When Jose Mourinho emerged from five months of silence, it was always likely that he would come out with something colourful.
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He duly obliged here yesterday, warning Chelsea that he would be out to "kill" the club in next season's Champions League and speaking openly of his life since he exited the Premier League circus last September.
Looking relaxed and happy, the 45-year-old spoke of his new-found freedom to holiday with his family and his long-term plans to manage on the Continent, then return to England and ultimately to coach Portugal. He offered opinions on Fabio Capello as England coach and the Premier League's plans to play a 39th game away overseas.
Throughout the 45-minute interview, he spoke most longingly of Chelsea, in the way a scorned lover might reflect on a lost dream and his entrance to the strains of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love was entirely appropriate.
"I have Chelsea in my heart forever," he said. "I still feel that the club is part of me and I want it to succeed."
Although his departure was shrouded in rumours of a falling out with Chelsea's billionaire owner, he revealed that he was still in touch with Roman Abramovich. He added: "I spoke last week with people from the club, Mr Abramovich and Peter Kenyon, because we still keep in touch.
"I told them I wish them always to succeed and to win. But I hope to play them next season in the Champions League and I want to go there and kill them."
Mourinho said his love for Chelsea was matched only by his deep feelings for English football. "I have so many super memories of England," he said. "If I go to work in another country, I will always be in love with English football."
As to suggestions that he was missed by fans and the media in England, Mourinho countered: "They don't miss me more than I miss the English game. Chelsea was a beautiful part of my career."
Linked for so long with the England manager's job, Mourinho had nothing but praise for Capello, the Italian who took up the role he had turned down. He told the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport: "In Capello, the FA got the right man and the right coach. He is fantastic. I admire him as a coach and as a person. England is in the right hands. He is the man to push them in the right direction.
"Should I become a club chairman one day, something which will never happen, I would immediately call Capello. I will root for him because England are my second national team. I defend the Premier League and the spirit which permeates its football."
It was no surprise that he had a view on the Premier League's controversial plans to play an extra game abroad.
"Football is fashion," he said. ''Culturally and socially, it is an incredible pheno-menon but it is also an industry. I am a man with a passion and love of the game but I am in a position where I have to be in touch with the other side [of the sport].
"If I was working in England, I would be listening to people, but if I had to say yes or no to this concept, I would say play every Premiership game in England. If I had to play a match abroad, why not the Charity Shield in New York or the Carling Cup in Tokyo or Seoul?"
As for the dearth of English coaches who might one day succeed Capello, Mourinho pointed to the success of the country's best teams. "The reality is that you can't find an English coach with the right experience at international level because the teams which succeed have foreign coaches," he said.
This was Mourinho in full flow. For all the PR people's attempts to get him to talk about the mobile phone he was supposed to be promoting, the former Chelsea manager was determined to talk football.
Answering questions in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, he batted away rumours that he had already found a new club to manage. He also refuted rumours that his settlement with Chelsea included a clause forbidding him to work with an English club in the immediate future.
He still has a house in London's fashionable Eton Square, although he lives at the family home by the sea in Setubal. "I don't hide that I was completely in love with English football and that one day I will be back," he said.
"I could work there next season but I analyse things and I won't be in England. But you never know. My house is in London and so are my friends. One day I will be back."
Talking of the next challenge when he takes charge of a club, he told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "It will be to show that you can go after three competitions in top gear, like I did with Porto and Chelsea. [It does not mean you'll win all of them] You can finish second in the league, or lose the FA Cup final, or lose the Champions League for a non-existent goal, as it happened [to Chelsea] in Liverpool. But always stay at the top: anyone who wants me must know this."
On his immediate future, he said that nothing would be decided until the season was over and his preferred job lay in Italy or Spain.
"After that, I want to go back to English football and finally manage Portugal. I am totally free at the moment. I have not signed any pre-contracts, nor gentlemen's agreements.
"Yes, I want to finish my career with Portugal. But now I love the club set-up, playing two or three top level matches per week. A national team coach depends too much on the work of others."
One country that will not attract Mourinho, however, is Germany because he does not speak the language. "The way I lead a team means I have to work in a country where I can master the language. I think it is crucial. I don't know how to push people in the right direction if I cannot communicate. I am quite intelligent but I couldn't learn German in a couple of months."
Yesterday, though, it appeared that, in Mourinho's case, anything is possible.
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Where next for Jose? (By Jeremy Wilson) AC Milan Tuesday's exit from the Champions League at the hands of Arsenal coupled with a gap of 18 points to leaders Inter Milan in Serie A has put Carlo Ancelotti under pressure. Jose Mourinho is attracted by the prospect of managing in Italy, though Milan president Silvio Berlusconi is inclined to support Ancelotti. Barcelona Mourinho worked at Barcelona under Bobby Robson, though his popularity in Spain was dented after controversial Champions League ties while managing Chelsea. Frank Rijkaard has a year remaining on his contract but is understood to be considering a break from football. Liverpool Much will depend on the battle for control at Liverpool, with the position of manager Rafael Benitez weakened by the club's admission that they tried to line up Jurgen Klinsmann. Mourinho has great respect for Liverpool's history, but did little to endear himself to the supporters at Anfield before, during and after recent matches. Juventus Mourinho has taken Claudio Ranieri's job once before, at Chelsea, and has made it clear that his preference is to work in Italy or Spain. It is more than a decade since Juventus won the European Cup and Mourinho proved himself capable of inspiring immediate success at Porto and Chelsea. Real Madrid The most likely option following Madrid's shock exit from the Champions League against Roma. The example last year of Fabio Capello, who was sacked despite winning La Liga, illustrated the importance of European success at the world's richest club. |
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