Jose Mourinho ‘has been affected’ by Tottenham appointing nemesis Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte satisfied despite stalemate

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Former Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho has reportedly been affected by his old club appointing nemesis Antonio Conte as their new manager. Mourinho spent 18 months in charge of Spurs during what was an ultimately disastrous spell for the Portuguese boss.

He was named Roma manager soon after being sacked by Daniel Levy at Tottenham, returning to Serie A for the first time since 2010.

In that first spell in Italy, he led Inter Milan to two successive Scudettos as well as the Champions League.

Since then, his reputation as a manager has suffered a succession of blows, with the Portuguese being sacked by Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs.

He has attempted to restore that reputation by taking over from Paulo Fonseca at Roma, but so far that it is not working out.

Mourinho’s men have won just one of their last seven games, with that dreadful run including a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt.

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He then saw his side throw away a 2-1 lead at Venezia last weekend to lose 3-2 to the newly-promoted side.

That has left them sixth in Serie A, already 13 points behind league leaders Napoli, with Mourinho’s reign threatening to fall apart even at this early stage.

One of the possible reasons for Mourinho’s recent struggles could reportedly be down to the appointment of Conte at Tottenham.

The Italian was last week announced as Nuno Espirito Santo’s replacement at the Premier League club.

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Conte and Mourinho have a long-running rivalry which dates back to when the pair were in charge of Chelsea and United respectively.

Mourinho accused Conte of “humiliating” the Red Devils with his exuberant celebrations during a 4-0 Chelsea win in October 2017.

After winning the title that season Conte said that the Blues were keen to avoid another “Mourinho season” which led the Portuguese to make a dig at the Italian’s receding hairline.

The pair have continued to trade insults in the years since, with Mourinho calling Conte a “crazy guy” and the former Juve boss branding him a “little man” in return.

Conte has had a strange trend of taking over clubs that Mourinho used to manage, with Spurs joining Chelsea and Inter on that list.

And his latest role appears to have left Mourinho unsettled and unhappy that his nemesis is again replacing him.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Conte’s appointment at Spurs was “not received with indifference” by Mourinho.

That is said to have been down to the fractious nature of their relationship, though Mourinho will have to overcome that quickly as he fights to save his job.
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