Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he was offered the England national team job – then reveals why he didn’t take it.
Mourinho, previously of AS Roma was sacked by the Italian club after a seriously poor Serie A campaign.
He is one of the most legendary managers of all time. He’s won it all, from the Champions League to the FA Cup, you name it – Mourinho probably has it.
But there was always a looming question among England fans as to whether he would take up the national role, having been adored, or loathed, by many in the country for years. Well, now he’s revealed he was previously offered the role.
Jose Mourinho was offered the England job
On the Vibe with Five Podcast, Rio Ferdinand sat down with the legendary figure to chat about his Roma dismissal, Manchester United and all things football.
They got onto the topic of England, with Rio asking him to rank Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. He refused to do this but shared something even juicier with football fans.
Mourinho started speaking about the talent England had and how he’d have love to have been their coach, to which Rio responded:
Rio Ferdinand: “Imagine. We would have won something. If you were the coach… we would have won something!”
Jose Mourinho: “I had it there on the table. I had it on the table. I had it.”
Why didn’t Jose Mourinho take the England job?
The evident question next, why didn’t he take it? Well Ferdinand wasted no time in finding out.
Rio Ferdinand: “Why did you say no?”
Jose Mourinho: “I didn’t because I always had the national team job as something that I wouldn’t enjoy. I was with Chelsea for 05/06, 06/07, 07/08 and 07/08 was when Mr Capello got the job.”
This left Ferdinand, and us, absolutely baffled. To think what could have been… will we ever see Jose at England in the future?
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