Obi Mikel reveals a massive fight beween Eto'o and De Bruyne

A lot has been written about the time when Chelsea brought in two soon-to-be stars: Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah. Everybody at Stamford Bridge, not only the fans, have regrets that both moves turned out to be bad for both the players and the club. Looking at these players now, the Blues would have continued their dominance in the Premier League for years to come. But there were reasons why those moves didn’t pan out, and John Obi Mikel and John Terry pointed them out, speaking in the Obi One Podcast.

In the case of current Manchester City star, he was basically a bad trainer at the time, while the Egyptian had the misfortune to arrive at Chelsea, when Jose Mourinho was at the peak of his arrogance.

“I think Kevin De Bruyne, wasn't the best trainer back then. He was somebody that comes to training, and probably because he wasn't playing that much, always having his head down, always angry and sulking. He was like a kid who came to the playground and nobody wanted to play with him. I remember when Samuel Eto'o had a go at him and they had a massive fight on the training ground just because De Bruyne wasn't putting in the effort that Samuel Eto'o wanted so they had a massive row on the pitch” remembered Mikel.

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So, the Belgian didn’t found his happiness in Chelsea and left the club at about the same time Mohamed Salah came in. Unlike De Bruyne, Salah was a typical professional, even thou he didn’t play much, but his problem was not Eto’o, but rather Jose Mourinho. John remembered the time when the Portuguese coach totally shattered Salah and his self-confidence.

“They were so unlucky that the boss, Mourinho didn't take any prisoners. If you weren't doing your job, it didn't matter who you were, he would have a go at you. He had a go at Mohamed Salah at half-time once and he was in tears crying. We thought "OK, he's going to let him back on the pitch" but then he destroyed the kid and then pulled him off. But that was just his mentality back then but would Mourinho do that now? I think no. He's become older and more mature and knows how to deal with younger players, and players in general, a lot more now. I think that's just how he got the best out of us then and that's how we were when we were successful because of how he wanted us to play, train and behave as players” remembers Terry.

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Former Chelsea’s captain even admitted he should have done more with the newcomers when he was around, and help them settle quicker.

“They were both wingers, wide men. I think us as central defenders and holding midfielders are very robust - you do your job and give it to the better players. I think as wingers you go from being in the team for five weeks running and scoring to all of a sudden you don't score and your confidence goes. Wingers and forwards are definitely up and down throughout the season and they definitely need that little bit of care, comfort and reassurance. When all foreign players arrived and didn't speak much English, I always did a 20-word document that would translate the football terms for them. Simple ones like "man on", "let it go" and "one-two" etc so that when they were on the training pitch they understood the football terminology. From that side of it I think I did all that I could for when boys arrived to help them settle. Once we crossed the white line I was probably a little bit too hard on them as well. Listen, we learn and since I've gone into coaching it makes you a better all-rounder” admitted Terry.

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In the end, both Chelsea players had nothing but respect for both Salah and De Bruyne, who overcame their initial struggles and became star players for Liverpool and Manchester City.

“We didn't expect them to be where they are today but credit to them, they've gone away and improved to become superstars. When I watch Kevin De Bruyne play today I'm like "is it the same guy!?" admitted Mikel.