Jose Mourinho has suggested that managers who leave a club "in conditions for failure" are more damaging than short-term bosses.
The Portuguese has yet to last four full seasons at a single side, taking in spells with Benfica, Uniao de Leiria, Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan, Real Madrid and current club Manchester United.
Responding to criticism that he does not prioritise fielding young players as he is simply focused on the short-term, Mourinho insists that he tends to leave teams in a better state than when he arrived.
In an apparent dig at Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger, whom he has previously labelled a "specialist in failure", the United chief told The Times: "If people say that because I win and leave, I have to accept that because in a certain period of my career I did that. When I win the Champions League, at Porto, at Inter, I disappear.
"I left Real Madrid when the club wanted me to stay. The only place I was sacked was Chelsea, but always after winning the title. If people say that because I move from club to club, they're right, but I don't think I am [short-termist]. I prepare clubs for success.
"I think I prepare clubs in a way where, when I leave, the new manager arrives at a top club. And that is not short-term even if you leave. If you're in a club one or two years — or any job — if you leave a structure to be even more successful without you than with you, that's not short-term. That's long-term. That's long-term.
"As an example, short-term can be the guy that is at one club 20 years or 15 years or 10 years and leaves the club in conditions for... what is the opposite of success? Failure. One who leaves the club in conditions for failure. That is a short-term manager. You can be there 10 or 20 years and when you leave the club, it's ready for failure."
Mourinho has led his club to domestic league glory on eight occasions during his 17 years in senior management, most recently doing so with Chelsea in 2014-15.
Daniel Lewis
