Just after the mighty Didier Drogba took his final bow this week, Jose Mourinho took to analysing the characters of Manchester United youngsters Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard.
He considers them less mature, less well-rounded and more protected than footballers of previous generations, revealing his thoughts in an interview with the former Bulgarian superstar Hristo Stoichkov.
The timing of both events may not have been a coincidence.
Even if it was, it is a striking one. Mourinho enjoyed his finest years in England with some of the most imposing big figures in the game like Drogba – who retired aged 40 on Wednesday – Frank Lampard, and John Terry.
There are far fewer of these kind of players around at the top of the English game these days: Roy Keane; Patrick Vieira; Alan Shearer; Tony Adams; Teddy Sheringham… all gone, and more.
It is a different, less ferocious and confrontational era now.
Had Mourinho been wistfully thinking back to the time when Drogba was such a powerful, competitive and physically intimidating presence in the Chelsea side which won the title in his first two seasons in charge?
Some teams have made this transition more comfortably than others. Certainly, Stamford Bridge seems a happy and contented place these days under the genial management of Maurizio Sarri.
They don’t have the big beasts of old. But they do have superbly talented players like Eden Hazard and the quiet, humble but so effective N’Golo Kante driving a season in which they remain unbeaten in the league.
This contrasts with The Special One’s current frustrations at Old Trafford where he has struggled to build a team with real identity, and his side is already 12 points behind leaders Manchester City in eighth place.
One of the criticisms of the current Utd side is that it is said to lack leaders. That goes against the grain of all Mourinho’s prior managerial career. But he has struggled to find the kind of general he needs, either among the players who were there when he arrived in 2016 or whom has since brought in.
Elsewhere at the top, however, the new mood holds sway as it does at Chelsea.
Nobody believes that City or Liverpool are uncompetitive. They are physical when they need to be. But it is the coherence of the team unit and the way the two outfits play – even if it is vastly different – which creates the most powerful impression, rather than any fists-clenched, eyes-bulging individual feats of machismo of the kind more common in the Premier League 10-15 years ago.
Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah are superstars but ability, movement and goal-scoring cunning are their main attributes; not their right hooks.
The England team, too, has a different character under Gareth Southgate – although Harry Kane’s leadership qualities for both country and club wouldn’t have looked out of place in an earlier time.
Ironically, Tottenham meet Chelsea at Wembley in one of the few fixtures which can still summon the raw flavour which was commonplace a decade and more back.
The collision in May 2016 was particularly rancorous.
Spurs led 2-0 at Stamford Bridge with their chances of winning the title still alive; Chelsea levelled in the second-half and the prize famously went to Leicester City.
There were 12 bookings on the night – a record nine for Tottenham – and an assortment of altercations at the finish.
Subsequent meetings have dripped with powerful significance, too.
In January 2014, Spurs won 2-0 at White Hart Lane to end a record 13-game winning streak for Chelsea. In the same season, Tottenham lost 4-2 in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
Then, Chelsea won 2-1 in the hosts’ first competitive game of their stay at Wembley in August 2017. And finally, Spurs’ 3-1 win in April at Stamford Bridge was their first at the ground in 28 years.
Another evening as wild as that one which cost Spurs the championship somehow doesn’t seem likely amid the expanses of Wembley, which doesn’t breed fervour and feeling like the enclosed surroundings of Stamford Bridge.
That said, Saturday evening TV games around this time of year are often among the most intense of the season. And there is no doubting the competitive instincts of both sets of players.
There is so much at stake, too. Chelsea are protecting that unbeaten record and have to keep in touch with City and Liverpool.
Spurs have lost at home to the top two already this season and need points against a fellow member of the leading pack. London, in the cold, under the lights, and beneath the arch; it could be the stage for an old-style Premier League classic.
