‘I was not the coach’ – Jose Mourinho in veiled Man Utd dig as ex-Red Devils boss highlights familiar problem
JOSE MOURINHO has launched a veiled dig at Manchester United by suggesting he wasn’t allowed to “just coach” when he was at the club.
The former United manager alluded to the lack of structure that he experienced at the club – and bemoaned working without a sporting director.
In a sit down interview with Fabrizio Romano, Mourinho was asked about challenges at previous clubs and while he did not name United, seemed to allude to them when talking about the importance of structure.
He said: “In some club structures, you have to be the coach, you have to be the technical director, you have to be the communication director.
“Then you have to be the image that defends the club, the players, that is something people realise but at the same time, it is something the coach doesn’t like.”
Mourinho has spoken in the past about how he was unhappy about not working under a sporting director at United.
After Mourinho’s sacking in 2018, the club would go on to appoint John Murtough as sporting director in 2021.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been open in his criticism of the previous structure at United prior to his minority investment in February.
He said that no coach has been able to be successful since Sir Alex Ferguson‘s departure in 2013, saying: “Some of them were very good but none of them have been successful or survived for very long.
“You can’t blame all the coaches. The only conclusion is that the environment in which they were working didn’t work.
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“Erik’s been in that environment and what we have to do is make sure that environment, the organisation, the people in the structure, are right.”
The club have moved to appoint Omar Berrada as their new CEO after poaching him from rivals Manchester City in an attempt to strengthen their football operations.
They are also heavily linked to former Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth, who is currently on gardening leave amid United’s interest.
Jose continued to say: “I think the ideal scenario is when the club has a structure that allows the coach to be the coach on the pitch, in the training ground, in the dressing room.
“I was the coach at Inter, at Real Madrid, I was the coach in my first spell at Chelsea. I was the coach at Porto.
“In other clubs I was not just the coach and that is a very difficult environment to coach.”
Another club where Mourinho worked without a sporting director was at Spurs, and he has previously said it is the only club he has worked for that he didn’t share a “close bond” with.