UK: Jose Mourinho says pressure to keep his job ‘like oxygen’ to him

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho says he lives and breathes for pressure.

The Portuguese’s future at Spurs has come under scrutiny, with a run of five defeats in six Premier League games leaving them ninth in the table.

Mourinho said the last time he “felt in trouble” was when he was out of work for almost a year before taking the Spurs job in November 2019.

“The problem is if you don’t have pressure,” he said. “It comes like oxygen, it is our life.”

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Talking before Sunday’s home game against Burnley (kick-off 14:00 GMT), the former Chelsea and Manchester United boss added: “I don’t think there is any coach in the world without objectives or any kind of pressure.

“You just get used to it and also used to the way the press is at the time, you just have to adapt to it.”

Spurs’ recent poor league form leaves them nine points adrift of the top four and a spot in next season’s Champions League.

They can also qualify for Europe’s premier competition by winning the Europa League this season, and face Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb in the last 16.

“When you are in this competition and you get to this stage you don’t get easy clubs,” Mourinho said.

“Croatian football is Croatian football, lots of talent. It’s a football country. [It’s] not a very difficult flight, not too far, I feel very positive things but the most important thing is that we get to the quarter-finals.”