Hammers chief Pellegrini tells old foe he’s no enemy

MANUEL PELLEGRINI has dismissed suggestions Jose Mourinho is his enemy as West Ham prepare to host his first game in charge of Tottenham.

Mourinho was appointed Spurs head coach on Wednesday morning, less than 12 hours after Mauricio Pochettino’s stunning dismissal.

Pellegrini has had several tussles with Mourinho while in charge of Malaga and Manchester City but the Chilean played down any rivalry with the man who, in 2010, replaced him as Real Madrid boss.

When asked about facing the 56-yearold, Pellegrini said: ‘Maybe I can think in a different way but he’s not my enemy.

‘Everyone has their options to play football in the way they want. We have different ways of thinking about it all.’

The Irons have struggled for form in recent weeks, with five defeats and two draws from their last seven matches, and are 16th in the table, one point and two places below Spurs.

And Pellegrini (pictured) expects some subtle tactical changes under Spurs’ new coach. ‘I think the philosophy of

Pochettino isn’t the same as Mourinho,’ he added. ‘I don’t think that in two days he will try to change anything properly.

‘So we will see Tottenham playing a similar way, of course with some touches of what Mourinho’s football is but that is not the most difficult problem to solve during the game.’

Pellegrini was surprised his fellow South American Pochettino was axed by a club who reached the Champions League final last term. ‘I don’t know their reason why he was sacked,’ he said.