By Andrew Dillon
MANUEL PELLEGRINI believes Jose Mourinho’s trophy haul has come at a cost.
West Ham’s manager and the new Tottenham boss share neither football philosophy nor personality.
Pellegrini is rebooting his tactics to face a more industrial Spurs in tomorrow’s lunchtime clash following Mourinho’s surprise appointment.
And he said: “In Italy, in Spain, here in England, he is a manager who has a lot of titles behind him, so he will also be a manager who is good for football.
“After that you must think of what kind of football you want.
“Everyone has his options to play football in the way they want, to say what they want to say.
“I have my way, style of my life or style of being. Maybe he has another one. You cannot expect everybody will think exactly the same as you. We have different ways of thinking.
“I was surprised Mauricio Pochettino was sacked, but you saw what happened with Chelsea when Mour-inho was manager. They won the title then the next season he was sacked.
“After that, Leicester… exactly the same, Claudio Ranieri was sacked.”
Mourinho has won league titles in four different European countries — but his abrasive character invariably sparks controversy.
He even mispronounced Pellegrini’s surname as Pellegrino to try to wind up the ice-cool Chilean.
In a head-to-head comparison, Mourinho comes out on top in the 14 games in which they have faced each other, with the Portuguese winning seven and drawing three.
Pell added: “We are rivals because we are at different teams.
“I was in Malaga, he was at Real Madrid. I was at Manchester City, he was in Chelsea.
“He is not my friend but he is not my enemy.
“As entertainment, it is good he is back because he says controversial things. That is good for the media.”
Hammers keeper Roberto is in pole position to keep the gloves against Spurs tomorrow despite his blunders against Burnley and performance against Newcastle, although Pellegrini is not expected to make his final selection decision until tonight.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
