As Jose Mourinho left Roma’s training ground for the final time on Tuesday following his sacking, he struggled to hold back the tears.
The 60-year-old was given a fond farewell by fans as they posed for selfies and shouted ‘thank you’ to the man that ended their long wait for silverware when he led them to Europa Conference League glory in 2022.
Mourinho certainly made his mark in the Italian capital, creating a special bond with the supporters that made him a popular figure until he was relieved of his duties after a dismal first half of the season.
But he is not universally popular, especially when it comes to his former players.
The three-time Premier League winner has had more than his fair share of disagreements with players over the years, and Roma centre back Chris Smalling hit back at him on Instagram after Mourinho accused him of having a low pain threshold earlier this season.
Chris Smalling hit back at Jose Mourinho this week after having his pain threshold questioned earlier this season
Your browser does not support iframes.
Smalling is not the first star to get on the wrong side of Mourinho, and he is unlikely to be the last.
Mail Sport has assessed some of Mourinho’s most high-profile bust-ups during his illustrious managerial career.
Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil was a joy to watch at Real Madrid under Mourinho, which led to Arsenal parting way with £42.5m to sign him in 2013.
But Mourinho was not always impressed with the German playmaker’s commitment to the cause, particularly when it came to tackling.
Ozil revealed in his autobiography that Mourinho embarrassed him in a brutal confrontation during their time together in Spain.
Explaining the exchange, Ozil wrote: ‘I want you to go into tackles like a man. Do you know what it looks like when you tackle? No? Let me show you.’
Mourinho stands on tiptoes, thrusts his arms down by his sides, purses his lips and minces around the dressing room. ‘That’s how you tackle. Ooh, I mustn’t get hurt.’
Mourinho and Ozil both left Madrid that summer, with the former going back to Chelsea while Ozil went to north London.
Mourinho embarrassed Mesut Ozil by teaching him how to tackle properly
Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne is now recognised as one of the best players in the world, but Mourinho was not completely convinced by him when they worked together at Chelsea.
After returning to Stamford Bridge in 2013, Mourinho had the choice to put his faith in experienced stars like Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel, or give De Bruyne the chance to impress.
He chose the former option, and De Bruyne wasn’t happy. By January 2014 he had moved to Wolfsburg, and Mourinho later opened up on their relationship and why he was happy to let the Belgian midfielder leave.
‘If you have a player knocking on your door and crying every day he wants to leave, you have to make a decision,’ Mourinho said.
‘It was like a wall, a block. He was not ready to compete. He was an upset kid, training very bad.’
De Bruyne has since gone on to win five league titles and the Champions League with Manchester City.
Mourinho accused Kevin De Bruyne of ‘crying every day’ after not being picked to play for Chelsea
Mo Salah
Sticking with Chelsea and world-class players, Mourinho also struggled to get the best out of Mo Salah.
The Portuguese boss accused De Bruyne of ‘crying every day’ and former Blues midfielder revealed recently that Salah was also visibly upset when Mourinho criticised him in front of his team-mates during his difficult spell in west London.
‘He had a go at Mohamed Salah at half-time once and he was in tears crying,’ Mikel said on his podcast.
‘We thought “OK, he’s going to let him back on the pitch” but then he destroyed the kid and then pulled him off.’
Salah made just 19 appearances for Chelsea before moving to Italy to play for Fiorentina and Roma.
Liverpool took a gamble on him in 2017, and it has paid off handsomely, with the Egyptian winger now their highest goalscorer in Premier League history.
Mo Salah had a difficult time at Chelsea and was ‘destroyed’ by Mourinho, according to former team-mate John Obi Mikel
Salah has since becoming a global superstar at Chelsea’s Premier League rivals, Liverpool
Mario Balotelli
Mourinho’s two-year spell at Inter Milan could not have gone much better as he won the Treble with the Italian giants in 2009-10.
That doesn’t mean he got on with every player, though.
A young Mario Balotelli was just emerging on the scene at the time, but the enigmatic forward clashed with Mourinho on multiple occasions, and one heated exchange led to him being kicked off the team bus.
Balotelli told the tale on the Muschio Selvaggio podcast last year as he explained: ‘Mou is not an easy guy to deal with, much like me.
‘One time before a trip to Catania, we had an argument on the bus taking us to the airport.
‘He made me get off the bus and I had to return home with a car.’
Mourinho would go on to warn Manchester City against signing Balotelli, but they took no notice, and the Italian striker also had a brief spell at Liverpool.
He is now playing in Turkey for Adana Demirspor.
Mario Balotelli revealed last year that Mourinho once kicked him off the team bus at Inter Milan
Paul Pogba
Mourinho’s first major signing when he joined Manchester United in 2016 was Paul Pogba for £90m from Juventus.
It was far from a match made in heaven.
The pair famously clashed in 2018 after Pogba called for United to be more attacking following a 1-1 draw with Wolves. Mourinho responded furiously, telling Pogba in the dressing room in front of his team-mates that he would never captain the side again.
A frosty exchange between the pair was then caught on camera by Sky Sports, with Mourinho seemingly annoyed with Pogba for posting on Instagram during a match that he sat out due to injury.
Three months later, Mourinho was sacked, while Pogba never managed to live up to expectations and re-signed for Juventus in 2022.
Injuries have hampered his second spell in Turin, while he is currently waiting to find out if he will be handed a ban after testing positive for a banned substance in a drugs test last year.
Paul Pogba joined United at the same time as Mourinho but their relationship quickly went downhill
Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas is widely regarded as Spain’s greatest ever goalkeeper after winning two European Championships and the World Cup alongside multiple domestic honours at club level with Real Madrid.
Yet Mourinho saw things very differently when he was in charge of the Spanish giants.
He was reportedly unhappy that Casillas had close relationships with some Barcelona players, and opted to drop the legendary goalkeeper for Diego Lopez in the second half of his final season at the club.
It appeared a questionable decision, but Mourinho would later go on to double down on his stance, and even claimed he wished he’s brought in Lopez sooner.
When Mourinho left in 2013, Casillas struggled to win his place back the following year, but did become a first-team regular once more in 2014-15 before leaving to join Porto.
Mourinho dropped Iker Casillas to play Diego Lopez in his final season at Real Madrid
Anthony Martial
Anthony Martial joined Manchester United in 2015 with expectations of him sky-high, as the Red Devils inserted a Ballon d’Or clause in his contract.
He immediately showed a glimpse of his potential with a fine solo goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford, but Mourinho arrived the following year and things quickly went downhill for the Frenchman.
Mourinho brought in Romelu Lukaku as his first-choice striker, leaving Martial to watch on from the bench.
When Martial failed to take a rare chance to impress in a defeat at Brighton, Mourinho didn’t hold back as he launched into a defence of his decision to consistently pick Lukaku over Martial.
‘People always ask: “Why always Lukaku?”‘ he said. ‘Well, now they know why always Lukaku, and why always this player and why always that player.’
Martial has outlasted Mourinho at Old Trafford, but has been unable to build on his early promise, and is currently training on his own due to being deemed not fit enough to play in the first-team.
Mourinho consistently picked Romelu Lukaku over Anthony Martial during his time at United
Rick Karsdorp
Smalling was not the only player to feel the wrath of Mourinho at Roma.
Back in November 2022, Mourinho slammed the attitude of full back Rick Karsdorp – without specifically naming him at the time – claiming he had ‘betrayed’ his team-mates with his performance in the team’s 1-1 draw with Sassuolo.
‘It was a team that wanted to win against a tough opponent, I am sorry that the efforts of the team were betrayed by the attitude of one unprofessional player,’ Mourinho told reporters.
‘An unprofessional attitude that is not fair to his teammates, that is what disappoints me. A point away from home is still not a negative result and I am happy with the general attitude of my squad.
‘I had 16 players on the field tonight and I liked the attitude of 15 of them. I told the other than he had this attitude today only and not always. Now we want to close this period of the season with three points.
‘In January, he needs to find himself another club.’
Karsdorp responded to the fierce criticism by refusing to report for training later that month, yet he is somehow still at Roma having forced his way back into the side, while Mourinho has now been moved on.
Mourinho accused Rick Karsdorp (left) of ‘betraying’ his team-mates, but the full back managed to force his way back into Roma’s starting XI
Luke Shaw
Luke Shaw and Mourinho simply didn’t see eye to eye.
Shaw arrived at Old Trafford as a huge teenage prospect in 2014, but suffered a major setback when he broke his leg while playing under Louis van Gaal.
He tried to get back up to speed under Mourinho, but failed to win the trust of his manager, and things came to a head in 2017 when the Portuguese manager questioned Shaw’s ‘football brain’.
‘He was in front of me and I was making every decision for him,’ Mourinho said after a 1-1 draw with Everton.
‘He has to change his football brain.’
Even after leaving United, Mourinho still appeared to hold a grudge after he described Shaw’s corners against Czech Republic at Euro 2020 as ‘dramatically bad’.
Shaw fired back at his former boss for continuing to criticise him, and went on to star for England during the tournament, scoring the team’s only goal in the final when they lost on penalties to Italy.
Mourinho said Luke Shaw needed to ‘change his football brain’ and has continued to criticise him even after leaving United
Pepe
We finish where we started – back at Real Madrid.
By the end of his reign, Mourinho seemed determined to shake things up. Having replaced Casillas with Lopez, he also chose to bring in promising centre back Raphael Varane for the experienced Pepe.
The Portuguese defender was reportedly unhappy with Mourinho’s treatment of Casillas, and his mood didn’t improve when he was dropped from the team himself.
Pepe was angry with Mourinho’s treatment of Casillas, and ended up getting dropped himself
Mourinho had no intention of dancing around the subject, as he bluntly explained why his relationship with Pepe had become strained.
‘It is easy to analyse the Pepe thing. His problem has a name, and it is Raphael Varane,” said Mourinho.
‘I understand that it is not an easy situation, but I have to try to be honest and I think that very few don’t believe that the future of Real Madrid is Varane and Sergio Ramos.’
In the end, Pepe, Varane and Ramos all continued to shine after Mourinho left. Pepe eventually moved on to join Besiktas in 2017 and is now playing for Porto at the age of 40, while Varane and Ramos both stayed at Madrid until 2021.