MOURINHO -
2004 to 2007 - QUOTE UNQUOTE
DURING his time as Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho kept the football
world entertained with a string of comments that took in the good,
the bad and the downright ugly.
Here are some of his most famous verbal
volleys.
"Please don't call me arrogant,
but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one" - Mourinho
introduces himself to the English press after arriving from Porto
in summer 2004.
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"In the second half it was whistle and whistle, fault and fault,
cheat and cheat. The referee controlled the game in one way during
the first half but in the second they had dozens of free-kicks. I
know the referee did not walk to the dressing rooms alone at
half-time" - Mourinho claims Sir Alex Ferguson had unduly
influenced referee Neale Barry at half-time during a Carling Cup
semi-final against Manchester United in January 2005. He was fined
£5,000 by the Football Association for improper
conduct.
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"I don't regret it. The only thing I have to understand is I'm in
England, so maybe even when I think I am not wrong, I have to adapt
to your country and I have to respect that. I have a lot of respect
for Liverpool fans and what I did, the sign of silence - 'shut your
mouth' - was not for them, it was for the English press" - Mourinho
defends putting a finger to his lips during the 2005 Carling Cup
final against Liverpool, an action which resulted in him being sent
to the stands.
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"When I saw Rijkaard entering the referee's dressing room I
couldn't believe it. When Drogba was sent off I didn't get
surprised. There is something that tells me that in London the
referee will be Collina, the best in the world. A perfect referee
with personality and quality" - Mourinho claims in Portuguese
newspaper Dez Record that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard visited
referee Anders Frisk's dressing room at half-time in the first leg
of the teams' Champions League last-16 clash in February 2005.
Mourinho was banned from the dug-out for two matches and fined
£9,000 by UEFA for bringing the game into disrepute over his
claims.
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"I felt the power of Anfield, it was magnificent. I felt it didn't
interfere with my players but maybe it interfered with other people
and maybe it interfered with the result. You should ask the
linesman why he gave a goal. Because, to give a goal, the ball must
be 100 per cent in and he must be 100 per cent sure that the ball
is in" - Mourinho questions the validity of Liverpool forward Luis
Garcia' s goal which puts Chelsea out of the Champions League
semi-finals on May 3, 2004.
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"It is not a red card, of course not, and for the second time we
have to play 55, 60 minutes without a man and the game is
completely different. I shouldn't speak about the game, because the
game is not a game" - Mourinho blames a first-leg defeat to
Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 in February 2006 on the
sending-off of Asier del Horno.
"We have played against them four matches in two seasons. (When it
was) 11 against 11 they never beat us. That is the reality" - After
1-1 draw at the Nou Camp in 2006 which sent Barca through to the
quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
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"The goalkeeper has the ball in his hands, slides and the number 10
cannot get the ball. He goes with the knee into his face" -
Mourinho accuses Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt of deliberately
injuring Petr Cech after the pair collide in the first minute of
last October's match at the Madejski Stadium.
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"It is not possible (for) penalties (to be awarded) against
Manchester United, and it is not possible (to get) penalties in
favour of Chelsea. If somebody punishes me because I tell the
truth, it is the end of democracy, we go back to the old times" -
The Chelsea boss fumed last weekend after seeing his side's penalty
appeals against Newcastle turned down, a day after United were
given the benefit of the doubt over a strong injury-time penalty
claim by Middlesbrough in their clash at Old Trafford.
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"A player who wants to be the best one of the world, and he already
may be, should have the uprightness and the sufficient maturity to
verify that against facts there are not arguments. If he says that
it is a lie that Manchester United have conceded some penalties
this season which have not been awarded against them, he is lying.
And if he lies he will never reach the level that he wants to
reach" - Mourinho hit back at Ronaldo after the United winger
claimed his penalty rant proved his countryman "doesn't know how to
admit his own failures".
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"If I wanted to have an easy job...I would have stayed at Porto -
beautiful blue chair, the UEFA Champions League trophy, God, and
after God, me."
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"As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus
in front of the goal." - after a 0-0 draw with Tottenham
Hotspur
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"Everybody wants Chelsea to lose a game. When they do they should
declare a public holiday." - Speaking in a press conference about
Chelsea's leading Premiership start in the 2005-06 season
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You have to wonder why they did that penalty. Because they have so
many penalties in the season, that's why. They have to do something
special and different." - on Arsenal's penalty mix-up in October
2005
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I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to
watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home,
have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He
speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea." - on Arsène Wenger
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"Look, we're not entertaining? I don't care; we win." - on
Chelsea's performance at the start of the 2006-07 season
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"It is omelettes and eggs. No eggs - no omelettes! It depends on
the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have class one, two
or class three eggs and some are more expensive than others and
some give you better omelettes. So when the class one eggs are in
Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem" - Shorn of
the likes of injury victims Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Ricardo
Carvalho and Didier Drogba, Mourinho cooked up a surreal analogy
ahead of Tuesday's fateful draw with Rosenborg.
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"There are only two ways for me to leave Chelsea. One way is in
June 2010 when I finish my contract and if the club doesn't give me
a new one. It is the end of my contract and I am out. The second
way is for Chelsea to sack me. The way of the manager leaving the
club by deciding to walk away, no chance! I will never do this to
Chelsea supporters." - when asked if success in the Carling Cup
final might mean the last trophy he would win for Chelsea.
