Chelsea vs Manchester United: Frank Lampard believes Blues fans will respect Jose, but the Special One will take no prisoners
FRANK LAMPARD has seen Jose Mourinho in charge of the enemy before.
Six years ago, the Special One made his first return to Stamford Bridge with Inter Milan following his dramatic 2007 sacking.
Emotions were raw - Mourinho still loved Chelsea.
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Booting Roman Abramovich and old pal Lamps out of the Champions League — 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate — still went down a treat though.
Tomorrow will be no different.
The Portuguese, 53, will be back prowling his beloved touchline in West London — only this time he’s in the red corner with arch-rivals Manchester United.
Lamps, speaking to SunSport at New York City’s training base, said: “He will relish going back and he will want to win.”
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He added: “Look at how he set up against Liverpool on Monday.
“He didn’t want to lose, he was on the touchline. You could see the emotion on his face. You will see the same on Sunday.
“I was there when he came back with Inter Milan and he had the same mentality. Chelsea will be very aware of that.”
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In 2010, Mourinho was cheered by the Blues faithful.
This time though, with the spectacular flop of his title defence last term still fresh in the mind, not everyone will be swooning.
But the evergreen 38-year-old will never refer to Mourinho as anything less than a legend.
Lampard’s finest, trophy-filled glory days came alongside the Special One.
Lamps said: “Jose has always said, ‘Wherever I have been, I have always had success’. So he has a lot of places close to his heart.
“Chelsea are one of them.
“Sometimes when people move on there’s a rivalry and that gets lost in the moment.
“But when you look at the bigger picture, people will say what an important man he was for Chelsea.
“It’s a two-way respect. For what Jose has done in his career, and in his two spells at the club, he will NOT be forgotten. Particularly in the first spell where he changed the whole mentality of Chelsea and brought success which they hadn’t had before in winning Premier League titles.
“He’s at United and has arrived there in a certain way. But what happened last year happened.
“He might get a slightly mixed bag. But on the whole, the general reception will be very thankful for what he did at Chelsea.”
Both sets of fans and millions tuning in around the world will be praying for no repeat of the bore fest which stunk out Anfield on Monday night.
Mourinho shut-up shop killed off Liverpool — and sent excitement levels plunging. You would not put it past the Portuguese to park his bus slap, bang across the pitch he once called home.
Lampard under Mourinho
Games: 182
Goals: 57
Assists: 47
Win rate: 79%
Honours together: Two Premier Leagues - 2004/05, 2005/06, FA Cup - 2006/07, League Cup - 2004/05. 2006/07, Community Shield - 2005
Yet Lampard is not having it.
He said: “We were beating teams comfortably with Arjen Robben, Damien Duff and Joe Cole flying down the wings but people started saying we were parking the bus.
“That wasn’t right. It’s an easy thing to say when you get a point thanks to a decent defensive performance. United have some excellent individuals who can hurt you. He will have a go, for sure.
“He will be organised but I think he gets labelled with the defensive tag too much.
“He does build from a base with discipline but will know Chelsea very well. Jose won’t settle for a draw.”
The irony of seeing Eden Hazard and Diego Costa roar back to their best so far this term will not be lost on Mourinho.
They were poor last season under the Special One. Now they are reborn under boss Antonio Conte.
Lampard reckons everyone was to blame for arguably the worst ever Premier League title defence.
He said: “I think you can get a bit too personal with that. Hazard is a great player, the problem was a general dropping two or three gears from the year before.
“They won the league and took it slightly easier.
“Hazard isn’t the only culprit, a lot of people can look at themselves.”
So could Conte be the new Mourinho? The style, the rantings and the ravings look familiar.
Lamps said: “There are similarities. I like his energy.
“His teams are very modern — a lot of energy, trying to press and be in constant motion. He’s transmitting that from the line. Some managers fake it. Conte doesn’t.
“Chelsea fans want success and they are understanding — they appreciate effort and passion.
“One thing with Conte is that he is going to put everything into it and if success follows, they will hold him in high regard like they do with Jose.”