Jose Mourinho said his sacking at Tottenham ‘hurt’ but still sees the positives in it as it ‘opened the door’ for his switch to Roma.
Mourinho was dismissed by the Premier League side in April 2021 after 17 months in charge, despite the fact Tottenham were due to face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.
Following Roma’s win over Leicester City in the Europa Conference League semi-final, Mourinho about made a joke about hoping he isn’t sacked before this final.
“I am in the maturity of my career and also my life where I don’t have bad feelings,” Mourinho told Sky Sports of his sacking at Tottenham. “I just try to accept the things the way they are. Yes. Yes it hurt.
“I react in a funny way when I speak with some English journalists at press conferences. I always say the joke about qualifying for the [Conference League] final, I hope not to be sacked this time, because it’s something that doesn’t happen to too many coaches.
“I don’t have regrets. I don’t have bad feelings. There are lots of nice people in Tottenham and I wish them the best.
“But for a guy with my career and my history I think it was a strange thing to happen. But in the end it opened the door for me to be in Rome and I’m very happy to be in Rome.
“Of course I would love to be in a position of fighting to win titles or to be in the Champions League where I played 160 or 170 games there.
“But I am loved here. I love the people here. I feel very much a part of the empathy created between the fans and the club and myself and the players. I’m very happy here.”
Mourinho also praised the impact forward Tammy Abraham, who joined from Chelsea in the summer, has had on Roma.
The England forward has scored 15 times in Serie A this campaign, while he also netted the only goal in Roma’s 1-0 win over Leicester in their Europa Conference League semi-final second leg.
And the relationship between the two was evident when Abraham kissed Mourinho’s hand as he was substituted late on in Monday’s loss to Fiorentina.
“Against Leicester he was absolutely amazing and at this moment I joke and say ‘I refuse to praise him’ because he can always do better,” Mourinho added.
“He knows how happy I am. He knows how much I love the kid and the player and I’m proud of what we are doing and I’m so happy for Tammy.
“We have got into this situation where I demand a lot from him because I know he can do amazingly well.
“I don’t think it’s an easy decision for a young player to leave his club, his house, his city, his country and to leave the Premier League which is of course a competition that when a player is in its hard to leave.
“He took that option and I think he took it because he trusted me. And I think in this moment, if he wants to go back to England – I don’t think he wants to no – but if he wants to go back to England he just needs to click his fingers and I’m so happy for him.
“He’s back in the national team and is loved in Rome. I don’t say proven everybody wrong, because I think everyone knows he’s a good player and I think also, with [Chris] Smalling, [Fikayo] Tomori and Tammy, showing the English boys that there is life outside the Premier League and in Italy there’s a life that makes them even better players.”
🗣 "I don't have bad feelings, I just try to accept the the things the way they are"
Jose Mourinho admits his sacking from Tottenham 'hurt', but insists he has no negative feelings towards chairman Daniel Levy 👇pic.twitter.com/5Xt5i2S65g
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 10, 2022