The smiling special one that was presented to the media as Chelsea s new manager in 2004 has become an unpredictable figure over the ensuing 14 years.
Now in charge of Manchester United, Jose Mourinho continued a trend of unique news conferences on Monday when he reminded the press of his achievements and chanted the word respect after losing 3-0 at home Tottenham.
Quick quips, defensive answers and pointed words for rivals have become the hallmarks of Mourinho s colourful meetings with the media, with the occasional head-scratcher dotted throughout his tenures in England, Italy and Spain.
Here are just some of the occasions in which the Portuguese has left journalists bewildered.
3 s win tonight marks Jose Mourinho s biggest ever home defeat as a manager in any competition. Trounced.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
NO TIME TO TALK
Mourinho s patience with reporters has dwindled over time. That was made plainly obvious when, in May 2017, he left a post-match media gathering without so much as opening his mouth. United had just closed the Premier League season with a 2-0 defeat of Crystal Palace and many of the journalists in attendance had paused to observe the players completing their lap of honour. Just a handful of early birds made it in time to watch in bemusement as the Red Devils boss sat down, waited six seconds for a question to be asked, and departed when one was not forthcoming. Perhaps he was in a hurry to plan for the triumphant Europa League final meeting with Ajax three days later.
KEEP THE TAPES RUNNING
From less than 10 seconds to a full 12 minutes, Mourinho was at his most talkative in launching a passionate defence of his managerial record in the aftermath of United s shock Champions League exit at the hands of Sevilla earlier this year. He followed up a provocative post-match reference to his own previous success as a visiting coach at Old Trafford by launching into a lengthy monologue at another briefing later that week. It began with him telling the gathered media I am alive , continued with the suggestion that his players lacked the football heritage of their Manchester City counterparts, and concluded with him exasperatedly insisting I am happy to be what I am .
GUARDIOLA S SCANDALOUS SUCCESS
Pep Guardiola has consistently been a target of Mourinho barbs and the then-Real Madrid boss did not miss with his comments immediately after a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals in 2011, in which Pepe was sent off. Josep Guardiola is a fantastic coach, but I have won two Champions Leagues. He has won one Champions League and that is one that would embarrass me. I would be ashamed to have won it with the scandal of Stamford Bridge and if he wins it this year it will be with the scandal of the Bernabeu, Mourinho remarked. Guardiola did match Mourinho s tally as Barca went on to beat Manchester United in the final, but his rival s words were not quickly forgotten.
BITING BACK AT BENITEZ
Guardiola has been far from Mourinho s only sparring partner, and in July 2015 he used Chelsea s pre-season appearance in Washington to mock Rafael Benitez. The Spaniard s wife had joked about Benitez cleaning up Mourinho s messes at Chelsea, Madrid and Inter. I m not laughing, he said in response. She is confused because her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti. The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time. And for her also to think about me and to speak about me, I think the lady needs to occupy her time, and if she takes care of her husband s diet she will have less time to speak about me.
WENGER AND THE TELESCOPE
The group of coaches to have been on the end of Mourinho s acid tongue has had some lofty company since as early as October 2005. It was then that he bizarrely labelled Arsene Wenger a voyeur in claiming the Frenchman was obsessed with his Chelsea team. He likes to watch other people, Mourinho said. There are some guys who, when they are at home, they have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks and speaks and speaks about Chelsea. Wenger, for his part, had claimed Chelsea might have lost a little bit of the belief in their title defence.
