Abu Dhabi: This year’s pulsating English Premier League (EPL) title race between defending champions Manchester City and Chelsea is too close to call — but the Londoners have the benefit of having the best coach in the world in Jose Mourinho.
That’s the view of former Chelsea winger Damien Duff, who told Gulf News in an exclusive interview that he would have ‘run through brick walls’ for the flamboyant Portuguese.
Republic of Ireland star Duff combined to devastating effect with fellow winger Arjen Robben in Mourinho’s maiden EPL title triumph with Chelsea in 2005 in his first stint as coach at Stamford Bridge.
Duff scored 10 times in the league that season and also netted the winning goal against Manchester United in the semi-final of the League Cup, which Chelsea won after beating Liverpool 3-2 in the final.
Yet, despite leaving the London giants a year later after another EPL title success and going on to play for Newcastle United and Fulham, the 35-year-old has nothing but admiration for Mourinho, who returned to his spiritual home from Real Madrid in 2013.
Speaking on Wednesday at a training session at New York University’s campus in Abu Dhabi during his current club Melbourne City FC’s 12-day UAE training camp, Duff said: “How did I get on with him? Fabulously. Obviously he’s an amazing coach, who’s won everything in the game.
“I don’t think anyone can speak highly enough of him and it’s great to have him back in the Premier League. You’d run through brick walls for him and all the lads loved him.”
How does Mourinho inspire such devotion from his players?
“You just need to spend time with the guy [to see],” Duff, who moved to Chelsea from Blackburn Rovers in 2003, added. “Last season when I was going out to play for Fulham, I met him in the tunnel and he was obviously the opposing manager. I even felt good going out to the pitch after seeing him and having a little chat and a hug for 30 seconds.
He continued: “He can hit both ends of the spectrum in the dressing room. He’s gone crazy and he can be as cool as ice as well. He can tick both boxes. I don’t think he got to the highest level of football as a player. But it shows you don’t need that to be a top manager.
“As a coach, he was amazing in his decision-making and picking the right teams at the right times. He just ticks every box and that’s why he’s the best in the world.”
Ten years ago, Duff was part of an irrepressible Blues outfit that finished 12 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal, who had won the title without losing a game the previous season.
The 2014/15 Chelsea vintage were tipped by some pundits to emulate the Gunners’ 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ after a storming start to the season, before their 23-match winning run was ended after a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle last month.
Duff said: “Six weeks ago, people said Chelsea were the ‘Invincibles’ and they were going to run away with it [the title]. Things can change quickly in football and it’s an interesting race.
“I think it’s only two points the gap at the minute and that’s nothing. One week, one round of games and all of a sudden Man City could be top.”
Meanwhile, Duff said he was not surprised by the upheaval at another of his former clubs, Newcastle, who parted company with much-maligned boss Alan Pardew earlier this month.
Pardew, who is now in charge at Crystal Palace, ‘did an amazing job and he didn’t get enough credit for it’, the Irishman said.
He added: “Pardew did well to stay there for four seasons, so fair play to him. I know he got an awful lot of stick, but you do well to not get stick off the fans there.”
Duff was also full of praise for another controversial character, fellow countryman Roy Keane, who famously abandoned Duff and the Ireland squad midway through the 2002 World Cup after a feud with manager Mick McCarthy.
“I got on well with him,” he said. “I liked him — he’s a good guy and was a top player. Is he misunderstood? I don’t know. I understood him pretty well enough.”
Was he angry at Keane’s abrupt departure, when the midfield talisman could have inspired the Irish to greater heights than the second round, where they lost to Spain on penalties?
“I think the team went on and did well,” Duff, who was Ireland’s player of the tournament in Japan and South Korea, said. “It was a pity for Roy that he missed out on the World Cup. Who knows how we would have got with him in the team? I always got on great with him.”
