MADRID (AFP) ― Former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has taken a parting shot at his old team’s biggest star Cristiano Ronaldo, saying the striker thought he knew it all.
Mourinho, who is returning to Chelsea next season after three divisive years at the Santiago Bernabeu, was asked why relations between the two Portuguese compatriots had deteriorated.
“Cristiano had three fantastic seasons with me, all of them,” the 50-year-old Mourinho told Spanish television Intereconomia’s sports program Punto Pelota in a recorded interview released Wednesday.
“I think we found a fantastic tactical situation for him to express his potential in goals,” he said of the 28-year-old.
“I had one problem with him, very simple, very basic, and it was as a coach to criticize him from a tactical point of view, trying to improve what I believed could be improved,” Mourinho added.
“He did not accept it very well because he thinks probably that he knows it all and the coach cannot help him to grow more.”
The Portuguese coach had more barbs for 30-year-old defender Pepe, who apparently irked his boss by coming to the defense of Real Madrid’s benched keeper Iker Casillas.
Mourinho claimed he was responsible for keeping Pepe at Madrid and fighting for him to get a good contract.
But he said Pepe had reacted badly to competition from 20-year-old French player Raphael Varane, who snatched his place in the Real starting line-up.
“A kid who was 10, 12, or 13 years younger than him started to play, but a kid who in my opinion deserved to play. And I think he did not assimilate or accept that situation well,” Mourinho said.
Suddenly, all the critics of Pepe’s aggressive playing style had become his defenders, the coach said. “From one moment to the next, they all went to his side and defended him to the hilt.”
Chelsea manager set to confirm Schurrle as first signing
BERLIN (AFP) ― Bayer Leverkusen striker Andre Schurrle is set to become Jose Mourinho’s first signing in his second spell as Chelsea manager, according to German press reports.
Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller confirmed the two clubs had reached agreement on the transfer of the 22-year-old during a testimonial for former German captain Michael Ballack in Leipzig, according to the Cologne Express.
Asked by news agency SID if it was a done deal, Schurrle’s agent Ingo Haspel replied: “You will see what happens.”
Chelsea, the Europa League trophy holders, are reported to have handed over 20 million euros for the player, who has already won 22 caps for his country.
Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 21, who spent last season on loan to another Bundesliga club, Werder Bremen, has been offered as a makeweight in the deal but is reported to be more interested in an offer from Borussia Dortmund.
