Ever since Chelsea sacked Jose Mourinho in December last year, the Portuguese boss has hardly been seen or heard of. While he is constantly linked with the job at Manchester United with reports suggesting he will take over next season, other reports claim Mourinho is not the Old Trafford club’s number one choice.
Recently, GQ magazine caught up with the 53-year-old manager for an interview where he spoke about living in London, why he left Spain what he has been up to since leaving Stamford Bridge.
In the beginning, he is asked about whether he will stay in the UK, specifically London, and the answer was an affirmative, thereby ensuring that the English media will be ready to link him with every possible Premier League club from here on in.
“At this moment I don’t have a job, and I don’t know where football will take me,” Mourinho said. “Because in football you never know. But for sure for sure for sure, as a family, our home will still be England, our home will be in London.
“When my kids were younger, we could move a lot, experience different countries and in my case different clubs, different football. But there was a moment where they needed some stability: so we made a decision three years ago to move back to London, and we manage my professional life around that.”
Easy to win matches in La Liga, difficult to win the league: Mourinho
The interview soon steered to his time with Real Madrid and the titanic clashes with Barcelona in El Clasicos. While he was always assured of winning against the majority of the clubs in Spain, it was the battles with the Catalan club that ultimately saw him lose out on trophies.
“In Spain I was at an amazing club but I had four matches a year – Barcelona v Real Madrid, Real Madrid v Barcelona – and after that you win 4-0, 5-0, 5-1, 6-1,” Mourinho explained.
Mourinho opined that there was no competition in Spain save for the matches against Barca and that England offered a much better environment to compete in.
“[It is] easy to win matches [in Spain] but difficult to win the league because you are competing against a team that wins and wins and wins like you do, because there are two monsters together.
“ So in the end, I was champion in Spain with 100 points, and I lost the league in Spain with 91 points. Whereas in England you win leagues with 75, maybe less, so I need competition.”
He is also not exactly enjoying his time off from football and promises he will be back in the hot seat soon.
“I stopped when I left Chelsea in 2007, for a few months, and now is the second time I stop in 15 or 16 years, so it is not a drama. But for sure, I will be back soon.”
Mourinho drives a Jaguar around the ice
Mourinho was also given a chance to drive a Jaguar crossover SUV called the F-Pace on a make-shift track in the icy environment of Arjeplog, Sweden – a location famous for automobile companies who want to test their cars.
He also had Tommi Karrinaho, a rally driver from Finland, to help him out on the track. While he started slowly, he was always listening to whatever was told to him, soaking it in and ensuring he never lost control.
