Jose Mourinho has criticised the idea of taking a sabbatical from football management, describing it as a “sign of weakness” in comments widely interpreted as a reference to Pep Guardiola.
The remarks were made by Mourinho in the Netflix documentary The Special One, according to Mundo Deportivo. The Portuguese manager and Guardiola have been rivals for many years, particularly during Mourinho’s time in charge of Real Madrid and Guardiola’s spell at Barcelona.
Their confrontations during that period attracted considerable attention, and Mourinho’s latest comments suggest that the rivalry between the two managers remains alive.
The subject of Mourinho’s criticism is Guardiola’s decision to take a year away from coaching in 2013. Guardiola left Barcelona and spent a sabbatical season out of the game before becoming Bayern Munich manager.
Mourinho said he could not imagine taking a similar break and indicated that he wanted to continue working in football for many years.
“I can’t even imagine when I will stop working in football. I said I would do it for another 10 years, but it might be more than 10 years. It’s interesting. I want to win more titles, I want to do it in places I’ve never coached before, and I also want to do it again in places where I’ve had success.”
The former Real Madrid manager also described the atmosphere of football stadiums as central to his life and insisted that his desire to remain in the game was not an obsession.
“My world is walking into a football stadium with 50,000 or 90,000 fans. I’ve experienced stadiums with 100,000 fans, that’s my world. Without football, I would feel something is missing. But I don’t think it’s an obsession, I don’t feel it’s an obsession. When you reach a certain level, you just want to stay there forever.”
Mourinho then gave a direct assessment of managers who choose to step away from the game, making clear that he disliked the phrase “sabbatical year”.
“Some people need a sabbatical year, which is something I hate. I hate that phrase. To me, a sabbatical year means weakness. Don’t talk to me about a sabbatical year; I never need a break, I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
Mourinho and Guardiola previously faced one another repeatedly in Spanish football, when Real Madrid and Barcelona were competing for domestic and European honours. Guardiola’s 2013 break came before his move to Bayern Munich, while Mourinho has presented himself as determined to continue pursuing trophies and new challenges in management.
He said he wanted to win further titles, work in countries and clubs where he had not previously coached, and return to places where he had already enjoyed success.
