Fenerbahce coach José Mourinho labelled himself as “the foreign one” on Saturday when addressing his need to adapt to Turkish football.
The Portuguese manager famously described himself as “a special one” during his first spell at Chelsea before opting to be known as “the experienced one” while at Tottenham.
Asked about Turkish football after his team’s 2-2 Super Lig draw at Goztepe, Mourinho said: “The passion, the love, the enthusiasm matches with my passion with football, totally. Then there are other things that are out of my control, [they] are cultural. It looks like it’s for me to adapt and not vice versa. I am the one that arrived, I am the foreign one. I’m not going to change the state of things. I need to adapt… I am not a magician, I am experienced.”
Mourinho, 61, took on the Fenerbahce job this summer, six months after being sacked by Roma.
It is Mourinho’s first experience outside of the top five European leagues since 2004, when he left FC Porto after winning the Champions League and joining Chelsea.
Since then he has also coached Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham in a career filled with trophies and off-field controversy.
Mourinho has set his sights on ending his club’s 10-year Super Lig title drought.
The draw with Goztepe followed their midweek elimination from Champions League qualifying against Lille.
The Istanbul-based club led 2-0 at half-time before hosts Gotzepe hit back and found a late equaliser.
“Too naive or too poetic, in a league that is not poetic,” Mourinho said of his team’s performance. “I always say when we are winning at half-time, ambition and kill the game… The anti-football in some other countries they call it being clever, I think they [Fenerbahce players] have to be clever too.”