Jose hits out at critics amid exit speculation
4 May 2013 1:34 AM GMT
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho lashed out at his critics and suggested he was not being given enough credit on Friday amid widespread expectation he is poised to abandon the La Liga club at the end of this season.
The outspoken Portuguese, who has hinted he may be on his way back to Chelsea despite having a contract with Real until June 2016, reiterated that he will decide his future at the end of the La Liga campaign in a month’s time.
Desperate to win the 10th European Cup that has eluded Real since 2002, club president Florentino Perez hired Mourinho from Inter Milan three years ago, but under his guidance the Spanish giants have been knocked out in the semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition three times in a row. If Mourinho leaves, he will have won one La Liga title -- with a record points haul -- and two King’s Cups should Real beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in the final in two weeks.
‘The record league title is mine, you (journalists) will want to erase it but you won’t be able to,’ Mourinho, who has a testy relationship with the Spanish media, told a news conference previewing Saturday’s La Liga match at home to Real Valladolid.
‘We won the King’s Cup for the first time in 20 years and you won’t be able to erase that either,’ he added.
‘The three Champions League semi-finals, which personally speaking do not leave me satisfied, can’t have been easy to achieve because with 18 coaches in 21 years (Real) only got to five semis.
‘That’s the poor record of Mourinho: three years and three semi finals. For me it is a source of pride to have been the Real Madrid coach that ended Barcelona’s hegemony in Spain.’ After Tuesday’s Champions League elimination by Borussia Dortmund, when Real narrowly failed to overturn a 4-1 deficit in their semi-final second leg at the Bernabeu, Mourinho dropped his strongest hint yet that his time in the Spanish capital is drawing to a close.
The outspoken Portuguese, who has hinted he may be on his way back to Chelsea despite having a contract with Real until June 2016, reiterated that he will decide his future at the end of the La Liga campaign in a month’s time.
Desperate to win the 10th European Cup that has eluded Real since 2002, club president Florentino Perez hired Mourinho from Inter Milan three years ago, but under his guidance the Spanish giants have been knocked out in the semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition three times in a row. If Mourinho leaves, he will have won one La Liga title -- with a record points haul -- and two King’s Cups should Real beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in the final in two weeks.
‘The record league title is mine, you (journalists) will want to erase it but you won’t be able to,’ Mourinho, who has a testy relationship with the Spanish media, told a news conference previewing Saturday’s La Liga match at home to Real Valladolid.
‘We won the King’s Cup for the first time in 20 years and you won’t be able to erase that either,’ he added.
‘The three Champions League semi-finals, which personally speaking do not leave me satisfied, can’t have been easy to achieve because with 18 coaches in 21 years (Real) only got to five semis.
‘That’s the poor record of Mourinho: three years and three semi finals. For me it is a source of pride to have been the Real Madrid coach that ended Barcelona’s hegemony in Spain.’ After Tuesday’s Champions League elimination by Borussia Dortmund, when Real narrowly failed to overturn a 4-1 deficit in their semi-final second leg at the Bernabeu, Mourinho dropped his strongest hint yet that his time in the Spanish capital is drawing to a close.
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