Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho called himself “the foreigner” on Saturday when referring to his need to adapt to Turkish football.
The Portuguese manager described himself as “a special person” during his first spell at Chelsea before choosing to be known as “the experienced one” while at Tottenham.
Asked about Turkish football after his side's 2-2 Super Lig draw against Goztepe, Mourinho said: “The passion, the love, the enthusiasm totally matches my passion for football. Then there are other things that are beyond my control.” [they] “It's cultural. It seems that I'm the one who has to adapt and not the other way around. I'm the one who arrived, I'm the foreigner. I'm not going to change the state of things. I need to adapt… I'm not a magician, I have experience.”
Mourinho, 61, took over at Fenerbahce this summer, six months after being sacked by Roma.
It is Mourinho's first experience outside Europe's top five leagues since 2004, when he left FC Porto after winning the Champions League and signed for Chelsea.
Since then, he has also coached Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham in a career filled with trophies and controversy off the field.
Mourinho has set out to end his club's 10-year Super League title drought.
The draw with Goztepe followed their elimination in midweek in Champions League qualifying against Lille.
The Istanbul-based club led 2-0 at half-time before hosts Gotzepe fought back and found a late equaliser.
“Too naive or too poetic, in a league that is not poetic,” Mourinho said of his team's performance. “I always say that when we are winning at half-time, you have to be ambitious and kill the game off… Anti-football in other countries is called being intelligent, I think they are.” [Fenerbahce players] “We also have to be smart.”
