Frank Lampard has praised the man-management style of former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho ahead of the Portuguese's expected return to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Midfielder Lampard, 34, won five major domestic trophies under Mourinho when the self-style Special One was in charge at Stamford Bridge from 2004 to 2007.
And Lampard, who recently became Chelsea's record goalscorer, is making no secret of his admiration for his former boss, who is expected to leave Real Madrid imminently.
Lampard told TalkSPORT: "It's a presence and an aura and a way with people.
"He galvanises people. His own self-confidence reflects back on his teams. He did that to me personally.
"Tactically he's fantastic. He's very astute. As a team he sets you up brilliantly.
"But what he does is he gets the best out of players and gets this togetherness that I'd never known until he came to the club and I haven't seen it again since then.
"He might rub people up the wrong way. [But] as a manager, he's brilliant with his team, tactically, he's brilliant with individuals and I think he's brilliant with the press. I know it creates a storm, but he does protect his players."
Lampard, who signed a one-year contract extension at Chelsea last week, believes former Porto and Inter Milan boss Mourinho is responsible for making him a better player.
"He made me believe I was better than I was at the time," added Lampard.
"I thought I was a decent player, but he said to me 'listen, you can really get to the top' and he made me believe it. I tried to take it on and do it.
"I've had really good managers and different managers at times. It's the ones that get the best out of you, individually.
"We're all human beings and if a manager doesn't talk to you and tell you what they want or whether they're happy with you... we've all got confidence that is up and down.
"Mourinho was the best. For me he was. He brought my confidence to a level it had never been."
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