Mourinho questions number of foreign Premier League managers

Premier League management jobs are coming about too easily for foreign managers, according to Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho is in his second spell at Stamford Bridge after managing the reigning champions from 2004-2007 before returning in 2013 and guiding the club to Premier League glory last season.

The Portuguese boss faces Italian manager Claudio Ranieri on Monday when Chelsea travel to Leicester City’s King Power Stadium and he spoke about the high number of foreign managers in the league.

“I think the Premier League was quite a closed space for foreign managers and to come here was not easy,” Mourinho said.

“To come here, you had to do something serious. I think I did enough to deserve to be here. You come to a country number one in European football, number one in the Championship, and you feel you deserve to be here.

“I think in this moment it’s too easy. In this moment the number of foreign coaches in the Premier League, even in the Championship, is too big compared with the number of English, or in this case British, managers.”

There are currently 12 foreign managers in the Premier League with just eight Brits remaining following the sacking of Garry Monk by Swansea City last week.

Mourinho said that he felt some sympathy for British coaches.

“In this moment, for example, in Portugal we have 18 teams in the top division and, I think, 15 Portuguese coaches,” Mourinho said.

“Some people say it’s a little bit of an effect of what happened with me – Portuguese, young, gets Porto champions, champions again, Champions League, success and people start believing and start giving chances.

“[Britain has] lots of good coaches. The only thing I can say is that, in my previous time here and now again, you have good managers, no doubt about it.”

However, Mourinho said with few in charge of top-flight clubs, the possible pool of British successors to England manager Roy Hodgson, whose contract expires after Euro 2016, is small.

“I think there’s a consequence for the national managers. I think the game gets richer when different ideas and difficult experiences meet. So, in terms of football, I’m not saying it’s negative for the competition,” Mourinho said.

“What I’m saying is it’s more difficult if you have a group of managers and in this group you have a smaller group of British managers. For them, it’s more difficult.”