Jose Mourinho certainly wasn't without a job for too long after his departure from Spurs. The Portuguese manager will take charge at Roma next season, returning to Italy after a massively successful spell with Inter Milan at the turn of the last decade.
In truth, Serie A seems like an ideal fit for Mourinho. The slower pace and more defensively focused ideologies in the league would certainly seem to suit him. We have also seen what other former Premier League strugglers have achieved there in recent times at Inter.
However, not everyone thinks it will go swimmingly.
Former West Ham Striker Paolo di Canio seemed to slam the appointment in a recent leaked WhatsApp message to a friend who supported Roma, saying about Mourinho's imminent arrival:
You’ve got the worst of the worst. I understand you needed a big name at this moment, but it’s like when you sign a player who is finished.
Mourinho just wanted a job with money, he’s had his third sacking in four years, kicked out from everywhere due to the incompatibility of his character and before that’s all he was good at, having character.
Now Tottenham gave him the boot for his results and incapacity to take the team to another level after two years with all the money they spent. He’s finished in every conceivable way.
He doesn’t even play football, he plays anti-football. You might enjoy yourselves in a few press conferences, because controversy makes for good theatre, but let me tell you: to reconstruct a team, he’s the worst you could possibly get.
And I can say that because he was my favourite up until seven years ago, even more than Pep Guardiola.
For those of you proficient in Italian, you can hear the comments below.
However, di Canio has now responded to the criticism he has received for those comments.
Speaking to Corriere dello Sport, he refused to apologise for what he said and said the remarks were taken out of context.
Firstly, I don’t have to apologise to anyone. It was a private conversation and I can do as I please.
Secondly, that audio was part of another six or seven messages in which I said very positive things about Mourinho. It’s cowardly that they only leaked that part.
It’s a ridiculous and pathetic story. We were talking for fun, I was making fun of an old friend...
There was talk of [hiring Maurizio] Sarri, of playing attractive football. I said that Mourinho has lost appeal. He no longer seems to me to have the strength, the energy, to stay at the top level for 24 hours a day.
My joke also meant that he won’t win the Scudetto, but maybe he will, who knows? With this Roma side you can reach the top six with your eyes closed.
I didn’t say what I said to belittle Roma, but the opposite. Years ago, I would have said that Mourinho is a luxury for Roma, now I say that Roma is a luxury for Mourinho.
A Paolo di Canio versus Jose Mourinho feud would be exactly the type of thing we need to spice up our lives at the minute.
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