Roma coach Jose Mourinho outlines his management style of being ‘soft and strong,’ but more importantly the key is ‘not to sell philosophy or excuses. It’s to be a winner.’
The Special One sat down with the Adidas portal to discuss his long career, which effectively started being a translator for Sir Bobby Robson at Sporting, Porto and Barcelona in the 1990s, upgrading to assistant manager and then going out on his own at FC Porto.
After the Treble at Inter in 2010, he returned to Italy with Roma and secured their first ever UEFA competition with the Conference League trophy.
“This is the most important thing in our sport, which is football: It’s to win – it’s not to sell philosophy. It’s not to sell excuses. It’s to be a winner,” explained Mourinho.
He discussed some of his approaches to man management and why it is crucial to treat everyone the same way, even the greatest players in the world.
“You have to have a strong personality to say, ‘okay, I am the boss, I make the decisions. This is not negotiable.’ If training sessions start at 10am, I don’t wait one single minute. Even if you’re Diego Maradona, who I never had pleasure or the honour to coach, to start at 10 is to start at 10.
“The team is the most important thing. Even if you are the best player in the world. A player with the biggest status in the club: the team is the most important thing.”
Often seen as a hard coach with his players and certainly with the media, Mourinho insists there is always the carrot and the stick situation.
“As a coach, you have to be soft and strong. Maybe soft is not the right word – you have to be open, very open to what the players think, to what the players feel – and not just to stick to your own ideas, because you work with a group.
“The group needs to have a voice; it needs to have an opinion, it needs to share. And you need to be open with the players to make it work as a team.”
Mourinho often talks about the importance of balance in his coaching and that has been called upon a great deal at a notoriously fiery environment like Roma.
“You win three matches in a row, but it’s not Heaven… because a defeat is coming. You lose two, three matches in a row; it’s also not Hell, because you are going to get out of this dark moment, and you are going to win again.
“It’s very important to keep balance and this is something that I’ve learned a lot with experience. I think the more experience you have, the more balanced you are – and the players, they look at you and they see a rock – as well as someone they can trust.”