‘Jose Mourinho turned a nice club horrible… but Carlo Ancelotti fed me shots of grappa!’: Joe Cole opens up on playing with Chelsea’s many managers – and tells Jamie Carragher Liverpool games were ‘c**p’
- Joe Cole has opened up on playing under Chelsea’s many managers in his career
- The ex-midfielder says Jose Mourinho turned the Blues into a ‘horrible club’
- Cole opened up on Mourinho brutally calling out his players for poor displays
- The Chelsea legend also spoke on doing grappa shots with Carlo Ancelotti
Joe Cole claims Jose Mourinho turned Chelsea from a ‘nice club’ to a ‘horrible’ one during his first stint in London and opened up on how the Portuguese coach clashed with everyone.
The iconic manager took over at Stamford Bridge in 2004 and guided the Blues to immediate back-to-back Premier League titles in what was his first job in England.
Cole claims the Blues had a nice atmosphere around the club before Mourinho arrived, but the head coach decided to change that feeling immediately and made the west Londoners impossible to play against.
Joe Cole (left) claimed Jose Mourinho (right) made Chelsea ‘horrible’ to play against from 2004
Mourinho won two league titles in his first Chelsea stint but Cole said the club had turned from a ‘nice club’ to a ‘horrible’ one
The ex-Chelsea midfielder told Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game podcast: ‘We hated (Liverpool) and we hated Man United but that’s what Jose made us. He made us horrible.
‘Chelsea was a nice club before Jose, weren’t it? We had a lovely players’ bar, the lads would come and play us and have a nice night out in London.
‘It was a nice football team, and he recognised that, Jose, and said “I want to make these the (most horrible) bunch to play against and everyone’s going to hate me.” The manager spiced it up and we obliged.’
Cole claimed the important clashes against Liverpool were difficult to play in when Mourinho was in charge, as the Portuguese coach cancelled out his opposite number Rafael Benitez, with the ex-midfielder describing those games as ‘c**p’.
Cole (right) resented the clashes with Jamie Carragher’s (left) Liverpool as they were ‘c**p’
He added: ‘(Liverpool) were horrible play against, we were horrible to play against.
‘They were c**p games though, Carra, weren’t they? They must have been boring to watch because we were just cancelling each other out. The only person who would have enjoyed it was an Italian tactician.
‘I bloody hated them, there was no space, stop-start, it was horrible. I don’t remember enjoying the games.’
Cole revealed that Mourinho also clashed with his own players at Stamford Bridge on some occasions, including one moment when Chelsea lost to Barcelona in the Champions League last-16 in 2005.
Cole revealed how Mourinho (right) would often call out his players publicly for poor displays
The Blues went down 2-1 at the Nou Camp and even though there was a second leg to play, Cole recalled that Mourinho took no prisoners in the dressing room after the game.
Cole said: ‘He always used to dig me out and he used to dig a few of the others out. He had us in after we got beaten at the Nou Camp and he sat down and went through us one by one.
‘(He said): “You think you’re a top player? You froze at the Nou Camp you. You showed no balls. You’re a French international, you’re supposed to be good”.
‘He went through and he absolutely crucified everyone. He came to me and I thought he’d do me a left hook, he came to me and Duffer (Damien Duff) and said, “you two, ok.”‘
Mourinho (second right) slammed his Chelsea side after they lost at the Nou Camp in 2005
Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea in 2007 after a poor start to the campaign and Cole remained at Chelsea until he was released by the club in 2010.
His final Chelsea manager was Carlo Ancelotti, who led the Blues to the league and cup double during his first season in charge of the west Londoners.
Cole claimed that Ancelotti’s Chelsea was the best team he played in at Stamford Bridge and claimed the Italian boss was completely the opposite to Mourinho in terms of management style.
Cole admitted to having a better relationship with Carlo Ancelotti (right), who gave him shots
Recalling one of his first memories of meeting Ancelotti, Cole remembered: ‘When he first arrived we had a team meal and I was late for it and there was only one seat next to the gaffer.
‘You walk in and you’re like, “Oh s*** I have to sit next to the gaffer.” And I see all the lads not knowing what to do and straight away he’s given me a shot of grappa.
‘I thought, well this is a test. So I did the shot, cheers boss, bang. I did it and he just poured another one for me. We were just doing shots of grappa all night me and Carlo.
‘And he embraced us and the lads loved him. Completely the opposite to Jose. Even when he left me out of teams, I still loved him. He had a brilliant way about it.’