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Jose Mourinho was critical of Roy Hodgson and Vincente Del Bosque following the 2014 World Cup

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Would anyone be surprised to read comments Jose Mourinho made criticizing Roy Hodgson or Vincente Del Bosque? No? Good, because some comments he had on the 2014 World Cup will be appearing in Allastair Cambell's new book.

. Here's what Jose had to say about Roy and his questionable changes against Uruguay:

"They are losing and, if they lose, they are out of the tournament, so they have to score. They made two changes at 1-0 down. But when Roy Hodgson made these changes — Sterling out, Barkley in, then Lallana in for Welbeck — I couldn’t see a strategic change. Same tactical model, same system."

"So maybe take off Baines and play Cahill sweeper, Johnson and Jagielka marking one each, an extra man to midfield or attack. Then Uruguay have to adapt."

He also touches on Spain:

"They [Spain] are losing — so Diego Costa out, Fernando Torres in. Why? Play them together. You need to change. They will say, ‘Ah, but Spain has its own system, its own philosophy’ — hell, if it is not working, you change."

I have a hard time disagreeing with anything Jose says here, as none of the three changes mentioned really did much to change a match. Mourinho typically makes early changes when trailing, and has never been afraid to radically alter the team's shape in the middle of a match.

This is one of the biggest reasons why Mourinho has been as successful as he has, especially in knockout tournaments like the Champions League, and why it would be foolish to bet against him if he ever decides to make a move to managing at the international level. That sort of situational awareness doesn't always lead to success, but it's far more likely to have the desired result than throwing every available body forward 45 minutes into a 180 minute tie, when trailing by a single away goal.

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