Jose Mourinho is responsible for developing some of the best players in Chelsea’s history, although Ashley Cole has hinted he let one of them slip through his fingers at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho led Chelsea to two consecutive titles in the mid-2000s, putting an end to a 50 year wait for the club win a league title in the process.
John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba are amongst those who have established themselves as club legends at Stamford Bridge during this period, however there are a number of names from Mourinho’s era in charge that are forgotten stars.
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Ashley Cole suggests Jose Mourinho used Lassana Diarra wrong for Chelsea
One of those is Lassana Diarra, who joined the club between their two Premier League-winning campaigns, but was gone again in 2007.
Cole told ‘The Good, The Bad and The Football’ that he was so impressed by Diarra, although the Frenchman did not enjoy being played out of position by Mourinho.
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He said: “I remember, he played for us under Jose, put him right back and he was unbelievable, like he was a joke.
“But he just said to Jose, I don’t I don’t want to play there again. Literally, I’m not playing right back.”
Chelsea’s central midfield options were well stocked at this time. As well as Lampard, they had Claude Makelele, Geremi and Michael Essien in their ranks.
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Lassana Diarra’s interesting career path
After featuring in just 13 Premier League games for Chelsea, Diarra would make the controversial move across London to join Arsenal.
He would last just a season there before joining Portsmouth, playing a huge part in their historic 2008 FA Cup triumph.
This would be the end of his time in England, and actually earn him a move to Real Madrid, before ending his career with various spells in Russia and France.
Diarra is unfortunately one of the victims of the embarrassment of riches the Blues had at their disposal at this time.
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