Jose Mourinho has offered a candid reassessment of one of the earliest chapters of his coaching career, dismissing his official title during his time at Barcelona in the 1990s as little more than a technicality. Speaking in the new three-part Netflix documentary series MOURINHO, the 63-year-old, who has just embarked on his second stint in charge of Real Madrid, insisted his real duties at Barcelona went far beyond translating for then-manager Sir Bobby Robson.
Mourinho worked alongside the late English manager at Camp Nou during the mid-1990s, a period widely remembered for his role interpreting Robson's instructions to Spanish-speaking players and media. But in the documentary, Mourinho pushes back firmly against that characterization, describing the label as inaccurate and, in his own blunt words, a "big bulls***."
"Back then, I was working with Mr Robson. It's a big bulls***, the translator job. It's a big bulls***, it's a big bulls***," Mourinho says in the series.
Pressed to elaborate, he detailed the breadth of responsibilities he actually carried out at the club. "I was the goalkeeper coach, I was the analyst, I was the scout. Because I studied sports science at university, I could even help in the gym. I was doing everything for the boss, everything for the team," he explained. He went on to argue that fluency in English shouldn't be conflated with a purely administrative function. "If you speak English and nobody else does, that doesn't mean that you are a translator. It means that you are academically at the superior level. But I was not a translator; I was Mr Bobby Robson's assistant coach."
The documentary includes archival audio of Robson himself reflecting on the young Mourinho during that era, describing him as talented despite limited formal coaching credentials. "Jose is a good-looking chap, very shy – a bit nervous perhaps – but at the same time, he had an air of confidence about him," Robson said. "He had a very small, minor coaching qualification, but he was bright. And he stood beside me, very often behind me, the best-paid interpreter in the world."
Mourinho notes that his partnership with Robson lasted a single season before Louis van Gaal arrived at the club. Van Gaal recalls in the documentary the moment he decided to keep Mourinho on staff in an expanded capacity. "I said to Jose: 'Maybe you can proceed as my assistant.' It was a big gamble, because I didn't know him," Van Gaal says.
The series also draws a parallel between Mourinho's Barcelona days and his childhood, when he served as a ball boy for teams managed by his father, using those moments on the pitch to observe matches closely and relay tactical observations back to him.
Mourinho's departure from Barcelona eventually led him into two managerial posts in his native Portugal, culminating in a breakthrough at Porto, where he won his first Champions League title. Successive triumphs followed, including back-to-back Premier League titles and three domestic cups with Chelsea, and a second Champions League crown at Inter Milan. His career later took him through a first spell at Real Madrid, a return to Chelsea, spells at Manchester United and Tottenham, and subsequent jobs with Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica, before his fresh appointment at Real Madrid this summer.
In a separate revelation from the documentary, Mourinho also confirms that he had agreed in 2013 to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, only to change course and rejoin Chelsea instead. He would eventually take charge at Old Trafford in 2016, remaining there until 2018.
Based on reporting from The Independent.