Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho believes that last year’s second-place Premier League finishes ranks as one the ‘greatest achievements’ of his career.
The Portuguese tactician has one of the most impressive managerial CV’s in European football having won the Champions League twice and numerous league titles in Italy, Spain, Portugal and England respectively.
Mourinho has made a living as a pragmatic coach with a relentless winning mentality which has earned him great success over the course of his career but equally drawn many detractors for his preferred style of play.
The 55-year-old is well down for setting his teams up to be solid at the back, as he favours defensive strength over free-flowing attacking football. Until recently he has always gotten away with it because of the number of trophies he has managed to win, but at United, it has been a different story.
Although he picked up a Europa League and League Cup during in his first year at Old Trafford, he was unable to add any more silverware to the club’s cabinet last season, as the club finished runners-up in the league and in the FA Cup.
However, According to BBC Sport, Mourinho astonishingly ranks that second place Premier League finish as one of his most impressive successes, as he told the media at a press conference today: “I had great success last season and that’s probably what you don’t want to admit.
“Two seasons ago we had a fantastic season because we won the Europa League. We won it because it was our level. We are the last team in England to win a European competition.
“I’m the only manager to win eight titles in Italy, Spain and England – not small titles – and my second place last season was one of my greatest achievements.”
The United boss seems to be suggesting that the club is operating at a lower level than he is used to and that he has so far still managed to maximise their output despite a lack of quality.
Supporters might not react to these latest comments favourably given the fact that Mourinho has spent a fortune on players since he arrived, not to mention the small detail of Manchester United being recognised as one of the biggest – if not the biggest – footballing superpowers in the world.