Czech shot stopper says he cannot wait to start working with ‘Mou’ again.
Chelsea keeper Petr Cech has spoken at his delight that head coach Jose Mourinho has returned for a second spell in charge of the west London club, reports the Daily Mail.
The Czech Republic international was handed his first-team debut at Stamford Bridge by the self-styled ‘Special One’ way back in August 2004, with the pair then going on to win back-to-back Premier League titles together in 2005 and 2006.
And now the 31-year-old says that he cannot wait to start working again for the Portuguese, six years after Mourinho stunned west London by quitting the Blues, with the Czech shot stopper ominously predicting the return of yet more success in the capital with ‘Mou’ back at the helm next season.
“I only have great memories from working with him,” Cech says. “I am glad that we can do it again together. He gave me the chance to be the No 1 at Chelsea at 22 years old, to start the season ahead of Carlo Cudicini. This is when my Chelsea career really kicked on.
“I think Jose Mourinho will always make you see what he wants you to see He knows a lot about his team. He knows how to speak to one player, to another player. He is careful the way he manages his team.
“The main importance of what I learned, you really feel, no matter if you played one or 10 games under him, you really feel a part of the team. You don’t necessarily have to play every game.
“He is very demanding, so everyone really is on top of their game whether playing or not. You know that if you are not, you are not going to play. For every game he picks what he think is the best team no matter what your name is. It makes people really work.
“It’s the mentality, the wording and detail he puts in everything. He’s one of the managers who rather loses than draws the game. This is something not everybody gets. They say, ‘OK if we can’t win it, just don’t lose it.’ That’s not the case.
“He’s all about winning in the right way. The right way doesn’t necessarily mean in a great way, a nice way to watch. Sometimes you have to win a game ugly. Sometimes if you play against a team who is really physical and kicks only long balls you have to find the way to compete with that.”
The 50-year-old manager won an incredible 124 of his 185 matches in charge of Chelsea in all competitions during his first spell in charge at the Bridge between 2004 and 2007, losing on just 21 occasions, giving Mourinho an overall win percentage of 67.
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