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Jose Mourinho has claimed that his alleged all-time XI, which included Cristiano Ronaldo in the side, is fake news. The Portuguese manager has insisted that he never named an all-time XI and urged the media to respect him and his players.
Mourinho is one of the greatest managers of all time and boasts an illustrious career across Europe. Known as the 'Special One', he had two stints with Chelsea and also managed the likes of Porto, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.
Mourinho also managed some of the greatest footballers over the last two decades. This list includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, and Karim Benzema, among others.
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A picture depicting Mourinho's all-time XI has been circulating on the internet since Tuesday (12 December), but the manager has now dismissed it. The all-time XI included as many as eight former Chelsea players with the other three being Cristiano Ronaldo, Javier Zanetti, and Mesut Ozil.
Mourinho took to Instagram to rubbish it as fake news and demanded respect for himself as his players. He insisted that he would never make an all-time XI because every player gave his best for him. He said, as quoted by talkSPORT:
"Fake news: JM’s best eleven, JM picks his best eleven… Fake news. I never ever did this. I always refused to do it, it is impossible for me to do it and I didn’t do it. Fake news. I never did and I will never do. I’ve had so many top players, but the most important thing is what those players gave to me.
"Players who gave me everything: quality, effort, blood and soul, they are all in my best eleven. All of them. That’s why I always refused to choose my best eleven. I love my players, I respect my players. Fake news. Please respect my history and respect my boys."
Mourinho has been in charge at AS Roma since 2021 and is doing a commendable job at the Stadio Olimpico. The 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League winners currently sit fifth in the league table, just two points away from the top four with a game in hand.
When Jose Mourinho picked between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
Jose Mourinho picked Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi when he was asked to pick between the two greats of the modern era more than a decade ago.
Mourinho claimed that Messi was used to playing with top players in a certain system whereas Ronaldo, who he managed at Real Madrid, had to adapt to different systems. He told Lisbon-based newspaper A Bola (h/t Independent) in 2012:
"I keep saying it's harder to be Cristiano than Lionel Messi. I'll tell you: Messi grew up in the team he plays for now; with the teammates, he plays with now. Not Cristiano. He was in England, then they put him here [Real Madrid] in a losing team. He had to grow over the last two years with this team which has been forming."
Mourinho continued:
"When someone with the same responsibility as me comes out and says: 'Mine is the best on the planet,' then I have to say: 'Mine was not born in Madeira, he was born on Mars; he is not from planet Earth, he is the best in the universe. If Messi is the best on the planet, Ronaldo is the best in the universe."
However, when Mourinho was the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, he was asked by SPORTbible to select the three greatest footballers, and named Lionel Messi, Pele, and Diego Maradona.
