THE modern-day footballer is plagued by a desire for instant wealth and celebrity, rather than sporting success, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has said.
The 51-year-old, whose side currently sit four points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League, said players ought to focus on winning games instead of styling themselves in front of mirrors ahead of matches.
In an interview with a lifestyle magazine, two-time Champions League winner Mourinho said the next generation of footballers ought to look to John Terry and Frank Lampard as inspiration for success.
He said: "What I feel is that before, players were trying to make money during their career, be rich at the end of their career. But in this moment, the people who surround them try to make them rich before they start their career.
"They try to make them rich when they sign their first contract, when they didn't play one single match in the Premier League, when they don't know what it is to play in the Champions League. This puts the clubs in difficult conditions sometimes." He added: "We are working hard to give the best orientation to young players, to follow examples of guys from the past - the Lampards, the Terrys - who were always fanatical for victories."
The former Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Porto manager, said "the players would be queuing in front of the mirror before the game while the referee waited for them in the tunnel" during his time in Spain.
He said: "But that's how society is now. Young people care a lot about this: they are twentysomething and I am 51 and if I want to work with kids I have to understand their world."
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