Jose Mourinho and Mesut Ozil were not able to protect the good relationship that has been existing between them as they were dragged into an avoidable football banter.
Embattled Arsenal’s midfielder Mesut Ozil started the banter during a question and answer session on Twitter where he invited his followers to ask him questions on a variety of topics. A fan asked him if he would join Tottenham Hotspur if they are the only club that showed interest in him.
The 32-year-old former Spain international who has not kicked a ball in a professional game since mid-March 2020, said he would rather retire from football than to join Tottenham Hotspur.
Hence, during Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham’s pre-match press conference, Jose Mourinho’s attention was drawn to Mesut Ozil’s comment about retiring instead of joining Spurs. As expected, the Portuguese tactician who had always said good things about Ozil, gave the Arsenal’s outcast something to chew by asking “Who told him that Tottenham would be interested in signing him?”
Immediately Mourinho dropped his reaction, the press conference went silent until the reporter who dragged Mourinho into Ozil’s comment broke the silence by saying “no chance”.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 12, 2021
Before now, no one expected Jose Mourinho and Mesut Ozil to banter publicly even though Ozil claimed in his book that he and the Portuguese tactician once had a heated argument while they were together at Real Madrid. The midfielder is seen as one of Mourinho’s most favorite players. He once described the midfielder as the best number 10 in the world.
Recall that between 2010 and 2013,
Jose Mourinho and Mesut Ozil were together at Real Madrid. Mourinho coached Ozil for three years, a period in which the German midfielder was at the peak of his football career.
They both won one La Liga title, one Copa del Rey, and one Supercopa de España before they both parted ways. Ozil joined Arsenal in 2013 for a then Arsenal’s transfer record fee worth €50 million. While Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea in the same year.
Apart from Ozil’s claim in a book that he and Mourinho had a heated argument in Real Madrid’s dressing room, the duo was never involved in any banter against each other. But in this case, they both had no choice than to banter with each other since they both represent two rival clubs.
Tottenham and Arsenal share one of the most heated rivalries in the Premier League and those who represent the two clubs are always expected to defend the club in the media and on the pitch. Hence, it was not a surprise that Jose Mourinho and Mesut Ozil had to banter with each other.
Tottenham vs Fulham: Jose Mourinho does not trust the antics of Fulham
Tight squeeze. Next is Spurs. 👍#FFC pic.twitter.com/o73zVROjXT
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) January 11, 2021
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho is suspecting that Fulham committed a foul play and he is looking forward to seeing the kind of squad the club will present against Tottenham on Wednesday.
Tottenham and Fulham were initially scheduled to play against each other on December 30 but the league match had to be postponed because Fulham reported a high number of coronavirus cases.
Mourinho said the world can only feel sorry for Fulham if they don’t present a strong team against Tottenham on Wednesday. He however urged them to apologize to the world if they present a strong squad against Tottenham.
“They played Saturday against QPR in London,” Mourinho said. “They have Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to prepare for the game tomorrow (Wednesday, January 13). If they come with half of the team I will be the first one to apologize to them, and I will be the first one to say we played this game with an advantage.
“If they come with their best team I think they should apologize to all of us. Come on, let’s play football, let’s behave the best we can, let’s protect our industry, our image, and let’s play football…
“We should see their team, their starting line-up, their bench, the players that are not involved. After that, we can all feel sorry for them or we can all think that they shouldn’t speak. My feeling is that they will play with everybody, maybe one player out, maximum two, that’s just my guess. Of course, we don’t have access to any of this information, it’s just a feeling I have, the best Fulham will be here.
“When we see the best Fulham then you realize lots of things they don’t make sense.”
