Starting Eleven: Jose’s Rivals
Although popular amongst Chelsea fans, it’s fair to say that the Portuguese manager was not always the most popular with those around him. Though there is still some doubt cast around the reasons why the inspirational managers contract was terminated by ‘mutual consent’ there was frequent talk of friction between not just Jose and his rivals but also between the manager and those who were working within the club.
Roman Abramovich – Strange to think that his own chairman was perhaps his main rival whilst in charge of the club but it certainly was clearly that relations were strained between the pair almost from the beginning of the relationship. Though Mourinho was specially visited and hand picked by the Russian and despite all the success, it never seemed to be a working relationship which sat easily with the Chelsea boss, although the reasons behind this have never been cleared up. Most of the fall out came when Abramovich failed to sanction a move for Tal Ben Haim in the transfer window of 2007 and despite an apparent truce being called between the two, a shared handshake during the Summer never seemed to convince anyone that the problems had been resolved. Kenyon spoke of the Russian’s desire to conquer Europe, something which Mourinho was never able to do whilst in charge of Chelsea and the fall out of his departure made it clear that the effective style with which Chelsea were playing was not pleasing enough on the eyes of the billionaire owner.
Frank Arnesen – The Danish coach was appointed as an ‘assistant’ to Mourinho following a move from Tottenham in 2006 thought the Portuguese manager was extremely unhappy about this. Publicly the complained of too much ‘outside interference’ and instead of working directly with the first team, Arneson was made to watch over the youth team by Jose instead of adopting his employed role as a ‘technical director’, though with Abramovich apparently paying 3 million to secure his services from Tottenham, there was clearly some tension. Though he allegedly helped bring Salmon Kalou and John Obi Mikel to the club he was accused by Arsenal of being involved in the case of tapping up Ashley Cole, a move which Mourinho condemned despite being fined for it himself.
Avram Grant – The man who took over from him as Chelsea manager was perhaps in surprisingly a rival of Mourinho from the very beginning. Very much like Arneson, he was appointed by Abramovich and was initially working alongside Andrei Shevchenko though his role close to the players and involvement in training clearly displeased Mourinho himself. The Portuguese manager was known to be extremely unhappy that yet another member of his backroom staff was not selected by him personally and claimed that ‘Grant will not be sitting with us on the bench’ although before replacing him as manager the Israeli did just that. Clearly there was friction between the two and whether Grant’s presence at Chelsea pushed Mourinho out we will never know.
Arsene Wenger – Unlike with Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho’s lack of a rapport with Arsenal’s manager was extremely clear from the beginning. During a 2-2 draw in his first season in charge, Mourinho was incensed when Thierry Henry scored a quick free kick claiming that the move had ‘all the hallmarks of Arsenal execution’, a comment which clearly did not endear him to the Arsenal manager. Their feud reached a height in 2006 when Mourinho described Wenger as a ‘voyeur’ as the Portuguese manager felt that the Frenchman spent more time talking about Chelsea than his own club. Tensions on the pitch were clearly strained in the Carling Cup final 2007 when a brawl broke out and both managers blamed the others players for unnecessarily getting involved.
Rafael Benitez – Another managerial rival of Jose Mourinho, Benitez is a coach who strangely has a very respectable record against Chelsea and Mourinho. Aside from the two Champions League semi final victories against the club in 2005 and 2007, Benitez also masterminded an FA Cup final win over him in 2006. It is suggested that Benitez and Mourinho fell out when the Chelsea manager refused to shake his hand after the defeat in 2005 and the Spanish manager was unhappy with Mourinho’s apparent courting of Steven Gerrard at the end of that season. Upon Mourinho leaving Chelsea, Benitez was quoted as saying of him ‘We were never friends, I think we should just leave it at that’.
Anders Frisk – Of all the officials Mourinho has fallen out with over time, the shenanigans with Anders Frisk will long be something he is remembered for by not only fans of Barcelona but fans on all clubs across Europe. Having taken a 1-0 lead into halftime during his first encounter with a Catalan’s in the Champions League, Mourinho was furious that he saw Frank Rijkaard speaking with Frisk during the interval and claimed he was ‘unsurprised’ when Drogba was sent off in the second period. Mourinho accused the Barcelona coach of ‘influencing’ the referee and demanded that action be taken. He famously described Frisk as the ‘enemy of football’ and was particularly unhappy but what he was as favourable decisions to the home side in the second period. The Swedish referee handed in his resignation three days after the game claiming he had received death threats from Chelsea fans as was not willing to risk his life over something that had not happened. Mourinho was forced to pay a large fine and apologize to the official though he denies any wrong doing.
Brian Robson – Fearsome as he was as a player Robson was angry with Mourinho that during half time his team were in the dressing room for twenty minutes instead of the regulation fifteen, a tactic which Robson believed was giving Chelsea an advantage. As a the West Brom manager slung obscenities at Jose, the Chelsea manager refused to react but upon Drogba, who Robson also accused of blatant diving, scored the opening goal Mourinho did not hide the fact he refuted Robson’s claims and was only separated from going toe to toe with the former Manchester United man by a group of stewards.
Andy Johnson – Everton forward Andy Johnson was one of the first to annoy Mourinho during the 2006/7 season. During a game between the two, the England forward had three penalty claims turned down and without using the word ‘cheat’ Mourinho suggested that Johnson was ‘dangerous’ and should ‘not be trusted’. Although Johnson made no comment regarding the incidents, David Moyes and Everton threatened legal action in the beginning until the Chelsea manager retracted his comments, which of course he did not.
Robbie Savage – Capable of winding up even the most mild mannered of people it is no surprise that the Blackburn midfielder significantly annoyed Mourinho during his time at Chelsea. During a fractious game between Chelsea and Blackburn in 2005 in which a twenty two man brawl broke out Mourinho accused Savage of ‘not once attempting to actually play the game’ and commented that he was simply on the field to be violent.
Steven Hunt – Reading midfielder Steven Hunt does not seem like the obvious candidate to wind up the Chelsea manager but the Irish midfielder earnt a tongue lashing from the Chelsea manager in 2006 when his clash with Petr Cech caused a severe injury to the goalkeeper forcing him to miss six months of the season and more permanently be required to wear headgear during matches. The blues manager was extremely unhappy with Hunt’s behavior and response to the incident accusing the Royal’s player of deliberately setting out to injure his player saying Hunt had no right to go for the ball and labeling him ‘stupid’.
Cristiano Ronaldo – As a member of the Manchester United team which won back the Premier League title from Chelsea following successive seasons as domestic Champions it is perhaps not surprising that Mourinho wound up the young midfielder just before a clash between the two sides in 2006. Despite being one of the most talented players in Jose’s home nation the Chelsea manager questioned Ronaldo’s ‘honesty’ and basically accused Ronaldo of not possessing the morals to be the great player he aspires to be. Needless to say the Portugal and Manchester United winger was extremely unhappy with his fellow countryman’s comments and refused to comment on anything Mourinho said.
Frank Arnesen – The Danish coach was appointed as an ‘assistant’ to Mourinho following a move from Tottenham in 2006 thought the Portuguese manager was extremely unhappy about this. Publicly the complained of too much ‘outside interference’ and instead of working directly with the first team, Arneson was made to watch over the youth team by Jose instead of adopting his employed role as a ‘technical director’, though with Abramovich apparently paying 3 million to secure his services from Tottenham, there was clearly some tension. Though he allegedly helped bring Salmon Kalou and John Obi Mikel to the club he was accused by Arsenal of being involved in the case of tapping up Ashley Cole, a move which Mourinho condemned despite being fined for it himself.
Avram Grant – The man who took over from him as Chelsea manager was perhaps in surprisingly a rival of Mourinho from the very beginning. Very much like Arneson, he was appointed by Abramovich and was initially working alongside Andrei Shevchenko though his role close to the players and involvement in training clearly displeased Mourinho himself. The Portuguese manager was known to be extremely unhappy that yet another member of his backroom staff was not selected by him personally and claimed that ‘Grant will not be sitting with us on the bench’ although before replacing him as manager the Israeli did just that. Clearly there was friction between the two and whether Grant’s presence at Chelsea pushed Mourinho out we will never know.
Arsene Wenger – Unlike with Sir Alex Ferguson, Mourinho’s lack of a rapport with Arsenal’s manager was extremely clear from the beginning. During a 2-2 draw in his first season in charge, Mourinho was incensed when Thierry Henry scored a quick free kick claiming that the move had ‘all the hallmarks of Arsenal execution’, a comment which clearly did not endear him to the Arsenal manager. Their feud reached a height in 2006 when Mourinho described Wenger as a ‘voyeur’ as the Portuguese manager felt that the Frenchman spent more time talking about Chelsea than his own club. Tensions on the pitch were clearly strained in the Carling Cup final 2007 when a brawl broke out and both managers blamed the others players for unnecessarily getting involved.
Rafael Benitez – Another managerial rival of Jose Mourinho, Benitez is a coach who strangely has a very respectable record against Chelsea and Mourinho. Aside from the two Champions League semi final victories against the club in 2005 and 2007, Benitez also masterminded an FA Cup final win over him in 2006. It is suggested that Benitez and Mourinho fell out when the Chelsea manager refused to shake his hand after the defeat in 2005 and the Spanish manager was unhappy with Mourinho’s apparent courting of Steven Gerrard at the end of that season. Upon Mourinho leaving Chelsea, Benitez was quoted as saying of him ‘We were never friends, I think we should just leave it at that’.
Anders Frisk – Of all the officials Mourinho has fallen out with over time, the shenanigans with Anders Frisk will long be something he is remembered for by not only fans of Barcelona but fans on all clubs across Europe. Having taken a 1-0 lead into halftime during his first encounter with a Catalan’s in the Champions League, Mourinho was furious that he saw Frank Rijkaard speaking with Frisk during the interval and claimed he was ‘unsurprised’ when Drogba was sent off in the second period. Mourinho accused the Barcelona coach of ‘influencing’ the referee and demanded that action be taken. He famously described Frisk as the ‘enemy of football’ and was particularly unhappy but what he was as favourable decisions to the home side in the second period. The Swedish referee handed in his resignation three days after the game claiming he had received death threats from Chelsea fans as was not willing to risk his life over something that had not happened. Mourinho was forced to pay a large fine and apologize to the official though he denies any wrong doing.
Brian Robson – Fearsome as he was as a player Robson was angry with Mourinho that during half time his team were in the dressing room for twenty minutes instead of the regulation fifteen, a tactic which Robson believed was giving Chelsea an advantage. As a the West Brom manager slung obscenities at Jose, the Chelsea manager refused to react but upon Drogba, who Robson also accused of blatant diving, scored the opening goal Mourinho did not hide the fact he refuted Robson’s claims and was only separated from going toe to toe with the former Manchester United man by a group of stewards.
Andy Johnson – Everton forward Andy Johnson was one of the first to annoy Mourinho during the 2006/7 season. During a game between the two, the England forward had three penalty claims turned down and without using the word ‘cheat’ Mourinho suggested that Johnson was ‘dangerous’ and should ‘not be trusted’. Although Johnson made no comment regarding the incidents, David Moyes and Everton threatened legal action in the beginning until the Chelsea manager retracted his comments, which of course he did not.
Robbie Savage – Capable of winding up even the most mild mannered of people it is no surprise that the Blackburn midfielder significantly annoyed Mourinho during his time at Chelsea. During a fractious game between Chelsea and Blackburn in 2005 in which a twenty two man brawl broke out Mourinho accused Savage of ‘not once attempting to actually play the game’ and commented that he was simply on the field to be violent.
Steven Hunt – Reading midfielder Steven Hunt does not seem like the obvious candidate to wind up the Chelsea manager but the Irish midfielder earnt a tongue lashing from the Chelsea manager in 2006 when his clash with Petr Cech caused a severe injury to the goalkeeper forcing him to miss six months of the season and more permanently be required to wear headgear during matches. The blues manager was extremely unhappy with Hunt’s behavior and response to the incident accusing the Royal’s player of deliberately setting out to injure his player saying Hunt had no right to go for the ball and labeling him ‘stupid’.
Cristiano Ronaldo – As a member of the Manchester United team which won back the Premier League title from Chelsea following successive seasons as domestic Champions it is perhaps not surprising that Mourinho wound up the young midfielder just before a clash between the two sides in 2006. Despite being one of the most talented players in Jose’s home nation the Chelsea manager questioned Ronaldo’s ‘honesty’ and basically accused Ronaldo of not possessing the morals to be the great player he aspires to be. Needless to say the Portugal and Manchester United winger was extremely unhappy with his fellow countryman’s comments and refused to comment on anything Mourinho said.