Kampusbet - Steven Gerrard will help form a guard of honour for Chelsea’s
newly-crowned champions at Stamford Bridge on Sunday – but Jose
Mourinho has already handed the Liverpool skipper a glowing tribute of
his own.
Kop idol Gerrard will always be the one that got away for Mourinho - who tried to sign the Scouse maestro
twice during his first spell at Chelsea, then struck out again at Inter
Milan and missed with one final try when he was Real Madrid boss.
Mourinho claims he failed because Gerrard has a ‘Red heart’ and could never play against Liverpool.
If that is any sort of dig at Frank Lampard, who left Chelsea
for title rivals Manchester City last summer, then it is only a slight
one – because Mourinho believes the ex-England teammates were the two
best attacking midfielders in Europe at their peak.
And although
successive Three Lions managers failed to solve the riddle of how best
to use the duo in tandem, Mourinho believes they would have won trophies
together at Chelsea – and should have done so for their nation, too.
Bandar Bola - As the Special One prepares to face Gerrard on Sunday
for, presumably, the final time in his playing career before he - like
Lampard - heads to Major League Soccer, he wondered whether his ‘dear
enemy’ could one day oppose him again... as Liverpool manager.
Mourinho said: “Liverpool are a giant club and speaking about Liverpool honouring the champions, it is my time to honour this champion. It’s my time to honour Steve Gerrard and say, with opponents like him, that I am the manager I am.
"I
learn through my players and my best opponents. Steven Gerrard is for
sure one of my favourite enemies and for sure my dear enemy, the one who
made me a better manager.
“To stop him, or try to stop him, has
been very, very difficult. I lost against him, I won, I drew. I am very
sad it’s the last time I play against him. I need people like him to
make me a better coach.
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