as the Lilywhites are set to visit the London Stadium to face the Hammers in the 13th game-week.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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