John Terry’s two curious memories: The fear of Mourinho’s arrival and the frisson with Villas-Boas – Current Affairs

John Terry was a guest on the ‘Up Front With Simon Jordan’ podcast and recalled Villas-Boas and José Mourinho’s spells at Chelsea. The revelations are, to say the least, curious.

Regarding José Mourinho’s first season at Chelsea, the former English captain highlighted the trust that the Portuguese coach placed in him, immediately awarding him the captain’s armband. Without hiding the fear felt as soon as they had their first contact with the Portuguese coach.

“In the first pre-season with Mourinho, we stayed in England for a few days before going to Los Angeles. The first training sessions were a great opportunity to impress him, because we were all terrified by his first press conference. We were all a blur, We even called each other. We didn’t know what to expect, it was intimidating to see how confident he was”, began by recalling the former central defender, one of the greatest figures in Chelsea’s history.

As for Villas-Boas, in an equally curious story, the coach’s first contact with the squad was not easy. On a plane trip, Terry imposed his power within the group to not accept a decision by the Portuguese coach, as soon as he arrived at the blues’ technical command.

“When Villas-Boas arrived we went to Hong Kong. I was sitting in economy class on a 13-hour flight and we had players like Josh McEachran, Nathaniel Chalobah and other young players in first class. It was part of Villas-Boas’ strategy to ‘no player is bigger than me, everyone is equal’. I’m on the plane and I say ‘we’re not going anywhere until these players go back to economy class and those from the first team, who made this club what it is today, move on. for the first one’. Villas-Boas comes up to us and asks ‘what’s the problem?’. And I say ‘we’re not going anywhere until the young people get out of here’. We’re also uncomfortable, let’s go back there.’ And I said ‘no, it’s not your decision’. In the end, we ended up switching. He tried to assert himself on the first day and I can guarantee that that plane. he wasn’t going anywhere. And if he was, he was going without me, Frank. [Lampard] and Didier [Drogba]”, explained the former central defender, now 43 years old.