5 players thrown under the bus by Jose Mourinho | Premier League 2019-20
Jose Mourinho has been remarkably low-key when it’s come to controversial outbursts since he took over as the new Tottenham Hotspur boss in November, but that all appeared to change at the weekend following Spurs’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Burnley.
Mourinho issued a not-so-veiled outburst towards the club’s record signing Tanguy Ndombele after the game during an interview with Sky Sports, and now the question simply becomes about how the French midfielder will respond.
Of course, this was not the only time that the Portuguese boss has metaphorically thrown one of his players under the bus – it’s been a trademark of his style throughout his lengthy career. Here are 5 players thrown under the bus by Jose Mourinho – and how they responded.
1. Joe Cole
One of the earliest recipients of some tough love from Mourinho during the Portuguese’s first stint as Chelsea boss, attacking midfielder Joe Cole came under fire in bizarre fashion; he was heavily criticised in a post-match interview by his boss despite scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge early in the 2004-05 season.
Mourinho accused Cole of slacking in his defensive duties as soon as he’d scored his goal, stating that he needed 11 players to help to defend the Blues’ lead – and only had 10. The England international took the criticism to heart and responded in the best way possible – by knuckling down in all of his duties and becoming a regular for Chelsea in the process, helping them to 2 consecutive Premier League titles under the Portuguese boss.
Despite this, the attacker still found himself on the end of another tongue-lashing from Mourinho during his second season at Stamford Bridge; a 2-0 win over Birmingham was the perfect way to sign off a tremendous 2005, but the Portuguese still found time to hit out at Cole – who had apparently performed too many tricks and flicks during the game.
“One more match like that and he’s out” was the quote from Mourinho, who went onto add that Cole “has to play for the team and not for the public and himself”.