Chelsea training-ground fights come to light as manager exposed for 'never stepping in'

Former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel has revealed that players had full-on fights on the training pitch and in the dressing room during Jose Mourinho's tenure. The iconic Portuguese coach never broke them up, either, and would even 'enjoy watching them'.

Mourinho fostered an era of success at Stamford Bridge after joining in 2004 just as Roman Abramovich's Russian revolution was underway in west London - a takeover that saw the club attract some of the world's biggest stars.

Mourinholater returned to the club in 2013 for a two-year spell after initially leaving in 2007. While Mikel was not a major household name at the time of his signing, he ended up representing the Blues for 11 seasons after joining them from Norwegian side Lyn in 2006.

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Mikel, 38, has now opened up to Gary Lineker on The Rest is Football podcast about how the intense competition at Chelsea often manifested itself in fights between players, something Mourinho was happy to sit back, let happen and even enjoy as he looked to get the best out of his players.

Asked by Lineker if the training round scrapes ever developed into a brawl, the Nigerian star replied: “Of course, in training, in the dressing room. But we never let it come out in the dressing room. Everything that happened stayed there. There's always fights between each other.

"Obviously, we want to win. That's normal in a competitive dressing room. It is in a very competitive dressing room, everybody wants to be there. You know, come three o'clock kickoff on Saturday, you want your name to be in the starting 11. And that's what we train for.

"That's why we fight. Players tackling, you know, kicking each other, fighting each other. [Mourinho] Let it happen. Jose absolutely loved that. That's where he sees who's who, you know, if you get into a fight and you back off in that fight. You have to stand up for yourself."

Discussing the tough environment he walked into at Chelsea as a youngster, he added: "I remember walking into the football club at the age of 18, you know, I had to step quickly. I had to stand up for myself. I remember players were trying to bully me, but I never let it happen. I always stood up for myself, you know. I remember having fights, arguments with Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack."

Mourinho left Chelsea for the last time in 2015, yet he left an indelible mark upon Mikel, who himself left two years later.

Elaborating on how the former Real Madrid boss would let his players battle it out as a way to show him who had what it took to make the grade at Chelsea, he continued: "As you know, back then in Chelsea, at that point it was sort of a gangster sort of football club.

"It was a mafia kind of football club. If you have no strength, if you have no power, if you have no balls like Jose Mourinho says, the cojones he calls it, If you don't have that, you can't stand back then because those guys... Those guys will eat your life.

"And of course, Jose Mourinho was the guy who let those things happen. He let those things play out. He doesn't stop it because that's how we had to win. If we're going through a patch where we're not winning games, that's where everybody starts getting upset. People are getting angry.”

"He's like, I like this. I want to see. This is what I want to see. I want to see that you guys are upset. You're upset with the situation we find ourselves. We have to switch. We have to switch back on. We have to start winning again. And then we go. That's how we go on this run and start winning games and just win.”

Mikel won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup under Mourinho. The former midfielder also discussed how Mourinho's approach to management could steel any player for any task ahead.

"It's just the man management," he added. "He comes to you, you know, you can feel the passion. You know, sometimes managers have a conversation with you. You don't feel that. But when Jose comes to you and has a conversation with you, it's about, 'Are you ready to go to war with me? Are you ready to play for this club, this badge'?

"You want to win trophies. And if he finds a little bit of a hint that you're not ready, he doesn't take you with him. He always wants people to do that, 'I want that passion. Show me that passion and believe that we can go and beat anybody. We can beat anybody.'"

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