During his Internazionale days José Mourinho did once say of Walter Mazzarri that “beating me is the most important thing in his career”, but the Watford manager is adamant a win over Manchester United on Sunday will mean nothing more than his team moving three points closer to survival.
Mazzarri hosts Mourinho for the first time in England with their relationship now cordial after several years of bitterness when both managers were working in Italy. However, the Italian was at pains to play down how significant it would be to get one over his old adversary.
“For me it wouldn’t mean anything,” he said. “For the fans and the club it would mean something because it would bring us three points closer to our objective. An experienced coach like me knows the Premier League does not finish this weekend, so we will take it to the next game. If we happen to win, after two days of being very happy it’s up to me to tell the players they immediately need to concentrate on the next game.”
Mazzarri, who has said Mourinho talks “so much rubbish”, also thinks Italian coaches could learn a lot from British managers when it comes to their behaviour on the sidelines and rivalries with opponents.
“In Italy sometimes it’s a bit too much,” he said. “There are moments in the career of each coach, especially with new and young coaches, when they say one or two things that should not be said. I like the mentality here in the UK, coaches in Italy should be more like that. Win or lose you make a handshake with the opposition. Of course, experience up until now has told me this is the correct way to act and even if I was in Italy now that’s how I would act, like in the UK.”
If Watford are to spring a surprise, Troy Deeney will need to continue his good form from the dramatic 4-2 win at West Ham last weekend. The striker scored a brilliant lob to equalise at the London Stadium, leading Mazzarri to draw a comparison with Diego Maradona. “Only a few players can do that and one of them was Maradona,” he added. “It was incredible but all I ask from Deeney and the whole squad – but particularly Deeney because he is captain – is continuity.”
