Mourinho and Florentino Perez |
He also spoke of his time at Barcelona: "Robson came to training with only ten minutes in advance, he played golf and had an incredible life, full of enjoyment. The football was not pressure for him. I prepared everything and when he asked, I said: -Mister, now do this and this- Van Gaal was the exact opposite. He arrived two hours before the training and planned all the details. The assistants just trained".
"The experience in Barcelona was fantastic. The players taught me; talking to them about their experience I learned a lot. There were Stoichkov, Ronaldo, Figo and Popescu. When I returned to Portugal I felt that I was ready to coach" he added.
The Portuguese told how were the beginnings: "I do not lie if I say I did not want to coach when I was young; I meant to be player. I was with a football under his arm, not a book to study how to train. What I liked was the football, but studied at the same time because it was the only way in my house let me play".
"My father was a player and that made me read the game differently, a bit like my son now. He ask me why I changed to one rather than another. I thought of a different dynamic to a child without football at home. Then I realized that could not be a great player. With my friends I could be a phenomenon, but at the championship I was one more and I was aware that in the field was more coach than player. I organized the team, said who played and who not, how the match lasted ... "
"When my father was coaching, he did not have five observers or collaborators as now. And he sent me to see the rivals. I learned how to read the matches and express what I saw, because one thing is to see and another to understand what you have seen. And it has helped me a lot" said.
About his relationship with Messina, said: "I have always been curious to see how it works in other sports. And I have opened the door to Messina to see how we work. He has seen that we work seriously. It has made me happy because many people have the feeling that we live on football talent of the players, but I think it is the kind of organization that can make a difference".
And about relationships in the locker room, he concludes: "I like the discussion and opinion. A team must have three or four players with strong personality, to plant doubt and force us to think. In my assistants I expect the same. I do not like a player who creates a conflict. I hope he provides a solution".