Jose Mourinho has warned Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola he’s bang up for the fight this season because there’s still plenty of life in the ‘young’ dog yet.
At 57, Mourinho is the fifth-oldest manager in the Premier League and, having won everything there is to win at club level, he could be forgiven for opting for an easier life.
But the Tottenham boss reckons he’s getting better with age and that he will only give up when he no longer has any motivation for the job.
He said: “People think I’m very old because I have been at this level since 2002 — I’m not very old, I’m very young for a football manager.
“A coach gets better and better until the motivation is gone, and in my case I love it more and more and more. I like the challenge.
“First of all, I want to enjoy, and secondly I want to win more.
“I want to fight. I want to play. I want to coach every day.
“I want to wake up in the morning and have that happiness of going to the training session.”
The Spurs boss gave a clear indication that his motivation is still strong when he explained recently why he doesn't believe the Champions League should switch to a one-legged knockout format.
Mourinho won the competition with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010, and will aim to guide Tottenham back into the competition next season.
And the Portuguese coach is still in favour of two-legged ties from the last-16 phase through to the semi-finals.
He says it produces worthy champions - and also he enjoys coming up against his "enemies".
Can Jose Mourinho lead Tottenham back into the Champions Leaugue next season? Have your say here
Mourinho told DAZN, via Goal.com : "Because football is for the fans and because football is a lot about the passion and about being mentally very strong to cope with big matches, big semi-finals, big quarter-finals, and go away and play against 70,000, let’s say enemies, and I love this feeling.
"You have to be very strong to play two legs and to play with the mental side of it.
"I think the one leg is better for the outsider. If you are an outsider you play a single match an anything can happen, but I like the big pressure of the two legs."
