‘I turned down England job’, says Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho

13:06 04/12/2013
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Jose Mourinho has claimed he was in discussions to become England coach six years ago – but admits he would have missed the day-to-day management in international football.

    Mourinho’s second-stint in the Premier League kicks-off on August 17, having left Stamford Bridge by ‘mutual consent’ back in September 2007.

    As the Portuguese coach said his farewells, Steve McClaren’s tenure as England boss was coming to an end after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

    With a 3-2 home defeat at Wembley bringing an end to McClaren’s involvement, the Football Association were already considering a number of candidates to take England forward for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

    The FA have maintained Fabio Capello was always their first choice to succeed McClaren, but according to Mourinho, he had already partially accepted the opportunity to take charge.

    Instead of concluding negotations with the FA, Mourinho had a short-term break before taking charge at Inter Milan for the next three years, where he would win the Champions League.

    Although the glamour of the international post was an attraction, the 50-year-old revealed he would miss the day-to-day nature of the job with only a few internationals scheduled in the calendar.

    “My plan at that time was just to try to motivate myself for a job (with England) that doesn’t fulfil me,” Mourinho told the Independent.    

    “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.    

    “When they were speaking to me, the next match was France against England, a friendly in Paris. I thought, ‘France-England’ (is an attractive prospect)’.    

    “After that, what’s the next game? The next was one month later against Kazakhstan – no, no, no, no. We have contact and I thought about England. I was very young and I was very proud.”

    Recommended