Jose Mourinho has made it clear he will only reflect on what was good at Chelsea when he returns to Stamford Bridge tomorrow for the first time since he departed last December.
‘When some managers leave clubs, they like to, I don’t know the right saying but in Portuguese it is “wash the dirty clothes”,’ the Manchester United manager explained with his own take on airing dirty linen in public ahead of what will be an emotionally charged afternoon in west London.
‘It means speak about what happened,’ he continued. ‘Go back and speak and speak and speak. I leave clubs with a very good feeling, the feeling of doing everything to succeed. I gave everything to the club. I don’t like to go back and speak about the bad things.
‘I want to keep the good things and at Chelsea I had so many good things, in terms of results, friends I have for life. I keep all these good memories. The other things ... I don’t forget, I keep it, but I keep it to myself.’
But then, when asked if Roman Abramovich, the man who brought him to Chelsea (twice) and bankrolled a spending spree which saw Mourinho bring success to the club (twice), was one of those friends Mourinho declared: ‘He was never my friend. We always had the relationship of owner-manager. It was a very respectful relationship. We were never friends. We were never close to each other.
‘So, no. He is just a person that I have respect for.’
Mourinho has a habit of lobbing little grenades into press conferences that leave press officers staggered and journalists rubbing their hands.
He knows what he is doing and perhaps that answer will be as close as Chelsea fans ever get to finding out why their Special One headed out of the door with the club hovering above the relegation zone last Christmas and the Eva Carneiro situation hovering above everyone in SW6. Regardless, Mourinho will want to prove a point in front of his old employer though he tried to play down the significance.
‘To say I care is not true,’ he said. ‘When I go to a football match I am not focused on that. I am more focused on the game.
‘I knew that, working in England and in the Premier League, I knew that sooner or later, I had to play against Chelsea and go to Stamford Bridge. The computer has decided it is to go now. Here we go.
‘What can I expect? I don’t know. They can think about me and remember our great relationship and have a good reaction. They can look at me and say, “For 90 minutes he is Man United manager and he is playing against us, so he is not someone we like at this moment”.’
Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are fifth, two places above United. Not that Mourinho would have you believe he is paying much attention. ‘I don’t have to analyse their start to the season,’ he said. ‘But you look to the table and you see where they are. They are in a good position.’
And, while this is only October, the clash will be key when it comes to the race for a top-four finish.
‘It is going to be tight,’ Mourinho said. ‘My feeling is it will be close. I think it is going to be really tight.
‘I am not a gambler, but if I was I wouldn’t bet a lot on the title or top four because there is a big risk of losing money.’ One thing you can put money on — returning to Chelsea means a lot more to Mourinho than he was letting on.
Daily Mail