Claudio’s title was better than my three
JOSE MOURINHO believes what Claudio Ranieri achieved at Leicester City was greater than his own hat-trick of Premier League titles over two spells at Chelsea.
Mourinho, who wore a polo shirt with the initials “CR” on his chest in tribute to the Italian when he spoke to the media ahead of today’s EFL Cup Final, also categorised his own sacking six months after bringing that third title to Stamford Bridge as “peanuts” compared to Ranieri’s shock dismissal.
And with the last two Leaguewinning managers having been sacked a few months after securing the title, he added mischievously: “I think Antonio Conte has to think about whether he wants to be champion this year!”
Mourinho is outraged at Ranieri’s treatment by the Foxes and is keen to give his accomplishment some perspective.
“What Claudio did at Leicester was bigger than my three Premier Leagues for Chelsea,” he said.
“From my experience, there are two things that Claudio needs to know.
“One is that nobody can delete what he did. What’s done is done.
“The other thing is that I can promise him nobody forgets.
“Chelsea supporters don’t forget what I did at that club. In 50 years’ time, Leicester fans will know what Claudio did. It will be positive. They will react in a positive way.”
Mourinho says he coped with his second Chelsea dismissal by separating the football side of the game from the rest of it.
“One thing is the game and the other thing is what surrounds the game,” he said. “I wanted the football again.
“For me, the game is still the game but we can’t be naïve. We cannot believe it’s the same football we had 20, even 10 years ago.
“Everything is changing and we must not be afraid to make people realise where the industry is.
“How did I recover? I went to Brazil on holiday in December, which I never had before.
“Then I was enjoying watching Premier League matches and started thinking about what next for me because there was clearly a next step.
“For Claudio also there will be a next step.”