Much like the old days of their rivalry, Pep Guardiola snapped at Mourinho in a similar way to that famous press conference from 2011.
The Guardiola vs Mourinho rivalry has existed for more than a decade but it reached its peak back in 2011. It was the time in which the Catalan club reigned supreme as the most dominant club in European football. Jose Mourinho was determined to knock Pep Guardiola’s squad off its perch and he deployed several tactics to do so.
Whenever he felt there was a chance for him to lose the game, the Portuguese manager used the spotlight to apply pressure where it hurt Guardiola the most. Knowing Pep has never been keen on using the cameras and microphones to battle against anyone, Mou was right in his element. He would use all the tricks in the book to make Guardiola break in front of the cameras.
That famous press conference ahead of the 2011 Champions League semifinal will never be forgotten between these two. We missed these moments dearly until today. Tottenham’s manager is back at it again with more controversial statements ahead of their match.
Mourinho the ‘Doctor’.
Before today’s crucial match between Tottenham and Manchester City, Jose Mourinho complained against both Gareth Southgate and Pep Guardiola. He states that Manchester City forced England to withdraw Raheem Sterling from the national team knowing he was going to play on Saturday. There is no backing to his claim but he still made it because his intention is completely different.
Mourinho said the following earlier this week: “Of course we all know Sterling is going to play for City against us. When Eric Dier left the national team injured in the past month, he didn’t play two matches for Tottenham. Raheem didn’t play the Premier League match and the Europa League match. He needed a couple of weeks to recover. And Raheem is going to play.
“These are the little details that I think Gareth should explain to us all. Gareth, I read, supposedly told that some club managers put pressure on the players not to play for the national team. And because of that he feels sometimes the need to call club managers to cool down the emotions and control a difficult situation for him. I’d like him to say who. I’d like him to say which are the coaches who put pressure on the players not to play.
“And I would like him to say which are the coaches that he calls and speaks on the phone with them. He has the right, the power to call the players he wants. “He wants to win matches, especially after a defeat the next match — even being a dead rubber — is an important match. I sympathize totally with that.”
Guardiola’s ironic response.
The goal was to get Guardiola’s attention and that’s exactly what he did through Goal: “Maybe Mourinho is a doctor, I don’t know. He has to speak to the England national team doctor and the doctor for Manchester City.”
“Listen, I’m not going to answer anything about Jose. I spoke about the doctor because he accused us of something that is not true. You have to speak to the doctors about these other things, don’t ask me. I’m almost 50. I’m old enough to understand.”
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