Mourinho to Roma: The quotes that chart his Tottenham downfall

Jose Mourinho will be back in management next season after landing a three-year deal at Roma just 15 days after being sacked by Tottenham.

The Portuguese will take the helm at Roma for the 2021-22 campaign after the Serie A club announced the 58-year-old as Paulo Fonseca’s replacement. 

It will be the next chapter in a career that has yielded major silverware across Europe, but one that has taken a notable downturn after a trophy-less spell at Spurs.

The cracks had already started to show for Mourinho prior to his Spurs exit on April 19, which came following a series of comments from the former Inter boss that hinted at significant unrest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Here is a selection of the quotes which capture the Special One’s descent into ignominy, a fate Mourinho will be desperate to avoid in the Eternal City as he seeks to recapture his glory days. 

SAME COACH, DIFFERENT PLAYERS

After Spurs stayed painfully true to form and surrendered a 2-1 lead to draw 2-2 with lowly Newcastle United, Mourinho promptly laid the blame at the feet of his players.

When it was put to him that his teams are normally good at holding onto leads, he said: “Same coach, different players.”

20 – No Premier League side has dropped more points from winning positions this season than Tottenham Hotspur (20, level with Brighton). Issues. pic.twitter.com/PW5vkMx8Hy

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 16, 2021

YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO FEED YOUR KIDS

In one of the more bizarre post-match media conferences, Mourinho started ranting about the importance of feeding your kids.

It was after Spurs had lost 3-1 to Manchester United, with Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer criticising Son Heung-min for what he considered a bit of play acting.

The Norwegian said if his child had behaved like that, he would have deprived them of their food. It was, evidently, a joke.

Mourinho addressed this, entirely unprompted, but for him it was no laughing matter.

“It is very, very sad,” he said. “I think it’s really sad that you don’t ask me about it. It’s really sad that you don’t have the moral honesty to treat me the same way you treat others.

“I just want to say, Sonny is very lucky that his father is a better person than Ole, because I think a father – I am a father – you have always to feed your kids, it doesn’t matter what they do.

“If you have to steal to feed your kids, you steal. I am very, very disappointed, and like we say in Portugal bread is bread and cheese is cheese, I told Ole already what I think about his comments.”

IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, OR IS IT?

Modesty appears to be an alien concept to Mourinho, who had no hesitation in comparing himself to NASA scientists.

Addressing the seemingly justified criticism he was receiving in light of Spurs’ underwhelming campaign, the Portuguese went on the defensive.

“I don’t think anybody is going to discuss rocket science with the guys from NASA, with everybody around the world,” he said.

“They think they can discuss football with one of the most important managers in the game. That’s the beauty of football.

“I got used to it, I appreciate that, so that’s fine for me.”

MOURINISTAS LOVE ME

The criticism never seemed to leave Mourinho too disheartened, such is the strength of his conviction that he has an army of loyal followers.

He calls them ‘Mourinistas’, and they are the source of his strength.

He said: “Honestly, I get my strength from myself but mainly from the people that I love and the people who I know they love me, even if many of them I don’t know them, I haven’t met them.

“I used to call them the ‘Mourinistas’, because in Portugal we use ‘ista’ in the end of the name of the club that we love, to express the support.”

BALE SAGA

Gareth Bale’s signing on loan from Real Madrid gave Spurs fans hope of a genuine title challenge, but that too proved a false dawn.

There were many hints that all was not well with Bale’s second coming at Spurs, with Mourinho left fuming by an Instagram post in which the Wales star had suggested he had been involved in full training, despite the head coach insisting he was not fit.

“There was a contradiction between the post and the reality,” said Mourinho.

SORROW SHOWS AFTER DINAMO BLOW

It wasn’t all strength and defiance, though, as was evident after the shock Europa League exit to Dinamo Zagreb.

“To say I feel sad is not enough,” he lamented. “What I feel is much more than sadness.”

13 – José Mourinho has lost more games in all competitions in 2020-21 than he has in any other season in his managerial career (13). Regression. pic.twitter.com/BO7G1P0rZl

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 19, 2021

INDIVIDUAL MISTAKES

Going back to January, the willingness to turn on his own players was clear for all to see.

After a 1-1 draw with struggling Fulham, Mourinho saw “individual mistakes”, though he did not confess that any were his own.

“There are things that are individual, that are down to individual qualities and individual mistakes,” he said. “Basically I cannot say much more than that.”

DIER DISAGREEMENT

After Eric Dier sat out Spurs’ 2-0 win over West Brom in February, Mourinho said the England international was suffering a crisis of confidence.

However, in an open show of dissent, Dier insisted: “Confidence-wise, I don’t feel like I’ve been in a bad place all season.”