Tammy Abraham has praised José Mourinho for breathing belief back into his game and described the Roma manager as “one of the best coaches on the planet”, as the Portuguese prepares to take charge of his first game in England since his sacking by Tottenham last year.
Mourinho will attempt to guide the Serie A club to a first‑leg victory against his former protege, the Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers, in the Europa Conference League semi-finals. Abraham will hope to add to his 26-goal tally at the King Power Stadium on Thursday, when the Leicester striker Jamie Vardy could make his first start since sustaining a niggling knee injury last month.
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Abraham is the leading goalscorer in the competition and no Englishman has scored more goals this season. “José is for me one of the best coaches to walk on the planet; he knows how to really drive you,” he said. “This is what I needed. I needed someone who could push me and really drive me. He always wants more. For me and the players he is the perfect manager.
“For me it was all about someone believing in me. Frank Lampard gave me a chance, he believed in me, showed real faith in me, and that’s when I was producing.
“It is the same with the coach now. When you have belief from the manager, it makes you want to do the best you can. It is all about confidence really. Coming off the back of a difficult season at Chelsea where I wasn’t really playing games to coming here and shining again, it’s like a dream come true.”
Mourinho conceded his sacking by Spurs six days before the Carabao Cup final last year was “quite unique but Mr Levy is a unique person in football”. Mourinho, who has twice won the Champions League, with Porto and Internazionale, said he does not look down on the inaugural Europa Conference League and is hungry to win a 26th title.
View image in fullscreenJosé Mourinho congratulates Tammy Abraham during Roma’s Europa Conference League match against Vitesse in March. Photograph: Fabrizio Corradetti/Shutterstock
“I see this as my competition right now,” said Mourinho, who was appointed last May. “That’s because I’m not in the Champions League or the Europa League, I’m in this and I’m in it to win. It’s my competition. We need to fight to the bitter end because we have suffered for this competition and dropped league points pursuing it.”
Mourinho made Rodgers his youth team coach at Chelsea in 2004 and later promoted him to reserve team manager. The Leicester manager considers the Portuguese a mentor and “one of the greats of our generation” and said he has nothing to prove.
“I’ll never forget what I gained from him as a young coach,” Rodgers said. “I studied him and watched him, and I was in pole position for that. That time at Chelsea was a really special period. He is one of the great managers, he has nothing to prove to anyone, he’s a winner and he’ll always be a winner. But he’ll always want to prove it to himself. I can’t speak any higher of him.”
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Jonny Evans is set to return to the Leicester defence after being rested after being rested for last Saturday’s stalemate against Aston Villa, and Boubakary Soumaré will also return to the squad. The return of Vardy, who played 20 minutes off the bench against Villa, is a major boost.
“I am not sure [he could play 90 minutes] but he will be in the squad and that is a big plus for us,” Rodgers said. “He is a top player who has that streetwise element, cuteness and experience.”
