Jose Mourinho believes England can go far if they play without fear
Jose Mourinho revealed in a recent interview that he believed the English players were unhappy because of the restrictions imposed, and after their unexpected loss in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa they have developed
a certain ‘fear’. The Portuguese manager was certain they will perform better once they were given the freedom to play football without the fear and nagging feeling of what will happen if they lose again and they will achieve better results. He said, “Make
the players feel happy. Not with fear to play, not with [too] high expectations.”
Mourinho, who at 47 years of age has surpassed many managers senior to him, dismissed any rumours of succeeding Fabio Capello to take over the England team once the Italian manager’s contract expires in 2012. He told reporters,
“I think national teams are 'England for the English and Portugal for the Portuguese'. I will one day play against England with my Portugal but Portugal has to wait a long time.” After continuous poor form by the England team, the FA approached Mourinho in
2007, offering him the job but he has since then not accepted.
In the 2002-2003 season with Porto, Mourinho won the treble; the Portuguese Liga, Portuguese Cup and the UEFA Cup. He repeated his success with Internazionale in 2009-2010, winning the Serie A crown, the Coppa Italia and
the coveted Champions League. He did not have the same luck with English side Chelsea, but he did win back to back English Premier League titles in his first two seasons with the Blues.
Having spent roughly four years at Stamford Bridge, the Portuguese is well aware of how football is in England. He knows how demanding it can be. After the back to back titles there were certain expectations from Mourinho,
and after he failed to deliver, there was a sudden emergence of the “boo boys” and angry fans claiming the “Special One” had to go. Even though these were a small fraction of the supporters, it is something that had an effect on his dismissal/resignation.
Mourinho revealed that he was puzzled when England failed to improve under Capello, whom he regards as a top manager, and lost 4-1 to a young German side in the round of 16.
The Portuguese did however point out one reason as to why England performed so badly in the World Cup. He attributed part of their bad form to bad goal keeping. The Real Madrid manager said that it was essential to have a
top class goal keeper to ensure success. He said, “I think without a top goalkeeper you can't win big things. Champions League winners, World Cup winners - always a top goalkeeper.” Mourinho had a point; many would agree that England’s untimely exit from the
World Cup was mostly due to bad goal keeping. It’s no wonder that Robert Green has still not been forgotten or forgiven.
However, time heals all, and so far England are not doing too bad in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. They have made an impressive start, winning their opening matches against Bulgaria and Switzerland and are group leaders
because of an impressive goal difference. They go head to head at Wembley with second place Montenegro on the 12th of October. A win there will ensure top place in the group and less tougher opponents further on. Mourinho urged the
fans to support the team and the newly appointed captain, saying it was important for the team to know it has its country’s support.
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