Report: Jose took Chelsea on strange late-night bus ride

Joe Williams

Jose Mourinho reportedly took his Chelsea squad on a late-night bus ride in London just before their heavy 5-3 loss to Tottenham in 2014.

The Portuguese coach’s side went a goal up early on before finding themselves 4-1 down and eventually losing 5-3 with Harry Kane bagging a brace.

In their exclusive report, the Express ask “Was December 31, 2014 the night the Special One lost his mojo?” as they reveal all about a bizarre bus ride the night before one of Mourinho’s worst defeats.

Mourinho is understood to have shocked players and staff by arranging transport from the club’s training ground and Stamford Bridge for midnight on New Year’s Eve, with the players allowed to spend the final moments of 2014 with their loved ones.

So instead of the usual meal at the team hotel and early night the players were allowed to check into the hotel in the early hours of the morning ahead of a 5.30pm kick-off the next day.

The report continues to claim that it appears to mark the “downturn in his hold over his Premier League rivals” and that it was the beginning of a more “erratic” Mourinho.

“It was difficult for him because he was very upset and didn’t speak,” Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino recalled later. “I could understand that. It has been like that some games for me. Sometimes when you have lost you don’t want to speak to anybody.”

Speaking ahead of Spurs’ clash with Mourinho’s Manchester United on Sunday, Pochettino still thinks the former Real Madrid boss is “special”.

“Has he changed? It is too difficult to judge from a distance,” Pochettino said. “We are focused on our job, in our business. You can’t stop to say if someone is different or has changed.

“What we can see from outside is an effect of what has happened. Sometimes you are upset, sometimes you are happy. I think he is the same. But when circumstances change you always show different moods or behaviours.

“For me he will always be special, a special coach, a Special One. We cannot forget all the titles he won. He was and is a reference for all the young managers. My perspective of him will never change.”