Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard and more: Jose Mourinho names greatest XI of players he has coached

He's worked with some incredible players during his illustrious career
He's worked with some incredible players during his illustrious career

Jose Mourinho named the best XI of players he's ever coached (as per the Mirror), and interestingly, none of his Manchester United players made the cut.

The Portuguese tactician is among the best managers of this generation, overseeing trophy-laden spells at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and even United.

Throughout his terrific career, he's worked with some exceptional names and back in 2020, whittled them down to just 11 - the best from each position.

Mourinho started off with former Chelsea custodian Petr Cech in goal, before picking a back-four consisting of Javier Zanetti, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole.

With Carvalho and Zanetti, he lifted the Champions League titles in 2004 and 2010 at Porto and Inter respectively, his only two successes in the competition.

In midfield, Mourinho went with Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard and Mesut Ozil.

The 59-year-old then chose a front-three consisting of Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba and former Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo particularly enjoyed a highly productive spell under him, scoring 168 goals from just 164 games with his compatriot at the helm.

The current AS Roma boss didn't pick a single Manchester United player despite being in charge of the club for almost two-and-a-half years and winning three titles. However, all three of his silverware - the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League - came in his first year before seeing a barren spell thereafter.

During his time in Manchester, he coached players like Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David De Gea and Paul Pogba but none have made the cut.

Other big names like Iker Casillas, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos and Wesley Sneijder also missed out as the manager was spoilt for choice.


Mourinho on brink of his first European title in 12 years

The Portuguese took over the helm of AS Roma last summer. He has guided them into the finals of the Europa Conference League's maiden season, with the Giallorossi set to play Dutch side Feyenoord next Wednesday.

He stands on the brink of winning his first European title since the Europa League in 2017, which is also the last time he lifted silverware of any kind.

Mourinho has won every possible trophy there is and could add a new piece of silverware to his bulging cabinet.

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