Jose
Mourinho should take a break from football after being sacked by Chelsea,
according to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.
Mourinho was relieved of his duties on Thursday afternoon with the Premier
League champions sitting just one point above the relegation zone.
Redknapp thinks Mourinho, 52, would now benefit from spending time away from
the game in order to recharge his batteries, as Pep Guardiola did after
leaving Barcelona in 2012 - taking a year's sabbatical in New York.
Since starting his managerial career with Benfica in 2000, Mourinho has
enjoyed just two extended breaks, after departing the Lisbon club and then
following his first exit from Chelsea in September 2007.
"Only he knows where he goes next," Redknapp told Sky Sports News HQ. "I
think he needs a bit of break from the game though, I really do. He needs a
break for the rest of the season. This can't have been healthy for him.
"A lot has been said about him, but he's a brilliant manager and the league
has been better off for him. But he has these moments and it always seems to
be the same outcome.
"My advice: have a rest, step away, and get the adrenaline back. He hasn't
looked like a man who loves football anymore."
Redknapp, however, was not shocked to learn of Mourinho's fate after the
torrid season Chelsea have endured so far.
"I wasn't that surprised really, especially after Monday's result [a 2-1
loss to Leicester] and what he said after the game," said Redknapp. "You
can't get rid of players on long contracts these days. You have to trace it
back, there was a strange reaction towards the manager after the Swansea
goals on the opening day.
"There was always a bit of light and shade with Jose, but there's been a lot
more shade this season. They haven't performed in the way they would have
wanted and the owner has obviously decided it's the only way."
The former Liverpool and England midfielder also believes there will be a
number of Chelsea players glad to see the back of Mourinho.
"I can't sit here and say I know the players will be that disappointed," he
said. "If they were they'd have produced that performance for him. I think
there will be lots of them who are glad to see the back of him, who've had
arguments with him this season.
"Pretty much every player has been left out at one time or another. Jose's
tried to find the reason, he's left out Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and even
his captain John Terry.
"It's been a scatter-gun approach, searching for the person behind the
scenes causing all the problems, but you can't seem to find him because
there's a few of them."
However, Redknapp feels that whoever now replaces Mourinho at Chelsea will
benefit from being in charge of a group of world-class players hungry to
make a point to the watching public.
"Whoever is going to come in, that club is going to fly now," said Redknapp.
"They're going to win a lot of games, as if to prove, 'It's not about Jose
Mourinho and he's not the reason we won the league last year'.
"They've got great players there. Whoever comes in has got to get people
like Eden Hazard back on side, the captain [John Terry], who is a big
influence - players that can produce big performances.
"It's a brilliant opportunity for someone. They can't become bad players
overnight. It won't be long before they start winning games again."
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