Jose Mourinho: “At Tottenham, there was no empathy”

Roma boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that he did not feel any empathy towards himself during his time at Tottenham.

The Portuguese was sacked by the Lilywhites just two days before a League Cup final which Tottenham ended up losing to Manchester City. Mourinho recently spoke to Corriere dello Sport about his connection with fans and the clubs during his time at various sides and he spoke about his time at Spurs.

While speaking about his connection with Roma fans, he said: “They understood what the other fans of my teams understood. Only at Tottenham did I not feel the same sensations, there was no empathy, but it was the COVID period, the stadium was empty. I failed to create a rapport.”

He further said: “The Roma fans understood something very, very simple: when I arrive in a place, I wear that shirt and I don’t take it off all day, I just need my pajamas, I try to understand the public, their idiosyncrasies, their weaknesses, their strength, what he may like, what is important and I become one of them. On the street the Interista always greets me with joy, the Madridista as well, in the Algarve, our hotel was full of English people from Chelsea. They p****d me off (laughs) every day, legend, legend, legend, photos, autographs. Then I found a Mexican Real fan, same treatment. In Rome, I’m entering my third year, it’s not something I’ve done often.”

Roma have reached two finals in consecutive seasons and while they did win the Conference League final against Feyenoord, they lost to Sevilla in the Europa League final at the end of last season. There were doubts about Mourinho’s future some months ago but he is now staying at the club, with the Giallorossi already making investments in the window.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN