Jose
Mourinho insists he is entitled to one bad season after overseeing Chelsea's
poorest start to a Premier League campaign in the Roman Abramovich era.
The Portuguese coach is under pressure at Stamford Bridge after a worse
start than the one which saw him sacked in mid-September during the 2007/08
season.
Mourinho's future remains uncertain even after Saturday's 2-0 win against
Aston Villa, but he has defended his record and feels he should be afforded
his team's current dip due to his success.
Speaking in an interview which first appeared in the Irish Times and runs in
Tuesday's Daily Mail, the 52-year-old said: "Of course I'm entitled to one
bad season. There are guys who have one good season out of 20. Some of them
not even one good. I'm entitled. I don't need to prove.
"I live in a different world. I'm not with the power. I'm a lonely guy in
this modern world of football.
"I do my work. I'm not a politician, I'm not a PR, I don't care what people
think about me. I don't, you know, I'm just what I am.
"When I am in a great moment it looks like nothing's happened; when I am in
a bad moment, I pay for this a little bit. I don't have many friends in the
football world."
Mourinho has won titles in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain while also
claiming Champions League glory with Porto and Inter and he followed a
treble success in his homeland in 2003 with another in Milan seven years
later.
"I think my career is not normal. I think it is not normal because I won so
much, and consecutively. That's not normal," he added.
"What is happening to me after 15 years should have happened before. It's
not normal, not normal. In 15 years, in only one did I not win a major
title. In 15 years I won 22 major titles. It's too much.
"I learn to be happy with the happiness of the others," added Mourinho
sarcastically. "But I repeat, it's a moment. It's not a moment that will
last for a long time.
"In football there is a culture. I'm not sure of the right word in English -
but I think it is 'vulture'. The culture of the vulture.
"When they feel something can happen, they start circling. To criticise
someone with my history, you need to be brave.
"There is a risk someone like myself with say: 'Shut up. You've won
nothing.' But I won't do that."
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