5 Jose Mourinho disciples who are enjoying success as managers in 2024-25

Jose Mourinho has coached hundreds of brilliant footballers over the course of a legendary managerial career that’s spanned for over two decades. But how far does his influence go, and which of his old students are now enjoying success in their own right as coaches?

The likes of Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa are frequently cited as two of the most influential coaches of the modern era, but there are a number of Mourinho’s trusted lieutenants doing alright for themselves.

We’ve identified five of Mourinho’s former players that are currently smashing it as managers.

Nuno Espirito Santo

“When you speak about Jose Mourinho, personally he has an impact on me, because I was a member of the squad of 2003, 2004 and 2005 at Porto,” Nuno told the official Wolves website back in 2018.

“When you have someone that manages and coaches you, and you follow, believe, do everything that you can for because you believe in that idea and your leader, then that stays forever.

“That is the impact Jose Mourinho has had on me and I think on everybody that was a member of that squad. He teaches how to win. I haven’t spoken to him since, there’s no need, but as a former player and a friend, I wish him all the best from the bottom of my heart.”

Nuno might be the current coach that’s the closest to Mourinho in terms of style. From an imposing, well-drilled backline to the physical focal point of Chris Wood up top, Nuno’s high-flying Nottingham Forest share more than a few similarities to Mourinho’s legendary first Chelsea side.

That makes sense when you consider that Nuno made 24 appearances under Mourinho and was part of Porto’s unforgettable 2003-04 Champions League-winning side.

Damien Duff

A flying winger from that aforementioned Chelsea team, Duff played 88 times for Mourinho’s Blues as they claimed back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006. He recently called upon his old boss to offer inspiration at a crucial point in his fledgeling coaching career.

“Joey [O’Brien, Shelbourne assistant manager] turned to me this week and asked ‘Gaffer, what will we do?’” Duff explained (via The Irish Times) after Shelbourne’s against-all-odds League Of Ireland title victory.

“I said: ‘Oooff, I am running out of ideas here, what about Jose?’. Why? Because we try to build a siege mentality, against the world, like he did. It would be mad not to tap into him.

“Today in the team meeting there was a private message from Jose, speaking about what it takes to win a title as a team, as an individual, and it blew the guys away. It was a video, shown in the Everglades [Hotel] a few hours before the game.”

Shelbourne were considered rank outsiders in the 2024 League Of Ireland season, but Duff had put together a hard-working side with an us-against-the-world mentality that paid great dividends.

He called up Mourinho once again during their booze-fuelled title celebrations but on that occasion, in the middle of the night in Istanbul, his old mentor left him hanging.

“I said to the lads if he doesn’t pick up I’ll put a monkey on the drinking tab tomorrow. Lo and behold he didn’t pick up so I owe €500 tomorrow,” Duff said.

“I died on the pitch for Jose … everyone hated Chelsea, everyone hates us, it just tied in nicely, it felt right.”

Xabi Alonso

There might not be another footballer who played under as many great coaches as Alonso, who served under Rafael Benitez at Liverpool, Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid and Guardiola at Bayern Munich.

“They share many things but above all they are leaders,” the legendary former Spain midfielder explained of what he took from working under Guardiola and Mourinho.

“They share that charisma, that special thing that whenever they come into the room everyone knows the boss is there and they have to listen to him.

“They have different personalities and different approaches to the game, but in terms of their ambitions, how they go into the detail and how they respect the opponent, they spend so much time analysing the opponent.

“They know that nowadays you need to adapt your team to have an advantage over the opponent, they spend a lot of time and they’re hard workers.

“To be demanding with your players you have to first be demanding with yourself and they are. For me the special thing is how they are able to deliver the message they want to the players and how they are able to connect with you and exchange that idea that they have.”

There are stylistic differences between Alonso’s Leverkusen and Mourinho’s old sides, but he certainly appears to understand the value of charisma and leadership in getting the most out of his players.

Leverkusen haven’t made a brilliant start to the 2024-25 campaign but Alonso did superbly to inspire them to a historic, domestically unbeaten, Bundesliga & DFB Pokal last season.

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Thiago Motta

Motta played a leading, if inauspicious, role in what was arguably Mourinho’s defining hour as a coach – having been sent off as ten-man Inter produced a defensive masterclass to eliminate Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona in the 2009-10 Champions League semi-finals.

Since hanging up his boots, the former Italy international has established himself as one of Europe’s most exciting young coaches. He performed a minor miracle to lead Bologna to Champions League qualification last season, an achievement that earned him a top job at Juventus.

“The importance of having personality and authority to manage the group,” is what fellow Inter old boy Cristian Chivu says Motta learnt most from Mourinho (via Football Italia).

The 42-year-old looks to have his teams playing a thoroughly progressive, possession-focused style.

But while there may be stylistic differences, you imagine that Mourinho would thoroughly approve of how his former midfielder has led Juve to eight clean sheets from his first 11 Serie A matches at the helm.

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Cesc Fabregas

You might have thought that, as a La Masia graduate and former Barcelona midfielder who lined up alongside the likes of Xavi and Sergio Busquets, Fabregas would be a devout Cruyffist who worships at the altar of his old boss Guardiola.

But Fabregas enjoyed more success as a player under Mourinho at Chelsea than he did under Guardiola at Barcelona and he cites the former’s influence on his own coaching career more than the latter.

The 37-year-old has revealed that while he maintains a close relationship with Mourinho, he’s long since lost touch with Guardiola.

“Mo would send me messages; he’d speak to me every day,” Fabregas told The Coaches’ Voice of his time working under Mourinho at Chelsea.

“His manner made it clear that I was one of the most important players in the squad. It was a different kind of trust to that I’d had with Arsene. It was powerful.

“He played with my mind in a way no one else had before, and I think that got the best out of me. I played such good football under him.”

Nowadays, the young tactician will surely be looking to adopt that same inspirational man management with his players at Italian outfit FC Como.

You might argue that Fabregas isn’t quite “smashing it” at FC Como, given he’s led them to just two wins from 13 outings so far this season.

But while he wasn’t officially their manager last season, he played an influential role in their coaching staff to lead them to promotion from Serie B last term.