Jose
Mourinho has a chip on his shoulder due to the lack of acknowledgement his
managerial achievements has received from his peers, Andy Dunn told the
Sunday Supplement.
The Manchester United manager is embroiled in a heated war of words with
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, the latest in a long line of spats with those in
the opposing dug-out.
Dunn believes Mourinho's readiness to pick fights with his counterparts
stems from a combination of feeling undervalued and having never played the
game to the heights his rivals.
"The reason why Mourinho cannot let anything lie is that, even with his
incredible record - 25 trophies - he thinks he's underappreciated,
undervalued and people do not acknowledge how great a manager he's been,"
the Chief Sports Writer at the
Daily Mirror said.
"That doesn't only apply to his the media but also to his peers, that's
reflected by the way he has a go at them - Conte's comments about him are
incredibly disparaging.
"Some of it may come down to the fact he wasn't a player, that will always
be a little chip on his shoulder.
"How many times has he said he's not bothered that he's only won three
Manager of the Month awards? Of course he's bothered.
"Has he ever been LMA Manager of the Year? No, he hasn't. David Moyes has
three times - that's nothing against David Moyes, respect to him, but I
think Mourinho feels he has never been properly acknowledged by his peers
for what he's done in management.
"That's reflected by the way he's all too ready to aim barbs at other
managers. Conte is not the first and he won't be the last; Pep Guardiola,
Rafa Benitez, Manuel Pellegrini, Arsene Wenger, Claudio Ranieri and a couple
of managers in Portugal in his early days have been in his crosshairs.
"That's all about a character that thinks he is the 'Special One' but has
never got the credit he deserves for what he has done, and we have seen that
from the moment he came to England."
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