Jose Mourinho regularly told players at Chelsea that they were “s***” ahead of leading the Blues to their first Premier League title.
The Portuguese arrived at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 2004 having won the Champions League with Porto. He enjoyed immediate success in West London having won the league cup and the domestic title in his first full season.
Mourinho’s confidence and charisma were a breath of fresh air within English football but he wasn’t always that positive. Three-time title winner Robert Huth has revealed that should any of the players at Chelsea not reach his expectations, Mourinho had some brutal words of encouragement - or indeed criticism.
Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes: Fanzone about his dealings with the Portuguese schemer, he said: “If you didn't meet his [Mourinho’s] standards, he'd give you a chance, and then he'd give you another chance, but by that point if you made a mistake, your time was up. That was the environment he created, and he's the reason Chelsea became so successful.
“He laid those foundations and those expectations for the club, every single day. It wasn't just about what we did on a Saturday, it was every day of your life as a Chelsea player, it was about meeting his standards.
“I loved him, to be honest. I thought he was great - he was very black or white. It's hard to think of many times I got especially positive feedback from him, he wasn't really one to dish those sort of things out. He was tough.
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“I think I'd have had to have scored six goals in a game to get something positive out of him. But on the other side of things, he had no problem analysing your individual performance. 'That was s***, that was s***, that was s***!' and then he'd talk you through your mistakes and how you could improve.
“I had one too many meetings where he told me I was bad. But it's a trait that was needed back in the day, and it's not something everyone can deal with.”
Mourinho of course stayed at Chelsea until his sacking in 2007. However, following successful spells at both Real Madrid and Inter Milan, he was welcomed back to Stamford Bridge ahead of the 2013/14 campaign.
It only took the Portuguese two seasons to lead the Blues to yet another Premier League title but his second spell ended disastrously having been sacked in mid-December with the Blues sitting 16th in the table following a thoroughly miserable defence of their title.
Mourinho of course had further spells in the Premier League with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The 59-year-old currently finds himself with Serie A giants AS Roma and led the Italian outfit to the Conference League last season.
