Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho puts case forward for British managers to coach elite clubs

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Jose Mourinho is bemused by British managers constantly being overlooked for top jobs in England.

The Portuguese faces Premier League veteran Tony Pulis on Saturday when Manchester United travel to West Bromwich Albion.

Mourinho has always revered Pulis and cannot understand why there is no space for homegrown bosses at the division's elite clubs.

Manchester United's Jose Mourinho has heaped praise on West Brom boss Tony Pulis (left)

The Portuguese coach believes the likes of Pulis should have been given the reins of a big club

'The big chances don't arrive for some reason,' Mourinho said. 'They have the League Managers Association, which is a great organisation and respected in the country, and I think the question should be more directed to them.'

Mourinho believes keeping a smaller club in the Premier League is the equivalent of winning a trophy at one of the bigger ones.

He said: 'Tony got trophies everywhere in every club. He was not relegated with Stoke, it's a trophy. He was not relegated with West Brom. Not relegated with Palace. And so on and so on. So he has lots of trophies. By trophies I mean reach the target.'

The Premier League has some of the world's finest foreign managers, with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and Antonio Conte at Chelsea.

Yet Mourinho listed a number of homegrown bosses he says are unfairly judged and not given enough opportunity to impress. They included Sunderland's former United boss David Moyes.

Mourinho said: 'There are different kind of profiles. If you manage big teams — Real Madrid, Inter, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund — then obviously the targets are impossible for people like Tony Pulis, Alan Pardew, Mark Hughes and David Moyes. But I think they do good jobs and they show their quality. They reach their objectives.

Mourinho says Pulis has won trophies as he has saved a handful of clubs from relegation

Chris Smalling (left) is back in contention but Luke Shaw (right) remains on the sidelines

'Sam Allardyce, never relegated, that is a big trophy. You are not expecting Sam to be champion with the clubs he managed. So for me, yes, English managers are not looked at as they should be.'

Mourinho welcomes back Chris Smalling at West Brom after two months out with a broken toe but is missing Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. He admitted it is an unrealistic target for United to break into the top four before the new year as they are five points behind City.

He said: 'We haven't arrived at halfway through the race yet. It's one thing being 15 points from the top four, another thing being five points from them. What we have to try to do in these remaining matches in the year is be in a position that gives us the chance in the second part of the season.'

Pulis, meanwhile, believes Mourinho has lost his status as the Premier League's flavour of the month — but backed him to bring success to Old Trafford.

Pulis believes Mourinho is no longer the top dog due to the likes of Jurgen Klopp (pictured)

Pulis believes Conte, Klopp and Guardiola have replaced Mourinho as the country's most fashionable bosses. 'They are wonderful managers,' said Pulis. 'They are new and fresh, everybody wants to know them and everybody wants to talk about them and I think Jose will understand that as well.'

But Pulis says Mourinho is as good as ever and can build a winning team for United 'under the radar'. They have won their last two matches, against Tottenham and Crystal Palace, and are unbeaten in seven games.

'In some ways United's unbeaten run hasn't been mentioned too many times and Jose might enjoy being under the radar. He needs time to get it the way he wants. At Manchester United they want to win things, they have got to win things.

'He understands that and understands the pressure. No one has worked at bigger clubs more than Mourinho and been successful there. He knows what it takes. There is no doubt in my mind that if United and Jose stick together, they will eventually start winning trophies again.'