Former England international, Shaun Wright-Phillips says Chelsea was very competitive when Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien arrived.
The ex-Black Stars player joined the Blues in the summer of 2005 and played a vital role in the club's success during his nine year stay.
According to Wright-Phillips, Essien was so competitive and even at training they were made to wear shin pads because tackles were flying from everywhere.
"The tempo was completely different when I moved to Chelsea. There was a real step up in quality as well,” Wright-Phillips told Bonus Finder.
"It only got worse when Michael Essien joined because Mourinho was at the point where he was thinking about getting the players to train with shin pads on.
“There was so many tackles flying in and training was really competitive so I don't think we would have blamed him if Mourinho made that decision.”
Essien now works as assistant manager at Danish club FC Nordsjaelland.