José Mourinho has put his long-running feud with André Villas-Boas to one side to commiserate with his former colleague over his sacking by Tottenham Hotspur.

The pair have barely spoken in recent years since the breakdown of their once strong relationship; Villas-Boas had worked under Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Internazionale before striking out on his own. But Mourinho said that he had reached out to Villas-Boas in an attempt to pep up his spirits after his White Hart Lane dismissal last Monday.

"I spoke with André, in the last six months, three times," the Chelsea manager said. "Once in that managers' meeting [at the start of the season]; another one when we played against them [on 28 September] and another one a couple of days ago. I didn't speak about his case. I speak just about: 'Come on, the world didn't finish, let's go. Tomorrow is another day and another job will come. So, Happy Christmas.'

"In football, nothing surprises me, anything can happen. Of course, I have sympathy. When Tottenham gave him a long contract, they did it because they trusted him, because they think he's the right man. They had a couple of bad results and [it] gives reason to change that trust and change their manager."

Mourinho said that he felt secure at Chelsea, ahead of Monday's Premier League derby at Arsenal. "In football, nobody is untouchable, but I will not be looking over my shoulder [if Chelsea lose]," he said. "I know for which reason I come and I know which kind of job I was asked to do.

"And I think to prepare this Chelsea, a new team that we expect is Chelsea's team for about a decade ... the same way that the Chelsea team was for almost a decade ... I don't think Chelsea can have a better manager than I am. I'm the right person to do the job. A bad result doesn't change the perspective."