Why Chelsea Players Cried When Mourinho Was Sacked – Mikel

Chelsea legend John Mikel Obi has revealed that he and his teammates cried when Jose Mourinho was sacked during his first spell at the club in 2007.

The Portuguese manager led Chelsea to the Premier League title the previous season before he was sacked after a poor performance in the 1-1 draw against Rosenborg in the Champions League.

Mikel said the players became emotional and the training ground was sober after Mourinho’s departure.

“It’s hard to say goodbye. For me, obviously, the most special one was when [Jose] Mourinho got sacked.

“A lot of people were in tears, were crying. It was very emotional because he had just won the Premier League twice, a young man and he is a special one,” Mikel said in the latest episode of his podcast, The Obi One.

He added: “It was crazy because we all cried, emotional and everything, and then he leaves and five minutes later we are all on the training pitch and everybody is laughing and joking.

“We just moved on with it but then after training, we started talking about it. Once we are in the pitch again, it’s like, ‘We’ve to get on with the job.’

“We start training, focus on the next game and the next manager and how to get back to winning ways because the reason when Mourinho was sacked was because we were not winning games.”

Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea when the Blues signed Mikel Obi after a protracted transfer battle with Manchester United.

Mikel made his Premier League debut for Chelsea against Manchester City in August 2006 and went on to make 166 appearances in the league, scoring once.

He won 11 trophies for Chelsea including the prestigious Champions League trophy in 2012 before departing the club in 2017.

Mourinho enjoyed an impressive first spell at Stamford Bridge, guiding Chelsea to their first Premier League title in over 50 years winning six trophies in total before he was sacked in 2007.