Jose Mourinho's new three-part documentary series on Netflix shows the 63-year-old manager displaying emotion rarely seen in public, including holding back tears while discussing how he processed the death of his father during his time as Manchester United manager in 2017.
"You don't want to make me cry, because I don't want," Mourinho says in the documentary, before a long pause in which he looks around, taps the table and tries to suppress his emotions.
Mourinho has won 26 major trophies across England, Spain, Portugal and Italy during his coaching career. Speaking later in the documentary, he says: "People think they know me, but they don't know me. And I'm happy they don't. It's a privilege for the people that know me. You want to do a documentary because of my career. You don't do a documentary with a guy that wins nothing in football."
The series is directed by Joe Pearlman, who has previously made documentaries about Robbie Williams and Lewis Capaldi, alongside BECKHAM producer John Battsek. It also touches on how Mourinho's children "enjoy life more without me" and how his father shaped him as a person.
Contributions from Ferguson, Ibrahimovic and Casillas
The documentary features insight from Frank Lampard, John Terry, Sir Alex Ferguson, Iker Casillas and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, among others. Not all of them praise Mourinho. Former Real Madrid captain Casillas describes the relationship he had with the manager as "very cold" and says it was "taken to a limit" during Mourinho's first spell at the club.
Ibrahimovic also speaks about how Mourinho impacted his career while at Inter Milan.
Real Madrid exit and Chelsea settlement
The documentary covers Mourinho's acrimonious exit from Real Madrid, after what former player Sami Khedira describes as a "nightmare" and poisonous dressing room. It also references the settlement Mourinho was forced to agree with former Chelsea club doctor Eva Carneiro over claims that he discriminated against her.
Mourinho discusses holding meetings about a possible return to Barcelona as manager in 2008, almost a decade after working there as an assistant, and says he still dislikes being described as "the translator."
Manchester United revelation
The biggest disclosure in the documentary is Mourinho admitting, for the first time, that he had verbally agreed to become Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement at Manchester United in 2013. He says the desire to feel "loved" again changed his mind, prompting a U-turn that saw him rejoin Chelsea instead.
"The objective of the work that we are doing is to tell the truth," Mourinho says when revealing the Manchester United disclosure.
