Turkish boss brutally exposes Jose Mourinho and hints at why he failed at Tottenham and Man Utd

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Jose Mourinho has been slammed by Galatasaray manager, Okan Buruk, who has suggested he isn’t “focused” like in other times in his career.

The Portuguese coach has seen plenty of change occur over the past few years, with spells at Manchester United and Tottenham coming to an end.

Moving away from the Premier League, Jose Mourinho moved to Fenerbahce, but struggles there saw him dismissed earlier this year.

It hasn’t taken long for the 62-year-old to get back into action, as he returned to Benfica as their head coach shortly after.

However, there is a sense that the manager has changed a bit, with Okan Buruk certainly hinting towards some problems for his former opposite number.

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Jose Mourinho criticised for lack of focus by Okan Buruk after Tottenham and Man United roles

Jose Mourinho is best remembered for his roles at Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto, having guided all of those teams to success.

However, in the following years, there have been some turbulent times, such as spells with Manchester United, Tottenham, Roma and Fenerbahce.

While there has been the odd trophy here and there to follow him, it isn’t quite the rampant style of Mourinho football that once was.

For Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk, that is down to a change in approach from Mourinho when it comes to his focus.

Speaking to The Athletic, he said: “It was very difficult [to face Mourinho]. When he signed for Fenerbahce, he started to talk a lot.

“We know his style. He doesn’t just play inside the pitch. He wants to play outside the pitch too. He tried a lot of things, but in the end, we were better than him. I was better than him.

“We won the title against him. We beat them twice in their stadium. For this year, he will not be here, unfortunately. We were waiting for two more games against him.”

It’s a brutal claim, which was followed up with some criticism of the manager overall.

Buruk added: “He’s not focused like before. He doesn’t think about football like before.

“He has never changed his style as a coach. He is a really important character; he has really important charisma, but in terms of football, we have to upgrade ourselves every year.

“Maybe the problem for him is that he hasn’t upgraded himself as a coach.”

The suggestion that Mourinho didn’t progress or evolve may well play a part in the struggles he eventually had at Man United and Tottenham.

The manager may well argue that he won the Europa League, the EFL Cup and the Community Shield with the Red Devils, while he wasn’t given a chance to take the EFL Cup final for Spurs.

However, his difficulties in getting consistent results with them have seen the jobs go down as a failure, and his roles since haven’t seen him back in the spotlight.

Now, back at Benfica, the manager is looking to recapture some of that magic from earlier in his career.

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Jose Mourinho speaks out on managerial desire

While there may be some suggestion that, all these years on, Mourinho doesn’t have that desire to push on like he once did, he has rubbished those claims.

He believes that, even now, he is a better coach than he was before, as he told UEFA: “I’m better today than I was before.

“I think a coach is better after going through many experiences. The main difference I recognise in myself is the fact that maybe in the beginning I was more self-centred, and I changed in a way that, I don’t know… I feel like I’m more altruistic.

“I feel like I’m in football to help others rather than to help myself. I’m here to help my players more than to think about what’s going to happen in my life.

“I think more about the club, I think more about the fans’ joy, more than about me.”

That runs in stark contrast to what was suggested by Buruk, but Mourinho will be looking to prove himself once again, now he is at Benfica.