Former Chelsea player opens up on players ‘crying on the floor’ when Mourinho left

In the last few years, several question marks have been raised about Jose Mourinho’s man-management skills.

The Spurs boss’ treatment of Tanguy Ndombele has come in for some scrutiny, with some pundits questioning his decision to criticise the midfielder in public after his poor first-half performance against Burnley last month (talkSPORT).

It was a similar situation during his spell at Manchester United with the Portuguese coach being called out for his failure to mend his relationship with Paul Pogba and get the best out of the midfielder (BBC Sport).

However, if the 57-year-old’s spells at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan are anything to go by, it is clear that he is capable of building a great rapport with his players.

Former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell has now revealed how the squad were left distraught after Mourinho was sacked during his first spell at Stamford Bridge.

He revealed that players were in tears when the now Spurs head coach made his farewell speech.

Speaking to The Athletic, Sidwell said: “I never felt that tension or thought he was in trouble. There were a few games before, you could see things in the press and it really bubbled up. But you didn’t feel it on the inside. The players were all united, no one was turning against him, he hadn’t lost the dressing room.

“The day he went, I was driving my wife to the airport and the news came on the radio. I just thought, ‘Sh**, he’s gone. What’s going to happen?’ We were then all called into a meeting at Cobham.

“It was awkward when Jose came to say his goodbyes. You could have heard a pin drop. It felt like someone had died. When you see strong characters like Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry either crying on the floor or certainly welling up… I got upset as well. It was really weird.

“I called him later in the day to thank him for bringing me to Chelsea and to express regret that we didn’t work together for longer. He told me he had no doubts I would go on to have a great career, which was nice of him. Every time I’ve seen him since then, through football or socially, he’s been top drawer.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Whatever one thinks of Jose Mourinho’s tactical approach, one cannot deny that he has arguably been the best man-manger football has ever seen. To me, it was obvious that his decision to publicly call out Ndombele was a calculated move to see if he will respond. Mourinho will see getting the midfielder performing to his best as a challenge.

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