Chelsea legend Ashley Cole has had the pleasure of featuring for some of the best managers in the history of the game, but his favourite at Stamford Bridge was a surprising choice.
Cole was part of a Chelsea side led by Jose Mourinho on two different occasions, however was not part of one of his three Premier League winning sides.
Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto di Mateo led the Blues to success in sides where the left-back was a key player, however there were other managers whose time at the club was not as successful.
One of those was Luiz Felipe Scolari, who joined the Blues in 2008 off the back of a strong spell as an international manager for both Brazil and Portugal.
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
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Ashley Cole picked Luiz Felipe Scolari as his favourite Chelsea manager
It didn’t even take a season before Roman Abramovich’s ruthless streak came through, and the veteran head coach was relieved of his duties in February of 2009.
Despite his limited time at the club, Cole said in 2019 that he actually saw Scolari as one of his top two managers at Stamford Bridge, alongside Ancelotti.
He told Sky Sports: “I enjoyed Scolari and [Carlo] Ancelotti – they’re probably my favourite two. Scolari came at a time where I probably wasn’t playing as well as I knew I could when I first came to Chelsea, and the fans will agree with me that I wasn’t the Ashley Cole they knew at Arsenal.
“He came and brought this new lease of life, it was just like playing for Brazil. He had me bombing up and down against people like Jamie Carragher, and Jose Bosingwa was on the other side.
“We had no rules in terms of we could go and play where we wanted, the left and right-backs were going at the same time, which is unheard of at times, and we were playing some great football.
“By December, we petered out and after that, he got the sack. It was the best football we played in a Chelsea shirt but he got the sack six months later.”
Chelsea new signing Ricardo Quaresma (L)
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Luiz Felipe Scolari’s record as Chelsea manager
The Blues were coming into the 2008/09 season off the back of narrowly missing out on both the Premier League and Champions League to Manchester United.
Chelsea took part in 36 games in all competitions under Scolari’s reign, and despite only tasting defeat in five of them, the standards were at an all time high at this stage.
Luiz Felipe Scolari record at Chelsea Total
Games 36
Wins 20
Draws 11
Defeats 5
Scolari would go on to manage a heap of club sides, mostly in Brazil, as well as enjoying another stint as the national team head coach.
The Blues would go on to rescue a third placed finish, as well as see themselves crowned FA Cup winners after Guus Hiddink took over on a temporary basis.