'You idiot! You have no guts!' - the moment Chelsea matured

That night at Camp Nou in 2005 was the moment Chelsea learned what fear was - and how to overcome it.

Joe Cole used to play for Chelsea and was a student of Jose Mourinho.

There are defeats that leave no scars, but rather teach a lesson. For Chelsea, the defeat to Barcelona at Camp Nou in 2005 was such a moment. A night when Jose Mourinho unleashed the most intense rage of his managerial career, turned the dressing room into a furnace, and taught his stars what true character meant.

Joe Cole, in his autobiography Luxury Player, recounts the outburst with a shudder. Chelsea had just lost the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. Mourinho entered the dressing room, his eyes cold as steel. “First test, and you failed. You came to Camp Nou and ran away. Cowards!” he shouted, his voice echoing in the air thick with disappointment.

Mourinho spared no one. Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard, all were called out. “Eto’o and Deco destroyed you,” Mourinho screamed. “You fools! No guts, no courage!” Every player bowed their heads, no one dared to say a word. Cole wrote that the room was like a courtroom, where each person waited their turn to be convicted.

When it was his turn, Cole braced himself for a blow. But Mourinho paused. He simply said Cole and Damien Duff had played well. A sudden turnaround. “I felt like I was blindfolded in front of a firing squad, then let go at the last minute,” Cole wrote.

Mourinho then left the dressing room in silence. No one dared to breathe. But the humiliation of that day became the fuel for the ultimate revenge. Two weeks later, at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea played as if fueled by fire. They led 3-0 after 20 minutes, then beat Barcelona 4-2 to qualify. Mourinho had what he wanted: a fearless team.

Mourinho once brought success to Chelsea.

Joe Cole calls that Mourinho’s genius: knowing when to destroy, and when to support. “He knows how to control the emotions of the players. When we win, he hugs me and shouts: ‘Joe Cole! We won because of him!’ That’s how he forgives,” Cole said.

In the early years of Roman Abramovich’s reign, Mourinho brought not only trophies to Chelsea, but also a new mentality: bloodlust and pride. He taught them not how to play, but how to fight. “Training with Mourinho was hell. Everything was on the ball, no interruptions. He forced you to think as you played,” Cole recalled.

Two decades later, the memory still burns bright. That night at Camp Nou was not just about defeat. It was the moment Chelsea learned to be a conqueror, thanks to a manager who knew no fear and would not tolerate weakness.

Source: https://znews.vn/do-ngu-khong-co-gan-khoanh-khac-chelsea-truong-thanh-post1599633.html