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At the end of the game, these squabbles between us, coaches, were over.
Part of an exclusive series of articles from José Mourinho, brought to you by Football.com
You can believe me or not, but in my career, I don't consider that I've had major rivalries with certain colleagues. And certainly not enemies.
The real issue is that I’ve always been connected to big organizations that had strong rivalries with other clubs. But let me tell you that, on some occasions, it ended with a delightful bottle of wine and with a legend by my side like Alex Ferguson.
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Those rivalries between big clubs already existed from the beginning of my career when I was hired as the head coach of Benfica, whose historic duels with the other Lisbon club, Sporting, existed since its foundations.
A huge rivalry, not just between fans, that sometimes even extends to the respective boards, making it impossible to have even the slightest cordial relations. Later, when I coached FC Porto, I felt that same pressure again, but now between "my" club and the two above-mentioned clubs from the capital.
Mourinho on some famous rivalries between top clubs
Later, I recall the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona; Inter's with Juve and AC Milan; Chelsea's fight for the same goals with Arsenal and Manchester United and, on the second occasion I coached the Londoners, with Manchester City and Liverpool. Most recently, I'd like to highlight the historic rivalry between Roma and Lazio, which goes beyond rationality.
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Of course, I had some interesting clashes with some of these clubs' coaches, with whom I exchanged words that some people might consider to be provocative, but even these moments always had to do with the rivalry between the clubs and their fans and, ultimately, were part of the "game". Because the "game" is also played off the pitch.
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However, these situations had nothing to do with the existence of a personal rivalry, from coach to coach. Of course, there were more complicated moments from time to time, but I can assure you that it's not easy to spend 90 minutes being insulted by a member of the opposing coaching staff.
And even the team manager always ended up recognizing the abuse and regretting it. I also had to apologize time and again for less correct words said by my assistants. However, after the final whistle, we almost always laughed, both at what we had said and especially at what others commented on our interventions.
It ends on the pitch - Mourinho on his rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson and other coaches
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I remember, for example, the "exchange of words" over the years with Sir Alex Ferguson before playing against his team. I took the opportunity to stir things up among his rank and file, because I wanted to destabilize both the players and the coaching staff.
However, this dialogue, maintained through the media, was just a "show off". At the end of the match, regardless of the result, we met in the changing room, away from prying eyes, and ended the day by exchanging and sometimes tasting a bottle of excellent wine.
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13:58 - 04.12.2023
"Football is a collective game" - Jose Mourinho
Part of an exclusive series of articles from Jose Mourinho, brought to you by Football.com
There were times when the rivalry between clubs was so intense and had such a strong impact on the media and social networks that the only solution was also a radical option: not reading newspapers, not watching television, not having accounts on any social network.
But even so, the noise inevitably ended up reaching us. And by us, I mean the coaching staff, players and even managers. I often ignored this noise, but I also admit that in very special situations I tried to take advantage of it. And successfully.
When the opposition was strong, we had to weaken them, make them worry about us, make them disbelieve in their abilities and make them lose their judgement.
But, at the end of the game, these squabbles between us, coaches, were over. How many times I congratulated the other team on their well-deserved victory!!!
Obviously, in private and away from the media microphones. But even if they were public, there was very little interest in highlighting the friendly relations between professionals. This is not a saleable issue...
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