Andre Villas-Boas has admitted that he was 'blinded by his love' for Jose Mourinho when he fell on the "wrong side" of the Portuguese coach.

The 38-year-old, who is currently out of work after leaving Zenit St Petersburg in May, worked as Mourinho's assistant at Porto and Chelsea.

After a bust-up with his fellow countryman while the pair were at Inter Milan, Villas-Boas went into management himself, eventually coaching Academica, Porto, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Zenit.

While at the ASPIRE4SPORT event in Amsterdam, Villas-Boas admitted that he 'fell in love' with Mourinho when they first began working together.

"In my formative moments, working with Jose was the best time of my life," Sky Sports News quotes Villas-Boas as saying. "I was able to lean to many things and working with him takes you to another level.

"You fall in love with him and he becomes your idol. I wanted to be like him, know everything that he knew and absorb all the information he was giving.

"Then you fall on the wrong side of Jose and that's when things change and you realise that you've been blinded by someone. He has this fascinating capability of getting the best out of you, which has good or bad consequences for people. My consequences were that as a result of the argument or disagreement we had, I started my coaching career."

Mourinho is currently in charge of Manchester United.