Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho is known for his brash and controversial comments at times, as the entertaining manager is not one to hold back or censor himself, often using his words to provoke others or initiate mind games. Despite his reputation as an arrogant coach with a quick wit, he developed excellent relationships with many African players that he coached, and a healthy respect for many that he faced during his time coaching at various top clubs including Porto, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
With this in mind, we took a look at a number of quotes from controversial and entertaining Portuguese coach regarding African football players.
Sources: Daily Mail, ChelseaTV, Guardian, Canal Plus, The Independent.
Ahead of a match between Chelsea and Manchester City, the Blues coach was asked about Yaya Toure, and his response showed the respect that he has for the players ability and his complete game, listing the attributes that make him an important player for the Citizens.
Didier Drogba played for Chelsea under Mourinho for many years, and the two became a very successful combination. Aside from their professional relationship on the pitch, the coach and player developed a friendship that the Portuguese manager believes has earned him a lifelong friend.
The Portuguese manager made the above comment in jest at a time when Samuel Eto’o was on the Chelsea books, and he was frustrated with the lack of goals from Demba Ba and Fernando Torres, but he did not realise that a light-hearted off-the-record comment he made to a French TV channel would be made public, and he was very upset that it was, as he was heard to be questioning the age of striker Eto’o.
Mourinho coached Ghana’s Michael Essien at both Chelsea in the English Premier League, and Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. The Ghana midfielder played for Chelsea over an eight-year period before leaving to join AC Milan, and the Portuguese coach had kind words upon his departure, admitting that he hoped to keep his prized defensive midfielder, but understood his need to seek more game time in Italy.
Egyptian Mohamed Salah failed to cement his place at Chelsea, and was sent on loan to Fiorentina in Serie A, where he did incredibly well. Once the loan period came to an end the player returned to Chelsea to see if the club would want to hold on to him, but Mourinho revealed that he would be fine with the player leaving on loan, as he did not feature prominently in his plans for the season. Salah subsequently returned to Serie A on loan, but now he is donning the colours of Viola rivals Roma.
Mourinho and South African Benni McCarthy enjoyed two successful seasons together at Portuguese club Porto, where the pair won a UEFA Champions League title together, but when Mourinho joined Chelsea and McCarthy was producing the goods at Blackburn Rovers, the coach was keen to re-unite with the Bafana striker, but his club refused the possibility.
In a discussion regarding the Chelsea captaincy, Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel was mentioned as a potential candidate after John Terry. Mikel has won two English Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, four English FA Cup, two League Cup and the Community Shield during his time at Chelsea.
Understanding the need to nurture a player’s confidence, and in this case, specifically that of a fragile Emmanuel Adebayor, Mourinho had kind words for the tall Togolese striker who he managed at Real Madrid during a loan spell, and his efforts were rewarded by the player’s return to form.
Mourinho had these words for Senegalese striker Demba Ba when he scored a crucial goal that allowed Chelsea to defeat French champions Paris St-Germain in a UEFA Champions League fixture that would send the Blues into the semi-finals of the competition. Ba would eventually leave Chelsea because of a lack of game time, complaining that players with bigger profiles would be picked ahead of him simply because of their reputations.
The Chelsea coach said these words about Nigerian Victor Moses recently, when he returned from a loan period at Stoke City. Mourinho is pleased to have the Super Eagles player back in the squad and is counting on him for the current season, having noticed an improvement in his game and the ability and athleticism that he provides the team.