Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed Jose Mourinho as “one of the greats” as he prepares to make up his mind against Roma bosses in the Europa Conference League semi-finals on Thursday.
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Rodgers’s side hosted Roma as Mourinho returned for his first game on English soil since being sacked by Tottenham last year.
Mourinho has faced a tough phase at Roma, finishing fifth in Serie A after a season that has reinforced the belief of some critics that the Portuguese coach has gone beyond his best.
But Rodgers, who coached the youth team at Chelsea during Mourinho’s first spell at Stamford Bridge, is adamant that his old boss is still a force to be reckoned with.
“He has nothing to prove to anyone. He will always be a winner. I can’t speak to him more. He is one of the greats of our generation,” Rodgers told reporters on Wednesday.
“I have nothing but admiration for him. I became a manager in my own right but I can never forget what I got from him as a youth coach. I studied him and watched him and that time he It was a really special period.”
In his prime, Mourinho won the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan and three Premier League titles in two stints at Chelsea.
He led Inter to a pair of Serie A titles and won La Liga with Real Madrid, while also winning Manchester United’s most recent trophies in 2017.
Asked what ranks Mourinho among the greatest managers of all time, Rodgers pointed to the 59-year-old’s array of qualities.
“He had the X factor. Not a single thing. He was brilliant in many aspects of the game,” Rodgers said.
“The players’ detail-oriented, human-management, their understanding of the game’s tactical adaptations was the one quality I was able to see.”
Despite criticism of the timing of the introduction of the Europa Conference League, Rodgers believes the continent’s third-tier tournament has been an entertaining success in its first season.
After winning Leicester’s first FA Cup last season, they are eyeing their first European award.
“It’s a prestigious competition, all four teams would like to win it,” he said.
“It is a great opportunity against a top-class team. We will do everything we can to reach the finals. This is yet another symbol of our growth as a club.”
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