Mourinho håller på United
Manchester United-Arsenal i FA-cupfinal. Får Mourinho välja blir det United som vinner i Cardiff i helgen.
Främsta skälet är landsmännen Carlos Queiroz och Cristiano Ronaldo - men också Alex Ferguson.
- Jag respekterar honom (Ferguson), men inte bara det, jag gillar honom. Han är en person man kan ha verbal strid med, men när matchen är över är det slut. Det är en mycket korrekt person och han har lärt mig en del, säger Mourinho i ett intervjuprogram med Gary Lineker som ska visas på BBC.
- Jag vet inte vem som vinner FA-cupfinalen, men jag vet vem jag vill ska vinna eftersom jag har mer känslor för det ena laget. Jag hoppas Manchester United vinner, jag har inga problem med att säga det.
Känslorna för Arsenal är inte lika personliga. Londonrivalens manager Arsène Wenger har vid upprepade tillfällen kritiserat Chelsea, något som inte gått Mourinho förbi.
- Jag känner inte honom (Wenger) särskilt väl så det vore inte rätt att tala om honom personligen. När han säger att han gillat andra Chelsealag mer än vårt nuvarande lag så förstår jag varför - vi är mästare. Han föredrog när det var tvärtom och de var mästare, säger Mourinho.
- Jag gillade inte Arsenal när de krossade motståndet i början av säsongen och jag gillar dem inte nu när de vinner och slår Everton med 7-0. Men jag gillade dem i mitten av säsongen när de förlorade poäng var och varannan helg. Jag var förälskad i dem då, så jag kan förstå varför Arsène inte gillar oss.
I intervjun med Lineker uttalar sig Mourinho i en rad andra frågor. Nedan följer några oöversatta svar, tagna från Daily Telegraph:
Om Roman Abramovitjs fotbollsintresse:
He [Abramovich] wanted the best for the club. So did I. He wanted to know the club life. I have to tell him because he's the owner. He has to know everything and from that point I told him he will know why every decision was made.
"Why I did not play this one and I played the other one, why do you want Paulo [Ferreira] to be your right back? Why do you want Ricardo Carvalho to be your central defender?
"I have to explain - more than explain. I have to give a written report where they can understand and I can commit myself with that responsibility."
"The relationship is fantastic. We meet every week. Peter Kenyon is the man for everyday matters. Eugene Tenenbaum is the big link because he is with the boss all the time. We speak about the future, we speak about the present and for me what is amazing is his [Abramovich's] passion for football and for the club. He understands football, he loves football, he eats football. He will see me on Monday and ask if I saw Barcelona-Sevilla, Lyons-Monaco or Roma-Inter. He likes to be surrounded by football people because he loves the game, so I think it's fantastic to speak with him, to explain things to him and to share my ideas and my thoughts."
"He is so much in love with the club. He's not a person to sell the club in a few years [and] go away. He's completely committed and that's good."
Om kritiken av Chelseas dyra spelarköp:
"If I am in Chelsea for 10 years like Arsène Wenger with Arsenal, in my 10th year I won't have to spend so much money, because by then we will have built an academy and a scouting network. It's not fair when people speak about Chelsea's amount of money, but I cannot be a hypocrite because it is easier to work with a person of his economic power where you can say 'I'd love to have this player'."
Om att han kallade sig "special" vid första presskonferensen:
"Sometimes I feel I need to be like that to play a little bit with emotions. I can be speaking with you but I know that my players are watching, players from other teams are also watching ..."
Lineker: "It's a bit of an act, then?"
"Yes, it's a bit of an act. I think you have to act a little bit and to show sometimes a different face. I am not bad at it. I'm not the 'special one'. I was under pressure when I arrived as a European champion and I thought I wasn't respected.
The press put 50 difficult questions to me - can you succeed, are you ready for this and are you ready for that? I said, 'what you want is this - I'm the special one', and you never forget it."
