Jamie Carragher, a former Liverpool player, dedicated José Mourinho an opinion piece signed in the newspaper ‘The Telegraph’, in which he reflected on the coach’s future in England after Tottenham left, but also recalled one of the first times that faced him.
«It was at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, in the 2004/05 League Cup final. He was a Chelsea coach and ran to the technical area to accuse my colleague Luis García of diving. I ran towards him and said, ‘Don’t start this conversation. Your FC Porto team was worse! We argued for 30 seconds and the Chelsea and Liverpool fans loved it, ”he said.
At the end of the game, Mourinho and Carragher met again and the tone was more cordial. «His temper was very different and he gave me his condolences. ‘You know I was just fighting for my team, don’t you?’ »Asked the blues coach, who won 3-2 after extra time and was sent off in that game.
In the last 15 years, Mourinho has had three more periods at the head of English teams: he returned to Chelsea, coached Manchester United and in the last year and a half he coached Tottenham, ending up in the last days. For Carragher, the doors of English football may have closed for the 58-year-old. «Now we look more at what he is not achieving than at what he has already achieved. But, regardless of what they say about his recent record, Mourinho is one of the best coaches of all time and nothing changes that fact », he reflected.
Carragher, who retired from the pitch in 2013 after having spent his entire career at Liverpool, regrets not having had the opportunity to work with Mourinho on the reds. «At that time, there was not a single player in England who did not think the same way. He was the coach of the decade between 2000 and 2010 and changed English and European football. »
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