By JUSTIN FECK
Published: 14:06 EST, 11 December 2025 | Updated: 14:06 EST, 11 December 2025
Chelsea legend Ashley Cole has revealed the impact that Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti have had on his coaching career.
Speaking alongside former Lioness Fara Williams at Wembley for Chase Football coaching programme, the England assistant U21 coach praised his former Chelsea managers for their strong player-management skills.
'Jose Mourinho was very disciplined, strong, expectations high. Standards in training. Which has helped me grow as a coach because I really like that.
'Then Carlo Ancelotti who was more, know the person than the player. Get to know the person within this player, that has to give everything for the badge.
'So the communication skills of his were top. The understanding of people and as I alluded to before, really understanding the signs of people.
'Are they in distress, are they not playing well, how are they feeling? He was very, very good at that so, I definitely learnt from that and tried to develop my people skills a little bit more from that.
Ashley Cole (left) has revealed what he has learned from Jose Mourinho as a coach
He also played under Carlo Ancelotti - another he taken bits from since going into coaching
'You start to learn people. You know, is he mad? Is he angry? Is he sad? Is he super happy?
'Through coaching, that's given me that ability to read people a bit. Which I think in the long run is going to make people better. So I definitely learnt how to be a better person through my coaching journey.'
The former England left-back joined Jose Mourinho at Chelsea in 2006 after an acrimonious transfer across London from Arsenal to become the Blues' most successful left-back in their history which included winning the Champions League in 2012.
Cole was joined at Chelsea by Ancelotti in 2009, and during their time together, Chelsea secured another Premier League title as well as an FA cup and Community Shield.
Since retiring in 2019 after spells with Roma, Derby County and LA Galaxy, Cole has coached with fellow England icons Frank Lampard at Chelsea and Wayne Rooney at Birmingham before joining the FA to become England's U21 assistant coach.
England's most capped Lioness, Williams also spoke about the importance of high quality coaching for young footballers.
'When I signed for Chelsea as an 11-year-old, the coach would pick me up, you know, things I didn't have.
Fara Williams (second left) also spoke about the importance of high quality coaching for young footballers
'If I needed a drink and food, that maybe mum couldn't provide at that time, which was more than what you could do on a football pitch, he was there to provide it for me.
'So it went much further than the pitch and the goals and the white lines and I think that's what grass roots coaches really do for these young people. So my first coach, you know, in a team environment, had really big impact on me.'