Former blue reveals how “brutal guy” Jose Mourinho destroyed his “self-esteem” at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho is like marmite, you either love him or you hate him.

Out of football, he seems like a nice genuine family guy who is probably a lovely person. But as a manager, players either buy into his ways and like him, or they just dislike him altogether.

Not every person is built to be able to deal with the hard ways and ‘tough love’ of Mourinho, and if he feels you aren’t playing well, doing something wrong, or not putting enough effort in, then god help you.

He has his ways, and he believes in them, and he will always be this type of coach.

But for some, it is too much, and it can completely destroy your confidence.

This was the case for Andre Schurrle during his Chelsea days, as the player himself has revealed in an interview reported by Eurosport.

The former German international reveals how Mourinho destroyed his “self-esteem” when he was at Chelsea, and labels him a “brutal guy”.

He said:

“He’s (Mourinho) a brutal guy.

“I always thought to myself: What does he do anyway? Why does he treat me like this? Why does he do this to people?

“In retrospect, I realise what he wanted and what resources he was working with. At the time, I couldn’t really deal with the things he wanted from me because of all the harshness and the psychological pressure.

“It was often the case that I played from the start and then he’d replace me at half-time. Then, in the next game, I wasn’t in the squad and I was in the stands. I couldn’t understand that at the time and I lost my self-esteem. My ego was hurt.

“Then I started thinking about what must be going through his mind. Sometimes during training, I had the feeling that he was only looking at me, even if that probably wasn’t the case.”

Chelsea News