Englishman was persuaded to leave Arsenal for the Blues by ‘Mou’ seven years ago.
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Chelsea defender Ashley Cole feels that he owes returning Blues head coach Jose Mourinho for not playing up to his normal high standards in the first and only season that the pair worked together at Stamford Bridge, reports the Daily Mail.
The experienced England international was brought to west London from city-rivals Arsenal by the then Chelsea boss in the summer of 2006 in a hugely controversial transfer that also saw Frenchman William Gallas move to the Emirates.
In his debut campaign working under the Portuguese, the full back won the cup double of FA and League Cups, however, the west London club also failed to win the Premier League title for the very first time since Mourinho arrived in the capital in the summer of 2005.
And just a few months later, ‘Mou’ had left the Blues after falling out with billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich, leaving Cole with a feeling of unfinished business.
“I still feel I owe him something,” said Cole in Jakarta, where Chelsea currently are as part of their pre-season tour of the Far East.
“I didn’t play as well as I could back then, and as well as I have for Chelsea since. I owe him a lot, personally.
“I jumped at the chance to play for him. He’s a great manager. He proved how good he is with the number of trophies he’s won with different teams. He’s great at motivating players and keeping you on your toes, doing what you should be doing.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve had an unfulfilled Chelsea career. I’ve been lucky enough to win a few trophies and I hope to win more. Having the manager back, we can do it all together. I think we can win back the Premier League. As players we owe it to the manager to win the league or the Champions League again.”
Since Mourinho left the Bridge six years ago, Cole has gone on to establish himself as one of, if not the, best left backs in the world, having played for Chelsea in 312 matches in total, scoring seven times in the process, and winning both the Premier League and the Uefa Champions League in that time.