22 October 2023 , 05:45
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It is no secret that tempers can often flare in the dressing rooms of elite level football teams and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side of the mid-noughties were no different.
In 2003, the Blues landed the signature of Wayne Bridge from Southampton. The left-back would go on to spend six years at Stamford Bridge and left with Premier League title, an FA Cup and a League Cup to show for his efforts. However, that doesn't paint the full picture, as midway through his time in west London, Bridge was dealt a hammer blow.
Three years of enjoying first-choice status in a Chelsea side that at this time were dominating English football under the reign of the 'special one' were brutally cut short for Bridge when the Blues signed Ashley Cole from Arsenal in controversial fashion.
Accusations of tapping up were thrown at Chelsea and both the club and Cole's agent were fined, but for Bridge none of that really mattered. Cole was here and here to stay, meaning his own game time was significantly reduced.
Bridge has previously admitted that he knew his time in the blue half of west London was over upon Cole's arrival. His Chelsea career fizzled out in underwhelming fashion, with a brief loan spell at local rivals Fulham before joining Manchester City on a permanent basis in 2009.
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"When Chelsea signed Ashley Cole I was playing really well at the time, and we were playing against Charlton," Bridge told Coral Bookmakers in 2020. "We were 1-0 up when they equalised and immediately afterwards my number came up and I was subbed off for Ashley. I knew then that my time at Chelsea was up."
Bridge concedes that Cole was not only one of the best left-backs in the world at the time, but arguably one of the best left-backs ever. He did also go on to give an insight into how poorly he took that rather embarrassing 20th minute substitution.
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Wayne Bridge endured a rocky relationship with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea"When Mourinho subbed me and Shaun Wright-Phillips off after 20 minutes, I came off and smashed the changing room up. I was so angry and my pride had really been dented. The only reason I didn't have a tear up with Jose after the game was because we'd lost.
"A week later I was back in the team. Jose does things differently to other managers and it could be difficult at times." Bridge was not the only player to fall out with Mourinho at that time, but the Portuguese manager evoked very different feelings from some of Chelsea's biggest players.
The likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard have all publicly spoken at great length about their affection for Mourinho. Bridge however, is adamant the two-time Champions League winning boss has his flaws.
"He could be a tough person to play for. When you were in favour with him it was great, but when you weren't you could feel like an outcast," he claimed, before adding: "It definitely felt like he had his favourites and there were times where you wouldn't speak to him for weeks."
Nowadays Chelsea are managed by Mauricio Pochettino, who had his own dispute with Mourinho when the pair were at the helms of Tottenham and Manchester United respectively. The fall-out was over Eric Dier, with Pochettino of the belief Mourinho's well-documented desire to sign him 'destablised' the defender.