Left Winger: Juan Mata
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A LOT of managers would salivate at the thought of having this midfield in their playing XI as part of a 4-2-3-1 formation, but not the Special One. Mata had one of the most stellar seasons before Mourinho joined Chelsea and almost immediately put him up on the block and offloaded him. Mata was often benched by Jose, something that earned the ire of fans.
There seemed to be a lot of tension when the player and manager were reunited at Manchester United this season and Mata said there was no relationship between him and Jose, but some dust seems to have settled there.
Right Winger: Ricardo Quaresma
Quaresma was an expensive buy from Porto who would soon ‘win’ an award for the worst player in Italian football at Serie A giants Inter Milan. If rumours are to be believed, Quaresma found it difficult to play in the confines of a 4-2-3-1 and that is what eventually led to him leaving the club.
He once said in an interview that his “biggest regret was joining Inter.” Call it rifts, bad management or mismatches in playing styles and expectations, these three will go down as three really good midfielders who just could not play with Jose.
Striker: Diego Costa
Whether he’s calling his new boss ‘friendlier’ to have a better relationship with him or because he wants to take a dig at his old boss, or both, we know one thing for sure, there was no chemistry between the Spanish star and the Portuguese maestro.
Whilst he did appear to throw a bib at his coach in 2015, that situation was rubbished later, the apparent displeasure the two had for each other, never was. Unlike other cases, though, it’s Mourinho who moved on this time and not the footballing star.
