Mou: "I have a problem. I'm getting better at everything."

[mundodeamor]

Exclusive interview for The Telegraph: The Chelsea manager talks religion, 'fearing nothing' and Machiavelli. Plus, he finally reveals the one thing he and title rival Arsene Wenger actually agree on.

Comments

[aquaecolore]

His interviews are always interesting

This whole bit though.. yikes

It is a cause of constant frustration and bemusement to fans, I say, when young footballers are given the opportunity that every fan dreams of - only to squander it.

“I know.” Mourinho nods. “But, remember, they’re the final product of something. I had one player, for example - I won’t name him - and I gave him the chance to play in the first team. A couple of weeks after he’d played his father left his job, his mother left her job; they were living with him, living his life, making decisions for him. It’s very difficult.”

And what happened to the player? His shrug suggests a career that quickly went into decline.

“That’s one example out of 1,000. They need to be lucky with the parents; they need to be lucky with the agents. They need education. I had a player once that came to me with a new car, and I told him, ‘Another one? Why? Do you have a house?’ No. ‘Do you have lots of money in the bank?’ No. He said, ‘This car, I didn’t buy it; my father got it for

[mundodeamor]

Yeah, the whole Sterling thing the other day has made me think about these young players and their desire to make huge money. Of course, it's understandable they want to make as much money as possible and provide a lot for their families, but nowadays it has gotten out of hand. And parents, especially if they're acting as players' (or other child stars') agents, perhaps not even knowingly, end up using their kids. :/

[marsyke]

True. And it's especially a problem if a big contract ends up disrupturing their development. And they end up in small club somewhere at 25. Remember Dutch player Royston Drenthe? Golden player at the U21 Euros in 2007. Forced a move to Real Madrid for 14M. Even played a bunch of matches but is somewhere in Turkey now at the age of 28.

It's not always easy after a career either. Luc Nilis, successful PSV player was forced to retire after a terrible injury. He couldn't handle it, got addicted to gambling and lost all the millions he made and he got divorced. Sad story.

[lied_ohne_worte]

And so many footballers end up bankrupt at the end of their career, and with no real marketable other skills or plans on what to do either. Stats from the Bundesliga say that only ten percent are financially secure for the rest of their life at career end, 75 percent have no "normal" job qualification (and on any level of work in Germany, qualifications are important), and 25 percent will be completely without money, up to filing for bankruptcy (the latter happened to Andi Brehme last year, who shot the winning goal of the 1990 World Cup

[the4thjuliek]

Very nice interview! I like his interviews; he's always got something witty to say. I was going through the Wenger/Mou picture gallery and in retrospect, this is hilarious:

[mundodeamor]

Lol you're right. But even back then it seems that Wenger didn't agree:

[the4thjuliek]

Lmao, the Wenger-SAF rivalry is lot bigger than Wenger-Mou (poor Mou :D). And at this point, Grandpère has pretty much conceded that it's Chelsea's title to lose. I wonder if there'll be another war of words when we play them on the 26th.

[riellemayer]

I just want them to be friends lol

[riellemayer]

What a fantastic interview! And that Drogba photo bomb is so cute lol <3 I agree about flip flopping on him this season and this has definitely warmed me up again. All his whinging aside, he's an incredible manager and a wonderful person :) always will be my favourite manager.

And I actually love his XI. Mesut ;o;

[the4thjuliek]

Sergio Ramos being picked is killing me! Especially since both of them have dissed each other this season.

[riellemayer]

Right? Lol I wonder if this is going to start something else between them. Sergio should be honoured tbh.

[mundodeamor]

Well, to be fair, Telegraph selected this XI, not Mou!

[connorblond]

He is a very intelligent guy with a lot of insight. And I think there is a big difference between his real and his official persona. People who know him always talk about him with a lot of respect.

this!

[jazzypom]

I have a soft spot for Mourinho (although my partner rages that he's everything that's gone wrong with english football), because of him arriving on our shores in 2004, I got into the sport. I started following Chelsea because of him, but drifted to other clubs instead.

They might have a point about Mourinho being football's straight man/comedian because he is a wit. My partner (he's a Gunner, so yeah) thinks that Mourinho is a rapper on the low. Even has a name for him - el traductor or summat. My partner refuses to write letters to his aunt and I have to do it, but he has detailed thoughts of Mourinho's rap career. I... just.

thanks!

[jazzypom]

I read this interview yesterday, but it's always nice to read insights into the game by Mourinho. I've always thought that he tends to play up to the cameras, but away from them, he's pretty different. It's interesting what he says about Ferguson though, because I remember when he first came to the PL, himself and Fergie pretty much would shoot barbed insults at the other, but then Ferguson warmed up to him dead quick. Mourinho seems to be very much a competitor in himself, so yeah, I can understand why, as long as you're coaching when he's coaching, he'll cut you dead. But he's helped the careers of other managers, like Special K (Middlesbrough - he's sent a few loanees from Chelsea's academy there), Brendan Rodgers (tapped him into Chelsea's coaching staff) and Mauricio Pochettino (helped him get into the PL, from what I gathered). But English football is pretty unrelenting in terms of pace, so yeah, I can see how you can get caught up in games if you allow yourself to be.

It strikes me, I say, that he is greatly misunderstood;

[mundodeamor]

I do think the whole whiny/mean Mou is a show, but on the other hand he isn't secretly Ancelotti either (who gets along so well with the players and is "nice" to them). I don't think he's mean, but he can be cold. I think it was Robben who said that Mou "doesn't like injured players" and a few other players spoke kind of badly about him. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, lol, I guess I'm just trying to gather my thoughts about Mou, because like I said I go back and forth with him. I think he's a good person and manager, but not a warm one - not that I'm saying that he should be, because different approaches and all that. Definitely a very entertaining one, though! ;)

injured players cost money and time

[jazzypom]

Look at Arsenal and their injured player woes. For every time they're not playing, they cost time and money. The team have to adjust to players being out, and at best, it's a source of annoyance; at worst, in the English game where the pace is unrelenting, it can have adverse knock on effects on your season

RE: injured players cost money and time

[mundodeamor]

I think England agrees with him in the sense that the press understands that he's a troll but goes along with it for column inches, and supporters of other teams think that he's an SOB, but they wouldn't mind if he were their SOB.

Exactly. Perfect description!