Former Chelsea star reveals all on ‘difficult’ times under Jose Mourinho

Wayne Bridge believes that he was “harshly treated” during his time under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and has explained why things got “difficult” for him.

The former England international left-back started off as a regular under Mourinho at Chelsea but a serious ankle injury picked up in February 2005 saw him struggle to win his place back over the following year.

A short loan spell at Fulham helped him regain his form and force his way back into Mourinho’s plans for the start of the 2006-07 campaign before he gradually lost his place again to new signing Ashley Cole.

When asked by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher what Mourinho expects of a full-back, Bridge replied: “Just do the opposite of what I do, I think. It was difficult because when he first came on the scene he went to 4-3-3, so for instance when I had the ball he would go through two or three options for me.

“Then he said to me that ‘if those aren’t on then just play, just do what you see’. He would have the team set-up, so he would want the full-backs to do certain things, make certain runs.

“But he played Gallas in front of me for a long time and obviously Gallas is brilliant defensively but I still thought I had more to offer going forward than him. It was up and down for me.

“I thought I was giving him what he needed sometimes, and it wasn’t, but I didn’t know what that was. I didn’t know what it was that I wasn’t doing to not be playing for the period of time that I didn’t play.

 

 

“Sometimes I thought I was harshly treated in terms of if I was dropped from the team and Gally was playing. It was like when Ash [Ashley Cole] first came I was playing so well and he was obviously going to play because they spent a lot of money on him.

“But it was against Charlton and I was playing well and if anything I would say I was one of the better players on the pitch that day. They ended up scoring and I was the first person to get dragged. So sometimes I think it’s about how he feels about you, if he thinks your not quite good enough it’s difficult. I found it really difficult.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both turned down transfers to Chelsea due to concerns over Antonio Conte, it has been claimed. Read more…