Mourinho reflects on his stint as assistant at Barcelona – ‘Thank goodness I listened to my father’
Mourinho reflects on his stint as assistant at Barcelona – ‘Thank goodness I listened to my father’ Jose Mourinho is widely regarded as one of the most successful managers in recent memory, having achieved immense success managing some of the top teams in the world. Mourinho is popular in Spain, particularly because of his stint at Real Madrid and a record-breaking 2011/12 campaign that saw Los Blancos win 100 points in the league. Despite his Real Madrid stint, though, Mourinho’s actual coaching roots trace back to Barcelona, having initially arrived as Sir Bobby Robson’s assistant in 1996.
Mourinho remained at Camp Nou until 2000. Mourinho wanted to leave earlier In a recent interview with Jogo de Palavra (h/t AS ), Jose Mourinho has revealed that he wanted to leave Barcelona much earlier, but the move was blocked by his father. “When I was Barça’s assistant, Braga called me.
I told my father I wanted to leave, but he told me to be sensible. That my opportunity would come, whether it was Braga, Guimaraes, or any other team in Portugal,” he said. Mourinho was indeed eager to land his first job as manager after having served as an assistant at Barcelona.
Mourinho has enjoyed a successful career in Europe. (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images) However, the Portuguese tactician admitted that he is grateful to have listened to his father’s advice. “He told me I had to make the most of my time at Barça to learn what it was like to coach great players.
Thank goodness I listened to him,” he said. Mourinho eventually landed his first managerial job in 2000, when he joined SL Benfica as head coach. But the stint would only last ten games.