Jose Mourinho is not one of the coaches admired by Xavi Hernandez

DBasia.news –  Al-Sadd’s coach Xavi Hernandez did not name Jose Mourinho when asked to name some of the top coaches in Europe he admires.

Xavi Hernandez, 39, began his coaching career this year by coaching the club he strengthened in mid-2015-2019, Al-Sadd. Recently, Xavi brought Al-Sadd to the quarter-finals of the 2019 Club World Cup after a 3-1 win over Hienghene in the play-offs.

Xavi’s coaching career is still ‘green’. However, La Masia’s product already has a philosophy of the style of play it believes, namely an offensive game that relies on ball possession. In that respect, Xavi is similar to his former coach, Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, is one of the top European coaches he admires. Besides mentioning Guardiola, Xavi also discussed Diego Simeone, Jurgen Klopp, Luis Aragone, Vicente Del Bosque, and Luis Enrique. But, he did not mention one name: Jose Mourinho.

“Now that I have seen how difficult this job is, I am clearly amazed at every coach who comes and changes the club. It’s quite clear that Simeone’s coaching style is not the same as mine, but I am still impressed with him for everything he has achieved at Atletico Madrid and also for the club,” said Xavi when interviewed by FIFA.

“Coaches like Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have also made their own mark as coaches, and Luis Aragone, Vicente del Bosque and Luis Enrique are also great coaches. In some ways, a team reflects on his coach.”

“Then coaches like Klopp, Simeone, and Guardiola each have their own style and way of playing, this is very important. They can convey their philosophy and style of play to the players,” he explained.

The absence of Mourinho’s name is quite unique. The reason is, despite the controversy with his pragmatic thinking about football, Mourinho is also a successful coach in Europe who is swaying the trophy.

Even so in the past, Xavi has criticized Mourinho for damaging Real Madrid and El Clasico’s match against Barcelona.

“Mourinho is a very defensive coach and playing against Inter is not easy. That is his style and he practices it at Chelsea and Real Madrid too,” Xavi said of Mourinho

“He takes care of all the details, he closes all the gaps and he doesn’t give you a lot of space. I prefer other styles of football. I don’t criticize, but I don’t like to play like that and my team will never have that attitude.”.

“Sometimes when things don’t go well for Mourinho, he wants war, not football,” he concluded.