Jose Mourinho will "always be the Special One," according to Mauricio Pochettino, who thinks the Manchester United manager will be remembered as one of football's greats.

Pochettino will face Mourinho for the 11th time as a manager when Tottenham Hotspur travel to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday's. And he says Mourinho, who joined Real Madrid in May 2010 while he was in his first managerial job at Espanyol, was one of his early influences as a manager.

Mourinho has struggled since the start of last season, earning 36 points in 30 games with Chelsea and United but Pochettino said the Portuguese boss has lost none of his magic.

"He is the Special One and will always be the Special One," Pochettino told a news conference. "For me, he was a reference when I started my career at Espanyol. He was always very kind to me and opened his door.

"I always assess my colleagues, and try to be objective -- I really believe he is one of the best. Sometimes you struggle a bit -- it's not easy to arrive at new club, set up ideas and philosophy but, for me, he was, is, will be one of best managers in football history."

United have won one of their last six league matches, drawing four, leaving Mourinho frustrated by his side's inability to kill off games.

He was charged for improper conduct by the Football Association (FA) after he was sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle along the touchline in the 1-1 draw with West Ham -- the latest in a series of misdemeanours since he joined United in the summer.

Pochettino, whose side endured a frustrating run of just one win in 10 matches until last weekend's thrashing of Swansea, sympathises with Mourinho and says he is being treated unfairly.

"For us, it was the same one month ago -- we dominated the games, better stats than our opponents and in the end we draw or lost. It happens. I can understand him," Pochettino added.

"I cannot say [anything] against him, I always respect other managers' opinions. It's important to accept that. I like Mourinho, I have a good relationship with him but I try to be objective too and his behaviour is no different from another.

"But because he is the Special One, sometimes people, referees, the media focus on him. But compare with another manager, who behaves worse than him, and they are not in the focus because they are not the Special One like him."

A defeat would leave Manchester United nine points behind Tottenham, and surely out of the title race, but Pochettino insists it is too early to write-off the 13-time Premier League champions.

"The gap looks bigger but there are a lot of games ahead to finish the league. The Premier League is very tough, maybe now you are in a good or bad period but you always have the chance to recover the gap. When you have good players, good squad, you are in a good club, it's always possible in football."

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by Dan Kilpatrick

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