Jose Mourinho Defends Style of Football, Makes Antonio Conte Chelsea Comparison

Former Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has defended the style of play employed by his previous teams, saying he didn't always have the players he needed for aesthetic football.

Mourinho previously held a reputation as one of the world's best coaches and has often utilised defensive tactics to great effect on the way to trophies with various clubs. 

Speaking to beIN Sports (h/t Football Italia), the manager was asked about the manner of his previous teams' performances and said he thinks criticism of his style is unfair:

"You are in the direction of a lie told a thousand times become truth and it is not true. When people remember the incredible match that Inter played in Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final with 10 men, people say that was a masterclass of defensive football but was two buses parked.

"You don't say that two weeks before [it was] Inter 3 Barcelona 1. We put ourselves in the position to go there and defend that result, playing with 10 men against the best team in the world, because two weeks before we beat them 3-1 and it should be four or five."

Here are the highlights from that memorable match at the San Siro:

Inter went on to win the UEFA Champions League and complete a treble under the coach during that campaign.

Mourinho also said he thinks Antonio Conte, one of his successors at Chelsea, actually used a similar blueprint to his own.

"When Chelsea was champion again with Conte, Chelsea was a counter-attacking team—very defensive and phenomenal on the counter-attack," he said. "Once more they did it by the strategic point of view. But, because it was Antonio and not me, you didn't mention it."

The former United boss also said he would like to be in a position where he can build a team like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have done at Liverpool and Manchester City, respectively.

Mourinho was sacked from his most recent post at Old Trafford in December having steered the team to their worst start in Premier League history.

Bleacher Report's Rob Blanchette thinks he left big problems behind:

Broadcaster Carl Anka said it was rare to see Mourinho send a team out on the front foot during his time at United:

While Mourinho's sides haven't always played defensive football, during his peak years as a coach, he was always able to set up a team to contain high-class opponents. In the latter part of his second stint at Chelsea and his time at United, he looked as though he had lost that magic touch.

The manager has now been out of a job for six months, and he will hope a break from football will re-energise him when he takes up his next position. In February, Mourinho said he would be open to taking a job in France, per beIN Sports (h/t Sky Sports).