Joe Cole lauded Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho as a master motivator who coaxed an extra 10 per cent out of Frank Lampard at Chelsea.

Cole was at the Blues when the Portuguese boss first took the helm and recalls the impact his new boss had on him.

'From the moment he came in, you could sense this guy was going to take the club on to that next level,' he told coachesvoice.com.

'Straight away, he ‘got’ me. I mean, he cracked the whip with me a lot. And looking back, there were times when I was really mad with him, but he knew what he was doing.

'He knew how to wind me up and get a performance out of me. He knew that if he dropped me, when he brought me on for 20 minutes in the next game he was going to get 20 minutes of the best I could give.'

Some have questioned Mourinho's managerial style recently, contesting that the 55-year-old is at loggerheads with star midfielder Paul Pogba, a claim the manager vehemently denies.

And Cole remembers the profound impact Mourinho had on another central midfielder in Lampard.

'So this was just dropping it in to the press. He didn't just criticise, he communicated through the press.

'He'd praise someone in the press. I think he said about Frank being the best player in the world,' Cole added.

'Frank was such a warrior but he didn't realise how good he was. Maybe him saying that to Frank, as soon as he said it, Frank's shoulders just went back and you got 10 per cent more out of him.

'He went on to become one of the exceptional midfielders of his generation. He knew what to say to get things out of different people.'