10 players who flopped under Jose Mourinho
Jose Mourinho's reputation follows him wherever he goes. That includes both positive and negative elements.
It goes without saying that The Special One's legacy has taken a little beating after his dream job at Manchester United ended in a sacking, but the Portuguese remains one of the most successful managers of all time.
Currently in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, Jose Mourinho is one of only five managers to have won the Champions League with two different clubs (Porto and Inter Milan) and has won silverware wherever he has gone, including with a middling Manchester United team. He has also achieved league success with Real Madrid and taken Chelsea to the summit of the English game.
However, he has often faced criticism for being ultra-defensive and overly pragmatic at times, and his no-nonsense approach to man management has sometimes worked and at times backfired.
Ten players who flopped under Jose Mourinho
Notably, many star players who have found success before or after their spells under Mourinho, flopped under the flamboyant coach. In this article, we will take a look at ten such players who struggled to make their mark under Jose Mourinho.
#10 Nuri Sahin
Nuri Sahin found his place in the Sun with Borussia Dortmund, with whom he won the Bundesliga and bagged a dream move to Real Madrid through his exploits in Germany.
At the time of signing for Los Blancos in 2011, Sahin had said that the chance to play under Jose Mourinho was one of the reasons why he made the move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, it turned out to be a nightmare move for the Turkish midfielder as he made only four league appearances for the Spanish club in three years before being shipped to Liverpool. He finally ended up back at Dortmund where he stayed till 2018.
#9 Mateja Kezman
After becoming one of the most prolific strikers in the world with PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, Mateja Kezman sealed a highly-anticipated move to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 2004. However, he could only find the net seven times in 40 games for Chelsea, returns that were considered meagre from the much-touted marksman.
Mateja Kezman subsequently moved on to Atletico Madrid after being dubbed a flop at Stamford Bridge, but could never really rediscover the form that made him a feared striker at Eindhoven and Partizan. His subsequent spell at Fenerbahce proved more successful, though.
#8 Fabio Coentrao
Fabio Coentrao's impressive performances with Benfica led his countryman Mourinho to sign the left-back for Real Madrid to provide cover and competition to Marcelo.
Fabio Coentrao did spend seven years at the club and often played important games but never burst into life despite winning a plethora of silverware with the club, as he struggled to get out of the Brazilian's shadow.