José Mourinho gave Spanish newspaper Marca his best eleven of players he has coached during his managerial career, and as expected there are a few talking points.
Portuguese duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvalho take their places in the side, although Carvalho is the only member of Mourinho's 2004 FC Porto Champions League winning team to make the cut.
Deco misses out on a place, with Mourinho opting for Eden Hazard and Mesut Oezil in creative roles.
José Mourinho gives his best XI of players he's coached: pic.twitter.com/rqsIIkONfa
— S Gillen 🇵🇹 Portuguese Abroad (@SeanGillen9) March 29, 2020
I think a 433 might be appropriate. Ronnie on the wing, Deco as a CAM or on the RW. St Drogba or etoo. Peak Özil still no where near 2004 Deco for me , but still a great player. Makelele is a must and Cech was world class during mou's first stint
— Miguel Mourato (@MiguelFMourato) March 29, 2020
Özil under Mourinho was great so dont forget that and you can easily change some players and it is not weaker team like Deco and Sneijder in his best
— Pasi Virtala (@PasiVirtala) March 29, 2020
Interesting. No Deco a surprise for me. An unbelievable player who was supreme under Mourinho. Also curious that only 2 players from his Champions League winning teams make the cut. Tbf he's got quite a "squad" to pick from. https://t.co/mMxQhsr4U0
— Tom Kundert (@PortuGoal1) March 29, 2020
I think that’s partly due to the fact that his Porto and Inter sides were better than the sum of their parts; the qualities of the team made the individuals look better than they were. Not to say there weren’t great players there of course.(And Deco > Ozil every day of the week)
— andré vale (@andremvale) March 29, 2020
Deco> hazard by some distance IMO
— Oscar (@Oscar_Vieira_) March 29, 2020
Mesut Özil over Deco in the XI? I'm shocked
— Casa de Paiva (@MPaiva7) March 29, 2020
Prime ozil is such a beast, glad Mourinho sees it
— opɹɐɔıɹ (@ricardianz) March 29, 2020
He preferes the likes of Ozil and Hazard to Deco and Sneijder, for instance. Not an easy choice, to be fair
— Miguel Tavares (@miguel5tavares) March 29, 2020
Can't believe only one player from the Inter treble side is there
— Vadim Furmanov (@vfurmanov) March 29, 2020
I might sound bias but I think Deco is a more complete player than Hazard and offered more in attack (assists, free kicks etc.). But that squad is hard to argue against...
— portista13 (@henrylim13) March 29, 2020
I'm also a bit surprised Ramos and/or Marcelo missed out. Other than Deco, and Marcelo, I don't have any other big qualms with it.
— All Your Club Are Belong To Us (@FritzHayek) March 29, 2020
Gallas over Ashley Cole or Maicon? Ozil over Snejder? Hmmm.
— Drexl Spivey (@DrexlSpivey13) March 29, 2020
Do Mou's choices surprise? Add to the debate on twitter or by commenting below!