Confirming what perhaps many suspect of Jose Mourinho and his conduct behind closed doors, former Chelsea and England ladies star Eni Aluko has written candidly of a man divided between "some real Jekyll and Hyde behaviour."
Before departing for Juventus earlier this year, Aluko spent the last six years of her professional career with Chelsea. Her second spell with the club, the World Cup bronze-medalist in 2015 experienced first-hand Mourinho's own relatively less glittering second spell with the London club.
Writing in a new column for The Guardian, Aluko demonstrated no trepidation in revealing details of a club manager she feels is in possession of a "split personality."
Outlining two incidents involving Mourinho, they came at distinctly different moments in his second spell with Chelsea; the promising beginning, and acrimonious conclusion.
I had just written a column for the BBC praising José for bringing a spark back to the club and, as our paths crossed at the training ground at Cobham, he gave me a big hug and thanked me for the kind words.
Commenting on the "smile on the manager's face and a twinkle in his eye," Aluko recalls being summarily blanked only a season later.
Once again José and I crossed paths at Cobham; he was leaving the media room as I was entering it to do some media for Chelsea TV. “Hi boss,” I said as we met.
Mourinho practically blanked me. No words this time, no pleasantries, and the type of look that screamed: “What are you doing here?”
Although Mourinho's public utterances and dealings with the media make such behaviour looking rather plausible, it is occasionally assumed that within the club, his actions are somewhat more consistent.
In Aluko's experience, this isn't the case. Claiming that he incapable of keeping his cool, charming persona in tact once "the pressure is on and things start to go badly," Aluko is similarly critical of Mourinho "constantly banging on about what he achieved in the past", believing it only serves to enhance "the fact he is not doing it now."
With Manchester United set to travel to Turin later this season for a Champions League group stage clash against Juventus, Aluko may not be seeking out Mourinho's company.
