Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho has set his sights on ending his club’s 10-year Super Lig title drought while also bringing a winning mentality to his players.
Mourinho, who signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahce in June, six months after being sacked by Roma, guided his side to a 1-0 win against Adana Demirspor in their league opener on Saturday.
“We know we are one of the strongest teams in the league,” Mourinho said. “We know our objective this season is not to win the Champions League but to win the Super Lig.”
Fenerbahce finished second in the Turkish Super Lig last season, finishing three points behind rivals Galatasaray.
They last lifted the trophy in the 2013-14 campaign.
Saturday’s win was a good start. “I’ve never lost my first match in [charge of] a club,” the former Chelsea and Manchester United coach said:
“I’ve never lost my first league match. So for 24 years nothing has changed so that is the positive thing of this result. The two seasons where I started a league game with a draw, I won the Champions League so if we had got a draw that would also have been a good thing. Jokes aside, it was very important to win the match.”
For Mourinho, a winning mentality is essential to achieve success. He confirmed he will be in charge of dealing with the psychological coaching of his players.
“It will be on me, on my experience, on the empathy I can create with the players,” the 61-year-old said. “Of course, with the opinion, the know-how of people in different areas that work in the club. I like to listen… At the same time I have my vision and my way of work.”
Mourinho and Fenerbahce are back in action on Tuesday when they host Lille needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the third-round qualifying opener to have a chance to play in the Champions League.
“We want to try and do all we can on Tuesday,” he said. “The team is far from being in good shape. We’ve been here with these players for two weeks. We need time for everything.”
