The Portuguese tactician was sent well wishes by his former Blues player despite joining their London rivals
Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has wished former manager Jose Mourinho all the best as Tottenham‘s new head coach.
Mourinho was appointed by Spurs on Wednesday, a day after the Premier League club – who are 14th in the table – sacked Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The Portuguese tactician led Chelsea to three league titles across two spells at the helm, but will now look to salvage their rivals’ season only 11 months since being dismissed as Manchester United coach.
Mourinho may have joined Chelsea’s rivals, but Azpilicueta – who won one of his two Premier League titles under the 56-year-old – sent well wishes to his former leader.
“I can talk only when Jose was here at Chelsea with us,” Azpilicueta told Sky Sports News.
“We won trophies, and now football moves on. I wish him all the best even though he goes to a rival.
“I have good memories with him and I have played many times under him and against him.
“Obviously when we play against each other we both want to win for our teams, but this is football. I wish him well.”
Former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov believes a refreshed Mourinho will likely have an instant impact on the squad.
However he warned Tottenham’s players that they will need to prove themselves in front of the 56-year-old manager.
“With his resume and the amount of trophies he has won in the Champions League, Premier League and wherever he goes, he has earned the right to take no sh*t,” Berbatov told Betfair.
“If you show him respect he will give you respect back, and he deserves that because he has proven himself by winning so much.
“The players will want to show him how they can play and they will be thinking that they need to prove themselves to him. He will bring new ideas, a new way of playing, new exercises in training and the players will need to show themselves, all of them.
“In every club you have that player hierarchy, you know that you are good, maybe you are the captain of the team and you know you are going to play, but at the same time that doesn’t give you the right to just lay back and play off your name, you need to work hard and this will be the case with Mourinho.
”This new appointment, like every time a new manager comes in, will bring new life to the team, it will shake things up and people will wake up a bit and start proving themselves. The Spurs players should be excited because they are going to play for one of the best managers in the world and it is a great opportunity for them.
“Mourinho has had a good rest, he was watching teams playing, commentating, he will have drawn lessons and conclusions from his last job at Man Utd and now it’s a fresh start for him.
“By appointing him, the board were probably thinking ‘wherever he goes he brings trophies’ and Spurs need a trophy, we talk about it all the time.
Mourinho’s first game in charge of Spurs will come against another London club, West Ham, on Saturday.
Be the first to comment