José Mourinho breezed back into Stamford Bridge last night to declare he was "home" and should still be Chelsea's manager. The Internazionale coach pointed out that while he has continued to accumulate silverware in Italy his former club has one FA Cup to show for the three years since his departure.
The Portuguese veered from an initially diplomatic script, marked by an admission that he would tone down his celebrations should the Italian champions eliminate their hosts from the Champions League this evening, to suggest some level of regret at the fracture of his relationship with Roman Abramovich after his glittering three-year spell in charge at the London club.
"I feel sorry but I look forward," said Mourinho. "I feel sorry because when I look at the big four teams from when I was in England, the managers are all still there: Sir Alex [Ferguson] is there. [Arsène] Wenger is there. [Rafael] Benítez is there. I did more than enough to be here. But the decision was made. Chelsea looked forward. I look forward. They move on. I move on. I keep winning important things. They keep winning ... something. They won an FA Cup.
"I have nothing to prove to Chelsea: to Chelsea's players, to Chelsea's fans, to Chelsea's board. The relations are great. When it's possible, happiness for me and happiness for them is the perfect situation. I don't believe I will be booed. I believe I will be clapped. But, for me, this game is just about getting to the quarter-finals. It doesn't mean anything else to me at all."
His only regret concerned the timing of his eventual departure, with Mourinho conceding he should have left Stamford Bridge on his own terms immediately after claiming the FA Cup in 2007. By then his relationship with Abramovich had fractured beyond repair, though the Portuguese was persuaded to remain at the club, only to be forced out in September of that year after a sluggish start to the following season.
Asked if there was one thing he could change from his time at Chelsea, he said: "I would have left the day after the FA Cup final at the end of that third season. The timing was wrong [when I eventually did leave]. I waited until September and I didn't enjoy my time after I left until I went to Inter. Being away from football was too painful. If I'd left in May I would have started the next season at a new club."
Inter – with whom he claimed the domestic title last season – may top Serie A again, albeit by a solitary point, but the 47-year-old is enduring a relatively torrid time in Italy at present. Defeat at lowly Catania last Friday has allowed Milan to gain ground in the championship race, while Mourinho and his Italian striker Mario Balotelli were reportedly embroiled in a spat at training in Milan today which has resulted in the forward being omitted from the squad for disciplinary reasons. Carlo Ancelotti has since suggested he might seek to work with Balotelli at Chelsea.
In the circumstances, and with his relations with the Italian press clearly strained, Mourinho appeared to relish a return to London and familiar haunts. "I feel at home," he said.
"I opened the door, went up to the second floor where there are people I know; to the third floor where there are people I know. The players didn't come to see me but they are working, or at the team hotel. Before the game I know everybody and I love them, and after the game the same, but, for 90 minutes on Tuesday night, I'll know nobody.
"I'll be restrained if we win, yes. Because it's Chelsea. Because it's the team where I worked for three and a half years, the same players, the same supporters who made me feel incredible every time we played in this stadium. But don't confuse this emotional control with a lack of professionalism or of me not having a desire to win. I watched the first leg seven times on DVD, stopping and going back over and over again. Chelsea is different and I have to be different but I gave everything to prepare for this game. So don't confuse my feelings for my ex-players and my ex-club with any lack of desire or motivation to win this game."
The Inter manager was confident enough to name seven of his starting line-up for this evening's collision with Ancelotti – with whom he endured a troubled relationship last season when they were on opposite sides of Milan – and said that his former club was in safe hands under their current manager. Mourinho said: "They have a good chef, yes, a chef with experience and with knowledge of the ingredients that football needs. They are in good hands."
Yet Mourinho still has designs to return to the Premier League in the future. "I have three things still to do in my career," the Portuguese said. "One thing is to come back to English football. Another is to win the Spanish championship, because no one has won Italian, English and Spanish titles.
"And another, when I'm old, is to coach my national team. But, for now, I would like to keep winning with Inter.
"I will still be the Special One whatever happens. How old is Giovanni Trapattoni? Seventy? I want to coach as long as him but, even at that age, I will still have things to prove. That's my motivation. So, after this game, I will still be the Special One. Win or lose."
The Portuguese veered from an initially diplomatic script, marked by an admission that he would tone down his celebrations should the Italian champions eliminate their hosts from the Champions League this evening, to suggest some level of regret at the fracture of his relationship with Roman Abramovich after his glittering three-year spell in charge at the London club.
"I feel sorry but I look forward," said Mourinho. "I feel sorry because when I look at the big four teams from when I was in England, the managers are all still there: Sir Alex [Ferguson] is there. [Arsène] Wenger is there. [Rafael] Benítez is there. I did more than enough to be here. But the decision was made. Chelsea looked forward. I look forward. They move on. I move on. I keep winning important things. They keep winning ... something. They won an FA Cup.
"I have nothing to prove to Chelsea: to Chelsea's players, to Chelsea's fans, to Chelsea's board. The relations are great. When it's possible, happiness for me and happiness for them is the perfect situation. I don't believe I will be booed. I believe I will be clapped. But, for me, this game is just about getting to the quarter-finals. It doesn't mean anything else to me at all."
His only regret concerned the timing of his eventual departure, with Mourinho conceding he should have left Stamford Bridge on his own terms immediately after claiming the FA Cup in 2007. By then his relationship with Abramovich had fractured beyond repair, though the Portuguese was persuaded to remain at the club, only to be forced out in September of that year after a sluggish start to the following season.
Asked if there was one thing he could change from his time at Chelsea, he said: "I would have left the day after the FA Cup final at the end of that third season. The timing was wrong [when I eventually did leave]. I waited until September and I didn't enjoy my time after I left until I went to Inter. Being away from football was too painful. If I'd left in May I would have started the next season at a new club."
Inter – with whom he claimed the domestic title last season – may top Serie A again, albeit by a solitary point, but the 47-year-old is enduring a relatively torrid time in Italy at present. Defeat at lowly Catania last Friday has allowed Milan to gain ground in the championship race, while Mourinho and his Italian striker Mario Balotelli were reportedly embroiled in a spat at training in Milan today which has resulted in the forward being omitted from the squad for disciplinary reasons. Carlo Ancelotti has since suggested he might seek to work with Balotelli at Chelsea.
In the circumstances, and with his relations with the Italian press clearly strained, Mourinho appeared to relish a return to London and familiar haunts. "I feel at home," he said.
"I opened the door, went up to the second floor where there are people I know; to the third floor where there are people I know. The players didn't come to see me but they are working, or at the team hotel. Before the game I know everybody and I love them, and after the game the same, but, for 90 minutes on Tuesday night, I'll know nobody.
"I'll be restrained if we win, yes. Because it's Chelsea. Because it's the team where I worked for three and a half years, the same players, the same supporters who made me feel incredible every time we played in this stadium. But don't confuse this emotional control with a lack of professionalism or of me not having a desire to win. I watched the first leg seven times on DVD, stopping and going back over and over again. Chelsea is different and I have to be different but I gave everything to prepare for this game. So don't confuse my feelings for my ex-players and my ex-club with any lack of desire or motivation to win this game."
The Inter manager was confident enough to name seven of his starting line-up for this evening's collision with Ancelotti – with whom he endured a troubled relationship last season when they were on opposite sides of Milan – and said that his former club was in safe hands under their current manager. Mourinho said: "They have a good chef, yes, a chef with experience and with knowledge of the ingredients that football needs. They are in good hands."
Yet Mourinho still has designs to return to the Premier League in the future. "I have three things still to do in my career," the Portuguese said. "One thing is to come back to English football. Another is to win the Spanish championship, because no one has won Italian, English and Spanish titles.
"And another, when I'm old, is to coach my national team. But, for now, I would like to keep winning with Inter.
"I will still be the Special One whatever happens. How old is Giovanni Trapattoni? Seventy? I want to coach as long as him but, even at that age, I will still have things to prove. That's my motivation. So, after this game, I will still be the Special One. Win or lose."
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