José Rodríguez, Lingard, Carvalho and other 'right eyes' of Mou

Since on September 23, 2000 José Mourinho sat on the visiting bench of a Boavista-Benfica, since he made his debut as the first coach in the Eagles, many are the players who have passed through his hands. 980 games and eight teams different go a long way. A lot of titles, recognition, ups and downs, and of course, trained players and personal bets. Dane Scarlett became the youngest player to debut with Tottenham on February 7, thanks to the desire of his coach: “He is 16 years old and it was very important for me to be the coach who put him in, because he will be someone in a few years”. Naturally, this is not the Portuguese's first 'right eye' …

Let's start at the end, your two most recent soldiers: Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Höjberg. Upon his arrival at Spurs, the man from Setúbal discovered the first. In the “All or nothing: Tottenham Hotspur”, Amazon documentary, he quickly identifies him as the only one on the team with the aggressiveness and competitiveness that he requires from his men. They were great players, but also “great guys”, and that had to be changed during the 90 minutes of the matches.. That is why he set his eyes on our second protagonist. The Danish midfielder arrived in the summer from Southampton and has quickly become his favorite 'bad boy' and undisputed in destruction and construction work.

If we rewind in Mourinho's career we get to Manchester United, where he spent two and a half years until Solskjaer took his place. At Old Trafford, their three most used players were Rashford, De Gea and Pogba, but it is the fourth that has a place on our list: Jesse Lingard. Warrington's winger was Mou's personal gamble. perhaps one of the best known, because since their paths parted, the other English international and World semi-finalist went out and has had to pack his bags and go on loan to West Ham. Another player for whom Mourinho showed special affection in Manchester was Marouane Fellaini, who left United just two months after a Mourinho who even placed him as a center forward.

Carvalho, your faithful soldier

In Chelsea they stand out, in addition to legends such as Terry, Lampard, Cech or Drogba, footballers who have accompanied him in various teams and who conquered him in his champion Porto: Ricardo Carvalho, Maniche and Paulo Ferreira. Besides another footballer, Michael Essien, who met in London and took Real Madrid to his next stage, as well as Carvalho. And it is the latter who has been his true fetish player. Fundamental in Dragons who won the Champions League, was key for Mou both at Stamford Bridge and at the Bernabéu. In total, defense and coach have shared a dressing room for ten seasons and Ricardo has played almost 300 games under the wing of his greatest supporter. The cases of Maniche and Paulo Ferreira are not so idyllic, since the former, although he also shared a stage at Benfica, was only indisputable in Do Dragão.

Inter de Milan

“I'm tired of justifying that Mourinho is one of the best people in the world of football.” That's how forceful a Samuel Eto'o was, who has always spoken wonders about Mourinho. The Cameroonian left Barça through the back door, since Guardiola had other plans in mind (Ibrahimovic), and at Inter they both fit in perfectly, achieving a symbiosis that led to the neroazurri to win all the trophies at stake. There, one of the players who best remember Mourinho's time at Giuseppe Meazza is Maicon, who rivaled Alves for the throne of best winger in the world, in part, thanks to the technical work of the Portuguese.

Real Madrid

Already at Real Madrid, the name that automatically comes to mind is José Rodríguez. The now Maccabi midfielder was reunited last September with the coach who made him debut in the Champions League when he was just 17 years old. Eight years between one moment and another that does not bury the great memory that the Spanish keeps of his great supporter. His career did not follow the paths he was aiming for at that time, but he will always be remembered as one of Mourinho's 'right eyes' at the White House.

Finally, we cannot forget two of the greatest soldiers that the Setubalense has had and that we have not yet dealt with, Álvaro Arbeloa and Sami Khedira. The defender and his versatility made him one of the players most used by Mourinho, with 122 games played, most of them as a right-back, even placing him “on the podium of the most important players I have ever worked with.” Their friendship still endures. While the box-to-box German has not once again enjoyed a confidence at club level like that shown by his then coach. They are not all who are, but they are all who are. All of them, players who, for sure, have a more than pleasant memory of José Mourinho.