“You’re his best friend as long as you don’t lose”- Mikel speaks on relationship with Mourinho at Chelsea

The former Nigeria midfielder started his career in mainstream Europe under Mourinho, and he learned quite a few things 

Retired Super Eagles midfielder Mikel Obi has affirmed that Jose Mourinho was demanding at Chelsea and would only show love to his players when they win games, Soccernet reports.

Mourinho signed Mikel at Chelsea in 2006, and the Nigerian midfielder grew to become one of the most successful and influential figures at the club.

Mikel played 119 games under Mourinho in two different spells, and he was one of the Portuguese tactician’s most trusted lieutenants. Until recently, Mourinho had a knack for having issues with his players. The Roma boss had a knack of talking down on his players in a bid to get the best out of them.

In a recent interview, Mikel shed more light on the issue. He stated that Mourinho was a bad loser and would always sulk whenever they lost games.

“With Mourinho, as long as you’re winning, you’re fine,” Mikel said on the Obi One podcast.

“As long as you’re playing well, you’re his best friend. As long as everything is going well, you guys are good.

“But once we lose an important game, I remember that whenever we lost an important game, he would stay upstairs in his office for a couple of days.

“He wouldn’t come down to the training ground, doesn’t say a word to anybody. You greet him in the morning, and he walks past you. He doesn’t even come to the restaurant.

“You don’t see him for a couple of days until we go back to the pitch and win again.

“It shows the standard that he always wanted to be at. He wanted us to be our best, perform well in training and win games. Sometimes, it was a bit too much, but we always found a way to deal with it.

Mourinho’s tactics at Chelsea yielded results, as they won the Premier League, FA Cup, and the League Cup.