Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe will go head-to-head with a supervisor he believes needs to be thought-about one of many recreation’s greats as he prepares to lock horns with Jose Mourinho.
The 62-year-old Portuguese takes his Benfica aspect to St James’ Park, the place his mentor Sir Bobby Robson stays such a favorite, within the Champions League on Tuesday able to resume hostilities with Howe.
Requested if Mourinho needs to be thought-about one of many all-time greats, the 47-year-old Howe stated: “I feel you must. Look what he did.
“I am not simply saying that as a result of we’re enjoying them tomorrow, I genuinely imagine it. The influence he made initially was unimaginable, actually. He had an aura round him and his groups. His groups had been all the time very troublesome to beat.
“I bear in mind watching his groups in my very early days as a head coach, after I was seeking to mould the way in which I wished to play and what I used to be fascinated about coaching-wise, he had a big effect.”
Mourinho might have a sure affinity with Newcastle due to his hyperlinks with Robson, however St James’ has not all the time been a contented looking floor for him with 12 visits in all competitions with Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham leading to three wins, 5 defeats and 4 attracts.
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Howe has fond reminiscences of his first encounter with the then-Chelsea boss when his newly-promoted Bournemouth aspect received 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in December 2015, though that is still his solely victory towards him.
Howe stated: “Any Premier League win is savoured no matter the place you might be. It is so troublesome to do it within the Premier League and particularly at that stage of my profession.
“Chelsea had been one of many strongest groups within the league and there have been some nice wins for us that, on the time, being Bournemouth supervisor, gave us the idea that we may compete within the Premier League.
“Being a newly-promoted crew, you want each shot of confidence you may get. I look again fondly on these video games.
“However clearly this recreation may be very totally different. It is a totally different sort of expertise. We now — I stated this earlier than the earlier Champions League recreation — we’re determined to qualify within the competitors.
“We all know the significance of our dwelling video games, so after the frustration of Barcelona, we’re wanting ahead to this one.”
Newcastle bounced again from their opening defeat by Barcelona with a 4-0 win at Union Saint-Gilloise, whereas Benfica have misplaced their opening two fixtures to Qarabag and Chelsea.
The Magpies are sweating on the health of key midfielder Sandro Tonali, who missed coaching on Monday via sickness and is taken into account to be “contact and go” by Howe with Lewis Miley and Jacob Ramsey standing by.
In the meantime, Mourinho spoke of his love for St. James’ Park and the way he revels enjoying there.
“I advised them [Benfica players] that it is lovely whilst an opponent it is lovely. Now we have to be robust sufficient to deal with it. Now we have to be able to endure on the pitch as a result of it’ll be troublesome for us,” he advised a information convention.
“I am keen on to play right here. At the same time as a rival, it is improbable to play right here. It is an unimaginable ambiance. It is not simply the stadium, it is the membership, the historical past, the eagerness of the followers, the financial energy that enables them to emerge from a troublesome state of affairs and win for the primary time in a long time, as they did the League Cup.
“That enables them to play two seasons within the Champions League. They are a crew near better issues, which these individuals deserve. The tradition of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham is totally different from this space. I like enjoying right here. I advised the gamers that whilst opponents, it is improbable to play right here.”
Data from ESPN’s Adriana Garcia contributed to this report.
