Former Spurs boss and ‘The Special One’, Jose Mourinho, having been sacked shortly before last season’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, declared tongue-in-cheek he has won ‘25 and a half trophies’ in his glittering managerial career so far.
The provocative Portuguese has won 25 league titles and trophies during an illustrious managerial career with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United and seemed to have the chance to add Spurs to that list in April but was shortchanged at the last minute.
Serial-winner Mourinho has lifted various League titles and Champions League trophies with multiple teams, Unfortunately his stint at Tottenham didn’t go according to plan for both him and the management and with
less than a week to go before the final fixture against City at Wembley, Mourinho was unceremoniously removed from his position as Spurs head coach after just 17 months in charge, with Ryan Mason taking over and overseeing a 1-0 defeat against Pep Guardiola’s side.
To the Portuguese maestro, as far as he is concerned, he is justified in claiming his final Wembley miss as a half trophy that he is adding to his already impressive trophy haul.
“James, if you want to be proactive you can ask me how many trophies I have won in my career — 25 and a half,” the newly-appointed Roma manager and talkSPORT Euros pundit said in a lively and entertaining interview with James Corden for the Sun.
Corden promptly asked, “What is the half?”
“The half is the final I didn’t play with Tottenham,” was the response.
“You ask the guys who played lots of finals and everybody will tell you, ‘to play a final is a dream’ and it doesn’t matter if it is the first final or number 20 or number 50, a final is always a dream.
“A Wembley final is more than a dream, I played the first on the new Wembley and every time I go there, it’s more than a dream and to have a chance to win a trophy with a club that doesn’t have many of course was a double dream.
“I am the kind of guy that when I close the door of a club, I move and I just wish good to people, but in a funny way I would say I have 25 and a half titles because it’s something that marks my career which is not to play a final that I won the right to go there.”
Well, tongue-in-cheek or not, the man certainly has earned his bragging rights, having long proven himself as a serial winner during his scintillating managerial career so far to date, with 3 Premier League titles, 2 Champions League titles, 1 FA Cup, 4 League Cups, 3 LaLiga titles, 3 Spanish Cups, 2 Serie A titles, 1 Italian Cup, 2 Primeira Liga titles, 2 Portuguese Cups, 1 UEFA Cup and 1 Europa League Cup all under his belt.
Not a bad haul at all, one’s gotta admit.