Jose Mourinho never struck us as an especially convivial chap but we would have thought that he’d be somewhat friendly with his players.
The way that legends like Frank Lampard and John Terry gush about their former manager, we were led to believe that he was the kind of man who’d happily put his arm round one of his players’ shoulders and offer a heart-to-heart when need be.
But apparently, it was only a select group of players who got the attentive treatment from Mourinho as in an interview from perennial loanee Victor Moses, it’s revealed that he can be rather neglectful of those on the fringes of the first team.
Moses was clearly not fancied too much by the Portuguese during his second stint as Chelsea manager and one of Mourinho’s first pieces of business when he returned in 2013 was to send Moses out on loan to Liverpool, the first of three loans in three seasons for the Nigeria international.
It’s clear that Mourinho didn’t see Moses as a first team player and, apparently, he barely uttered a word to the winger who he will meet when he returns to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
“He never spoke to me,” Moses said of Mourinho in an interview with ESPN. “I thought in my head, ‘He’s got his own players already.’
“I think we chatted a couple of times on the phone — he asked if I was alright at Liverpool [where Moses spent the 2013-14 season on loan], but that was it.”
Despite the apparent lack of conversation between the two, Mourinho attempted to recall Moses from his loan spell at Stoke when his Blues side had been hit with injuries.
But due to the personality clash and lack of warmth from Mourinho, the chance to return was rejected.
But the 25-year-old (yes, he’s still only 25) is loving life under his new manager Antonio Conte.
Conte has recently implemented his trademark 3-4-3 system at Chelsea and Moses finds himself being utilised as a wing back.
And he sounds thoroughly happier under the tutelage of Conte than he was under ‘The Special One’.
“The manager who is here now is giving everyone a chance — even the young lads,” he said. “I’m pleased that he’s here and I’ve just got to go out there and enjoy my football. As long as you work hard, the manager will see it and he’ll give you an opportunity.”
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