When it comes to iconic football managers, few are quite as high-profile as Jose Mourinho, who famously had two spells at Chelsea.
The Blues famously snapped up Mourinho after he had won the Champions League with Porto in 2004, and he deemed himself “The Special One” early on in his tenure.
Mourinho led Chelsea to two Premier League titles in his first stint at Stamford Bridge, along with an FA Cup, two League Cups and an English Super Cup.
The Portuguese then returned to Chelsea for a second spell between 2013 and 2015, during which time he won another Premier League title and another League Cup.
Alongside his Chelsea spells, Mourinho has also managed at the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Manchester United among others, and so has worked with plenty of stars.
Last year, Mourinho spoke about the players he enjoyed working with the most over the years, and two Chelsea legends made the cut.
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Jose Mourinho hailed legendary Chelsea duo John Terry and Didier Drogba
Mourinho, speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, divided his key players down in three camps.
These were the younger players, who he referred to as “his boys”, the captains who “play through anything”, and the geniuses who “make the difference”.
One Chelsea icon was in the captains’ category, namely John Terry, who valiantly led the Blues to glory during his stint at the club.
He said: “My captains. [John] Terry, [Javier] Zanetti and Jorge Costa. These are the guys that play through anything. They are phenomenal.”
Mourinho then spoke about the “stars that make the difference”, and he mentioned Didier Drogba, another Stamford Bridge legend.
“Then there are the stars that make the difference, even when people think you are the genius,” he said. “You are not the genius. They are.
“They win matches for you. Cristiano [Ronaldo], [Karim] Benzema, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and Didier. They make you feel like a genius.”
How John Terry and Didier Drogba fared at Chelsea
John Terry is the most successful player in Chelsea’s history, the man with the most captain’s appearances for the Blues, and the player with the third-highest amount of appearances for the club, behind only Ron Harris and Peter Bonetti.
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Trophies won at Chelsea |
| John Terry | 717 | 67 | 27 | 15 |
| Didier Drogba | 381 | 164 | 78 | 14 |
Meanwhile, Drogba scored 157 goals in 341 appearances in his first eight-year spell at Chelsea before registering another seven when he returned for one more season, making him the Blues’ fourth-highest scorer of all time.
The Ivory Coast legend’s 36 goals in European competition is a club record, and his nine goals in nine cup finals contributed massively to the most successful period in Chelsea’s history.
