Virgil van Dijk's still behind defender who Jose Mourinho ripped to shreds despite title win

Jose Mourinho infamously once branded as "s***", but the former star is still more well-decorated than in terms of English top-flight titles.

Huth lifted three titles during his days as a professional footballer, including two under the Portuguese mastermind during his heydays. However, according to the centre-half himself, that still didn't stop him from getting a lambasting from the 'Special One' on occasion.

Speaking about his experiences with during a chat with Ladbrokes, Huth explained: "If you didn't meet his standards, he'd give you a chance, and then he'd give you another chance, but by that point if you made a mistake, your time was up. That was the environment he created, and he's the reason Chelsea became so successful.

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"He laid those foundations and those expectations for the club, every single day. It wasn't just about what we did on a Saturday, it was every day of your life as a Chelsea player, it was about meeting his standards.

"I loved him, to be honest. I thought he was great - he was very black or white. It's hard to think of many times I got especially positive feedback from him, he wasn't really one to dish those sort of things out. He was tough.

"I think I'd have had to have scored six goals in a game to get something positive out of him. But on the other side of things, he had no problem analysing your individual performance. 'That was s***, that was s***, that was s***!' and then he'd talk you through your mistakes and how you could improve.

"I had one too many meetings where he told me I was bad. But it's a trait that was needed back in the day, and it's not something everyone can deal with."

After breaking through the youth system at Stamford Bridge in 2002, Huth lifted back-to-back Premier League titles with Chelsea in 2004/05, and 2005/06, before moving on to . After a three-year stint in the north east, Huth moved on to play for between 1009 and 2015, before signing for .

It was in the midlands that Huth clinched his third and final Premier League title under the stewardship of in the 2015/16 campaign, before retiring from the beautiful game in 2018. And should Virgil van Dijk hope to etch his names into the annals of history as one of the Premier League's most highly-decorated centre-halves, he'll want to win another league title or two over the course of the next two seasons.

The 33-year-old Dutchman arrived at Anfield in 2018 in a £75m move from , before lifting his first league title under the following year. His second Premier League title landed under guidance last Sunday, when thrashed 5-1 to capture glory on home soil with four games to spare, after ensuring that couldn't catch them in their race.

While his future at the club remained in doubt for large parts of the 2024/25 campaign – given that his contract was set to expire in the summer – a two-year extension signed in April will ensure that the club captain remains at Anfield until at least 2027. And who knows, he could even beat Huth in terms of Premier League titles won should the next two years play out in Liverpool's favour.

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