Jose Mourinho has mused on the different ‘hostility’ he has noticed between fans in Spain and England.
The Portuguese is back for a second spell in the Premier League with Chelsea, after three years in La Liga with Real Madrid came to end in the summer following a difficult third campaign.
Considering his return to England, the 50-year-old reflected on the relationship he has with his fans and those of the opposition, drawing on his time in Spain for comparison.
“I enjoy playing at home, feeling the Chelsea fans’ passion, that they are happy to have me on their side – but I also enjoy playing away and feeling the opponents support their own team, giving me that ‘hostility’,” Mourinho explained to The Guardian this week.
“It’s a ‘pure hostility’. It’s not aggressive. If Chelsea fans at Norwich are singing: ‘Jose Mourinho’, and the other guys sing: ‘F*** off Mourinho’, I don’t think it’s aggressive hostility.
“It's better than them ignoring me. If, one day, I was Norwich manager, they'd be singing my name too. It's pure.
“You go, for example, to countries like Spain and when they say: ‘Hijo de puta Portugues [Portuguese son of a b****]’, you know it's a deep feeling. A real hatred. They mean it.
“Here, even the hostility is different. More tongue in cheek. When I'm not winning I'm ‘not special any more’. I understand that and I like it.”
