Jose Mourinho has a reputation for being demanding of his players. The Portuguese coach is never one to shy away from criticising players, either face to face or publically if he feels he need to (BBC).
Despite being so demanding, it is fair to say that the 57-year-old is also loved by a lot of the players has managed.
One only needs to look at how some of the players he managed at Porto, Chelsea and Inter talk about the relationship they have with the special one (Bleacher Report).
Former Chelsea captain John Terry has explained this dichotomy of why players loved Mourinho and feared him at the same time.
The former England star revealed that the Mourinho had once threatened him in front of the whole squad when he was below par in training.
He claimed that the Spurs boss was hard to read and someone who knew how to push people’s buttons.
As quoted by Football.London, Terry said: “We won the league and came back pre-season, the first day, me and Gary Cahill kept giving the ball away.
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“He said ‘you two, I’ll go and spend £100 million on a couple of other centre-backs if you keep giving the ball away’. We looked at each other and thought, ‘Oh wow’.
“He knew when to push your buttons and when not to. Even small things, you’d be sitting at home and get a text message off him going, ‘Unbelievable today in training you’re my main man, love you, captain.’ You’d sit there and go, ‘That’s unbelievable’.
“So a really good relationship, but also I was petrified of him like probably most players was. You’d go in the next day, and you’d get nothing from him at all.
“He’d walk past you, say nothing and blank you. You’d think you’ve upset him. Did I text something back? You look at your messages and think, ‘No, I’m alright there.’ After training, he’d go, ‘That’s why you’re my captain, you just needed that little push.'”
Spurs Web Opinion
Mourinho is no doubt a master of manipulating players’ psychology. However, there is something to be said in terms of the generational differences in how people respond to criticism.
Very few players in the modern era have the same tough mindset that the likes of John Terry did, which might have had something to do with why Mourinho has had difficulties lately.
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