Messi but no Ronaldo: Jose Mourinho names the three greatest players in history

In 2016, Jose Mourinho was asked who he thought the three greatest football players of all time were, and he had an interesting answer considering who he’d managed by that point in his career. The Portuguese made space for Lionel Messi, but there was no Cristiano Ronaldo in his top three.

Mourinho has worked with some of the biggest names in football history, whether that be as a manager or an “interpreter”: Ronaldo Nazario, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Didier Drogba, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Luka Modric etc.

So who did he pick? The Special One knows ball better than most people on Earth, so if he thinks you’re one of the best ever, you are most certainly one of the best ever.

Here are the three names that made Mourinho’s very exclusive list:

Lionel Messi

Mourinho has never managed Messi, but the two have been pitted against each other often in La Liga and the Champions League.

Mourinho would create specialised tactics specifically to deal with the threat of Messi, because Mourinho knew what he was dealing with. To quote the man himself, he once called Messi “a god of football”.

TNT Sports asked him the one player who he wished he had signed, Mourinho didn’t actually name Messi, but we think it’s pretty clear who he was referencing:

“Of course I would have to say the little guy, but the little guy was not coachable. But I have to say, in our generation, he was the best.”

The Special One also spoke to Youtuber Ohm about Messi:

“Messi has never needed a coach. Who tells you ‘I coached Messi’? It’s absurd. Messi knows everything, he was born with everything. You can only say that I had the honor of having trained him.”

Diego Maradona

Fair enough. Maradona is still considered by many who saw him play to be the best ever to do it.

El Diego took Argentina to World Cup success, and dragged a floundering Napoli side from the depths of Serie A to the Scudetto. He lived life to the fullest and he backed it up on the pitch by doing things that literally only he was capable of.

Mourinho, obviously, was a huge fan. He told BT Sport:

“There is Maradona and there is Diego.Maradona I don’t need to speak about because the world knows and nobody will forget. Diego is different, the people that are the big friends of him, the people that share dressing rooms with him, colleagues, these guys are privileged.”

Jose seemed to think very highly of Maradona as a person as well as a player. Maradona would apparently call Mourinho after the Portuguese had suffered a big defeat to remind him how talented he was. He didn’t need to do that. Mourinho continues:

“I made sure that my son knows a lot about him, even being born after he was a player. I know my son will make sure when he is a father he will not let his kids forget.

“It was a bit similar with Di Stefano; I never saw him play football, but my dad made sure I knew a lot about him.”

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Pele

There are all sorts of things said about Pele by cynics on social media these days.

Anyone looking for a bit of clout can make a little video in which they insinuate that Pele lied about many of his goals and most of his games weren’t televised, and he never played for a club in Europe.

It doesn’t matter, though, does it? Because Pele was an icon to millions and inspired generation after generation of Brazilian ballers.

Mourinho hasn’t spoken too often about Pele, but he did mention The King in an Instagram post shortly after his death in 2022. Here’s what it said:

“In 2005 I received the BBC award directly from the king’s hands, and to this day it’s one of my proudest moments. I was so so happy to have him in Manchester where we had such a nice chat and nice time. Rest in peace, King Pelé, and thinking of his loved ones. I am very sad.”