Jose calls for British influence

The Portuguese coach is set to test his tactics against an Englishman in Steve McClaren, who is in charge of Championship side Derby County, in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

In this his second spell with the Blues, the straight-talking Mourinho raised concerns about the state of leadership in the English game.

"Maybe I am speaking against myself but there are too many foreign coaches in this country. I do not see any good reason for that because the British managers are not behind the foreign ones," he told reporters.

"Influence from abroad is good - you can learn the differences from other cultures - but I think the main culture has to be always the English - or, in this case, British - culture.

"When I first came to England, see how many non-British coaches and managers worked in the Premier League. There were not a lot of them then. Now, things have changed and even in Championship you find foreign managers."

He praised his Rams counterpart for testing his skills abroad with Dutch side FC Twente and Wolfsburg in Germany, following a spell with the English national team.

"The first thing that comes into my head about Steve is not being the England manager but being a champion in Holland," the Portuguese added.

"If you are a manager or a player and there are no jobs in your home country, then it is right to go abroad. This is a short professional life so go and enjoy yourself - you always have the chance to come back.

"So people in this country shouldn't be afraid to be a bit adventurous, like other coaches from other nationalities. Football is the same everywhere: 11 against 11, one ball and two goals."

Mourinho is one of nine non-British bosses in the Premiership, where only four Englishmen are employed and is concerned by the five managers from outside the UK at Championship level.