Frank Lampard praises Jose Mourinho's man management skills ahead of Manchester United vs Derby League Cup

Frank Lampard can remember the first time he realised Jose Mourinho was special.

It was in Manchester, fittingly, when the then-newly-appointed Chelsea manager met a handful of his players for the first time.

“I remember him coming to the Lowry (Hotel) to meet the England Chelsea boys because we were with the squad pre Euro 2004,” recounts Lampard. “You talk about auras and personalities walking into a room, he certainly had that then.

“His confidence struck me. Looking back then, I probably thought we were going to be winners.”

A good old fashioned giant-killing would see the pressure mount on Mourinho after Manchester United’s stuttering start to the campaign. It would also give more weight to the idea he has lost his magic since those Chelsea days - that he is simply not so special anymore.

Lampard - taking his first steps in management at Pride Park - is having none of it.

“When you’re the manager of Manchester United, when you have the CV and the background of Jose Mourinho, and this is not ancient history, this is fresh history of the Europa League and cups or whatever, then of course you have it,” he said. “So in terms of the Special One and that, those are just words. In terms of being a great manager, of course he is.

“Tottenham were a fair way behind (Manchester City last season) and (Mauricio) Pochettino’s a great manager. Liverpool were, too, in the league and (Jurgen) Klopp’s a great manager. Manchester United came second.”

Lampard won two Premier League titles under Mourinho at Chelsea and talks about the profound transformation his former manager achieved at Stamford Bridge.

“He brought a confidence that we will win and that we should win,” he said. “He told us it regularly and we started to believe it.

“The uplift was mainly psychological, the mentality of the players, of the squad, the club actually. Chelsea became a winning club and he was the driving force in that in the way he projected himself.

“I don’t know how he approaches things at Manchester United, but the three years I had with him at Chelsea were special because of how he was as a manager. I loved playing for him.”

Whether the same could be said of Mourinho’s current squad at Old Trafford is up for debate.

Tensions between him and star player Paul Pogba continue to rumble under the surface. Alexis Sanchez’ body language, meanwhile, is reminiscent of the Chilean’s darkest times at Arsenal.

It all seems a far cry from the family atmosphere Lampard says Mourinho made the centre-point of his early success at Chelsea.

It is a bond that endured, with Mourinho calling Lampard over the weekend to congratulate him on the birth of his third daughter. He had previously been in regular contact with his former player around the time of the death of Lampard’s mother. Not the strictly player-coach relationship that Pogba speaks of when asked to describe his own dealings with Mourinho.

“Part of his aura and his personality was when he sat us down, he relaxed us instantly,” said Lampard. “So the idea of him being this hard taskmaster, he could be when he had to be, but he also created a real family atmosphere at the time, which was brilliantly done. And as magical as any of his tactical talks was the family he created amongst us.

“He is strong on family, as we all are. But he was always like that as a manager. He would always ask about your family.

“He was fantastic for me when I lost my mother actually. He was at Inter Milan at the time and he was ringing me regularly. And it’s things like that that you don’t forget, through all what happens, whether he’s managing here or there, or you see what’s in the press, you actually remember the person and those little things he did with me were very special.”

There’s that word again

The question among the United supporters is whether Mourinho can be truly special again. And while his critics want to label him yesterday’s man in the face of competition from Pep Guardiola, Klopp and Pochettino, Lampard is convinced there is much more still to come from his former mentor.

“Of course in management we know we’re all sackable at any moment,” he said.

“I am, he is, every manager is. But at the same time, when he’s had the success he’s had, as long as he wants to go on, people are going to want Jose Mourinho as their manager.