Jose Mourinho has done it again! Chelsea’s victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday confirmed the Portuguese coach’s third Premier League title.
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As well as his impressive trio, won with the Pensioners in 2005, 2006 and, now, 2015, Mourinho has also lifted the Portuguese title (twice with FC Porto), the Serie A crown (twice with Inter Milan) and lifted the Liga BBVA championship as Real Madrid coach in both 2009 and 2010.
Over 13 glorious years, he has worked with some of the greatest players in the world and overseen the creation of several legendary sides.
In this feature, we present Mourinho’s greatest-ever title-winning XI, creating the dream team of players to have won domestic titles with the Portuguese coach in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain.
GK: Petr Cech
The great Spain keeper Iker Casillas deserves a nod here—and Julio Cesar and Victor Baia are unfortunate to miss out. However, as Mourinho lost his dignity and his way during the Casillas fiasco, Chelsea legend Petr Cech has to take this spot due to years of consistent service,
RB: Javier Zanetti
World Cup winner Sergio Ramos is unfortunate to miss out, but Zanettei was outstanding in 2010 as Internazionale won the Champions League and was a class act on and off the pitch.
DC: John Terry
Captain, leader, legend John Terry was present in 2005 when Jose Mourinho won his first Premier League crown, and is still present a decade later, winning his fourth English championship in the heart of the Pensioners’ defence.
DC: Ricardo Carvalho
The aforementioned Ramos, Walter Samuel, Pepe and Lucio are all contenders for a spot in the defence alongside Terry. However, we’ve decided to opt for Carvalho, who dovetailed superbly with the England international at Stamford Bridge before rekindling his former Porto boss Mourinho at the Bernabeu.
LB: Ashley Cole
While almost all the other positions in this dream team have all been fairly hotly contended, it’s hard to look beyond Cole. In his prime, he was a finer player than Marcelo, who never truly convinced defensively under Mourinho.
MF: Claude Makelele
Makelele—the man who defined the role of the midfield anchor man—is a natural pick to take a spot in the heart of Mourinho’s dream team defence. His efficiency, positioning and work rate would allow those around and ahead of him to flourish—a fact that Mourinho knew only too well when he nabbed him from Real Madrid.
MF: Frank Lampard
Lampard became a world-class player under Mourinho, and, would later go on to become the only central midfielder—before Yaya Toure—to break the 20-goal mark in the Premier League. Arguably Chelsea’s greatest-ever player, the former West Ham United man won three EPL crowns and the Champions League before leaving the Pensioners last summer.
MF: Wesley Sneijder
Brazil playmaker Kaka may have been a greater player than Sneijder, but the former AC Milan was past his prime when he played under Mourinho at Real and never truly lived up to his price tag. Sneijder, by contrast, was virtually unparalleled in 2010, guiding Inter to the Champions League title and the Netherlands to the World Cup final
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo
To some extent, surely, Mourinho must be considered responsible for Ronaldo becoming the goal-scoring machine that he is today. In the 2010-11 season, Ronaldo scored 40 goals in 34 appearances, besting that tally the season afterwards when he found the net 46 times in 38 Liga BBVA outings.
FW: Didier Drogba
Under Mourinho, Didier Drogba shook off a reputation as a lightweight cheat and became a resolute winner. The Ivorian has been present for all three of Mourinho’s Premier League titles, winning the Golden Boot in 2007. He returned from Galatasaray in the summer and has played his part in the club’s latest domestic triumph.
FW: Samuel Eto’o
While they reportedly fell out during their Stamford Bridge reunion last season, Eto’o enjoyed a magnificent campaign under Mourinho in 2010 when he won his third Champions League crown performing a selfless job on the right flank.