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| Jose Mourinho's first major trophy; 2002-2003 UEFA Cup with Porto |
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for players who played under Jose Mourinho. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.
Nicknamed the "Special One", Jose Mourinho began his career as a translator for Bobby Robson at Sporting CP. He beame world famous while at Porto, winning the UEFA Cup in 2003 and the Champions' League in 2004. He went on to coach Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and now, Manchester United.
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| Champions' League winner in 2010 with Inter Milan |
Team
GK: Iker Casillas (Spain)
Iker Casillas is Spain's most decorated goalkeeper. He started with Real Madrid's academy and made his professional debut in 1999. He won three Champions' League with them. With 725 appearances for the club, Casillas is Madrid's second most capped player of all-time. For Spain, he earned 167 caps. He captained Spain into winning the WC in 2010 and two European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
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| Iker Casillas |
GK: Petr Cech (the Czech Republic/Chelsea)
Cech is best remembered for being Chelsea's undisputred starting keeper from 2004 to 2014. He won almost everything in club football. He is considered among the greatest of his era. In 2015, he joined Arsenal. For Czech Republic, he is the most capped player in the history of the Czech team, with 124 caps, and represented the country at the 2006 World Cup, as well as the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 European Championships.
GK: Julio Ceasar (Brazil/Inter Milan)
Julio Ceasar was awarded the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year title in both 2009 and 2010. He won the Champions' League with Inter Milan in 2010. He won 87 international caps for the Seleção between 2004 and 2014. He was selected for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, in addition to two Copa América tournaments. Unfortunately, he was remembered for a few poor performance for Brazil at the WC Finals.
RB: Javier Zanetti (Argentina/Inter Milan)
Zanetti was the starting rightback for Inter Milan for almost 20 years. He served as their captain from 1999, earning him the nickname "Il Capitano" (The Captain). He held all kind of appearance records in Italy. He widely considered to be Argentina's best ever rightback. He holds the record of the most capped player in the history of the Argentine national team and played in the 1996 Olympic tournament, five Copa América tournaments and two World Cups, in 1998 and 2002.
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| Javier Zanetti |
Maicon started his career with Cruzeiro before heading to Europe. He first played for Monaco and then, Inter Milan. At Inter Milan, he was widely considered to be the best rightback in the world. He won the Champions' League in 2010. He earnmed 76 caps for Brazil, appearing in the WC Finals in 2010 and 2014.
Ricardo Carvalho was the hero of Porto's Champions' League winning team in 2004. He then played 6 seasons with Chelsea. He also played for Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho was his manager at the three clubs. He also played for Monaco and Shanghai SIPG. He was capped 76 times. He helped Portugal to reach the Final of Euro 2004 at home and the semifinal of the World Cup Finals in 2006. He was a part of Portugal's Euro 2016 winning team.
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| Ricardo Carvalho |
Ramos was a part of the all-conquering Spanish team that won the WC and two European Championships. He is the youngest player ever to receive his 100th caps. He joined Real Madrid as a teenager. He scored the tying goal as Real Madrid won their 10th European Cup in 2014. He also won his second Champions' League title by scoring a goal in the 2016 Final. In 2017, he won his third Champions League Cup.
CB: Lucio (Brazil/Inter Milan)
Lucio was the star of Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning team. He earned 105 caps for Brazil. He reached the Champions' League final with Bayer Leverkusen in 2002. In 2004, he moved to Bayern Munich, where he won one German Cup and three Bundesliga titles. He also helped Inter Milan win the 2010 Champions League beating his former club Bayern Munich in the Final.
CB: John Terry (England/Chelsea)
John Terry is a top centre-back of his generation and was the captain for Chelsea during most of his Chelsea's rise to the top of English football starting in the season 2004-2005. With them, he won 4 Premiership titles and the Champions League in 2012. He also played for Aston Villa at the end of his career. For England, he earned 78 caps. He played in two World Cup Finals. However, his career was overshadowed by several controversies.
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| John Terry |
Ashley Cole was considered one of the finest leftbacks of his generation. He was voted the England Player of the Year in 2010. He played in 3 World Cup Finals. He is also England's most-capped full-back in history. He played with Arsenal, but moved to its rival Chelsea. He won the Champions' League in 2012 with Chelsea. He also played for LA Galaxy.
LB: Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid)
Marcelo started his career with Fluminense before making a dream move to Real Madrid in 2007 as the heir to Roberto Carlos. He spent several years in and out of the lineup before establishing himself as one of the star of the team. With them, he won four Champions' League titles in from 2014 to 2018. At the time of writing, he has over 50 caps for Brazil and played at the 2014 and 2018 World Cup Finals.
DM: Claude Makelele (France/Chelsea)
Makelele played for Nantes, Marseille and Celta Vigo before making a big move to Real Madrid in 2000. Over there, he quickly established as one of the best defensive midfielder in the world. He won every single club title available. In 2003, he moved to Roman Abramovich's Chelsea. he earned 71 caps for France. He helped France to reach the Final of Germany 2006.
DM/CM: Xabi Alonso (Spain/Real Madrid)
Xabi Alonso started with Real Sociedad. He joined Liverpool in 2004 winning the Champions' League trophy in his first season. In 2009, he moved to Real Madrid, winning the Champions' League again in 2014. In 2014, he joined Bayern Munich. He was a key member of the Spanish team that won the World Cup and two European Championships. His 114 caps make him the fifth most capped player in the nation's history.
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| Xabi Alonso |
CM: Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina/Inter Milan)
During his professional career, Cambiasso has won 23 official titles (as of the end of 2011), being the Argentine footballer with most honours in history, one more than Alfredo Di Stéfano. The majority of his titles were won during his ten seasons at Inter Milan, including five Scudetti and the 2010 Champions League. He won 52 caps for Argentina, and represented the country at the 2006 World Cup, at the 2005 Confederations Cup, and at the Copa América in 2007 and 2011.
Lampard was the all-time leading scorer for Chelsea. he started his career with West Ham before joining Chelsea in 2001. He won the Champions' League in 2012 and 3 Preimership with Chelsea. He was runner-up at FIFA Player of the Year in 2015. In 2014, he made a controversial move to Manchester City through a loan deal from NY City FC. For England, he was a key player from 1999 and 2014. The Lampard-Gerrard debate was a hot topic throughout his career with England.
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| Frank Lampard |
Michael Essien was one of the best central midfielders in the world during his prime. He first became a star while playing for Lyon, where he won two Ligue 1 titles in two seasons. Then, he moved to Chelsea. Over there, he won a Champions' league, two Premier League titles and four FA Cups. He also spent one season with Real Madrid on loan.
RW/LW/FW: Arjen Robben (Holland/Chelsea)
Robben was an important player for Bayern Munich's dominance in Europe as they reached three Champions' League Finals in 4 years, winning one in 2013. He also played with Real Madrid, Chelsea and PSV Eindhoven. For the national team, he had 96 caps between 2003 and 2017. He helped Holland to reach the Final of the 2010 World Cup Finals and then, four years later the semi-final in 2014.
RM/CM: Dejan Stanković (Serbia/Inter Milan)
Stanković was the Serbian Player of the Year twice: 2006 and 2010. He began playing football for Red Star Belgrade before moving to Lazio in 1998. From 2004 to 2013, he played for Inter Milan, where he won 5 league titles and one Champions League title. At the international level, he became the first player to have represented three different national teams in the World Cup: FR Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia. He is Serbia's most capped player.
AM/CM: Deco (Portugal/Porto)
Deco was signed by Benfica from Brazil as a teenager, but he never played for them. Instead, from 1999 to 2004, he starred for Porto, where they won the UEFA Cup in 2003 and the Champions' League in 2004. He would win his second Champions' League in 2006 with Barcelona. He made Portugal's debut ironically against Brazil in 2003. He went to Germany 2006 and South 2010, and Euro 2004 and Euro 2008.
AM: Wesley Sneijder (Holland/Inter Milan)
Sneijder emerged from the Ajax Academy before making to the first team in 2002. He moved to Real Madrid in 2007, where he won a La Liga title in 2006-2007. He also won a Champions' League title with Inter Milan in 2009-2010. At the time of writing, he has 114 caps for Holland. He was the star player for Holland as they reached the Final of South Africa 2010. He won the Silver Ball. He moved to Galatasaray in 2013. |
| Wesley Sneijder |
FW/LW: Cristano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid)
Cristano Ronaldo is one of the greatest forward of his generation. He is the most expensive players in history from 2009-2013 when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid. At the time of writing, he won the Ballon d'Or winner three times and won Champions' League titles with both Manchester United and Real Madrid. In 2016, he helped Portugal to win the European Championship, a month after winning the Champions' League with Real Madrid.
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| Cristano Ronaldo |
E'too started his career with the academy of Real Madrid. Helayter played with Mallorca. He was a part of the famous REM line at Barcelona where he won two Champions' league titles. He moved to Inter Milan in 2009 and won a third Champions' league in 2009-2010. He won the African Player of the Year award a record four times: in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.
ST: Derlei (Brazil/UD Leiria/Porto)
Derlei started playing in the lower levels of football in Brazil, but joined Portugal's U.D. Leiria in 1999. In 2002, he followed Jose Mourinho to Porto. He was the UEFA Cup top scorer in 2013 as Porto won the cup. He won the the Champions' League a year later. In 2005, he moved to Dynamo Moscow. He also played foe Benfica and Sporting CP. He was, therefore, one of the few players to have represented the Big Three of Portugal.
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| Derlei |
Milito began his club career with Racing Club in 1999. In Europe, he played for Genoa and Real Zaragoza before joining Serie A champions Inter Milan, where he was pivotal in the club's 2009–10 treble-winning season scoring 32 goals in all competitions including two goals in the 2010 Champions League Final. Earned 25 caps for Argentina, scoring 4 goals, and represented his country in two Copa América tournaments, winning a runners-up medal in 2007, and at the 2010 World Cup.
ST: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/Chelsea)
Didier Drogba was voted African Footballer of the Year twice; 2006 and 2009. He is probably Ivory Coast's greatest ever player. The best part of his club career was spent with Chelsea, where he played from 2004 to 2012. He won the Champions' League for 20011-12. He also finished the top scorer in the Premiership twice. He also played in France, MLS and China. For his country, he led Ivory Coast to the World Cup Finals in 2006, 2010 and 2014. He was also their all-time leading scorer. |
| Didier Drogba |
Honorable Mention
Nuno Valente(Leiria/Porto), Vitor Baia (Porto), Costinha(Porto), Jorge Costa (Porto), Maniche ( Porto), Paulo Ferreira (Porto/Chelsea), Damien Duff(Chelsea), Joe Cole(Chelsea), William Gallas (Chelsea), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Ivan Cordoba (Inter Milan), Christian Chivu(Inter Milan), Pepe (Real Madrid), Diego Lopez(Real Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic(Manchester United), Ed Hazard (Chelsea).
Squad Explanation
-- Jose Mourinho won two European trophies with Porto, the 2003 UEFA Cup and 2004 Champions' League, but I only took Deco, Derlei and Ricardo Carvalho.
-- Jose Mourinho won the triple crown. Diego Milito, Javier Zanetti, Julio Cesar, Wesley Sniejder, Luico, Maicon, Esteban Cambiasso, Dejan Stanković and Samuel E'too made this team.
-- He coached 7 seasons with Chelsea in two different stints. This was his longest career. He won three Preimership there.
-- The top four keepers are Iker Casillas, Petr Cech and Julio Cesar and Vitor Baia. They are very close.
-- Iker Casillas had a feud with Mourinho. He lost his starting job because of an injury. His decline did not become obvious until Carlo Ancelotti became the manager of Real Madrid. Under Mourinho, he was still among the best in his generation. Petr Cech was also one of the best in his generation. In the end, I dropped Vitor Baia (Porto).
-- David De Gea only played one season for him at the time of writing.
-- I only two players who played for Jose Mourinho more than a single club. They are Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien.
-- Paulo Ferreira played for him at both Porto and Chelsea, but Maicon and Javier Zanetti were all-timers at their positions. Ferreira cannot break into the team.
-- Sergio Ramos also started as a rightback for Jose Mourinho. Zanetti actually played centerback for Mourinho while Maicon played there. I selected Sergio Ramos as a centerback.
-- No Manchester United player was seriously considered. At time of writing, he was there for a single season. Despite winning the Europa Cup, it is not enough. Zlatan Ibrahimovic only got an honourable mention. He also played for him at Inter Milan too.
-- I edited this post in January, 2020. His tenure with Manchester United was marked with controversies. No player is added onto honorable mention. He has just joined Tottenham Hotspurs.
-- Jose Mourinho's second stint with Chelsea was marked with both success and disappointment. Eden Hazard played well for a season under him so he got an Honorable Mention as well.
-- Jose Mourinho used Samuel E'too on the left wing.
-- Mourinho took Derlei, Helton, Tiago and Nuno Valente from UD Leiria to Porto. Derlei was selected for this team as a symbol of Mourinho's time at Leiria. Besides, he was a key player for Porto in its European runs in 2003 and 2004.
-- Mourinho liked to take his players from one team to another, but Juan Mata is not one of them. Juan Mata was a key player before the return of Jose Mourinho, but he was ignored by Mourinho at Chelsea so he left for Old Traford. At Manchester United, Mata became one of his main players.
Formation
Cech,zanetti,Sergio Ramos,carvalho,cole,xabi Alonso,lampard,deco,robben,c.ronaldo,drogba.
ReplyDeleteGreat team, but one thing to add. Mourinho himself was asked to compile an XI of the best players he coached and he included Mesut Ozil, Eden Hazard and William Gallas.
ReplyDeleteHazard and Gallas are only honorable mentions in your squad and Ozil missed out alltoghether.
(https://www.sportbible.com/football/best-xi-jose-mourinho-named-the-
all-time-xi-of-players-hes-worked-with-20201116)