Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has told Esquire that he gets the best from the players under his control, stating the number of players who have enjoyed the best moments of their career with him is "huge."#INSERT
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caption:Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side top of the Premier League and are in the Champions league.
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• Lythell: More options for Mou
• Hirshey: Congratulations, Jose
Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge last summer following a six-year spell away from the club where he won back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons in England, and the Blues sit four points clear at the top of the league with 10 games left.
The Portuguese coach’s record away from Chelsea is also remarkable, with league titles in Portugal, Italy and Spain to his name as well as two Champions League titles -- and Mourinho believes he has the ability to help his players hit the peak of their powers.
"It’s impossible to make every player better," he said. "With some I don’t succeed and with some I cannot improve.
"But -- if I go player by player -- my percentage of players who reach the best years and the best moments of their career with me is huge.
"Of course, there are a few where the connection was not good, because the personalities couldn’t find each other, or because I don’t enjoy working with them. But that percentage is minimal."
Mourinho suggested that the financial rewards of a career in football are "too much" when compared with the rest of society, but says that the players who succeed are "fanatical" about winning, rather than wealth.
"I cannot compare my job with the doctor who is doing heart surgery," he continued. "That’s why I sometimes feel that we earn too much money compared to people who do much more than us to benefit humanity.
"You have to find the boy who wants to succeed, has pride and passion for the game. His dream is not one more million, his dream is to play at the highest level, to win titles, because if you do these things you’ll be rich the same at the end of your career.
"We are working hard to give the best orientation to young players, to follow examples of guys from the past -- the [Frank] Lampards, the [John] Terrys -- who were always fanatical for victories."
The 51-year-old also revealed he misses former Manchester United manager and rival Sir Alex Ferguson, while expressing surprise at the 72-year-old’s passion for football in spite of his retirement: "I miss him -- I miss him.
"Sir Alex is seventy-something, no? He just finishes his career and in the first year he retires, he’s in football every weekend.
"I thought he’d go to enjoy other things, but he’s in football every weekend!"