Jose Mourinho left Troy Deeney in stitches with savage comment after Watford beat Man United

09/10/2024 03:44 AM

Jose Mourinho and Troy Deeney have both said things that will live forever in Premier League folklore.

From 'I prefer not to speak', to comments about Arsenal's 'cajones', both men sure know how to turn a phrase.

So it is no surprise that the first-ever encounter between the two outspoken football figures was rather memorable.

It came on September 18, 2016 – when Mourinho's Manchester United travelled to Vicarage Road in the Premier League.

Deeney and Watford piled yet more misery on the Red Devils, inflicting a third consecutive defeat, the first time that had happened to Mourinho since 2002 in his Porto days.

Marcus Rashford had cancelled out Etienne Capoue's opener for the Hornets before late goals from Odion Ighalo and Deeney sealed a famous win.

When Deeney ran into Mourinho in the corridors of Vicarage Road after the match, the Watford captain understandably kept his distance – before the United boss spotted him.  

"He's a legend," the former striker recalled in a chat with talkSPORT.com.

"Because he’s straight talking as well, whenever I’ve encountered him.

"My first encounter with Jose, we beat Man United at Vicarage Road. 3-1, we beat them. And I scored.

"I remember I went up to the family bit, I had some friends there and said hello.

"Then I was coming back down the stairs to go across to my family in my box. He was on the phone on the stairs, and I just stood waiting.

"I didn’t want to interrupt him or ask him to move. And then he clocked me, said to whoever on the phone to give him a second or whatever, he’s speaking Portuguese.

"He said to me, 'You okay?' I was like, 'Oh yeah, I just wanted to get past, I didn’t want to interrupt you'.

"And he said, 'You just beat us 3-1, you can do whatever the f*** you want'."

"I was like, 'Oh cool'. Then we just laughed and joked, but he told me, you played well, good luck for the future. And I said the same.

"That was when United had Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney up front. It was proper.

"With Marcus [Rashford] on the left, [Marouane] Fellaini and [Paul] Pogba in the middle. It was a proper outfit."

As it happens, Deeney left his own mark on Mourinho.

When the 'Special One' returned to England with Tottenham several years later, he phoned Deeney in 2020 to ask about his availability.

Spurs were on the hunt for a striker to play back-up to Harry Kane, with then-Benfica star Carlos Vinicius top of their list.

"Vinicius was their main one, and it got to a point that if that didn't happen, then we’ll bring Troy in," Deeney recalled.

"I had a chat with Mourinho, and it was like, what do you want to do? How do you want to do it?

"I remember it was a quick turnaround as well, from the COVID season ending in July, and then we played again in September.

"So, it was more like, would you be able to go from being a main man to one of the squad? Because I was the main man at Watford, and I was captain. And my conversation was like, 'Look, if I get the opportunity to play, then I’ll play'.

"Because I was trying to think, remember the big Spanish striker that went there from Swansea [Fernando Llorente]. He kept scoring didn’t he? Every time, League Cup and all that.

"And I was thinking, if I can do that, my job’s good. I said, all I’m going to do is push Harry to be the best version that he can, and be his biggest cheerleader. Playing for Spurs is massively beyond my dreams.

"He said, OK, if we can’t get this done, then we’ll get that one done. Because obviously Vinicius was younger, age profile, etc.

"I understood it, and he was straight with me, which was easy. And then, unfortunately for me, they got the Vinicius deal done."