Mourinho on Messi-Ronaldo debate: Jose Mourinho has become the latest figure in football to comment on the Messi-Ronaldo debate.
Jose Mourinho was sacked as the Manchester United manager last month. The Portuguese manager was at Old Trafford since 2016, but a series of poor results and a fall-out with dressing room led to the club parting ways with Mourinho.
Since leaving Old Trafford, Mourinho made his first television appearance for beIN sports for the ongoing AFC Asian Cup.
He pressed upon various issues, which include taking a seeming dig at Paul Pogba and the Manchester United squad as he talked about the player-manager relationships.
He also addressed the Messi vs Ronaldo debate and had the perfect reply to conclude the issue.
Mourinho on Messi-Ronaldo debate:
Jose Mourinho has worked with Cristiano Ronaldo during his time at Real Madrid, and even when things worsened between the duo during his final year at the club, the Portuguese manager remains appreciative of the player.
“I think it is unfair to both of them when someone says one is better than the other one,” he told beIN SPORTS.
“When I had Ronaldo on my side I was a very happy man. But when I had to play against Messi I had to think a lot to try and help my team to have chances to succeed.”
Mourinho asked to settle the eternal debate.#beINMourinho #beINAFC #AsianCup2019 pic.twitter.com/LFrfipGL8G
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 17, 2019
Mourinho: “The phrase I kept with me, the biggest one in the Premier League, Sir Alex told – ‘the day a player is more important than the club, goodbye!’ – not anymore. The manager is there to coach them. Not to keep discipline at any cost.” #mufc [beIN] pic.twitter.com/s4GxJkDlqX
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) January 17, 2019
“I think they are just different. The only thing that I can say is that when I had Ronaldo on my side I was a very happy man.”
However, Mourinho also admitted that Messi forced him to work a lot more harder.
“And when I had to play against Messi I had to think a lot to try and help my team to have chances to succeed,” said Mourinho.
The former Manchester United manager insisted that the fact that both the players were able to sustain their prime is a ‘thing to admire.’
“The thing to admire is the number of years that they have stayed at the top.
“To win once, it can happen. To win and win and win and win and win is much more difficult. As a player, you can appear like a hurricane and then disappear.
Mourinho: “Sometimes we comment what we see, but we don’t know what’s behind the scenes and that’s what influences what we see. I consider one of the best jobs of my career to finish second with United in the Premier League.” #mufc [beIN] pic.twitter.com/cTBFOdj7Kk
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) January 17, 2019
“These two guys have been there for ten years and everything is about them until the moment they decide enough is enough and other people can raise the bar.”
