Jose Mourinho has admitted that he does not like it when coaches are referred to as being disciples of someone else, insisting that everyone has their own ideas irrespective of their various influences.
A lot has been said about the various coaches who have been inspired by Marcelo Bielsa whilst working with the revered Argentine.
The likes of Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino have praised the Leeds boss for the influence he has had on their respective coaching careers.
Mourinho has also influenced more than his fair share of coaches in his long and illustrious career, with current Premier League managers including Frank Lampard and Nuno Espirito Santo having worked under the Portuguese coach during their playing days.
However, Mourinho insisted that each coach should get praise for their achievements since everybody thinks differently about the game.
When it was put to the Spurs boss that Bielsa has lots of disciples but that he has won more, he responded (via Football.London): “I’m only a disciple of my father and I don’t like that situation in football.
“Even younger coaches, even people that worked with me before, I don’t like that: ‘Oh, they are a disciple of Jose’. Everyone is an individual with their own ideas, can be influenced by one or another, but in the end, what matters is the individual.
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“And I think to speak about Mr Bielsa is for people who know him well. I don’t know him well. I think he was Athletic Bilbao coach in one of the seasons I was in Real Madrid. Now is the first time we’re in the Premier League at the same time.
“For sure, he has to be a very good coach but I’m not the person to analyse him because I don’t know him even personally. I just shook hands a couple of times and that’s it.”
When asked how he approaches games against Bielsa’s sides, he responded: “I don’t play against Mr Bielsa, never. My club played against his club or my team played against his team.
“I don’t like that individual situation because that doesn’t exist, for sure. We analyse our opponents, we did that in relation to Fulham. We did that in relation to Leeds.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is fair to say that Jose and Bielsa are polar opposites in terms of philosophies, with one being an idealist and the other a pragmatist. Saturday’s clash will be as big a clash of styles as we are likely to see in the Premier League this season. Hopefully, we can come out on top as we certainly have the firepower to hurt Leeds on the counter if they commit too many bodies forward.
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