Mourinho: Foreign coaches fail to understand English football's 'culture'

In 2005, Jose Mourinho, then employed by Chelsea, was forced to make a sacrifice due to fixture congestion. The Blues had three matches in one week, including the first leg of a tie against Barcelona in the Champions League and the final of the League Cup in which Liverpool was the opponent. As a result, the Special One opted to field a weakened starting XI for a date with Newcastle United in the FA Cup.

Chelsea went on to defeat Barcelona over two legs and beat Liverpool in extra time to win the League Cup, but the Blues crashed out of the FA Cup, falling 1-0 to Newcastle.

On Friday, Mourinho recalled the hectic week and admitted he "threw away" the trip to St. James' Park. But the Portuguese manager admitted to learning something during the ordeal and expressed his belief that foreign managers take time to understand English football's culture.

"Maybe we don't have as many English managers with that culture as we should," Mourinho said, according to the Guardian's Jamie Jackson. "Maybe we foreign managers, not everybody studies and understands the culture of this country.

"In my case, I had immediately, in my first time, that situation with the match at Newcastle. So for me it was a lesson. With Chelsea I lost against a League One or League Two team (later under his management) but I never threw it away. We lost because we lost. So I try always to go serious. I like Wembley. I like the FA Cup. So I have to try to get the second one. Normally upsets happen because of attitude. Because you think it's easy and it's not easy. Also, the lower leagues' teams are getting better and better.

"Sometimes we have to give some rest to some players. There are times when we have to give some players football. And sometimes the players who are not playing a lot, they are punished by that lack of minutes. It's a combination of factors. We have to be alert because it's never easy."

Mourinho's words came at a busy time for United. The Red Devils defeated AS Saint-Etienne 3-0 at Old Trafford on Thursday and will visit Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup's fifth round Sunday. Only three days later, the English club will play the second leg of its Europa League tie against Les Verts.