August 29, 2013

MOU HAD ENGLAND OFFER

By Engerlund

New Chelsea manager José Mourinho has revealed that he was offered the England national team job just a few months after he left Chelsea in 2007. The Portuguese manager is back at the club for a second spell. He has revealed how the English FA approached him to take over from Steve McLaren after the former Middlesbrough manager was sacked. Mourinho left Chelsea in September of 2007, and he was reportedly offered the England managerial job in December of the same year. England had just failed to qualify for the European championships and were in a bad state.

Mourinho has revealed that he did not take up the national team job because he felt that it was too soon at this stage in his career. Mourinho has grown to the rigours of club football, which involves managing the players on a daily basis. With respect to the national team, though, things are little different because Mourinho would have been able to see them only a few times in a year. Even though Mourinho has stated on several occasions that one day he wanted to manage the Portuguese national team and win the World Cup.

He has said that the England managerial job does not fulfil him at this stage of his career.

“My plan at that time was just to try to motivate myself for a job [with England] that doesn’t fulfil me. What do I do? During the day I’m not training players, so I have to go and see them train in their clubs. I have to send my goalkeeper coach to work separately. I have to do this, I have to do that. At weekends I see every match. I need a good apartment. I need to analyse and monitor the players,” said the 50-year-old Portuguese manager.