Jose Mourinho: I've had three job offers but I don't park the bus

Jose Mourinho said his desire to be back in management would return by March

Jose Mourinho says he has turned down three job offers since being sacked as Manchester United boss and has rejected criticism of the team's playing style.

The Portuguese, 55, was sacked in December after the club said there had been no progress with results, style or developing young players.

Former United player Gary Neville said no-one should be able to shape their own philosophy at the club again.

"Gary Neville doesn't know my philosophy," Mourinho told Bein Sports.

"My philosophy depends. I would love to go to a club and have [the same] conditions that [Liverpool boss] Jurgen Klopp and [Manchester City manager] Pep Guardiola did.

"I refused already three jobs because I didn't feel it was what I want."

Mourinho, who led Manchester United to League Cup and Europa League titles, is understood to have a non-disclosure agreement signed as part of his pay-off from the club, meaning he is not allowed to talk about his departure.

But he spoke about a range of subjects as a studio guest on Bein Sports, including:

• How one player recently asked him not to be critical in training

• How he doesn't park the bus

• How he was not supported like Guardiola or Klopp

• How the days of being an "all-powerful manager are over"

• How he hid in a laundry basket for a Champions League tie in 2005

Mourinho was critical of Marcus Rashford, but the striker has scored five goals in seen games since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as manager

'One player asked me not to criticise him in training'

At various points Mourinho was critical of winger Anthony Martial, full-back Luke Shaw and striker Marcus Rashford, who has been re-born under interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

But he outlined how one player asked not to be criticised in training which Mourinho thought was a sign of modern players being too sensitive.

"Recently, when I was coaching one player he told me and he was very polite, 'please when you criticise me can you do it in private'," he said.

"I told him why? 'Because of my stature, in front of the other players when you criticise me I don't feel comfortable'.

"Nowadays you have to be very smart in the way you read your players, and try to create the best situation."

He contrasted the situation with that of former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, with whom he worked at Stamford Bridge when he twice won the Premier League in 2005 and 2006.

"With Drogba, he is the kind of player that the more pressure from the manager, the more quality in his performance," Mourinho added.

"There are some players where if you squeeze them they answer in the best way.

"There are other mentalities and personalities and the reaction is not the best. They were brought up in a different way, an easier social life, coming to the top level of football, everything came too easy to them.

"Some of them they don't react in the same way. Certain moments, some strong public words, some of them have some risk."

Manchester City and Liverpool are 'well supported'

Mourinho said that his philosophy depended on the team he was managing, but rejected accusations that his sides were defensive or 'parked the bus'.

He cited the football played during his first stint at Chelsea and said: "You know when the [parking the bus] reputation started?

"It was when I was champions with Real Madrid with 100 points and 106 goals - the record of Spanish football."

He also hinted that he was not as well supported as Guardiola and Klopp.

That is despite spending a then world record transfer fee of £89m for Paul Pogba and £75m on striker Romelu Lukaku. In all Mourinho spent £400m on players during his time in charge at Old Trafford.

He said: "At Man City in the first season Guardiola was not a champion. In the second season Pep made great decisions but those that were supported. In the same summer he sold four full-backs and bought four backs.

"At Liverpool how many players were there before Jurgen Klopp arrived? If you are a manager and you [are able] to choose the players to follow your idea, that's one thing. The other thing is when you are not able to do that."

Mourinho suggested Klopp and Guardiola had received better "support" since they had joined their respective clubs

'The days of a manager being all-powerful are over'

Although Mourinho was bullish about his record and his style, he did hint that he had learned one lesson about his time at Manchester United.

The club are in the process of appointing a director of football, to help the link between the board and the management team.

And the Portuguese added: "The time where the manager was the highest point of the club and all-powerful I think is over. You need the structure.

"The next club I speak with, the first thing I speak about is not the players I want to buy, is not about the budget, it's what you give in terms of structure."

'I did hide in a laundry basket'

After the 'spygate' scandal at Leeds, Mourinho confirmed he had hidden in a laundry basket in 2005 for Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich after receiving a two-game touchline ban.

"I need to be with my players and I did it yeah," he said.

"I go to the dressing room during the day so I was there from midday and the game is seven o'clock. I just want to be in the dressing room when the players arrive. I went there and nobody saw me. The problem was to leave after. And the kit man put me in the basket. It was a little bit open so I could breathe.

"But when he was taking it outside the dressing room, the Uefa guys were following and desperate to find me so he closed the box and I couldn't breathe. When he opened the box I was dying."