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Jose Mourinho who just might be English football's most under pressure manager right now has always been a person of controversy. If known as a serial winner, his temperament and deteriorating relationship with players have also come into the news far too many times.
His playing style which lays emphasis on the defensive rigidity means that not every player can make the cut in his team. Many have failed over the years to adapt to his system, while others have simply fallen out after spectacular feuds.
He, no doubt, has players on the other end of the spectrum too. Read- 10 players who have excelled under Jose Mourinho.
The players mentioned on this list, however, have not only hurt his reputation but also enabled people to ask the question of what might have been had they succeeded. Here are the top world-class players the Portuguese manager couldn't get the best out of.
#1 Kevin de Bruyne
Perhaps a mistake that Chelsea fans might never forgive Mourinho for; even over the three league championships that he got them.
When Jose took over the London club once again, he inherited a young Kevin de Bruyne in his squad. Eager to impress, the Belgian searched for game time but found none. He was kept out of the side as Mourinho preferred more enigmatic and established options over him who could slide in both attack and defense.
De Bruyne ended the season making only 9 appearances in all competitions with no goals. He cut a frustrated figure leaving the club at the end of the season, joining Wolfsburg as Mourinho made no efforts to stop him.
De Bruyne has now turned into one of the best midfielders in the World, playing for Chelsea's league rivals Manchester City.
#2 Andriy Shevchenko
The Ukranian forward was a renowned World Class player when brought for a then-record club fee at Chelsea. But speculation persisted even upon arrival that he was more of a club owner's Abramovich signing than a Mourinho signing.
With Didier Drogba already in the line up ahead of him, the Ukranian was not handed a starting spot too often. He was in an out of the team and finished the season at figures too underwhelming for his standards.
A feud also began to grow between him and the manager. As always Mourinho was public in his slating of the player. While at Inter, Jose called Shevchenko out as a Prince who wanted to be given a special treatment.
Mourinho departed the next season and Shevchenko's form did pick up but he never really showed the quality that he once had. He ended his Chelsea career with 23 goals.
#3 Iker Casillas
It was all sweets and roses until they were winning. Casillas was part of the Real Madrid team under Mourinho which surpassed 100 points in La Liga, beating Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in his second season in charge. Things though, began to fall apart soon after.
The Spanish national team's captain, who was considered the best Goalkeeper in the world at that time and was perhaps untouchable in the dressing room, found himself on the substitutes bench for the first time in nearly a decade. The Madrid faithful went to and fro between manager and the player as the dispute continued to rage.
Soon enough, Mourinho brought in Diego Lopez who took Casillas spot in goal and dislodged his fellow Spaniard as the undisputed number one at Los Blancos.
Casillas never really recovered even after Mourinho was sacked and left his boyhood club after a couple of years for FC Porto where he currently plies his trade.
#4 Ricardo Quaresma
It might be a story of Quaresma as the player who could never really hit the heights in club football that he once promised. His time at Inter while under Mourinho is another such glaring example.
Brought into the club right as Jose Mourinho took charge, Quaresma found chances hard to come by as the manager criticized his tactical knowledge of the game. The player later revealed that it was his biggest regret to have joined Inter and that he felt abandoned by the manager.
He was given out on loan to Chelsea for the remaining months of the first season and rarely ever featured in Inter's treble-winning campaign the next year. He departed the club at the start of the new campaign as did Mourinho.
Quaresma, however, was an instrumental player for Portugal in their Euro winning campaign and recently scored a trademark trivela against Iran at the World Cup.
#5 Mohammed Salah
To his credit, Mourinho was the one who got Salah to Chelsea in his second term at Chelsea. But he never did afford the Egyptian enough chances to shine at the club. Another winger who perhaps didn't perform the defensive duties too well for the Portuguese' taste.
The two seasons that he spent at Chelsea, Salah rarely featured in the squad and was put out on loan at the end of the second term. He then went on to spend the next year at Roma and thereafter made the deal permanent.
Following Salah's rise to stardom through his debut season at Liverpool, Mourinho has held the opinion that he never wanted to sell Salah and that the transfer was out of his hands. Whatever may be the truth, he remains as one of the current biggest stars today who failed to make the cut under Mourinho.
