“I am the foreign one,” says Jose Mourinho, acknowledging his “cultural” adjustment at Fenerbahce. Following a dismal draw against Gotzepe, he advises “naive” players to engage in “anti-football” drills.
After traveling to Turkey, former manager of Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter, and Manchester United Jose Mourinho is back in charge of his former teams. He acknowledges that at the beginning of his rule in Istanbul, he went through a phase of “cultural” adjustment.
Only two of Mourinho’s six games in charge have been in the Turkish Super Lig, and four of them have been Champions League qualifiers. Fener wasted two points in a thrilling 2-2 draw with Goztepe the last time out, demonstrating to him how swiftly he is picking up on the fact that black arts are welcomed in that tier.
Mourinho tells reporters, “The passion, the love, the enthusiasm matches with my passion with football, totally,” acknowledging that he still has a lot to learn about Turkish football. Then there are additional cultural factors that are beyond my control. It appears that I need to adjust, not the other way around. As the newcomer, I identify as the foreign individual.
He continued by saying that Fener should take a similar tack to their competitors in order to frustrate opponents and waste time: “Too naive or too poetic, in a league that is not poetic.” I constantly tell them to “aspire and kill the game” when we are ahead at halftime. In many other nations, the anti-football movement is referred to as cleverness; in my opinion, the Fener players must also possess cleverness. What opposing teams do to us is what my guys must do. They must require time. They must move to the ground. The game must be stopped. They must imitate wounds. They have to follow protocol like other teams do.
With the exception of a miserable tenure at Premier League team Tottenham, Mourinho has won significant awards in almost every managerial position he has held. He will be motivated to continue this streak after signing a two-year deal in Turkey.
