Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho gave a frank assessment of his own playing career when asked about the performance of one of his defenders
Mourinho played in Portugal’s lower leagues as a midfielder before ending his playing career at the age of 24 to venture into coaching.
When asked to assess the performance of Fenerbahce left-back Jayden Oosterwolde in Thursday’s Europa League 1-1 draw at Twente, Mourinho said: “I don’t know if you played football, I did, low level, s— player but I did it.
“When you have a yellow card and you are a defender, you are in trouble. And Jayden got a yellow card in the 12th minute so to play 75 minutes against a good opponent, away from home and to play with a yellow card, I can promise you my friend, it’s not easy. So Jayden did a good job and we got a good point against a good team.”
Fenerbahce rescued a point at Twente when veteran forward Dusan Tadic equalised in the 71st minute.
“For me it’s not about the age, it’s good players, average players, bad players,” Mourinho said of the 35-year-old.
“He [Tadic] has a brain, he played with his brain, he understands everything. Who knows if he wants to coach one day because he has the right brain. He is fundamental for us.”