JOSE:NO MORE MIND GAMES
After ‘dementia’, ‘clown’ and ‘little man’ barbs, Mourinho wants to end his feud with Conte
JOSE MOURINHO is ready to make peace with arch-rival Antonio Conte on Sunday.
The Manchester United boss and his Chelsea counterpart have been involved in a bitter running feud this season.
The two managers have exchanged vicious barbs, but Mourinho is set to bury the hatchet when the two men come face-to-face at Old Trafford.
Mourinho is said to be ready to adhere to the pre-match protocol of shaking hands with Conte, despite their differences.
The war of words between the pair began when the Portuguese spoke out about certain bosses going crazy on the sidelines, saying, “I don’t behave as a clown on the touchline” – comments Conte took to be aimed at him.
He hit back, asking if Mourinho was suffering from “senile dementia” only for the United chief to bring up Conte’s involvement in a match-fixing scandal in his native Italy, which he was exonerated of.
And it did not stop there, with Conte branding Mourinho “a little man”, to which the Reds boss responded by saying – for him at least – the spat was finally over, having got a reaction.
Mourinho, who is no stranger to controversy, claimed last week to have been the best behaved manager in the Premier League this season, joking he should be handed an award for his exemplary conduct.
It is understood that he is determined to be seen as the bigger man on Sunday by shaking hands with Conte and proving he is able to rise above the vitriol that has characterised their relationship.
Mourinho defended claims he has sacrificed United’s famed attacking legacy after their 0-0 Champions League draw in Sevilla, where they managed just one shot on target. And he said he will turn to David Beckham (below) for advice after being quizzed on whether attacking players like Alexis Sanchez should be allowed greater freedom.
Mourinho said: “I think many of you are in a new sport, when in England some guys say the wingers shouldn’t defend. The next time I see Beckham, I’m going to ask him: ‘When you played right wing for United, when the leftback attacked, did you stay looking in the stands or track back?’
“Everybody knows I am not a big friend of Roy
Keane or Paul
Scholes, but I will ask if they tracked back.
“All of the players look like they have to be free when they don’t have the ball, but when the team has the ball you attack, and when you don’t you defend. It’s that simple.”
Marouane Fellaini, 30, has rejected a one-year extension, with Besiktas said to be offering the United star a three-year deal.