Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists that his Real Madrid counterpart Jose Mourinho is sometimes "managing a circus", and at other times a "fantastic outfit"
The two managers were rivals during Portuguese boss' three-year stint at Chelsea, which saw him win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup. He then moved on to Inter, guiding the Italian champions to the pinnacle of Europe by winning the Champions League last season, before switching allegiance to Real Madrid.
Ferguson reckons the dual nature of the job makes it Mourinho's most difficult job to date, but believes that the Spanish heavyweights have improved since he took charge at the Bernabeu.
"Real Madrid are better off without question," Ferguson said, according to The Mirror.
"You can expect Real to improve with Jose this year. The Real Madrid job is the hardest challenge in his career.
"I’ve spoken to Jose a couple of times. He’s not managing a normal football club, sometimes he’s managing a circus, sometimes a fantastic outfit in terms of the quality of the football they can produce and the kind of players they always want. It’s a very difficult club to manage."
In the meantime, when concerning domestic matters, the United boss quipped that Chelsea must have picked their own fixture list, as they now have five victories from five games played in the Premier League - against West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, West Ham United and recently Blackpool.
However, the 68-year-old maintained that the current title holders have still done well to register five consecutive victories, which sees them having scored 21 goals while conceding just one.
"I think Chelsea chose the calendar themselves," said Ferguson. "They’ve had a quite amazing start to the season. But they finished last season scoring a lot of goals against weaker teams and have continued that way.
"You still have to beat those teams, and Chelsea done that in quite a strong fashion. Anyone who wins the league will have to finish above them. The previous winners always deserve respect, because the Premier League is a difficult league."
Coming to matters involving the title race - which saw the Old Trafford outfit miss out on claiming a fourth consecutive triumph last season - sees Ferguson insisting that it will be a three horse race to the finish line with Chelsea, United and Arsenal battling to be crowned champions.
As for which club will occupy the fourth and final spot that points towards Champions League football, the Scot insists that it is still to early too make any bold predictions.
"It’s still too early to make strong predictions," he said. "You have to give respect to Tottenham’s progress in the last few years. The disappointment for me is Everton’s start. I put them down as one of the big favourites.
"It remains to be seen in what order and if Tottenham can break into the top four. But the top three are the strongest at the moment.
"Manchester City did not have the strongest start to the season, but you have to think that with the squad they have they’ll be there.
"I saw them beat Liverpool and they’re going to be a big challenge with the power they have and the big lads in the team. Roberto Mancini bought half a team in the summer and it’s not easy to bed down. But if they get continuity they’ll certainly be a threat.
"Ourselves, Arsenal and Chelsea have started reasonably well and will all be there at the end of the season."
Ferguson reckons the dual nature of the job makes it Mourinho's most difficult job to date, but believes that the Spanish heavyweights have improved since he took charge at the Bernabeu.
"Real Madrid are better off without question," Ferguson said, according to The Mirror.
"You can expect Real to improve with Jose this year. The Real Madrid job is the hardest challenge in his career.
"I’ve spoken to Jose a couple of times. He’s not managing a normal football club, sometimes he’s managing a circus, sometimes a fantastic outfit in terms of the quality of the football they can produce and the kind of players they always want. It’s a very difficult club to manage."
In the meantime, when concerning domestic matters, the United boss quipped that Chelsea must have picked their own fixture list, as they now have five victories from five games played in the Premier League - against West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, West Ham United and recently Blackpool.
However, the 68-year-old maintained that the current title holders have still done well to register five consecutive victories, which sees them having scored 21 goals while conceding just one.
"I think Chelsea chose the calendar themselves," said Ferguson. "They’ve had a quite amazing start to the season. But they finished last season scoring a lot of goals against weaker teams and have continued that way.
"You still have to beat those teams, and Chelsea done that in quite a strong fashion. Anyone who wins the league will have to finish above them. The previous winners always deserve respect, because the Premier League is a difficult league."
Coming to matters involving the title race - which saw the Old Trafford outfit miss out on claiming a fourth consecutive triumph last season - sees Ferguson insisting that it will be a three horse race to the finish line with Chelsea, United and Arsenal battling to be crowned champions.
As for which club will occupy the fourth and final spot that points towards Champions League football, the Scot insists that it is still to early too make any bold predictions.
"It’s still too early to make strong predictions," he said. "You have to give respect to Tottenham’s progress in the last few years. The disappointment for me is Everton’s start. I put them down as one of the big favourites.
"It remains to be seen in what order and if Tottenham can break into the top four. But the top three are the strongest at the moment.
"Manchester City did not have the strongest start to the season, but you have to think that with the squad they have they’ll be there.
"I saw them beat Liverpool and they’re going to be a big challenge with the power they have and the big lads in the team. Roberto Mancini bought half a team in the summer and it’s not easy to bed down. But if they get continuity they’ll certainly be a threat.
"Ourselves, Arsenal and Chelsea have started reasonably well and will all be there at the end of the season."
source: goal.com
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