There was no room for any of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United players when he named his all-time best XI.
The former United boss has enjoyed an illustrious career, having enjoyed success at Porto, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid before making his way to Old Trafford. Throughout his career, he has led some of the biggest names in football, making the task to pick his best XI all the more difficult.
Mourinho was set the task back in 2020 with plenty of his former Chelsea stars dominating the team, indicating what he considers to be the best period of his career. The Roma boss chose eight stars from his time at Stamford Bridge in total as Petr Cech, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba all made the cut.
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Carvalho has the distinction of having played under Mourinho at three different clubs, having also turned out for Porto and Real Madrid. Joining him are two of his team-mates from his time at the Bernabeu, with Cristiano Ronaldo inevitably getting the nod having enjoyed some of his best years in Spain.
Mesut Ozil is also included, while Javier Zanetti is the sole representative from Mourinho’s time at Inter. Plenty of big names miss out, including the likes of Iker Casillas, Marcelo and Karim Benzema, and there’s a notable absence of any of the Portuguese’s players from his time at United.
Mourinho managed plenty of stars during his spell at Old Trafford, including the likes of Wayne Rooney, David de Gea, Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba among others. None of them were given the nod though, with Mourinho’s time at Old Trafford ending on a sour note when he was sacked in December 2018.
The 59-year-old remains the last manager to win a trophy for United, having secured the League Cup and Europa League during his time with the Reds. Mourinho has also insisted finishing second in the Premier League with United was one of his greatest ever achievements, although he clearly doesn’t rate the squad he had as highly as some of his others.
Mourinho's all time best XI : Petr Cech, Javier Zanetti, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Mesut Ozil, Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba.
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