Jose Mourinho may sound like he’s patronizing, but we’re pretty sure this is legit praise.
Asked about British managers, namely his Saturday opponent Tony Pulis of West Bromwich Albion, Mourinho said they need to be viewed for non-traditional trophies.
You know, like not being relegated.
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Certainly Mourinho enjoys stirring the pot, but we think his comments -- and inclusion of ex-United and current Sunderland boss David Moyes -- is genuine (Stoke’s Mark Hughes, ex-Man City, also is mentioned):“If you manage big teams - Real Madrid, Inter, Barca, Bayern, Juve, Borussia Dortmund - you have targets. Obviously those targets are impossible for people like Tony Pulis, Alan Pardew, Mark Hughes, David Moyes.
“Tony got trophies everywhere. By trophies I mean not relegated with Stoke, West Brom, Crystal Palace. He has lots of trophies. He has reached his targets. Like Sam Allardyce - never relegated. You don’t expect him to be the champion.
“English managers are not looked at like they should.”
Mourinho is disliked and vilified by many, and his strong criticisms have landed him a bit of a pathos; It’s difficult to think he’s being a jerk with these comments, but if you want to read them this way you can, and many will happily do so.
Ultimately, he’s commenting from a pragmatic position.
