Chelsea dominated Manchester United when Jose Mourinho was their manager in the 2000s, and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has now revealed how former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney opened up on how much Manchester United hated Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, even more than their bitter rivals, Liverpool.
In an interview with Blues legend John Terry, Carragher told Sky Sports: “Wayne Rooney told me a story once, and I think it showed the animosity towards Chelsea at that time, from a lot of clubs. “Jose was so brash, so much on the front foot, cocky, arrogant, good looking. He seemed to have everything at that time.
“Rooney told us that when we beat you on penalties in the 2007 semi-final, and they were playing their semi-final second leg against Milan the next evening, all the Man United lot in the hotel watching it before erupted and cheered when we won.
“And you think with the Liverpool and Man United rivalry, I think it just shows how much you were respected and feared, but also how much Jose Mourinho got under people’s skin.”
Terry in turn added: “I think we were disliked by, I think the whole of the Premier League.
“With Roman coming in, injecting the money, and what Mourinho was about as well.
“Within those meetings we had, it was about us against them. We wanted to build a fortress. “He made us feel so together and so connected, that we could feel we could go out and beat anyone, regardless of the fear factor or how good the other team were.”