Mourinho Enjoys Repartee With Sydney FC Coach Arnold

IT wasn’t supposed to be like this. There were too many smiles, too many jokes, too much mutual respect and appreciation. When the world’s two grumpiest coaches came face to face, we expected a standover contest and ended up with stand-up comedy.
Sydney FC’s Graham Arnold came into the room first, his face promisingly furrowed with a frown that suggested someone had told him a referee had just bought the house next door. Then Jose Mourinho followed, with an apologetic little wave and a smile of acknowledgement for those present from Chelsea’s triple EPL-winning coach.
The Chelsea coach described his “responsibility to play well, to play our best players, to try to win, and to give the supporters a good experience.” Back came Arnold. “We’ll give it our best shots but Jose, you don’t have to play your best team,” he said. “We’re good hosts but we’re not that good.”
Then Mourinho was asked, tongue in cheek, if the prospect of an away game in front of such a sizeable crowd meant he was tempted to “park the bus” and load up his defence.
“When the opponent has the ball you have to park the bus all the time,” he said grinning hugely. “If the opponent doesn’t score goals you have more chances to win. But I can give already a tip to the coach Arnold. My three attacking players will be [Loic] Remy, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard. So even if you park the bus - with these three guys, be careful.”
Ah, replied Arnold. “Can we have a double decker bus.”