Former Real Madrid and Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has offered support to Jose Mourinho following his touchline disagreement with Antonio Conte.
Mourinho suffered a Stamford Bridge return to forget on Sunday as his Manchester United side were beaten 4-0 by Conte’s Chelsea, with the typically animated Italian offering an exuberant celebration to N’Golo Kante’s fourth goal.
The United boss felt that overstepped a line and made his feelings clear in conversation with Conte after the final whistle.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s EFL Cup clash at West Ham on Wednesday, Conte was reluctant to enter into further conversation on the topic, but insisted he had respect for all opposition coaches.
Del Bosque was beaten by Conte and Italy during the final match of his decorated spell in charge of Spain at Euro 2016 – Graziano Pelle’s late strike in a 2-0 win prompted raucous celebrations as the Italy bench streamed down the touchline to engulf the goalscorer – and he offered his perspective as a man of a generally far more reserved touchline demeanour.
“Mourinho’s message to Conte didn’t seem bad to me,” the 65-year-old told El Larguero.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little more restrained when celebrating wins, truly. It hurt me too when we played Italy.
“I’m not saying don’t express joy. You don’t have to be as boring as me, but express your joy in moderation.
“I’m not defending Mourinho, but he had a point.”
COMMENTS