Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said that he loves Frank Lampard but is hoping that he will lose when Chelsea play Spurs on Sunday in the English Premier League.
“I think our feelings will be forever. I’ll always be grateful to him for what he gave me as a player. Nothing is going to change that. I love the guy, I will always love the guy. I hope he loses on Sunday,” Mourinho was quoted as saying to the reporters by Goal.com.
The former Chelsea boss also talked about the last season when he was managing Manchester United and lost to Lampard’s Derby County in the Football League Cup and denied that there will be any kind of extra buzz when he faces his former ward again.
On being asked if he will invite Lampard to a post-match drink, the 56-year-old dropped down the possibility of such a scenario.
He said, “I don’t think so because our stadium is built in the way that our office is completely on the inside of our private headquarters. Until now I didn’t invite any managers to go there and I don’t think I’ll do that with Frank.”
Tottenham had fallen behind in the points table but since Mourinho’s arrival they have cut down the gap with the top four clubs and are now placed fifth with 26 points, three behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Lampard’s team after a great run of form seem to have lost their direction a bit. They head across London to Spurs having lost four of their last seven matches across competitions. However, Mourinho did not take his opponents weakly and instead tried to assess the problems Chelsea are facing.
“It’s a collapse that keeps them fourth in the Premier League and still in the Champions League, playing an amazing knockout (last-16 tie) against Bayern Munich,” he added. If that’s a collapse, it’s not a bad collapse. They’re fine,” Mourinho said.