Former England defender Ledley King worked under Jose Mourinho at Tottenham and shed some light on what the legendary manager is really like
Ledley King says that Jose Mourinho recruited him as a coach at Tottenham mid-haircut. The ex-England centre-back has opened up about the Portuguese icon's true character.
Spurs legend King was forced to retire early due to a persistent knee issue and hung up his boots in 2012. The 45-year-old remained in north London and in 2020 he received an unexpected offer from the incoming Mourinho.
The former Chelsea and Manchester United boss asked King if he would be a member of his coaching staff and the defender recalled the exact moment he found out over FaceTime, shedding light on Mourinho's true nature.
"I think I always admired Jose, do you know what I mean? I was always jealous of the England boys at Chelsea, that they had him as a manager," said King, speaking on In The Mixer brought to you by Sky Bet.
"I obviously played against his teams. But when he joined Tottenham, I bumped into him one day in the corridors and he said, 'I want you on the training pitch.'
"I said, 'Well, I'm not a coach.' He said, 'It doesn't matter. I want you on the training pitch.' So I started going in, watching a bit of training and eventually speaking to players, younger players.
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"The next thing I know I'm working with someone and we're clipping up videos, discussing things. This is for free! Then, this was Covid, the season stopped. So everyone went away. Then they came back and finished the season off.
"But I stayed away because it wasn't allowed. There was only the actual staff present. So in the summer, I got FaceTime, I'm getting a haircut with my last little bits of hair and it's Jose's FaceTime.
"So I jumped out of the chair, got somewhere quiet. He said, 'I want you on my staff next season, full-time.' Couldn't turn it down, could I?"
King went into detail about his time under Mourinho, letting slip what he's like behind the scenes and admitting that he once thought Spurs could be Premier League champions under the iconic head coach.
"I enjoyed it," King continued. "He's a great person, great laugh, very clever. I mean he's got stories for days, he enjoys telling them, not just to staff close to him.
"The first part of the season we were flying, we were doing well. We had no fans unfortunately, which was a shame. Someone like Jose needs fans, he needs that.
"I remember beating Arsenal at home, Man City at home. Beat Man United 6-1 at Old Trafford. Got to December and I'm thinking, we were top, and I think we're going to win the league. First season as a coach I thought, 'I'm going to win the league, because I've got Magic Man Jose with me.' Do you know what I mean?
"Then it kind of just dipped. But I loved my time with him, great guy. He's got so much passion for the game. People looking at him might think, 'Why don't you just retire and enjoy life?' He lives for it. He absolutely loves the game."
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