Go Sports Life

You can't help but learn when you coach players of this calibre- you even learn about human relationships.  Players at this level don't accept what they're told simply because of the authority of the person who's saying it.  We have to show them that we're right.  Here, the old story of 'the Mister is always right' does not apply.  In fact, it generally isn't applicable, and even less so with highly developed players, which is the case with any Barcelona player.  the relationship I had with them taught me one of my main virtues as a coach.  The tactical work I encourage isn't about there being a 'transmitter' on the one hand and a 'receptor' on the other. 

I call it the 'guided discovery'; that is they discover according to my clues.  I construct practice situations that will set them on a certain path.  They begin to sense this, so we talk, discuss things and come to a conclusion.  But for this to work, the players we coach must have their own opinions.  I would often stop practice and ask them what they were feeling at a certain moment.  For example, they'd tell me that they thought the right back was too far away from the centre back.  Ok, let's bring them closer to each other and see how that works.  We'd try this out two or three times, and I'd ask them again what they thought.  This is the way it worked, until all of us came to a conclusion.  This methodology is what I call the 'guided discovery'."

Pgs 20-21

I'm going to coach Benfica, and tomorrow I'm off to Lisbon, to any hotel for two or three days, because I need to concentrate solely on this.

Pg 29

At the very least, practice at Benfica was ridiculous.  Every day, a group of nice guys would kick the ball about a bit, and do some running- that was it.

The first thing I did to change this, was to involve players from the B team.  I asked for Diogo Luis, Geraldo and Nuno Abreu, 'poor players' who were earning 750 Euros a month.  Young players who want to train with the 'stars', and who were highly competitive and motivated- so much so that after a few days they were immediately known as the 'Grapeshot Brothers'.  In an extremely objective way, and a result of the aggressiveness they imposed, these three young players modified the competitive situations and, in a certain way, the mindset of all the others. 

Pg 37

Aware that much needed to be changed, Mourinho decided to schedule a joint practice with Benfica's B team.  He was still getting to know the club, and so he placed the B players on one side, and the seniors who hadn't played against Boavista on the other, together with a few others.  As he had been sent off at Bessa Stadium, Maniche was one of the players to be called up.  Jose Mourinho wanted to this match to be as realistic as possible, and had therefore asked the referee to carry out his duties seriously.  Everything was set up so that Mourinho could have a better understanding of the real potential of the B players.

A mere two minutes into the match, Maniche was responsible for a very hard tackle on an 'opponent'.  That the referee didn't have to think twice and immediately sent him off.  Mourinho was watching from the top of the stands at Luz when he saw the player on his way to the changing rooms.  He reached for his mobile at once, and told one of his assistants to order Maniche to jog around the pitch until the end of the first half.  The order was given and Maniche made a point of making it known that he was not happy about this- so much so, that eight minutes later he'd only done two laps, clearly showing his lack of interest in training.  Mourinho told him to head for the showers.

When Maniche arrived for practice the next day, Jose Mourinho was waiting for him.

"It took you 8 minutes to run 800 meters yesterday.  That means one of two things: you either have a problem on your mind that needs to be solved, or you have a physical problem, and you still need to find a solution for it.  So, you're going to train with the B team, and when you feel that you no longer have a mental or physical problem, come and see me."

Maniche went to the B team, and at the end of the fourth day, he spoke to Jose Mourinho, apologising for his unprofessional attitude, and telling him that he had no problems at all.  Mourinho placed him in Benfica's main team again, but made him pay a fine of 1,000 Euros.

A few weeks later, Maniche was Benfica's captain, and today he is one of the players who is vitally important to FC Porto's success.

Pgs 37-38

A touch of personal pride made me stay on at Benfica.  I felt I couldn't leave without showing them I could do a good job.  Today, I admit it was a mistake to stay.  My insistence can be put down to my age and inexperience.  I was a 'kid' who needed to prove his worth to others, and that's why I stayed.  I wouldn't do it again today.  However, I don't think it was a waste of time.  I proved while I was there.  Without having won anything, I conquered a place for myself by building a strong and united team that could take us somewhere.  This also ate away at me, as I felt incredibly angry that I was raising a child I would have to abandon.

Pg 41

Ambition must always be present, but sometimes one must be careful not to want too much and risk losing everything.

Pg 69

At the beginning of the pre-season, and with the help of the president, Joao Bartolomeu, Jose Mourinho chose a perfect location for the first practices- in the countryside, and not too far from Leiria.  Joao Bartolomeu, a man with a great deal of experience and who'd seen many a season kick off, told Mourinho, "This place is ideal.  It's private and spacious and there's a lot of fresh air.  It will be excellent for the players to run in the mountains and valleys around here."

Jose Mourinho's reply took Joao Bartolomeu by surprise- a rather restrained, but nevertheless obvious surprise.  "Mr. President, we won't be doing any running here.  Our training will be done on the pitch every day, and nowhere else."

Joao Bartolomeu insisted, "Yes, you'll train on the pitch, but in the morning you can run around here."

Mourinho once again clarified his position: "No, Mr. President, with me no one runs without a ball.  There'll be two practices a day and only on the football pitch."

Pgs 74-75

I promise that I intend to play on the attack.  I promise that we will work towards that goal every day, until we reach a perfectly systematic and automatic model.  When that day comes, I promise you attacking football; until then, I promise that I deliberately intend to attack.

Pgs 91-92

When a coach begins his work halfway through the season, he can always make one of two choices.  He can opt for a psychological beating- which I don't believe in- or he can choose a methodological beating.  The former is purely related to the effects brought about by a changing coach.  These are only short-term effects because players are affected on a psychological level.  It is a time when everyone wants to prove something to the new coach, but it is no longer effective when things begin to be defined in terms of 'who plays and who doesn't, who's sent to the bench and who isn't'.  At this point, the coach can then make a choice.  He is either lulled and everything remains the same, or he opts for the methodological beating which, on the contrary, produces long-lasting effects because it brings about structural changes.  In this case, changes in the work philosophy and the model of play can be seen.

Pg 94

However, it's not only the opponents who have to run.  By chasing the ball and stepping up the pressure, FC Porto also had to run a great deal.  That is where the second part of Jose Mourinho's specific training comes in.  Aware that physically it is rather difficult for the players to keep pressure on all the time, it is necessary for them to be able to rest on the field.

"It's what I call 'resting with the ball'.  With the pace of play that we impose, it's necessary to rest; otherwise no one will make it to the end of the match.  The best way to do this, and run fewer risks, is to rest when we have the ball.

In the game against Nacional, we managed to do this in a rather effective, almost perfect, way.  Basically, it's about alternating moments of great intensity and pressure with periods of rest with the ball, which is nothing more than gaining ball possession but with the intention of resting.  It's possession for possession's sake, with no sporting objective.  I have the ball at my feet, I have the game under control and I don't run, thus allowing me to rest."

Pg 125