Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TELL AURA I LOVE HIM
Jose’s force of personality made me feel like a winner 14 years ago and still inspires me now says
FRANK LAMPARD insists Jose Mourinho is still the Special One – and Manchester United’s spluttering form is not the end of an aura.
It is 14 years since Lampard watched Mourinho announce himself in English football with the devastating lack of modesty which became his trademark.
But even if United are mugged in a Carabao Cup Ram raid at Old Trafford, Lampard says form is temporary but history is forever.
Derby’s rookie manager still recalls Mourinho’s opening gambit when he took over at Chelsea in 2004 as a lightbulb moment in the Premier League era.
He said: “I saw it and I liked it – I liked the confidence of it. It’s not part of British culture to walk in (to a big club) and call yourself the Special One, but that’s the way he was and I admired him for it.
“If you make those statements you had better back them up, and he certainly did, so fair play.
“He’d had huge successs the year before at Porto and I’d heard about his dossiers, about Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. I was slightly nervous because you wonder ‘am I going to be in Plan A?’
“Jose had that personality, an aura about him as a person. He could be a hard taskmaster when he had to be but he also created a real family atmosphere which was as magical as any of his tactical talks.
“I remember him coming up to the Lowry hotel in Manchester to meet the Chelsea boys on international duty with the England squad before the Euro 2004 finals.
“You talk about aura and personality when somebody walks into a room – his confidence struck me. Looking back, that’s when I probably thought we were going to be winners. When he came to Chelsea, particularly the first time, a lot of us were hungry to win things.
“He brought a confidence that we will win and should win – he told us regularly and we started to believe it. The uplift was mainly psychological but Chelsea became a winning club and he was the driving force.”
Since delivering two trophies in his first season at United, the focus has shifted uncomfortably to the Special One’s functional, uninspiring football. But Lampard is in no hurry to write off his old mentor or rearrange history to suit an anti-mourinho agenda.
He pointed out: “United came second last season. Tottenham were a fair way behind and everyone agrees Mauricio Pochettino’s a great manager, Liverpool were behind them in the League and Jurgen Klopp’s a great manager.
“This is not ancient history, this is fresh history.
“In terms of still being the Special One, those are just words – in terms of still being a great manager, of course he is.”
Mourinho has not lost the humanity which commanded the fierce loyalty of his players at Chelsea.
He was among the first to call Lampard to offer his congratulations on the safe arrival of his daughter Patricia – named after the former England midfielder’s late mother – last week.
Lampard revealed: “He is strong on family but he was always like that as a manager. He was fantastic for me when I lost my mother.
“Although he was at Inter Milan at the time he was ringing me regularly. It’s things like that you don’t forget. Those little things he did for me were very special.”
If you say you’re the Special One you have to back it up. And he certainly did that