The psychology of José Mourinho.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

The secret of José Mourinho’s success is best explained by his deep understanding of football’s most unexploited resource: the human psychology.

William James, the distinguished American psychologist and philosopher, once wrote: “Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources… [The human individual] possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.”

The thought is as fascinating as it is true: humans operate within a small percentage of their capacity; mentally and physically. What if, say in football, someone found a way to extract some of that potential?

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Ask José Mourinho about the most important thing in coaching, and he will say ‘man management’. “Football for me is a human science; it’s about man, above everything else”, he told BBC Radio 4 in December 2011. For a man who sparks such intrigue, it’s a somewhat underwhelming response, yet his reference goes far beyond ‘rotating the squad’ and ‘keeping players happy’. Rather, it’s about a deep understanding and appreciation of players as complex human beings with desires and emotions, and the knowledge of how to exploit it.

“A coach must be everything: a tactician, motivator, leader, methodologist, psychologist,” Mourinho says. ”A teacher at university told me ‘a coach that knows only about football is not a top one. Every coach knows about football, the difference is made in the other areas’. He was a teacher of philosophy. I got the message.”

Few others have. The human psyche is one of football’s untapped resources, an irony for a sport in which every advantage is exploited so thoroughly. While scientific advances are made to improve players’ capacity, motivation and management – the art of extracting it – is condensed to meetings and pep-talks. While some are good at that, Mourinho is arguable the first football manager to fully embrace – and master – the role of a psychologist.

The individual

A cornerstone in Mourinho’s ‘methodology’ (his favourite expression) is the tailoring of communication to each individual – something he admits is his hardest task as coach. Being a psychologist is complex in itself; players with a near-divine self-image are in equal need of stimulation as fragile personalities. But is it also continually challenging in that the players’ mood must be judged from game to game. Marcelo may be fired-up on Saturday and distraught on Wednesday. Balancing this motivational act with 22-23 players two times a week requires not only a masterful communicator, but someone with a deep understanding of each player’s emotions and personal goals; what drives them, what gets them going.

There are many examples. At Chelsea, Mourinho told Frank Lampard he was the world’s best player but needed to win trophies – challenging his ambition while exploiting the fact that, until then, Lampard had won nothing. At half-time during an Inter game, he told an under-performing Zlatan Ibrahimović, soon to receive the award as Serie A’s best foreign player, to hand the prize to his mother – “someone who actually deserves it”. In saying so, Mourinho was playing on the Swede’s pride. Ibrahimović returned to the pitch, promising to run until he tasted blood.

Clearly, in terms of motivational techniques, Mourinho operates on a much deeper level than other managers. His methodology surpasses pep-talks and hair-dryer treatments, primarily because one message can only speak to so many individuals. Players are different – indeed, humans are different. They have good and bad days – highs and lows. What inspires some may lead others to switch off. “There are many ways to become a great manager,” Mourinho says. “But mostly I believe that the most difficult thing is to lead men with different cultures, brains and qualities. And I think to manage this is the most important thing.”

This also partly explains Mourinho’s ability to succeed in different leagues. He absorbs the cultural values, dismantles the players’ minds and deploys his strategies accordingly. His pragmatism applies not only to tactics.

Beyond professionalism

Connected to motivation is the question of how much success means to a player. Everyone wants to win the league; what they are willing to sacrifice varies greatly. This might be speculative, but Mourinho’s players appear to invest more into his projects than anyone else’s. ”From here each practice, each game, each minute of your social life must centre on the aim of being champions,” Mourinho wrote to his players before meeting them at Chelsea. Such commitment goes beyond professionalism; in fact it nearly eclipses the players’ reality. Football becomes not just work, but the scene on which the meaning of 95 per cent of their day-to-day actions unfolds. Naturally, once the players have invested this much, they will fight to get just rewards.

While Mourinho tirelessly follows his own mantra – current and former players say he works harder than anyone else – he recognises when his players have had enough. At Inter, he noticed Wesley Sneijder was exhausted and encouraged a holiday. “All the other coaches [in my career] only spoke about training”, said Sneijder. ”He sent me to the beach. So I went to Ibiza for three days. When I got back, I was prepared to kill and die for him.” At União de Leiria, Mourinho asked David Barreirinhas, a member of the backroom staff, to become a spiritual and religious counsellor to the first team. Barreirinhas said: “I discovered a José Mourinho who was concerned with the fact that players were human beings as well as sports men and that they could have good and bad days.”

Open any footballer’s autobiography and you’ll find a catalogue of emotional tangles tearing down their psyche. People forget that players are humans, they say. Appreciating this not only makes Mourinho popular with the players, but also frees up their energy to concentrate on football. While acknowledging the importance of eating and sleeping right, Mourinho also focuses on elements like emotional energy and self-esteem. Staying sober isn’t enough. The players must be happy in all aspects of life.

War

Throughout the press, the tribalism of Mourinho’s methods is well documented, inclusive of the “us against them” theory. But another interesting technique is spotted in a blog by James Hamilton, a sports psychologist, pointing to Mourinho’s insistence of a 24-man squad. Aside from involving every player, it means that, when the squad is slashed, those left are “survivors”. Rather than simply being inherited, the players get a feeling of value, of being chosen for a reason. This psychology is very powerful. As Mourinho once told the Portuguese press, “I only go to war with those I trust.”

In such press conferences, Mourinho’s vocabulary is also interesting. Whereas British managers refer to their players as “boys” or “lads”, he calls them “men”. Watch or read any Real Madrid post-match event and the word occurs throughout. This fuels the sense of tribalism, making him sound almost like a war general speaking to his troops. Yet it also testifies respect towards the group, a treatment of players as grown-ups; men on an equal footing. By calling them men, he invites them to act maturely and take responsibility.

Authority

One of Mourinho’s potential problems with not having played professionally was to win players’ respect, yet his excellence at man management has helped him past that obstacle – and well beyond. His first work with real stars was at Barcelona. “When you coach players of this calibre, you learn about human relationships,” he says. “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.

“The tactical work I encourage isn’t about there being a ‘transmitter’ on the one hand and a ‘receiver’ on the other. I call it ‘guided discovery’; that is they discover according to my clues. I construct practice situations that will lead them on a certain path.”

This is as clever as it is important, because instead of being told what to do, players get a cognitive sense of creating the ideas themselves. Inevitably, they buy into them. Anyone who has read the excellent The Italian Job, co-written by Gianluca Vialli and Italian journalist Gabriele Marcotti, will know how in England, loyalty to the manager is taken for granted, whereas in Italy, and potentially Spain, there is more scepticism. Mourinho could not have succeeded in four countries without his ability to make players believe in his work. “I don’t know how he does it,” says Karim Benzema. “He has some sort of trick and everybody listens to him.”

Special ability

In a field like football where so much has been tried and tested, Mourinho’s remarkable success would not be possible without an exclusive advantage. Quite rightly, the supremacy of his attention to emotional, mental and interpersonal issues is roughly proportional with the success he enjoys over his peers. It is what makes him genuinely special. Attributing his results fully to man management would be wrong, though it is clear, even from what Mourinho says, that it is the most important one.

Whether he will become a revolutionary figure inspiring a more all-encompassing approach to football management is less certain, though younger managers could do worse than embracing the advice Mourinho’s teacher gave him: “Every coach knows about football. The difference is made in other areas.”

Just wanted to share this piece of work made by Thore Haugstad.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

BUMP.

[Stingray 9,441]

[╫rue Blue 47]

After finish reading I'm just amazed

Brilliant sharing

[Azpinator 2,325]

Really nice, thanks for sharing.

The Sneijder part reminded me of this:

[Ankit 3,176]

Read this a while ago. Just brilliant.

Also would like to share from what i learnt from the documentary made on Jose. Desmond Morris said that when Brian Clough was dying, he said "I really like this Mourinho, he is a good looking chap. He takes after me"

[Heisenberg 1,824]

Read this a while ago. Just brilliant.

Also would like to share from what i learnt from the documentary made on Jose. Desmond Morris said that when Brian Clough was dying, he said "I really like this Mourinho, he is a good looking chap. He takes after me"

Desmon Morris is a brilliant writer, I downloaded the Soccer Tribe just because of documentary, some brilliant page about the history of football, he was totally right when he said that José is a Witch-Doctor, because charismatic leadership is perfectly summarized in the post above.This thread is also for the ones doubting about the possible failure of Mourinho here.

[The Rising Sun 710]

Great writing!

One of the things that he did as soon as he started pre season really made me amazed at his Management.

He told Hazard that he needs him to try new things and attempt more moves.

This not only told hazard, that you have potential to become even greater and skillful, but also made sure that hazard did not become comfortable with his current gameplay and abilities, thus stagnating at his current level.

Second thing that makes me chuckle is Essien calling him Daddy or Papa or whatever it is....

While it is crazy over the top, Mourinho forms emotional connections with players. knowing they are away from their homeland pretty much forever and need loving and emotional connections, thus not making them feel like overpaid horses turning up for training, but rather a family of players with real relationships all the way through the club.

He is personal not only with players but also with the media, and you never hear him bullshitting saying pre decided sentences, there is a sense that everyone around him knows where they stand and what they need to do to be better.

He really is the special one.

Forget all this rubbish of happy one etc.... thats just the media looking for their headlines.

He is our Special one.

[haranr 485]

Jose's secret is the way he makes players behave. They fight with 100 percent commitment to the team, huge desire to win and a bigger desire not to disappoint their boss.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

wonderful

[DDA 9,690]

Read this a while ago. Just brilliant.

Also would like to share from what i learnt from the documentary made on Jose. Desmond Morris said that when Brian Clough was dying, he said "I really like this Mourinho, he is a good looking chap. He takes after me"

Brian Clough was an excellent man manager. The world of football respected him immemsely and Mourinho definitely has a touch of Clough about him.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

Brian Clough was an excellent man manager. The world of football respected him immemsely and Mourinho definitely has a touch of Clough about him.

I always found Mourinho a bit Cloughiesque in everything, cheeky he was, so is Mourinho, they share the same love for provocation (Revie - Clough) (Mourinho - Wenger/Guardiola ) and both share the same love for European glory.The big difference for me I think, Clough was always a bit of an idealist loving the beautiful game at that time, and made something out of nothing with Derby and Forrest, Mourinho is more realistic, pragmatic approche but an even better motivator and maybe less arrogant than Clough, arrogance in the good way, Clough surely at times thought he won it all and lost some passion & energy for the game, José is getting better & better and is succeeding in a much difficult football world.

[Clevemayer 764]

all his man manegement didn't work at real, this speaks volumes me thinks... brilliant manager...

us against the rest... more from that plz...

[Heisenberg 1,824]

all his man manegement didn't work at real, this speaks volumes me thinks... brilliant manager...

us against the rest... more from that plz...

The siege mentality mainly helps when you are an outsider, it boost the team to give 110% like Inter Milan did against Barcelona, or us in his first stint.I dont think he'll do the same now, because he has an established team, one of the best in England and he also does not need recognizion or respect, he has one of the finest CV in the history of managers, he'll build for us a fantastic plateform for the future, if he does continue after four years it would be fantastic, but he is now here to prove that he can also win by playing beautiful football.

[Stingray 9,441]

The siege mentality mainly helps when you are an outsider, it boost the team to give 110% like Inter Milan did against Barcelona, or us in his first stint.I dont think he'll do the same now, because he has an established team, one of the best in England and he also does not need recognizion or respect, he has one of the finest CV in the history of managers, he'll build for us a fantastic plateform for the future, if he does continue after four years it would be fantastic, but he is now here to prove that he can also win by playing beautiful football.

I hope he does that. The ingroup outgroup psychology is a powerful yet short term thing. eventually it wears out once you have 'defeated' the outgroup. The trouble starts within your group because there is no real clear consistent enemy anymore. I think Mou knows this all too well.

The only other option now is truly to build a dynasty ....

All the elements are here! So he will probably change tactics psychology and go for a 'we are the future - starting now' thing.... I guess...

[Heisenberg 1,824]

I hope he does that. The ingroup outgroup psychology is a powerful yet short term thing. eventually it wears out once you have 'defeated' the outgroup. The trouble starts within your group because there is no real clear consistent enemy anymore. I think Mou knows this all too well.

The only other option now is truly to build a dynasty ....

All the elements are here! So he will probably change tactics psychology and go for a 'we are the future - starting now' thing.... I guess...

I think he made it clear from the beggining that he wanted to win the three major league and so all his work was short term, after the 2007 FA Cup final he wanted to leave for a bigger challenge, when the occasion of leaving came, he took it and went on to win everything years after, now that he "won it all" I think he knows that it is time to do something big with this young squad, not to play Tiki Taka tommorow but more of a domestic domination for the next years a la Ferguson, because Alex was the best in the past 20 years in England and to win 13 Premier League is an incredible achievement, maybe Mourinho wants to win 6/7/8 Premier Leagues again and to do so must be by a change of the approach he'll make to the group and the future mentality he'll install.

Stability in ideas is in my opinion the key that Ferguson always had, to see José telling the press "I want tips from Arsene to stay 17 years" mean not only that he wants constant sucess but also how to deal with the big boss and be always motivated, the managerial job is hard and it takes a lot of energy every season to get trophies.I hope the future Chelsea team will take the United model, more young, less big money moves, and the same manager.He certainly has the quality.