The Jose Mourinho regime has begun at Manchester United. The Special One will manage the Red Devils for the first time at Old Trafford on August 3rd versus Everton in the Wayne Rooney Testimonial. It’s a moment that Mourinho said he’s been waiting for since he was a child.
Mourinho told adidas Front Row: “History, nobody can delete, I always say that. And history is amazing. It is not one generation of success, but consecutive generations of success.”
“Even as a kid, I was imagining that I could be a top-club manager and I always had this historical connection of Old Trafford being the Theatre of Dreams.”
Jose Mourinho then brought up his first visit to Old Trafford as a manager, when his Porto side upset United and eliminated them from the UEFA Champions League in 2003-04. In that notorious match, Mourinho supposedly won Sir Alex Ferguson’s respect with the passion that he displayed on the touchline, and his class in saying that that better team did not win that day at Old Trafford.
Mourinho said: “It was exactly a dream for me because it was on the way to winning the Champions League with Porto.
“We scored a goal in the last minute at Old Trafford and made history for myself and my country. So, for me, there was always that connection that anything is possible, it’s the Theatre of Dreams.
“I did it with Porto, I won there with Chelsea, I won there with Real Madrid, so why can’t I do it with Man United, playing at home with the fans in the stadium behind us? I am waiting for that.”
“It’s a pity that it’s not tomorrow because I’m waiting for that moment.”
Mourinho then went on to explain what makes Old Trafford so different from other venues and thus so special.
“It’s a stadium where you have a 50-metre walk, which is different to my previous clubs,” he said.
“In all my previous clubs, the tunnel was connected with the bench. There wasn’t that space to feel good or bad feelings, because when things go well you normally feel the good feelings and when things go wrong you feel the bad feelings.
“I think the 50-metre walk will give me a few seconds where I will have the chance to feel it.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram