Bob Bradley insists there is a softer side to Jose Mourinho, saying: He made me feel like the Special One.
The Manchester United boss is banned from the touchline for Sunday’s game with Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium for verbally abusing referee Mark Clattenburg.
Mourinho also angrily let rip at his players after Thursday’s humiliating Europa League defeat at Fenerbahce which continued his poor start as Reds boss.
But Bradley has seen a different side to the volatile Portuguese who has been in the wars on and off the pitch since his infamous rant at Dr Eva Carneiro when at Chelsea last year.
Ex-USA chief Bradley, 58, said: “My oldest daughter, Kerry, handled the administration when Jose was on pre-season tours in the States with Inter Milan then Real Madrid.
“To show you what kind of guy he is, one time I went to see the training. I’m standing there quietly and he comes straight across the field.
“He started talking about the US and said we played well in the 2010 World Cup and sometimes you need a bit of luck, but you should be proud.
“Then he hesitated and goes: “And your daughter is a great girl.’
“My daughter had done a small bit of work around the team, but he knew, from one father to another, that I would appreciate that. And I did.
“I’ve talked to him on the phone and traded some messages with him in the last year. We have some common friends.
“And he’s been in the States a lot with teams in the pre-season and I’ve had a chance to see his teams train. He’s always been gracious in those moments.”
Bradley is hoping to add to the pressure surrounding Mourinho by beating United to bag his first win as Swans boss at the fourth attempt.
The Swans are 19th in the table – five points from safety – with five points from 10 games and without a win since the opening day of the season.
But after Monday’s lacklustre display in the 3-1 defeat at Stoke, he has told his players not to make excuses.
He added: “We’ve had a series of situations of us getting to a ball first but maybe not doing well enough then not reacting well enough in the second phase.
“When that repeats itself over and over, this is what is killing us right now and that has to change.
“It often results in what, and you can pick your word, soft goals. That’s a nice four letter word instead of the other four-letter ones I could use.
“I have tried to make them understand this is where we are as a team.
“This is the world, stop looking around for answers, stop looking in the other direction, come on let’s get to work in the real way and let’s make it work.”
endig