Jose Mourinho has admitted that he was hurt by the timing of his sacking by Tottenham but insisted that he has no hard feelings towards Daniel Levy.
The writing seemed to be on the wall for Mourinho for weeks before he was eventually relieved of his duties, with the Portuguese coach reportedly falling out with many of his players (The Athletic).
However, the timing of the decision did come as a surprise, with the 59-year-old being sacked just days before Tottenham were due to play in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.
Ryan Mason took charge as the interim boss after Mourinho’s sacking, with Spurs falling to a 1-0 defeat in the final to Pep Guardiola’s men.
Mourinho insisted that it was ‘strange’ for a manager with the record he has in cup finals to have been sacked before the all-important clash at Wembley.
However, the AS Roma boss stated that he is now happy at the Stadio Olimpico and insisted that he wishes only the best for the people who work at his former club.
The former Tottenham head coach told Sky Sports: “I am in the maturity of my career and also my life where I don’t have bad feelings, I just try to accept things the way they are.
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“Yes. Yes, it hurt. I react in a funny way when I speak with some English journalists at press conferences. I always say the joke about qualifying for the [Conference League] final, I hope not to be sacked this time because it’s something that doesn’t happen to too many coaches.
“This time I cannot say I’m the privileged one, because it happened to me. I don’t have regrets. I don’t have bad feelings. There are lots of nice people in Tottenham and I wish them the best. Even to Mr Levy. But for a guy with my career and my history, I think it was a strange thing to happen.
“But in the end, it opened the door for me to be in Rome and I’m very happy to be in Rome. Of course, I would love to be in a position of fighting to win titles or to be in the Champions League where I played 160 or 170 games there.
“But I am loved here. I love the people here. I feel very much a part of the empathy created between the fans and the club and myself and the players. I’m very happy here.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It says a lot about Mourinho’s ego and personality that he keeps repeatedly referencing the fact that he was sacked before the Carabao Cup final without mentioning how poor a job he did at Spurs.
The 50-year-old was responsible for Tottenham’s only finish outside the top six since 2009 and blew a 2-0 first-leg lead to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.
We beat two Championship teams in the quarterfinal and semifinal of the Carabao Cup, and so to make the case that he ‘deserved’ to be in charge for the final, is a massive stretch.
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