Former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, believes that English midfielder, Frank Lampard, was one of the best players in the Premier League having had the chance to manage him during both his stints as manager of the London club.
Lampard, who is now playing in the MLS, developed a strong bond with Mourinho and the two of them together won plenty of trophies including the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.
Trending
"At Chelsea, in my first period, I had Frank Lampard, probably the best player in the Premier League for one decade," Mourinho told the Straits Times.
Mourinho was speaking in Singapore for a Peter Lim scholarship event. When asked about which was the best player he managed, he said, "Who was my best player? It's so difficult to say and I coached some of the best players in the world.
"I went to Inter (Milan), I had (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, I got (Javier) Zanetti. I got to Madrid, I had (Cristiano) Ronaldo. I come back to Chelsea and I find other top players," he said.
"If have so many, they gave me so much, it's not fair to say this is the one. It's impossible to win so many things without the players so I respect all of them."
Worst moments are the big defeats: Mourinho
Mourinho added that the defeats were the ones that stung the most – especially the ones that were decided by silly penalties.
"I was lucky to be in the finals, but I also lost in the semifinals on penalties," he said. "I lost at Chelsea-Liverpool on penalties, I lost at Real Madrid-Bayern Munich on penalties too.
"When you lose the semifinals on penalties, you get the feeling that you did everything right and you are not lucky. I have these moments but I cannot complain because when you win twice, you have to accept that it's part (of the game) to lose two semifinals."
Speaking on the opponents he loved beating, Mourinho named Arsenal, Barcelona and more.
"At Chelsea the first time, it was a period when Arsenal was a big rival and Manchester United, of course," he said.
"Then I go to Milan, there are big derbies, so Inter vs. Milan, Inter vs. Juventus. I go to Madrid, of course Barcelona was a rival. I come back to Chelsea now it was not about Man United and Arsenal. Manchester City was coming very strong in the last few years."
Mourinho is still currently without a job and is linked heavily with the Manchester United managerial post.
