Mourinho: The team will always be more important than any player
Peter Staunton
Sep 13, 2016 10:30:50
In an exclusive interview with Goal, the Manchester United manager lifted the lid on his motivational techniques and ability to form close bonds with the players at his disposal
GOALEXCLUSIVE
Jose Mourinho has worked with many of the game's elite talents, from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Cristiano Ronaldo, but insists no one player is bigger than the team and makes no special effort to cater for individuals.
Rather than pandering to egos in his pre-match pep talks, the Manchester United manager at all times delivers a unified message to his group.
"For me the team will always be more important than any player," he told Goal. "The individuals are there, like I am, to serve the team, to give their best to the team. Unless any particular situation demands a one-to-one, I coach teams, I don't coach individuals and prefer to talk to everyone."
Master-motivator Mourinho detailed to Goal his pre-match techniques, in which he insists on multiple team talks to catch players' attention in short bursts before pumping them up with a psychological briefing just before the game starts.
The two-time Champions League winner is famed for the bonds he forms with his players, and much of his success is down to his ability to both motivate his men and also convey his own attention to detail in those precious get-togethers before matches.
"I do more than one [talk] because I think the message has to be very short and objective," he said. "I normally start having meetings with the players to prepare [for] a game three days before.
"But the last one, because you did all the work in terms of the game plan and tactical preparation, is very specific for both sides. Normally I leave for the last talk the psychological aspect, the motivational one."
Mourinho also disclosed the details behind his psychological techniques, revealing that while he prepares methodically for his pre-match talks, he prefers to be more instinctive once the match is underway.
"Normally I prepare, especially the pre-match," he said. "You can think and re-think and study a lot interviews until you arrive to the final product.
"The words during the game, the talk at half time, that is a different story; it's more difficult. You have to read and feel the game and the players, reduce the unpredictability of the game, and it's much more automatic and instinctive.
"But for pre-match you have plenty of time, especially for me - I work so many hours in the day to think about the consequences of the words, to choose the right words."
Mourinho puts his success in extracting the maximum from his troops down to not only coaching his players but also interacting with them on a personal level.
"I love that feeling, influencing a player's career and life and consequently the family's,” he said. "It's a way to have them ready to give everything - plus something - because sometimes everything is not enough! That 'something' comes when the relationship is good between manager and player."