Many, including former Chelsea captain John Terry, completely buy into the Mourinho model. Others need a little more convincing. Explaining the lengths that he is prepared to go to in order to create a united front and strengthen bonds between the dugout and playing field, Mourinho added: “Two simple examples – one I’ll tell you the name, the second I won’t. John Terry. We want to win the Premier League, John was in trouble. The night after we won the title he went to the clinic for surgery, but only when we won the title.
“I had another one, it’s a funny one, but it’s not funny. I was desperate with injuries and I needed one guy to play. The guy had one small fracture in the middle toe. The doctor told him: ‘No problem, it’s just pain… you can play, there is no problem’. (The player said) ‘I cannot play with pain’. Come on. You can play with pain. ‘No I cannot play with pain’. No problem. We’ll give you a small anesthetic injection and you play and you have no pain, no consequences. You are going to play easily. And the guy didn’t want it.
“I took my shoe off, I took my socks off, I put my foot in front of his face and I told the doctor: ‘Give me the injection’. And the doctor gave me the injection on my toe. My toe was perfect. And then I said (to the player): ‘Come on, you can also do it’. And he told me: ‘No, you are crazy – you are crazy, I’m not crazy’. And he didn’t take it. How many matches did he play with me after? Almost none!”
