Jose Mourinho has aimed a not so subtle dig at those who criticise his methods and his time at Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs have had their ups and downs this season, having topped the Premier League table briefly before Christmas only to slip down the positions during a poor start to 2021.
Mourinho‘s side have won six of their past eight matches in all competitions, but those two defeats in that run were a north London derby defeat at Arsenal and then an embarrassing collapse in Croatia as Tottenham threw away a 2-0 first leg lead to lose 3-0 at Dinamo Zagreb.
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The Spurs boss was answering questions in a virtual Game on with Mourinho event organised by the club’s sponsors AIA and he was asked how he deals with critics.
“I don’t think anybody is going to discuss rocket science with the guys from NASA, with everybody around the world,” he said.
“They think they can discuss football with one of the most important managers in the game. That’s the beauty of football. I got used to it. I appreciate that. So that’s fine for me.”
When asked where he gets the strength to be a football manager, having taken the helm at clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter Milan, he pointed to the large following he has across the world.
As Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have their own passionate followers who follow them rather than their clubs, so Mourinho sparks that same loyalty in his fanbase.
“Honestly I get my strength from myself but mainly from the people that I love and the people who I know they love me, even if many of them I don’t know them, I haven’t met them,” he said.
“I used to call them the Mourinistas, because in Portugal we use ‘ista’ in the end of the name of the club that we love, to express the support.
“For example if you are from Porto you say Portista, if you are from Benfica you say Benficista and if you are from Mourinho you say Mourinista. I have so many Mourinistas around the world that I play for them.”