As you probably know by now, Manchester United boss José Mourinho has given a very interesting interview to ESPN Brasil.
Besides ruling out Neymar arriving at Old Trafford, with his quotes quickly spreading to the world media, the manager also commented on a few other topics.
He was asked if he would take charge of the Brazilian national team, for example. And had a good laugh about it: “I think that after leaving Manchester United, I need an easier job than Manchester United. And perhaps training the Brazilian national team is more difficult.
“Obviously, it would be lovely. Every manager wants to work with the best clubs and the best national teams. The Brazilian national team is obviously a leader in success, obviously with the talent, no matter in which generation, the talent always shows up.
“But I must confess it would be difficult. In each Brazilian there’s a manager. In each journalist, there’s a manager better than the manager. I think it should be a difficult country to work in, but also lovely. As I’ve always had difficult jobs, with high demanding levels, maybe… but I reckon that the Brazilian national team is for Brazilian managers.”
“The qualification matches in Europe bore me, the qualification matches in your continent motivate me, I like football taken seriously, not football to have a joke.
“In the South American qualifiers, football is serious, there is a lot of good national teams in the same level, even those that are not so strong can create difficulty.
“In Europe, the qualification is a joke, we qualify, if we do not qualify directly we do it through the playoffs, there is a brutal gap between the teams, that’s why I think in South America there is a real competition over a couple of years.”
Mourinho has also analysed the transition between Brazil’s team that lost to Germany 7-1 in the World Cup and the current squad, which has nine wins in the last nine games.
“On your national team, I think the Cup at home was a two-sided knife. On one hand, the best conditions to win; And on the other hand, an exaggerated pressure to win. I think you were negatively affected by that episode, and the team’s subsequent recovery work was difficult. Dunga had an emotionally heavy inheritance. I think it was difficult for him to succeed.
“Now Tite has come in, a lot of experience at the club level, I think clubs develop better coaches, because the club is day-to-day football, competition week after week, they develop our abilities a lot more.
“As we say in Portugal, with a stallion, with personality for a position of such great pressure. Sometimes there is the generation where there are more talents at the same time and great teams are formed, sometimes less, but still Brazil always have an injection of talent. Always continue to have great players and have a couple of them in the top 5 or the top 10.
“You are there on the right path, with time to work, to experiment, to innovate a little, when you are in a situation of tranquility, you are better able to innovate and look for new things. And maybe the next World Cup will be what I always like. When it is not for Portugal, let it be for you.”
In case you still haven’t heard what Mourinho spoke about the Neymar, he simply claimed that there’s no way that Barcelona will let him go to Manchester United – and he also won’t ask for that.
“It’s really speculation. I always try to be objective and pragmatic with the clubs and ask the clubs for what can be given to me. Asking for Neymar is absurd.
“A club like Barcelona cannot and will not lose Neymar. Although Messi is still a young player with years to go, he is already getting to the 30s, and Neymar will be the great player of Barcelona after Messi. So I think it’s like trying to break a safe, impossible.”
