Former soccer player, commentator, journalist and coach. José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix, better known as José Mourinho, is quite a personality in the football world.
He has been the coach of renowned European teams such as Chelsea FC, Manchester United FC and Real Madrid CF, and many people have him as a sporting reference. Therefore, below you will find a selection of the best phrases of Jose Mourinho
José Mourinho’s most memorable phrases
Not only is he a star of one of the most popular sports in the world, but he is known for his strong personality. If you are interested in knowing it better, keep reading; Here you will find a compilation of interesting reflections and phrases by José Mourinho, commented.
1. I have studied Italian five hours a day for several months to be able to communicate well with you, the team and the fans. After five years in England, Ranieri still found it difficult to say good morning and good night.
Trying to keep up with his team by adapting to the social context that surrounds him.
2. I want to win, play well, score more goals than my rivals and concede less. I want it all. That’s my philosophy.
Philosophy that he imparts to his teams.
3. I am from the club I am in.
He is not attached to a single club.
4. There are three types of coaches. A group that never criticizes the referees’ mistakes; another very big one, in which I am, that criticizes the errors of the referees; and a new group, in which Guardiola is the only one, who criticizes the referees’ success.
Talking about the types of coaches.
5. If I had wanted an easy job I would have stayed in Porto with a blue chair, the Champions League trophy, God and, after God, me.
Talking about wanting bigger challenges.
6. I’m not the best in the world, but I think there is no one better than me.
With confidence always high.
7. There are those who laugh after a victory, for me there is no time to celebrate successes.
Mourinho is almost a workaholic.
8. Pressure? What pressure? The pressure is on the poor people of the world trying to bring food to their families. Working from dawn to dusk just to feed his boys. In football there is no pressure.
Although his work is hard, he does not consider it impossible or exhaustive.
9. There is a perception that fans care more about the club than professionals. And that is totally wrong. Nobody in Manchester cares more about the club than me.
a good coach is attentive to all the needs of the club
10. They won the first Scudetto in the offices, the second without opponents and the third in the last minute.
A story about the Scudettos.
11. If not even everyone liked Jesus Christ, imagine me.
No one is able to please everyone.
12. 2010 was the best year of my career.
A reference to his best professional year.
13. I put on my club pajamas and sleep in them. I am a man of the club, but a man of many clubs.
Committed to the team on duty.
14. Guardiola is a fantastic coach, but he has won a Champions League that I would be ashamed to win.
Reflections on Pepe Guardiola.
15. I am not just another coach, I am European champion. You can call me The Special One.
Referring to his famous nickname.
16. My ideal team is one in which, at any time and in any situation, all the players think the same way.
A team can only succeed when everyone works together.
17. I aspire to change the football philosophy, there are no coaches with the same ideas.
Without a doubt, it is a very original example to follow.
18. I will work harder, but I can’t perform miracles. I am neither Merlin nor Harry Potter.
We must work to the extent our possibilities allow us.
19. I think the yellow card is fair because I was rude even though I was rude as an idiot.
Mourinho has always had both a good and a bad reputation, due to his raw sincerity.
20. There are people smarter than me, who try to have a different image than mine, but they are the same as me.
Mourinho has never disguised his essence.
21. God must think I’m a great guy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given me so much.
One more sign of your confidence.
22. I think I am Mr. Porto and Mr. Real Madrid and other clubs too, I am from the club I am in.
He is loyal to the club he belongs to at the moment.
23. Madridista, Interista?… I am Mourinhista.
Another sign that he does not stick to a single team.
24. Wenger is one of those people that in England they call a voyeur. She likes to look at other people.
Talking about Wenger.
25. Something that is very clear to me is that to take control of the game you need to have the ball. Enjoy it.
You can’t dedicate yourself to something if you don’t enjoy it.
26. Look at my haircut, I’m ready for war.
Mourinho prepares down to the smallest detail.
27. I am prepared. The more pressure there is, the stronger I am.
Pressure helps us move forward.
28. Nice, nice is not playing for Real Madrid, it is not training at Real Madrid, it is winning with Real Madrid.
About his experience at Real Madrid.
29. I think they have to see me as Mr. Club. What it means is that I often say that I even sleep in my club pajamas.
How his team tends to see him.
30. In a hypocritical world, not being hypocritical is a great defect. It is a defect that I have and that I will have
A defect that is its greatest virtue.
31. The style of play must adapt to the culture of the club and also to the players.
Each style of play is different.
32. Guardiola deserves to win a Champions League normally. I wish him that because he is a very good coach who I respect as a person for his fantastic treatment in the four years we worked together.
Showing his admiration for Guardiola.
33. If I have to give myself a grade from a professional point of view, from 1 to 10 I would give myself an 11.
About his performance as a coach.
34. My main tactical idea is to have the ball. I want high ball circulation and, for that to happen, the players must know that, in a certain position, there is a teammate.
Your entire strategy is based on concentrate on the ball
35. Three years without winning a Premier League? I don’t think I still had a job.
Talking about Rafa Benitez’s performance.
36. In Portugal, it is said that the bigger the ship, the stronger the storm.
A saying from your country about hard work.
37. The word fear does not exist in my dictionary and I do not want it to appear in my players’.
To win, the first thing you have to do is defeat fear.
38. I don’t like intellectual prostitution, I like intellectual honesty.
Always maintaining open sincerity.
39. UEFA does not allow any of Barcelona’s rivals to play against them. I do not understand why. I don’t know if it’s UNICEF advertising, I don’t know if it’s because they’re so nice.
A fairly harsh criticism against Barcelona’s favoritism.
40. Cruyff says I’m not an example? I don’t remember in any of my teams that, after a defeat, it has prevented the rivals from celebrating on the field. I don’t remember forcing opponents to take a shower.
You not only have to prepare a team for victory, but also for defeat.
41. My teams are not afraid of losing and a team that is not afraid of losing will win more games and play better than one that is.
When we overcome fear, we can be able to achieve many things.
42. Have you seen the scoring chances we have had and our dominance on the field? We could have won 5-1 with me as goalkeeper.
Showing pride in his tactics.
43. Fortunately for me, I have always been on big ships. FC Porto was a very big ship in Portugal, Chelsea was also a big ship in England and Inter was a big ship in Italy. Now I am at Real Madrid, which is considered the biggest ship on the planet.
Proud to have belonged to great teams.
44. If I have 23 very good watches and you want to give me another watch, that watch has to be very good.
Never accept less than what you deserve.
45. There are coaches who haven’t won in ten years, or who have hardly ever won. If I have to prove something, imagine them.
We all have our own struggles.
46. When my father played, the same players played for the same club for 15-20 years. In society now everything is faster, even relationships are fast, players get tired of each other, of the coach…
Buying his father’s times with the current ones.
47. I ended Barcelona’s hegemony in Spain. That is the great damage I did to Spanish football.
Marking a clear and forceful difference in the Spanish league.
48. I don’t want a player to be a perfect man and have a fantastic character. That’s the kind of man I want for my daughter.
Players must have spirit and ambition to improve and progress from the spirit of sportsmanship.
49. I don’t waste time thinking about why people love me or hate me.
It is never worth wasting time thinking about other people’s opinions.
50. I don’t make 9 million, maybe 11, even 14 from advertising.
Mourinho earns his money thanks to his dedication.
51. I like to think the way I think, I like that the people who are with me think exactly the same. That we are strong, that we have the qualities, that we are the best, that no one can beat us. It’s my philosophy.
Perhaps Mourinho is successful because he has a special connection with his players.
52. If we don’t reach the Champions League final, it will be my failure.
Taking responsibility as a coach.
53. A friend of mine says that a monument could be made with all the stones they throw at me.
An example to take criticism as an impetus to continue growing.
54. I am humble, humble enough to analyze my career and problems.
Mourinho has always recognized both his strengths and weaknesses.
55. It is one thing to be organized and another to be defensive.
Differences in character.
56. Football is full of philosophers, increasingly full of people with fantastic philosophical theories.
Football is not without its wonderful people.
57. I don’t do physical work. I defend the globalization of work. I don’t know where the physical begins and the psychological and tactical ends.
Mourinho works with everything on the field.
58. What I like is seeing the Juventus players and fans celebrate a draw against us in their own stadium, even when they are 10 points behind the leader.
Cultivating a philosophy of fair play in each game.
59. Thank you, I like being a title coach.
Comment made after winning the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.
- Related article: “”Mental Training” applied in sports psychology”
60. Fighting hypocrisy as a principle of life is worth it, because you feel good about yourself.
Hypocrisy is the worst sin for Mourinho.
61. I have never been good at hiding behind words and philosophies.
Referring to the fact that he is sincere at all times.
62. I realized that during my career I made mistakes and I am not going to make the same mistakes. I’m going to make new mistakes.
Never repeat the past, focus on your future.
63. I won two Champions Leagues, but I won both on the field. I won them with two teams that were not Barcelona: FC Porto, from a country that normally does not win the Champions League and a club called Inter that had not won it for 50 years.
I don’t know about having a great team, but about being committed to the game.
64. If Juve worries me? Look at the dark circles I have, I don’t sleep at night.
You should never underestimate an opponent.
65. I will not be hypocritical. I prefer to be the punching bag of cowards.
Mourinho knows that not everyone will agree or be happy with his comments.
66. Victories have many fathers and defeats only one and it is me.
Defeats are partly the coach’s responsibility even though he is not playing directly with the ball.
67. I’m going to go to a press conference. I’m not sending anyone. Since you are not capable of standing up for me on the field, I will defend myself alone.
Acting head-on at all times.
68. I have always lived up to the expectations of the clubs I worked for.
Leaving a great lesson in his wake.
69. For a coach to do the job the entire season of winning the League is incredible, but a coach or coach without Champions League is not a coach or a player.
Talking about the importance of the Champions League for the teams.
- You may be interested: “Group Psychology: definition, functions and main authors”
70. If you don’t have a dog to go hunting, you go with the cat.
There will always be solutions, even if they are not traditional ones.
71. Arriving at Barcelona was a dream at the beginning and then a challenge.
His time at Barça as Bobby Robson’s second was one of the experiences he remembers most fondly.
72. They don’t forgive me for the Champions League semi-final in Barcelona because the final was played in Madrid.
Mourinho’s 2010 victory with Inter allowed him to win his second Champions League.
73. Today, tomorrow and always; with Barça in my heart.
One of the most remembered phrases of the Portuguese coach during his time in Barcelona.
74. Pep Guardiola does not need to talk about Mourinho because his players already do.
José Mourinho developed a certain obsession with the Catalan coach during his time at Real Madrid.
75. The 3 years I was in Barcelona were the most important of my life.
A journey that will always be remembered fondly.
76. The memory of Barcelona players is very short. They complain about any arbitration but they don’t remember Obrevo, Stark…
Mourinho has always been prone to talking about referees.
77. I hope Guardiola one day wins a Champions League without incident. I won two Champions Leagues on the field with two teams that were not Barcelona and we did it with work, pride, effort and sweat.
His methods, although unorthodox, were always striking and effective.
78. Why Ovrebo, De Bleeckere, Bussaca or Stark?
One of the most remembered phrases after their defeat against Barcelona in 2011.
79. I come to work.
One of the first phrases he said when arriving in Barcelona in 1996.
80. I don’t want Cruyff to teach me how to lose a final 4-0.
His rivalry with Barcelona and its legends is evident in many of his phrases.
81. Are you director of the AS? So I shouldn’t respond because you guys don’t talk to my second.
He also had time to clash with the press when he was Madrid coach.
82. I am not a provocateur, I am a worker.
A phrase that summarizes his philosophy of life.
83. I saw Rijkaard enter the referee’s locker room during half-time and I couldn’t believe it.
Another of the many phrases he dedicated to his rival coaches.
84. You talk about Pedro León as if you were talking about Zidane or Maradona.
During his time at Real Madrid, Mourinho fell out with several of his players.
85. Messi has done theater. Catalonia is a country of culture and you know what theater is. It’s good theater.
One of the most provocative phrases of his career.