The relationship between Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer isn’t the best, and things got heated ahead of Sunday lunchtime’s Premier League meeting between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
Mourinho took a swipe at Solskjaer after the Manchester United boss claimed that winning trophies can paper over the cracks at football clubs and that they’re simply “an ego thing” for coaches.
Mourinho, who won two trophies in three years at Old Trafford, while Solskjaer is yet to win anything, shrugged off his counterpart’s comments, saying that Sir Alex Ferguson wouldn’t share the Norwegian’s view.
“I’m pretty sure that his big boss, Sir Alex, has a different opinion about it,” commented Mourinho.
“But I respect what Solskjaer thinks. I think different.
“Freedom of thinking, freedom of ideas, and if that is what he thinks that is fine by me. It’s not a problem for me, he’s not being disrespectful to anyone.
“But I repeat I believe his big boss, and the biggest in Premier League history, has a different view in relation to that.”
Sir Alex Ferguson is widely regarded as the best manager in the history of the Premier League, and he won 38 trophies during his 26 years at Old Trafford.
Mourinho’s taunting has added extra spice ahead of this weekend’s fixture, with Manchester United looking for revenge for their 6-1 loss at home to the Portuguese’s Spurs side earlier in the campaign.
Solskjaer is still in search of his first trophy as coach of the Red Devils, with the Europa League the most likely option, a trophy Mourinho won as United coach in 2017.
Mourinho, like Ferguson, has a proven track record of winning trophies throughout his career, unlike his opposite number.