The boss wasn’t the only one leading the two London rivals
When Chelsea and Tottenham meet in the Premier League this Saturday, different fans’ thoughts will go in different places when they think about the players and managers associated with the two clubs. On the pitch, it could be players like Carlo Cudicini or Conor Gallagher, and in terms of a manager, it could be Jose Mourinho or Mauricio Pochettino.
Mourinho had two different spells at Chelsea and won the Premier League on both occasions. However, his time in charge of “Spurs” was less successful.
The Portuguese boss took over in north London in the 2019/20 season and lasted less than two years, losing his job just days before leading the team to the League Cup final. Reflecting on his time at the club, he suggests that empty stadiums during the Covid-19 lockdowns made it impossible for him to develop the same human connection that he had at Stamford Bridge.
When Mourinho took over from Pochettino in November 2019, Spurs were languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table. They were in eighth place when the season was suspended during the first quarantine period, and the Champions League winner told Corriere dello Sport how it affected his relationship with the fans.
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“I have a very special relationship with all my former clubs except one,” said the 63-year-old. “My time at Tottenham coincided with the Covid era. There was no human contact.
“The stadium was almost always empty. We played two or three matches with fans, then without fans, without any connection. I didn’t have that connection with Tottenham.”
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After leaving Tottenham, Mourinho spent more than two years at Roma and one season each at Fenerbahce and Benfica. He returned to Real Madrid, the club he managed between 2010 and 2013, leaving the latter in the summer of 2026.
With “Inter”, “Roma”, “Chelsea”, “Manchester”. [United]Benfica, I always felt at home. “Even when I left without wanting to go,” he said, “It hurt me to leave Roma. But I have not and will not have a word against the Roma or their people.”
“After the negative comment about it, I said I’m sorry [sporting director] Thiago Pinto, that’s it. When I leave the club, even if it doesn’t seem like it, I leave with a clean slate and I leave with the feeling that this will be my home forever.”