Andriy Shevchenko only played under manager Jose Mourinho at Chelsea for just over a year – but it is clear that the Portuguese had a significant impact on the forward.
The Ukrainian joined the Stamford Bridge side from AC Milan in the summer of 2006 for a fee of £30.8million and was unable to match the standards he set for himself at the San Siro, netting just four Premier League goals in his first season as the two-time defending champions dropped to a second-placed league finish.
Mourinho’s side were able to complete a League and FA Cup double and Shevchenko puts that down to the winning mentality that the Portuguese had installed among the club’s established players.
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Shevchenko on working with Mourinho
“There was a strong hunger to win at Chelsea – guys like Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, John Terry and Arjen Robben were at the peak of their careers, combined with experienced players like Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack and myself,” Shevchenko told FourFourTwo.
“We were a strong team. We started the campaign a bit inconsistently, but I liked that the dressing room was very competitive, the atmosphere was good and we motivated each other to succeed.”
Shevchenko – who was ranked at no.31 in FourFourTwo’s list of the 21st century’s best players – believes Mourinho’s ability to motivate separated him from his contemporaries.
“Working for Jose Mourinho was a great experience – I have a lot of respect for him because he always made the best decisions for the team,” he adds.
“He was a master at motivating each player in a different way and knew how to strike the right chord with every single one of us – he used his intelligence to convince us individually and as a group.
“We were his soldiers. I was fortunate throughout my career that every coach I had shared the same trait: their winning mentality.”
Shevchenko would only make 78 appearances for Chelsea, moving back on loan to Milan after two seasons, with a permanent move back to his boyhood club Dynamo Kyiv following in 2009, but he would leave Stamford Bridge with fond memories.
“My most special moment at Chelsea was winning the 2007 FA Cup Final at the new Wembley, because of how much it means to the English. We came close to winning the Premier League title in both of my seasons, but Manchester United came out on top by a narrow margin.”
