Jose Mourinho has shared his feelings on why Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have had quite successful stints at Manchester City and Liverpool respectively.
Mourinho explained how Man City hired Guardiola and delivered his wishes of signing players that were ready to play according to his style. Guardiola came and demanded a whole new set of fullbacks and he was backed up by the club owners in the transfer market. Klopp has also been given the players he has demanded at Anfield and has seen Liverpool tipped as favorites to win the league title this season.
“But you have the case of Manchester City. In the first season, Guardiola was not a champion, it was really difficult and people were expecting a winning Manchester City. They were coming already from winning period, champions with (Roberto) Mancini and (Manuel) Pellegrini. Some of the players were already champions twice, (Sergio) Aguero and (Vincent) Kompany, and in the first to the second season Pep made great decisions, but great decisions that were supported.” Mourinho told beIN Sports.
“For example, he didn’t want (Pablo) Zabaleta or (Bacary) Sagna, two right-backs, and he didn’t want (Aleksander) Kolarov or (Gael) Clichy. In the same summer, he sold four full-backs and got four full-backs. He got (Kyle) Walker, Danilo, (Benjamin) Mendy and another. He was supported.” the former Man United coach added.
“In Liverpool, I think how many players were in Liverpool before Jurgen arrived? No Alisson (Becker), no (Virgil) Van Dijk, no (Andrew) Robertson, no (Mohamed) Salah, no (Roberto) Firmino, no (Sadio) Mane, no Fabinho, no (Georginio) Wijnaldum, no (Naby) Keita, so this is work in depth. So when I speak about leadership related to the structure of the club, it is not just leadership, it is everything, even the football ideas.
“If you are a manager (and) you have in your hands the possibility to choose the players you want to follow your football idea or to follow the idea that you think is the best to win a certain competition, that is one thing. Another thing is if you are (not) able to do this.” Mourinho added in the interview.
In the summer transfer window, Mourinho demanded a centre-back but his wish was not granted by Ed Woodward. He had specifically targeted Toby Alderweireld of Tottenham Hotspur with Leicester City’s Harry Maguire was another option Mourinho had looked to sign for Man United.
