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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Colin Millar

Jose Mourinho explains why he'll always be more Chelsea than Man Utd

Jose Mourinho has reiterated that he is a "Chelsea man" and they are his preferred English club ahead of Manchester United and Tottenham, whom he also managed.

The Portuguese boss spent just shy of six years at Stamford Bridge across two managerial stints, in which he won three Premier League titles and eight trophies. Mourinho became a cult hero at the Blues but his relationship with the club and its fans became complicated after his subsequent moves.

Mourinho took the reins at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016 and won the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League trophies in his first full season at the club. He went on to reach the FA Cup final and record a second-placed Premier League finish in his second campaign, before being sacked in December 2018.

He went on to coach Spurs but his stint in North London lasted less than 18 months; twice recording sixth-placed finishes and reaching the EFL Cup final but was dismissed in April last year. Mourinho subsequently was appointed at Italian club Roma.

Mourinho has guided the club to the Conference League final, where they will face Feyenoord on Wednesday night, but continued his trend of underwhelming league finishes – the side's sixth-placed finish in Serie A meant that the Portuguese has finished the season or left a club in the top five just once in his past seven years as a manager.

Speaking to BT Sport, Mourinho explained his preference for the Blues: "Of course, my English connection is Chelsea, that's the way I see things, as a Chelsea man after two periods of Chelsea and six years.

Have Your Say! Can Jose Mourinho revive his coaching career at Roma? Tell us what you think here.

"But at Manchester United the fans are special. There are lots of good people inside the club, so it's not like I'm happy to be right. I'm not happy to be right, I'd like to be wrong. I'd like to be wrong, but I knew that I was right.

"For me, the first thing to change when things are not going right is mentality and organisation, and that was not coming. I knew that for me to leave was not going to resolve the situation. I knew that, unfortunately, but I wish them the best and I hope that they make it."

Mourinho is now aiming to win his first trophy as a manager since United's Europa League trophy in 2017 as he aims to move on from a disappointing domestic campaign to lift the inaugural Europa Conference League trophy.

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