JOSE MOURINHO will have “one last dance” as a top-level manager, claims his former player William Gallas.
The Portuguese was sacked by Roma earlier this month with his underachieving side sat ninth in Serie A.
Mourinho’s final months in the Eternal City were littered with bizarre incidents; from frequent red cards and snubbing the press to substituting a star just 18 minutes after bringing him on.
The veteran boss has now been sacked by his last four clubs, dating back to stints with Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Gallas, however, believes that he still has a dash of “something special”.
Chatting to Genting Casino, he said: “I think Jose has got something special in him. I think he can have one more big moment as a manager; one more last dance.
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“I do think it all depends on the players he is working with. Jose needs players who are warriors. He needs the type of player that will fight for him but are also big enough to accept criticism from a manager.
“I’ve spoken about this before, but the new generation of footballers are completely different to the generation Jose managed so successfully at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
“A lot of these players do not accept criticism. They don’t understand how hard you have to work for one year to achieve something as a player.
“If you want to lift a trophy at the end of the season, you need to give everything. You need to have the mentality of a warrior.
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“You never give up. You fight. You accept that you will suffer for twelve months. I don’t think the new generation are ready to make these sacrifices.”
Gallas, 46, believes that Roma lacked players with the right attitudes to fight for big titles under Mourinho.
He added: “For Jose’s last dance, he has to be at a club with players that are ready to work with the intensity that he does.
“Don’t forget, even though was sacked by Roma, the fans adored him. The fans created banners that criticised their own players and accused them of not having the balls to win under Mourinho.
“That tells you everything the fans think of their players. Mourinho arrived in Rome with a winners mentality. I don’t think the players had the same mentality as him.”
‘HE HAD IMPECCABLE STANDARDS’
During his pomp, Mourinho was never afraid to dig out some of his biggest stars if he didn’t feel they were performing up to scratch.
Gallas, who won two Premier League titles and a League Cup under Mourinho, revealed: “He had impeccable standards.
“He would shout at his players at half-time even when we were winning matches. I can remember one moment where he started shouting at his big players: his main players.
“They were a little bit surprised to hear Jose shout at them. That was just before the game against Barcelona in the Champions League in 2004 (Chelsea beat Barcelona 5-4 on aggregate, winning the second leg at Stamford Bridge 4-2).
“He killed some of these guys, so that shows you what type of a personality he was.
“He was a winner. He loved his players and was happy to manage us.
“When he shouted at these players, he showed everyone in the squad that we were on the same level. Status didn’t mean anything to Jose.”
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Mourinho has rejected a swift return to management with Al-Shabab.
The Saudi Pro League side tried to tempt Mourinho to the Middle East, although he is said to be holding out for the right opportunity in Europe.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk