Mourinho appears to take a swipe at Guardiola: Taking a year off is a sign of weakness

According to Mundo Deportivo, Mourinho accepted an interview in a Netflix documentary, while his statement sparks controversies. Mourinho said that some people need to take a year off, and that in his view this stands for weakness.

For many years, Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have had friction, especially during the period when the former was coaching Real Madrid and the latter was in charge of Barcelona. Their clashes have drawn considerable attention, and according to Mourinho’s remarks in the latest documentary, The Special One, that rivalry may well continue.

The matter stems from Guardiola choosing to take a year off before leaving Barcelona in 2013 and joining Bayern Munich. Mourinho said he would never do that.

Mourinho said: “I cannot even imagine when I will stop working in football. I say I will keep going for another 10 years, but perhaps it will be more than 10 years. It is very interesting. I want to win more trophies, to do so in places where I have never coached, and to do so again in places where I have already been successful.”

He added: “My world is walking into a football stadium with 50,000 or 90,000 fans in it. I have experienced a crowd of 100,000 fans, and that is my world. Without football, I would feel that something was missing. But I don’t think this is an obsession. I don’t see it as an obsession. Once you reach to a certain level, you just want to stay there forever.”

Mourinho believes that taking time away from the dugout is a sign of weakness.

He said: “Some people need a year to recover, and that is something I hate. I hate that phrase. To me, a year of recovery means weakness. Don’t talk to me about a sabbatical year. I’ve never needed a break, and I’ll rest after I’m dead.”