From his new home in Sunderland, little-seen ex-Chelsea defender Papy Djilobodji contrasted David Moyes’ welcome with how he was ignored and overlooked at Chelsea FC.
Papy Djilobodji signed with Sunderland AFC last week, bringing to a close his pointless tenure at Chelsea. Chelsea made a £5 million profit on the sale of a player whom they used for a matter of minutes.
Djilobodji drew a stark contrast between his initial conversations with Sunderland’s new manager David Moyes and his short time with Jose Mourinho.
"We did not talk about a starting spot, but [David Moyes] told me he wanted me in his team. That was motivating. It was something that I haven’t heard at Chelsea… I’m not the type of player to go to the coach to ask him to play me. What I show in training, for me, that’s enough. After, if he wants to play me, is good. – Evening Standard"
No one has ever accused Jose Mourinho of being an openly supportive, empathic manager. If you come to Chelsea expecting him to throw his arm around your shoulder and give you a paternal pep talk, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Arizona.
Still, you can be realistic about the chances of a tiger changing his stripes and still point out that Mourinho has a persistent, recurring problem in how he messages intentions and support to his squad. Andre Schurrle knows exactly what Djilobodji is talking about.
"I don’t know why Mourinho didn’t trust me. It all felt a bit weird to me… It was up and down the whole time… I didn’t get any consistency from the manager so found it hard to produce my best. – Andre Schurrle, Goal"
Schurrle was one of the players who Mourinho said “didn’t create me problems” in a classic Jose-ism soundbite from 2014. Whatever messages Mourinho sent to Schurrle throughout the season would have been overwhelmed by this passive-aggressive scolding in the international press.
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The pro-Mourinho explanation is that he was trying to give one of his prospects a kick in the pants, igniting some competitive spark to see how he responds. Alternatively, this was one more situation in which Jose deepened the disconnect between him and the players.
Mourinho’s players – for the first 2 years, at least – will run through walls for him. Invariably, maintaining that level of intensity among a barely-rotated squad over 45+ games per year takes its toll on the players mentally and physically. Mourinho either does not realize this or does not care.
Jose Mourinho has never played football at the top level. He has never known football from a professional player’s point of view. Consequently, he has no appreciation for how his techniques – one might say his antics – exact a toll on his players.
Mourinho is a Machiavellian master, and his players are merely his tools.
Djilobodji and Schurrle were both too passive for Mourinho’s likings. These character traits did not develop overnight. Their previous managers should have known this, and would have shared this information if asked. This begs the question if Mourinho and Michael Emenalo bothered to inquire about such things and include them in the final scouting report. But when players are merely widgets in blue shirts, such considerations fall by the wayside.
Papy Djilobodji, Baba Rahman and to a lesser extent Andre Schurrle were transfers that Chelsea should not have made. They are each quality players (Schurrle is a World Cup winner, after all), but they were not the right players for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. Their signings and ignominious ends were unforced errors among an already-fractured locker room and a diminished public image.
Related Story: Chelsea transfer Papy Djilobodji to Sunderland because no one knows why he was signed
Antonio Conte has shown no inclination to manipulate his players or his culture through the media. His direct, unambiguous style in his press conferences may just be the result of him still learning the nuances of the English language. Or his #passion may not allow time or space for mind games with his players or the media.
As frustrating as Chelsea’s limited transfer activity has been so far this summer, one consolation is that Chelsea is not taking the trawler net approach to new signings. At the very least, that will prevent Chelsea fans in the future from having to hear young ex-Blues talk about getting their career back on track after a pointless time at – or on loan from – Stamford Bridge.