Defending champions Inter Milan proved too strong for AS Roma with a 3-1 victory over Jose Mourinho’s side in a Serie A tie played on Saturday.
Mourinho, who steered the Nerazzurri to win the treble in 2010, made his first return to San Siro to face his old club as a Serie A opponent, and was warmly welcomed by the home fans.
However, the home side turned relentless on the pitch as it broke the deadlock in the 30th minute as Hakan Calhanoglu’s inspirational pass sent Denzel Dumfries clear, the Dutchman outpaced his marker to beat an on-rushing Rui Patricio.
Inter doubled the lead in the 39th minute when Marcelo Brozovic gathered the ball in the box, before cutting inside to smash in from a relatively tight angle.
Lautaro Martinez sealed the win for Inter seven minutes after the break when the Argentinean headed in Calhanoglu’s corner.
Roma only scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes when Henrikh Mkhitaryan hit in a missile on Eldor Shomurodov’s assist.
With a game in hand, Inter Milan climbed to the top of the table with 72 points, one ahead of second-placed AC Milan who visits Lazio on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Atalanta ended losing-streak by winning over Venezia 3-1 away, Torino edged past Spezia 2-1, Hellas Verona tied with Sampdoria 1-1
Manchester United are hoping to appoint a new manager before the season closes as they look to reverse the fortunes of the club that has been on a downhill trajectory since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
With interim manager Ralf Rangnick set to step aside at end of the season, the Red Devils are reportedly keen to have someone in place as soon as possible.
Ajax’s Erik ten Hag and Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauricio Pochettino are some of the hot-favourites to take over in summer.
Man United managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013
David Moyes – appointed on May 9, 2013 .
Louis Van Gaal – announced on May 19, 2014 .
Jose Mourinho – named Manchester United manager on May 27, 2016.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – appointed caretaker manager in December 19, 2018, and later named permanent manager in March 28, 2019.
Ralf Rangnick – interim manager from December to June 2022.
ROME, May 4 (Xinhua) — Jose Mourinho will be the new coach of Roma next season, the Italian Serie A side announced on Tuesday, hours after the Giallorossi decided to part ways with current manager Paulo Fonseca at the end of the season.
Fonseca signed a two-year contract with Roma in the summer of 2019, but due to the poor performance in the current season, both sides have no intentions to extend.
Before signing with Roma, Fonseca’s compatriot Mourinho stepped down from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Roma confirmed the 58-year-old has penned a three-year contract and will begin his new role ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
“We are thrilled and delighted to welcome Jose Mourinho into the AS Roma family,” club president Dan Friedkin and vice-president Ryan Friedkin said.
“A great champion who has won trophies at every level, Jose will provide tremendous leadership and experience to our ambitious project.”
“The appointment of Jose is a huge step in building a long-term and consistent winning culture throughout the club.”
As one of the most successful coaches in football history, Mourinho has won 25 major trophies in his career to date. And the Peninsula is not new to him, as the Portuguese had a stint at Inter Milan from 2008 to 2010, leading the Nerazzurri to a treble.
LONDON, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — Everton coach Carlo Ancelotti won the battle of former Real Madrid and Chelsea coaches as his team got the season rolling with an impressive 1-0 win away to Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham.
Dominic Calvin-Lewin’s 55th minute header gave Everton a deserved three points after they controlled Tottenham for most of the game and Ancelotti deserves credit for handing debuts to summer signings, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan and James Rodriguez, who enjoyed an impressive first appearance in the Premier League, creating five chances for their side.
It was the first time Everton had won away to a top six team (Spurs finished sixth last season) in 40 attempts. In contrast, Dele Ali disappointed for Tottenham and was replaced at the break and it is the first time Mourinho has been beaten in the first league game of the season in his entire career.
Saturday saw Arsenal kick off the season with a comfortable 3-0 win away to Fulham, with new signing Willian turning in a man-of-the-match performance.
Mohamed Salah scored two penalties in a hat-trick as reigning champions Liverpool beat newly promoted Leeds United 4-3 in a thrilling game at Anfield, while Wilfred Zaha’s 13th minute goal gave Crystal Palace a winning start at home over Southampton and new boys Callum Wilson and Jeff Hendricks both scored as Newcastle cruised past a poor West Ham in the London Stadium.
Monday sees two more matches with Chelsea travelling to Brighton, while Sheffield United entertain Wolves.
Former manager Louis van Gaal has laughed off suggestions that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought attacking football back to Manchester United and claimed the Norwegian could be more defensive than Jose Mourinho.
Solskjaer has won 14 of his 19 matches in charge of the Red Devils since replacing Mourinho in December, scoring more goals and overseeing a number of thrilling matches – notably the comeback against PSG in the Champions League.
But Van Gaal says it is ‘fake news’ to claim Solskjaer has brought more entertaining football to Old Trafford, with his style of play virtually identical to Mourinho’s – barring the results.
“People think we have only had fake news since Donald Trump became president. In football we have had it for 50 years,” Van Gaal said in an interview with BBC.
“The coach after me [Mourinho] changed to park-the-bus tactics and played on the counter. Now there is another coach who parks the bus and plays on the counter,” he said adding that the only difference between Solskjaer and Mourinho is that the former is winning.
“I am not there but there does look to be a change and the atmosphere seems to be better. It is also true that Solskjaer has changed Paul Pogba’s position and put him into an area where he is much more important.”
“Solskjaer has just lost twice and he has to manage that. It is very important that Manchester United qualifies for the Champions League, as it was when I was manager.”
“But they can also win the Champions League because they play a defensive system and it is very difficult to beat them, which, whether you like it or not, is the result of Mourinho’s work.”
Unconfirmed reports indicate that former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is set to return to Real Madrid to replace underfire manager Santiago Solari.
The potential return of Jose Mourinho gained strength throughout the afternoon, but authoritative sources inside Madrid have denied any contact with the Portuguese, though others have said that “nothing can be ruled out at this time.
“The idea is not to go for Mourinho, for the time being at least. However, the fact he is unemployed and has retained a strong relationship with Perez may mean that Madrid reach a point where he does return to Los Blancos’ bench.
Real Madrid have seen their season effectively come to an end after a devastating week in which they were eliminated from three competitions, leading Florentino Perez, the president, and Jose Angel Sanchez, the club’s general director, to discuss what to do with Santiago Solari.
During the meeting, Perez and Sanchez analysed the imminent dismissal of Solari, but the lack of a clear direction and the delicate nature of the situation saw them keep their decision to themselves for the time being.
Those in charge at Madrid have lost confidence in Solari, yet the Argentine will still be on the bench away at Real Valladolid on Sunday.
Paul Scholes expects Jose Mourinho to take a keen interest in his first foray into management with Oldham, but isn’t counting on the Portuguese to watch their matches in person.
The former Manchester United midfielder, who has left punditry and signed a year and ahalf contract with the Latics, was one of Mourinho’s fiercest critics during his tenure at Old Trafford.
Scholes has now taken charge at his boyhood club in League Two and despite admitting he has left himself “wide open” to scrutiny, is not daunted by what might be said about him.
“I think he will be watching results,” Scholes told Skysports when asked about Mourinho. “Whether he will be watching the games I am not too sure.
“That is part of the thing that bugged me a little bit. I wanted to get into it (management) anyway but I have left myself wide open. I have been quite critical. “I don’t think we will get many pundits watching – [although] if we are losing games I am sure people will be popping up – can say what they want.
“I have never really understood why players and managers take notice of what pundits say anyway. They are just giving an opinion on the game and get paid for doing so.
“If anyone wants to have a dig at me, I won’t be taking any notice. The only person I answer to is the owner.”
Scholes has plenty of former colleagues and team-mates for support and advice and revealed he will try to use his links with Manchester United to his advantage but he is keen to find his own way in management.
However, the 44-year-old does have Sir Alex Ferguson to call upon should he need some wisdom.
“I’d speak to anyone, yeah, I’m sure the gaffer is on the other end of the phone,” Scholes added. “He’ll want me to do well and if I need any help from him, I’ll be ringing him, of course I will.
“I’ve got great experience with Gary (Neville) too, what he did in Valencia, Ryan (Giggs) with Wales and under Louis Van Gaal (at United).
“I’ll definitely be speaking to them a lot. When I’m not quite sure what to do I’ll be looking to them for advice.”
Jose Mourinho could be soon having a coaching job if reports emanating from Spain are anything to go by.
Former Mourinho’s employers Real Madrid have reportedly begun talks with the Portuguese about the possibility of him returning to the Bernabeu club.
The Sun has reported that Club president Florentino Perez could be negotiating with representatives of the Portuguese for a possible coaching job.
Real’s manager Santiago Solari is under pressure to turn the team’s fortunes and Perez is reportedly fearing the thing could be prove difficult and is already thinking ahead.
The report also indicates Mourinho has had four other job offers since leaving United but has turned them all down.
Football fans will have to wait a little longer to watch Jose Mourinho back in the game after he turned down managerial job offer by Portuguese giants Benfica.
According to recent reports in Portugal, the former Manchester United manager was contacted by Benfica after the dismissal of Rui Vitoria.
Benfica owners were ready to offer Mourinho the job immediately, but the 55-year-old declined, saying he is not interested in job
Vitoria was sacked last Thursday following a poor spell of results, bringing to an end his three-and-a-half year tenure at Benfica
Mourinho has been out of a job since being fired from Manchester United boss in early December, following a humiliating 3-1 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool.
He was replaced, on interim basis, by former United player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who has won the last five games in charge.
Jose Mourinho was sacked as Manchester United manager on Tuesday after two and a half years in charge.
During his career he has also coached at Benfica, Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan and Real Madrid but has never been at one club for more than four years at a time. Where will he end up next?
BBC Radio 5 live’s Euro Leagues panel of Steve Crossman, James Horncastle, Julien Laurens and Raphael Honigstein look at Mourinho’s options and discuss why it went wrong for him at Old Trafford.
Mourinho’s next move
A return to Inter Milan?
Horncastle: “Jose Mourinho is still a very big personality in Italy. At Inter Milan games there is still a banner that says ‘Jose Mourinho’ and there is a lot of speculation about what might be his next move. Inter always features very highly but this is a very different Inter to the one he left in 2010, a different owner, different president, different chief executive and is it something that is not as clear-cut as many people think.
“He is still popular with the fans but in terms of being a next destination if Luciano Spalletti were to get the sack, this is someone who got Inter back into the Champions League and recently signed a new contract so I think he will have to look elsewhere before a reunion, a la Chelsea.”
Jose Mourinho won the Champions League at Inter Milan in 2010 – his second success after winning it with Porto in 2004
How about a new challenge in a new league at Paris St-Germain?
Laurens: “There’s no talk of ‘could he could come to PSG?’. It could’ve happened four or five years ago when Laurent Blanc was chosen but he is not the kind of manager they would go for anymore.”
Horncastle: “There was a time when PSG would’ve considered him and he felt it was not the right time for him and that time seems to have changed.”
If not France, what about Germany?
Honigstein: “Bayern Munich looked at Jose when he was in between Chelsea and Inter (2007-08) and there were some preliminary discussions. But they have never wanted someone who was too overbearing and wanted someone who could work in the existing structure and they chose Jurgen Klinsmann just ahead of Jurgen Klopp.
“There’s no vibe or scenario at the moment (for a move to Germany). Bayern are the one club that could offer enough for him but the sense in Munich is that he does not offer enough for them.
“It is no longer the case where you think of him as a specialist in European football as his record over the past five of six years has been pretty average. It reflects his loss of stature that he is not being mentioned, compared to someone like Zinedine Zidane on the back of winning three European Cups.”
Jose Mourinho’s managerial record in his past five jobs
Club and date
Played
Won
Drew
Lost
Win ratio
Chelsea (2004-07)
185
124
40
21
67.03%
Inter Milan (2008-10)
108
67
26
15
62.04%
Real Madrid (2010-13)
178
128
28
22
71.91%
Chelsea (2013-15)
136
80
29
27
58.82%
Manchester United (2016-18)
144
84
32
28
58.33%
What about another spell at Real Madrid?
Horncastle: “Let’s watch the Club World Cup. Real Madrid, if they were not to win, imagine the fall-out. Mourinho has a good relationship with [Real president] Florentino Perez and a job has to be done to clear out the old guard and what better person than Jose. That remains a possibility.”
Any chance of a wildcard move? To a team in Russia, China or perhaps international football?
Horncastle: “I think he has to be under the spotlight and in the big games so he needs to be in one of the top five leagues.”
Laurens: “His own image is far too important to him for him to go to China or Russia. He needs the spotlight and, personally, I think his next move is to be Portugal’s next international team manager. Fernando Santos is 64 years old. You have a young generation coming through for Portugal, it would not scare him that challenge.
Portugal boss? So potentially working with Cristiano Ronaldo again?
Honigstein: “I don’t think the relationship is so bad between them, as has been reported, but Ronaldo repeatedly went on record and said he did not enjoying playing that way at Real Madrid – he didn’t see why they should play without the ball.”
Laurens: “I don’t think Ronaldo would never play for Jose Mourinho again but it’s not a happy reunion of those guys as there’s not that positivity between them at all.”
Jose Mourinho guided Real Madrid to the La Liga title in 2011-12, but never got past the Champions League semi-finals
Jose versus his players
Horncastle: “One of the reasons the decision has been taken by Manchester United is that players were considering their futures.
“Juventus and other clubs around Europe were looking at this situation and the longer it went on the better for them because of the deterioration in relationship between Mourinho and the best players. The headline in La Repubblica the day after the sacking was “Pogba has won”. In La Gazzetta dello Sport it was ‘Pogba is now laughing’.
Laurens: “It got to the point where very promising players were ruling out Manchester United as they were saying ‘I don’t want to be the next Anthony Martial or Paul Pogba, being marginalised, not playing, and having my progress impeded.’
“I’ve talked to a couple of agents with interesting players and the dynamic has now changed. No longer is there that sense of Manchester United being a barren land where you would not dream of sending your best player there.”
Is Mourinho worth the risk any more?
Laurens: “If you own or are the chairman of a big European club would you really want Jose Mourinho, knowing that after one or three years that things will get bad, as they always do?
“He will sign something and say he wants to stay 10 years and it never works out. Why would you put that investment in him knowing at some point it will get toxic? I don’t know who would take that gamble and hiring Mourinho right now is a gamble.
“You are not sure of trophies and in regards of how much they spend and the damage he has done to that club in two and a half years – it has not been a good return. The style of football, you know will not be good and the relationship with key players will deteriorate so badly that you will have to sack him.”
Horncastle: “If you’re Real and planning a transition and want to bring in Neymar, are they going to buy into that when they have seen what has happened at United.”
Laurens: “If Real Madrid wanted to sign Eden Hazard and Mourinho is the manager I will guarantee that Hazard would not go to Real. The other thing Mourinho has not realised is now clubs have to look at the bottom line – if you are someone that can buy a £5m player and he is suddenly worth £45m six months down the line, that’s why Mauricio Pochettino is in demand.
“Mourinho has never been interested in that. He is very harsh and unforgiving and I don’t think that’s the right model anymore. You cannot afford one of your biggest players to not be playing or developing.”
Is Mourinho tactically behind the times?
Honigstein: “When you go to Real Madrid and Manchester United and try to play underdog football it does not work. It is no longer a strategy to sit deep and hope for teams to be broken down. You can’t afford to sit back and wait for things to happen. Even the smaller teams will now have enough quality to beat you.”
Horncastle: “When he went to Inter he made a big deal about his ‘bible’, his methodology where he looked around trends around Europe and adapted his methods but I don’t think that has happened for a while. There are other peers like Jurgen Klopp who has a system where you play in a modern style of football.”
Laurens: “It was a mess and he tried so many things at United. Against Tottenham in the first half they pressed so high and were unlucky to not be two or three up and it looked like he was ready to change, although they lost the game (3-0 after it was goalless at half-time). Then we have never seen it again. There was something to work on but we never saw it again and we went back to the old rubbish.”
Will Man Utd be stronger without Mourinho?
Laurens: “It was on the front page of L’Equipe and it got bigger because of the Champions League draw where Manchester United will face PSG. A lot of people in France were fearing a change of manager because of the positive effect a change of manager could and will have.
“It was a toxic environment and dressing room because of Mourinho. If he was still there, PSG would’ve fancied their chances greatly, now the atmosphere will get better, key players will play better, everyone will be happy and that’s not what PSG wanted.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will turn things around and make this Manchester United squad very competitive again. When the draw was made people in Paris were thinking ‘this is a really good draw for us’, but now not as much.
