Jose Mourinho: What Manchester United manager said at first press conference
Jose Mourinho, 53, spoke with the media as Manchester United manager for the first time on Tuesday.
Here’s what he said.
This is the biggest club in the UK
“I have to say I am the manager of the biggest club in the UK. I am going to focus on our job. I have the same respect for every manager and opponent.”
What the fans want
“It’s a job everyone wants and not many have, and I have it. I know what the fans expect from me.
“This challenge doesn’t make me nervous, it comes in the right moment for my career. I have great motivation. I am where I want to be. I want to be in this club, in this county, in the domestic cups.
“Manchester United is a Champions League club. In July 2017, instead of waiting for Europa League play-offs, we make sure this club is where it is meant to be – the Champions League.”
“I’m a bit frustrated that I am not playing Champions League. Hopefully it is only one season we are not there.”
No excuses
“I was never very good playing with words or hiding behind words, and hiding behind philosophies. I was never good at that. I never tried to be good on that.
“I want everything. I want to win matches, I want to play well, I don’t want to concede goals. I want the fans to be behind us. Of course we’re not going to get everything but we want to.”
Another swipe at Arsene Wenger
“There are some managers who haven’t won titles for 10 years. Some of them never. The last time I won was a year ago.
“If I have something to prove, imagine the others. That’s my feeling. I feel that I have to prove not to the others, but to myself. I would never be able to work without success, that is my nature.”
Forget about LVG and Moyes
“For United fans success was routine, I want the players to forget the last few years. Because what is to do better? To finish 4th? I am 53, I am a very young manager, if I am not going for big challenges then I am in trouble.
“The reality I was in trouble for the last five months. The first month was fine, the second not so good and the rest a disaster.”
No rest till I sign four players
“I want specialists. We decided four targets. Until we have the fourth, we are still working hard. Myself, the structure, Mr Woodward, the owners – we are working hard on that. When we have the fourth, I breathe, we all breathe. We will not get the fourth on 31st August. We will get it before that and then we are stable.”
I love raising young players
“You know how many young players I promote to the first team from Academies? I promote 49 players from Academies and two factors that are very important in this record.
“Sometimes you promote players because you have so many injuries you don’t have another choice. You have to bring them up from the Academy because you have lots of players that are injured.
“The second factor is when you are not playing to your targets, it is easier to bring them up.”
A BBC reporter at the scene said photojournalists wanted to photograph the list when a glass of water spilled on it. So Mourinho took it away.
Claudio Ranieri made me a disaster
“Leicester was the only season of my career that I was not fighting for the title. In every other season winning, or finishing second, I was fighting for the title until the last moment.”
I’d rather play Wayne Rooney upfront
“Maybe he is not a striker any more, maybe he is not a number nine any more, but with me he will never be a number six or somebody who plays 50 meters away from the goal.
“Yes, his pass is amazing, but my pass is also amazing without pressure. To be there, to put the ball in the net, is the most difficult thing you have to find.
“For me, he will be a number nine, a 10, a nine-and-a-half but not a six. Not even an eight.
“There is something that will never change which is the appetite, the natural appetite, to put the ball in the net.”
United chose me over Ryan Giggs so he left…don’t blame me
“It’s not my responsibility that Ryan is not at the club. That’s not my fault — the owners and Mr. Woodward wanted me. Ryan, for the moment, wants to be a manager. I decided years ago I wanted to be a manager. Many of us start as assistant coaches and a moment arrives to making a decision.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be back
“He told me to bring a bottle of wine because now we are going to have many occasions to be together. When his holidays are finished, will see a lot of him.”.
