Jose Mourinho doesn’t often waste an opportunity to stick the boot into his rivals, and the Portuguese has once again take. His chance to have a go at some of his biggest managerial rivals.
Speaking in his pre match press conference, Mourinho has taken an indirect swipe as some of the other managers in the league, saying if that there was such an award, he should win the ‘best behaved manager on the touchline’ award.
He is usually forced to miss a number of his teams matches after being sent to the stands for his misbehaviour on the sidelines, but has been relatively more restrained since taking over at Old Trafford in 2016.
The Man Utd boss told the media:
“I am fully committed to win the award this season of the best-behaved manager on the touchline,
“There are so many awards – performance of the week, manager of the month and this and that – they should give one (to) the guy that behaves best on the touchline and it should be the fourth official to vote.
“I’m pretty sure that I would win. I’m serious! I didn’t create one problem to one fourth official on a touchline, apart from my red card at Southampton when I put a foot on the pitch.
“I’m serious, I prepare myself, I’m really happy. I’m not free of losing my temper, my control in one match. I’m not perfect.
“I’m not going from the Bad One to the Perfect One, no way, but I try, I make an effort and I’m happy with the way things are going.”
While he didn’t mention any other names, it is quite clear that he is referring to three of his biggest Premier League rivals, Antonio Conte, Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger. All three often show their dissatisfaction with the fourth official in the touchline taking the brunt of their arguments.