Jose Mourinho says media showed 'no respect' in reporting of London incident

The umpteenth round between Jose Mourinho and the English media kicked off on Friday.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea's Premier League fixture at West Ham United, Mourinho vowed to focus on football and expressed frustration at the reporting of an incident on the streets of London in which he was unhappy at being followed by two teenagers looking to obtain phone camera footage.

"You don't get from me good and funny headlines," Mourinho said, according to the Guardian. "I'm going to treat your bosses the same way they treat me. No respect, no respect. And I'm not even speaking about football. Football I'm ready to accept any kind of criticism, even the stupid ones.

"Private life and stupid things that you bring to light, I don't like it. So we go to a different level of professional relationship."

A spokesperson from Chelsea also weighed in on the matter, saying:

We've noted the two recent stories concerning Jose being filmed on mobile phones. While Jose understands the laws pertaining to filming in public places, the two teenagers in question followed him from his home for 20 minutes and constantly interrupted a private phone call, which he and the club believes goes beyond the grounds of reasonable behaviour.

Jose has always spoken warmly of the public reception he receives in London, but both Jose and the club consider these last two instances as overly intrusive. We also note the allegation of intimidation in those stories, which Jose strongly refutes and which his legal representatives will continue to monitor closely.

Mourinho was fined £50,000 and given a suspended one-match ban by the Football Association last week after criticising Premier League officials during Chelsea's defeat to Southampton in early October. He responded by calling the punishment a "disgrace."