Mou: "I am a fan of Cruyff"

Recently a 1996 interview of Mou as the 2nd coach has emerged



What style do you look for this Barca?
Let the artists play with the ball. Without the ball, a hardworking team, sacrificed.

With the ball, Barca. Without the ball, an English team?
No, no... The English game is a stereotype, they all play the same way.

Robson better not hear that... Define your relationship with him.
Perfect

Why?
I need the tranquility that being Robson gives. Robson needs my clarity of reason, my organization and my different relationship with the players.

Confess it: you took liberties when you were translator
I didn't change a single concept when I translated Robson. I know him so well that, it's true, I embellished the translation with a few concepts of mine that we shared from many years. I only wanted to help.

Do you think Robson will retire at Barca?
Yes

Between us, don't you want to be his successor?
Me as Barca's first team manager? No... you need a lot of history to train Barca.

Are you aware of what it means to sit at Barca's bench or do you try to wake yourself up from a dream?
I'm aware that after leaving this job nothing will compare

Define yourself.
Ambitious, organized, spontaneous, and the worst loser in the world.

Are you such a bad loser?
In a game, I wouldn't doubt on giving my own father a kick.

Does it bother you to have Cruyff in the stands?
I am a fan of Cruyff.

Beyond results: will this Barca entertain like Cruyff's?
Of course it will.

Is there a hope of seeing De La Penha, Celades and Giovanni together?
If they change when they're playing off the ball, yes.

Aren't you covering one of Guardiola's eyes by playing Popescu at his side?
It's not like that. With the ball, Guardiola is great, of the best in the world. It seems that he plays further back than Popescu because he's not used to that position yet, but there's a fundamental thing: Pep always wants and always knows what he wants. The two are dead at the end of each game because the defensive line must play higher and if it plays higher then we recover the ball higher and we will have more possibilities for the artists to unbalance the opposing team.

You can't hide it: the Guardiola-Popescu thing annoys you.
It annoys me that the system is questioned and that it's not taken into account that it's only the 6th match. The important thing is to be convinced in what we're doing. I think we will be champions. I would say that if we had 5 points less and I will say it again in December.

If the system doesn't fail, what fails?
Lack of time. There are Barca players that have very little tactical culture. It's logical. For a very long time they've played the same way. It's not a criticism.

With how many players have you picked a fight with?
With none.

Interesting.

And I used to like Ushers music until he started doing EDM crap

Opinions change.

EDIT: and let's not forget Iniesta, the Madrid fan when he was a kid

There was another interview where he said that Barca are not like Real Madrid, because Barca can't count with the referee's help or something like that

Look's like some stuff never change..

Mou always hypocrite. I can tell you now,when ever he leaves Madrid lots of
bad story will come out about Los Blancos. wait and see.

Mourinho really should have been in politics. I've always said this (in my mind). He is very skilled in saying one thing and doing the next. One of the few men in football I honestly admire.

Mourinho's opinions always change when he changes club.

Yohan Modric wrote:Mourinho's opinions always change when he changes club.

What's new here ? i guess Neuer's opinion about BAyern has changed , same for Gallas about Spurs etcc ...

The interview was in 1996 and he was working at FCB and i think he was saying the truth but many things happen in 17 years ...

It may be because of things changing, but I think the main reason is because he just wants to motivate the current players/club. Though recently he said:

"I have had a lot of truly special players, but if I had to choose one I might go for Didier," the Portuguese boss said.

Mourinho was talking to Real Madrid TV at the time, a fact which either makes his judgement all the more uncomfortable for Ronaldo or all the more understandable from a coach who has been dogged by rumours of dressing room unrest all season.

But Chelsea fans won't argue with Mourinho's choice: Drogba led the attack for Mourinho during an amazing spell at the Blues which saw him collect five trophies in three seasons.

"As a player he is out of this world. I would like to have him by my side, so just imagine."

Doc wrote:Mourinho really should have been in politics. I've always said this (in my mind). He is very skilled in saying one thing and doing the next. One of the few men in football I honestly admire.

wow you admire lying politics?

Mou changes opinions wherever he goes.

ELO wrote:

Doc wrote:Mourinho really should have been in politics. I've always said this (in my mind). He is very skilled in saying one thing and doing the next. One of the few men in football I honestly admire.

wow you admire lying politics?

Lmao that's the first time I've ever heard someone admit to admiring politics that lie.

if you have an opinion and it changes over the course of 16 years im going to post about it on an internet forum to make you look silly.

dat obsession continues.

and of course butthurt cules will share their opinion against mou

Very interesting interview, although I'm not sure what people are complaining/criticizing for?

Only thing he said out of order was the part of how after being on the bench at Barca nothing will compare, given past statements...but he would hardly be the first young ambitious coach to pander to the fanbase

(And he's not wrong to be honest)

Only coaching gig that can be compared to Barcelona in that way is Man United or maybe Arsenal

I thought the part about him being the worst loser in the world was very prophetic

Also he comes off as hyper-competent even then, and I have to question whether claiming that being a fan of Cruyff was genuine or he just didn't want to have a public war with such a huge figure for the barca fandom. His latter teams suggest he was not a fan of Cruyff at all.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:I thought the part about him being the worst loser in the world was very prophetic

Also he comes off as hyper-competent even then, and I have to question whether claiming that being a fan of Cruyff was genuine or he just didn't want to have a public war with such a huge figure for the barca fandom. His latter teams suggest he was not a fan of Cruyff at all.

Tend to think the latter

he certainly left the answer to that question very short, to say the least