Emmanuel Adebayor says manager Tottenham sacked was even better than Arsene Wenger

Adebayor has worked under the likes of Didier Deschamps, Harry Redknapp, Roberto Mancini and even Mauricio Pochettino.

Speaking to Optus Sport, Emmanuel Adebayor has been asked to name the best manager he ever had, and he gave an interesting answer.

Adebayor scored more goals under Arsene Wenger than any other manager, but according to the Togolese forward, Jose Mourinho is the best coach he’s ever had, despite working with Mourinho for just six months at Real Madrid.

Of course, Adebayor was at Tottenham under Pochettino, a manager who Mourinho would eventually replace at Spurs.

Sadly, Mourinho didn’t last too long at Spurs, being sacked in 2021, less than two years after taking charge.

Emmanuel Adebayor names Jose Mourinho as his best manager

Adebayor said that Mourinho was the best managerhe’s ever had.

The striker says that he liked Mourinho more than Wenger because he was much more direct and to the point whereas Wenger would often allow his players to continuously make mistakes.

“Best manager you have ever had?” Adebayor was asked.

“Best manager I’ve ever had? I would say Jose Mourinho even though it lasted only six months,” Adebayor said.

“He made a big impression because of the way he treated players, it was beautiful. If he loved you he would let you know whatever you are doing well he will let you know I will always choose him as the best manager.

“Wenger, he will let you do anything you want to do, obviously he is a manager who will at some point tell you what is not good and to do it this way, but that is after a while, you can make the same mistake three times and Wenger would just look at you, but Mourinho doesn’t have time, he would tell you straight, at 10:01 or 10:02 he’s already telling you, but Wenger will let you repeat and repeat it. For me that’s the difference.”

Emmanuel Adebayor record under Mourinho and Wenger

Adebayor says that he preferred working under Mourinho to Wenger, but, interestingly, his record is much better when he was working under the former Arsenal boss.

Indeed, Adebayor’s record under Wenger was brilliant, while his record under Mourinho wasn’t quite as impressive.

	Emmanuel Adebayor under Arsene Wenger	Emmanuel Adebayor under Jose Mourinho
Games	142	22
Goals	62	8
Assists	19	0
Goals per game	0.44	0.36

Of course, by the time Mourinho got hold of Adebayor, he may have been slightly past his peak, while Wenger worked with Adebayor at his very best.

Mourinho is a top manager, there’s no doubt about that. Dominic Solanke recently called Mourinho brilliant, while, Glenn Hoddle says Spurs made a mistake ever sacking Mourinho.

As for Wenger, the Frenchman is an Arsenal legend, and it may well sting to hear one of his former players praising his bitter rival, Mourinho, in this way.

Wenger actually recently praised Adebayor as a player.

However, Wenger’s record against Mourinho does suggest that the Portuguese may have been the greater manager.

	Arsene Wenger record vs Jose Mourinho
Games	19
Wins	2
Draws	7
Losses	10

Regardless of who you think was the better coach, these are two incredible managers who defined the Premier League for a long time.