IT’S ROMAN’S
Mourinho may be a Stamford Bridge legend but Abramovich remains Blues’ main man
FRANK LAMPARD has saluted former Blues boss Jose Mourinho for turning Chelsea into winners.
But he also reminded the Special One that Roman Abramovich was always the big man at Stamford Bridge.
As Chelsea’s current manager pits wits with his mentor from the dug-out this afternoon, memories will come flooding back from the days when the two men set about changing the landscape of English football.
Back-to-back title triumphs saw Chelsea emerge as a real force in the game – a legacy that exists to this day.
A third title, five seasons ago, cemented the legend.
And while Lampard gave full credit to his former boss, he insisted the bigger picture was that the modern-day club would not exist without Russian billionaire Abramovich’s influence – nor would the achievements of a set of players, the core of which eventually became Champions League winners.
Asked whether Chelsea could have reached those heights without Mourinho, he said: “It’s hard to say, but for sure it would not exist without Roman Abramovich.
“Jose played a big part. His imprint on the squad was huge. He took a very talented team who had come second, one that was bursting to win the title, and had a massive effect on it.
“He takes huge credit, but once he left the legacy was up to the players. It was a strong group and we had different managers pushing that agenda.
“The credit for the longevity and how we won things afterwards goes down to the core of the squad we had at the time, and our will to win.”
Mourinho famously told
ERIC DIER’S links with Jose Mourinho go back a long, long way.
During the Tottenham star’s formative years growing up in Portugal – at Sporting Lisbon – one of his youth coaches was the Special One’s godson – Thiago Fernandes.
Yet only now have Dier and Mourinho been united as part of the same football family – following the latter’s arrival in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hot-seat last month.
climbing Sporting’s ranks, Dier remembers Mourinho being on a par with Cristiano Ronaldo when it came to being idolised by the Portuguese nation.
The England ace, 26 next month, declared: “In Portugal there are two people bigger than anything else –
Mourinho and Ronaldo.
“When he won the
Champions League with
Porto, he was already a big figure in Portugal. The year they won it, he took himself and
Porto to another level.
“My image of him was a big character, a big
Agenda
Lampard that he was one of the best midfielders in the world while the former England international was in the shower.
Chelsea’s boss admitted that ‘it made me feel great’ and suggested that his managerial colleague can still relate to younger players.
Dele Alli has benefited from that since Mourinho succeeded Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, and Lampard said he still has the X-factor when it comes to motivation.
He said: “When Jose first came to Chelsea he was the first one who made me feel very close to him, working on the mental side, giving me that confidence. You form a bond.
“Working with the younger players now, it’s my duty to forge that same bond with them. They’re starting their journeys, their careers, and they need to look up to me and the staff.
“It’s a constant. How you are with them every day. How much you want to work with them on the training ground. How much you delve into their personal lives, and how they interact with you. That’s huge.
“You don’t lose it as you get older. Maybe it’s slightly easier for a young manager to be aware of issues such as social media. But if you’ve got it personalitywise, you’ve got it.”
Talent
Lampard makes the trip to north London under the microscope following last weekend’s surprise defeat to Bournemouth.
He said: “It’s always difficult. Spurs have incredible worldclass talent and threats in their team. Jose is a top manager. A very difficult match.
“For us, it’s more the type of game that is the issue. We’ve not been able to break teams down or take our chances of late, and we’ve conceded the occasional goal, and that has cost us.
“Spurs will be a different animal with their home crowd behind them.”