Johnson, who will win his 50th cap for England in tonight’s friendly with Denmark, struggled to nail down a place under Mourinho in his days at Chelsea and says he lost respect for the Blues boss over what he claims were broken promises over team selection.
Johnson, 29, told the Daily Mail: ‘It was difficult for me under Jose at Chelsea because there was a moment when he said I deserved to play on merit.
‘He said if I played well in the next game I would play the week after. I got man of the match so he couldn’t drop me.
‘Then in the next game he said the same thing and I got man of the match again. Then we had another game and after that Barcelona.
‘I remember speaking to my agent and saying, “He won’t play me in this game because if I play well then he has to play me against Barcelona” – and I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
‘He didn’t play me in that game and from that moment I just lost it and thought, “Well, how am I meant to respect you now? It’s just finished”.’
Johnson, who was eventually sent out on loan to Portsmouth before making the move permanent in 2009 and then switching to Liverpool for £18million in 2011, says that scenario would never happen under Reds boss Rodgers, who he says he enjoys playing under far more than Mourinho.
‘Mourinho is one of the best in the world and I would never say he’s not because of what happened between us. But Brendan is different to Jose, he has his own mentality and is definitely one of the best,’ Johnson added.
‘Brendan wouldn’t do [what Mourinho did]. He’s shown that if you’re good enough you’re old enough and you’ll play in the big games if you deserve to. So in terms of man-management, Brendan is definitely better.
Some managers like the thought of playing the way Brendan does but haven’t got the confidence or knowhow to pull it off.
‘Others would probably have panicked and changed their philosophy just to try and win. But Brendan was mentally strong enough and knew we would be a success.’
Written by Steve Milne
