Jose Mourinho is gearing up for a crunch match against his old team Manchester United on Thursday.
The Red Devils are off to Istanbul on a mission for their maiden Europa League triumph this term, after kicking off with stalemates against FC Twente and FC Porto. All eyes are on Erik ten Hag as despite bagging a win over Brentford at Old Trafford last Saturday, whispers about his future refuse to die down.
The tete-a-tete between Ten Hag and his predecessor though is clearly stealing the spotlight. The Dutch gaffer, speaking at the FWA Northern Managers’ Awards do on Sunday evening, didn’t hide his excitement about squaring off with Mourinho.
“It’s a big game for both of us… he is a winner, he’s won so many trophies, I think he’s an example for many, many managers so I really enjoy to play against them,” he said, reports the Express.
The ‘Special One’, no stranger to drama, is just as keen to stick it to his past club – amping up the heat on Ten Hag, the man in his old hot seat.
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Mourinho couldn’t resist a cheeky swipe at Ten Hag during his punditry stint for TNT Sports at the Champions League finale last season when Real Madrid tussled with Borussia Dortmund.
Jadon Sancho marked his final outing for Dortmund under the Wembley arch before heading back to the Bundesliga. He returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan from United in January after a very public spat with Ten Hag, during which he pretty much called his gaffer a fibber for slamming his training attitude.
And it looks like Mourinho’s got Sancho’s back, as he suggested ahead of Real Madrid’s 2-0 win that Ten Hag just couldn’t unlock the lad’s potential. “As a player, we know his talent. We saw what he could do, there are no doubts about it,” Mourinho told Laura Woods and Rio Ferdinand.
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“What happened at Man United? If I look at my own history, I see that sometimes I failed with players. Sometimes, I couldn’t create the right empathy.”
“I couldn’t understand the player’s DNA, and I couldn’t help players grow up in the right direction. The majority of times, yes, I did it, but on some occasions, I couldn’t.”
“I think sometimes we have to learn with experiences, which I tried always to do, to try to understand the nature of the player. Sometimes they have the talent but don’t have the mindset you want from a player.”
“For sure, the kid [Sancho] made mistakes, that’s for sure, but for sure his manager was not able to get the best out of him.”