Jose Mourinho showed his true colours pre-Man United as Tottenham verdict received

Jose Mourinho was never fully welcomed by Tottenham Hotspur's fanbase, particularly for his close connection with Chelsea and his brand of football, which rarely excited supporters during the depths of the pandemic.

cemented himself as a villain in last year, when inexplicably during a press conference while manager admitted that he had no great connection to the club. "I hope the Tottenham fans don't get me wrong but the only club in my career where I don't have still a deep feeling for is ," he explained.

"Probably because the stadium was empty, Covid time. Probably because [Spurs chairman Daniel Levy] didn't let me win a final and win a trophy.

"But it's the only one, so after that - Porto, , Inter, Real Madrid, - all the clubs I feel a connection. I love every club because I felt the other way around - they also loved me. So with Roma, one day it will be hard but we will be connected forever like I am with all my previous clubs - apart [from] Mr. Levy's club."

In his press conference on Wednesday ahead of the visit from United in the , Mourinho doubled down on his true feelings for United. "I left with a good feeling to the club, with a good feeling to the fans and I want the best for them," the Portuguese head coach reminisced about his time at Old Trafford.

"So if things are not going amazingly well for them it's not something that makes me happy. But at the same time I have no time and it doesn't make sense for me to be thinking about what happened, what didn't happen."

It's maybe a damning indictment of how bad things got at Spurs for Mourinho that he holds a closer bond with a club that he picked fault at for those working behind the scenes, than Tottenham. Nevertheless, his own personal preference towards what is now Ange Postecoglou's team did not stop the Fenerbahce boss from acknowledging their strengths.

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"If I have to say now which [I think] are the two biggest candidates to win the Europa League, then I think it's easy, Manchester United and Tottenham," he added in his pre-match press conference. "The Premier League is a different level of quality, intensity, pace, tactical culture - it's a different level of everything.

"Tomorrow, I think we are going to play against one of the two strongest teams." Mourinho might well not be liked at Tottenham, but those latest words will be music to the ears of their supporters.

Postecoglou understands the pressure he's under to deliver a trophy for a club which has been starved of success in recent years. The Europa League or the FA Cup is arguably his best shot especially after the draw to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup. Spurs will need to embrace their favourite status in the Europa League if they are to prove Mourinho right this season.