Love him or hate him, there’s just no question Jose Mourinho it is pure cinema.
Whether it’s running down the touchline to celebrate goals, silencing opposition fans, throwing water bottles or even appearing in one of Stormzy’s music videos, there’s rarely a dull moment when the Portugal icon is around.
During his glittering career, which has seen him win 26 major honors during spells in England, Spain, Italy and Portugal, Mourinho has also never been shy with his words, even if he claims he “prefers not to speaks”.
Here, we have listed some of the best quotes of the Special One.
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1
“I’m special.”
After arriving at Chelsea in 2004 after leading Porto in an unexpected Champions League triumph, it didn’t take long for Mourinho to make an impression on the media.
“Please don’t call me arrogant because what I’m saying is true, I’m a European champion. I think I’m special,” he said in his first press conference as Blues boss.
While, if you listen closely, Mourinho actually called himself “a special one”, not “the special one” – the latter being his nickname ever since.
2
“If I talk, I’m in big trouble.”
In 2014, during his second spell at Chelsea, Mourinho was left fuming after his side suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa in which two of his players were sent off.
Asked about the red cards after the game by Sky Sports, Mourinho responded with what has since become one of the most indelible quotes in modern football.
“I really prefer not to talk. If I talk, I’m in big trouble, in big trouble, and I don’t want to be in big trouble,” he said. “I prefer not to speak, if I speak I am accused of bringing the game into disrepute, because referees do what they do, they do and go home, they do and they don’t go to the press.”
3
“An expert in failure.”
Mourinho enjoyed a bitter rivalry with Arsene Wenger during their time together at Premier Leaguewith the pair often exchanging verbal blows – and the occasional shove – during and after games.
So in 2014, when Wenger claimed other Premier League managers were underestimating their title chances because they were “afraid to fail”, Mourinho took it personally.
Responding to the Frenchman, who hadn’t won a major trophy for more than eight years, he said: “He’s an expert on failure. I’m not. If he’s right and I’m afraid of failure, it’s because I don’t fail. Many times maybe he’s right. Maybe not. I’m used to failing.
“The reality is he’s an expert because eight years without a piece of silver – that’s failure.”
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4
“Omelettes and Eggs”
Mourinho was used to having a lot of money to spend during his first spell at Chelsea, so when he was given just £17m to bring in Florent Malouda and Giuliano Belletti in the summer of 2007, he was less than happy – especially after the side endured a bad start to the campaign.
Addressing the situation ahead of a Champions League visit to Rosenborg, Mourinho told reporters: “It’s omelettes and eggs. No eggs – no omelettes!
“It depends on the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket, you have category 1, 2 or category three eggs and some are more expensive than others and some give you better scrambled eggs,” he said. “So when Grade 1 eggs are in Waitrose and you can’t get there, you’re in trouble.”
Three days later, after Chelsea drew with Rosenborg, Mourinho ended up with egg on his face when he was sacked.
5
“London is safe”
No one is safe from Mourinho’s jokes, not even the British police. In 2007, police tried to quarantine the Chelsea manager’s Yorkshire Terrier, believing it had entered the country without proper vaccinations. The dog then disappeared.
As a result, Mourinho was arrested and cautioned for obstructing the police. Fortunately, he saw the bright side, telling the press: “My wife is in Portugal with the dog. The dog is with my wife, so the city of London is safe, the big threat is away.”
Mourinho later admitted that he put the dog in a backpack, sneaked out a window and took it to a friend’s house.
6
“Melons”
Mourinho may see his senior players as eggs, but his younger players are like…melons.
“Young players are a bit like melons. It’s only when you open and taste the melon that you’re 100 percent sure the melon is good,” he said in 2007.
“Sometimes you have beautiful melons but they don’t taste very good and some other melons are a bit ugly and when you open them, the taste is fantastic.” It makes perfect sense, Jose.
7
“They are not champions.”
In 2015, shortly after Mourinho led Chelsea to their first Premier League title since 2010, the Blues boss gave a hilarious speech at the club’s end-of-season awards dinner.
In it, he claimed his team were not given the “respect they deserved” for winning the title and took aim at rivals Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United with what he called a work of “fiction”.
“This is a two-goal game, but there is a team that likes to play without the ball,” Mourinho said. “This team is playing really well and the ball is going and going and going and the quality of possession is good but not scoring. No points.”
He continued: “They asked the FIFA committee if they can win like this, but they were told that it is not possible. That more possession is not necessary to win matches and they are not champions.”
8
“The Story of a Donkey”
Mourinho’s first role as manager was for Benfica way back in 2000 when he was appointed as Jupp Heynckes’ replacement.
At the time, the Benfica board suggested that Mourinho take over Alverca coach Jesualdo Ferreira as his assistant, as they knew each other from their time together at the Higher Institute of Physical Education in Lisbon in the 1980s.
Mourinho had other ideas, however, and appointed former Benfica player Carlos Moser instead.
As if that wasn’t enough, five years later after he had won the Champions League with Porto, Mourinho took aim at Ferreira in a weekly column for Portuguese magazine Record Dez, after Sporting Braga had just lost top spot to the Portuguese. link.
“The one with 30 years never won anything; the one with three years won a lot,” he wrote. “The one who has coached for 30 years has a huge career, the one with three years has a short career.”
He added: “The one with a 30-year career will be forgotten when it’s over; the one with three could end it now and could never be erased from history. This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse.” The two have understandably been fierce rivals ever since.
9
“He must think I’m a great guy”
If you haven’t guessed by now, Mourinho has been known to toot his own horn from time to time.
The biggest of these problems came in 2011 during an appearance on Spanish radio when he was asked what he thought God would think of him.
“He must think I’m a great guy, he must because otherwise he wouldn’t have given me so much,” she said. “He must have a very high opinion of me.” You forgot to mention how smart, beautiful and charming it made you, Jose.
