Mourinho does not care what Chelsea fans say to him
Jose Mourinho does not care what kind of reception he receives from Chelsea fans on Sunday.
The 53-year-old returns to Stamford Bridge for the first time as manager of another Premier League club when he takes Manchester United to his former stomping ground.
Mourinho is the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history having won three Premier League titles across two spells, the last of which ended in December following a miserable run of form.
The Portuguese has said he does not expect a negative reaction from supporters who continued to back him last season despite Chelsea’s on-pitch struggles.
But Mourinho, who faced Chelsea while he was in charge of Inter Milan in the Champions League in 2010, will not concern himself with such matters and will try to treat the game the same as any other.
He said: “To say I care is not true. I am more focused on the game. I try to prepare myself for the match, so I cannot say that I care.
“What can I expect? I don’t know. They can think about me and remember our great relation and have a good reaction. They can look at me and say for 90 minutes he is Man Utd manager and he is playing against us, so he is not someone we like at this moment.
“I did my job (at Chelsea). They gave me their love and they gave me their support. That is the most important thing. If now I go there as Man Utd manager and they decide to have a different approach, I will always respect them.
“I played there with Inter. I tried to do my job. If you ask me, if my team score a goal, am I going to celebrate like a crazy kid? No. I think I can control the emotion of that situation.
“Am I going to have a negative reaction if the crowd has something negative with me? No. I have the maturity enough to control the emotion.
“I have lots of respect. What Man Utd fans can expect from me is more important. What Man Utd fans can expect from me is to play against Chelsea the same way I play against Fenerbahce, Liverpool, anyone, because that is my job.”