May 10, (THEWILL) – Despite being fired 17 months into a four-year contract last season, former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho, insists he has no regrets about his tenure at the club.
Even though the Portuguese coach claimed no animosity toward the club, the two-time Champions League winner described his sacking as a “strange thing to happen.”
THEWILL recalls that in November 2019, Mourinho took over as manager of the north London club from Mauricio Pochettino, with the expectation that the “serial winner” would finally deliver long-awaited silverware.
Although he led the team to the Carabao Cup final in 2021, a bad run of results in the Premier League cost the Portuguese manager his job – his third dismissal in six years, following dismissals at Chelsea in 2015 and Manchester United in 2018.
“I don’t have regrets. I don’t have bad feelings,” Mourinho noted. “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.
“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.”
When asked whether it hurt to be sacked by Spurs, Mourinho did not mince words in replying: “Yes.”
Since leaving Spurs, Mourinho has returned to Serie A, where he previously had success with Inter, and led Roma to the inaugural Europa Conference League final, the club’s first continental final since losing on penalties to Liverpool in the European Cup final in 1984.
“In the end, [leaving Tottenham] opened the door for me to be in Rome and I’m very happy to be in Rome”, he said. “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.”
In 2022/23, Roma and Mourinho will miss out on the Champions League, trailing the top four in Serie A by ten points with only two games remaining and facing heavy battle from Fiorentina and Atalanta to qualify for any type of European football through local channels.
However, if they win the Conference League final against Feyenoord later this month, they will be guaranteed a spot in the Europa League group stage next season. That will be a fair consolation.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
