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Jose Mourinho throws shade at Pep Guardiola's sabbatical from coaching: ‘Hate that word, it means weakness’
Jose Mourinho takes a jibe at Pep Guardiola's sabbatical from coaching. Here's what he said in his Netflix documentary.
Jose Mourinho's Netflix documentary, which went live worldwide on Tuesday, was expected to cause fireworks, and the three-episode series has lived up to the high billing. From a high-profile Manchester United reveal to a revisit of the tension with Iker Casillas during his stint with Real Madrid, the Mourinho documentary details it all. However, no one expected Mourinho to renew his rivalry with former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola and take fresh potshots at the legendary coach who recently took a sabbatical from managing clubs.
Guardiola recently brought the curtain down on his managerial stint with Manchester City. After 10 years at the helm, the 55-year-old decided to take a break. He was recently approached by the Italian Federation, but Guardiola politely declined.
It is worth mentioning that the rivalry between Mourinho and Guardiola reached its peak when the duo were the managers of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The latter took his first sabbatical from coaching after stepping down as Barcelona's coach.
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Speaking about the same, Mourinho stated in the documentary that he has never felt the need to step away from the sport, saying that taking breaks is not in his DNA.
“Some guys, they need a sabbatical, which is something that I hate. I hate that word. For me, sabbatical means weakness. Don't speak with me about sabbaticals. I never need a rest. I will have a rest when he (Mourinho points to the sky) decides to say: ‘Come up’,” Mourinho said in the third and final episode of the documentary, which chronicles the Portuguese coach leaving Inter Milan and joining Real Madrid as the manager.
All about Mourinho
Ever since bursting onto the scene with Porto in the early 2000s, the longest Mourinho has gone without coaching a team has been just 11 months, the gap between his Manchester United dismissal in December 2018 and his appointment at Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019.
Mourinho is now back at Real Madrid, and the 63-year-old has begun his second stint with the Spanish club. In the documentary, he also stated that he cannot imagine a time when he would eventually step away from the game.
“I cannot even imagine when I am going to stop my life in football. I say 10 more years, but maybe more than 10. It's fun. It was, it is and will always be fun. I want to win more titles. I want to win new titles. I want to repeat titles,” said Mourinho.
“I want to do it in places where I have never been. I want to do it in the same places I did before. My world is walking into a football stadium with 50,000 or 90,000 fans. I had 100,000. That is my world. Without football, there is nothing complete in me. But I don't think it is an obsession. I don't feel it as an obsession. It is just when you reach a certain level, you want to stay there forever,” he added.
The same documentary also saw Mourinho reveal that he was in line to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in 2013, but he declined at the last minute and chose to go for a second stint with Chelsea.
