Mourinho Explains How He Treats Players Who Commit Mistakes
Reuters / Lee Smith
One doesn’t simply acquire the title of ‘The Special One’. It is undeniable that Jose Mourinho is a gem of a manager. Apart from his trophy cabinet, which boasts of triumphs across Europe, he is also renowned for the way he handles players, and their triumphs as well as failures. As for the latter, Mourinho recently revealed what he does when players perform individual errors.
The Manchester United boss revealed the steps he follows after a horrendous mistake is committed by any of his players.
The examples that the Portuguese manager cited were that of Marouane Fellaini and Phil Jones. The Belgian made an infamous folly last season, when he conceded an embarrassing penalty against his former club Everton. Incidentally, the Toffees also happen to be the Red Devils’ next opponents in the Premier League on Sunday.
Mourinho explained (via Manchester Evening News): “His mistake last season [Fellaini] was the kind of mistake that I accept in a player. I accept the goalkeeper that concedes a bad goal. I accept the player who misses a penalty. I accept the player who makes a mistake and gives a penalty away.”
https://youtu.be/B3esi0d3GDM
As to what he does with such players, the boss had a simple and effective solution: “I accept all these individual mistakes that are part of the game and part of football players. What I did with Marouane [play him in the next game] is what I do normally with every player.”
This conversation intended to know what the punishment of Phil Jones would be, with the English defender proving to be far from sharp in their 2-2 draw against Stoke City last week.
However, it appears that the 25-year-old would be subjected to the same treatment, with Mourinho explaining: “He made a bad mistake for Stoke’s second goal. Did I kill him? No. Will he be on the bench on Sunday? No. Life goes on, and that’s the way I did it last season with Fellaini.”
The method, whilst seeming to be counterproductive, does appear to be very ingenious. Perhaps this is what separates a footballing genius from a crowd booing the players for their errors on the pitch.
Written by Naveen Kelvin 
A writer trying to craft the poetry within football. Purpose in life is to Make Good Art.