* click on image for PowerPoint
My good friend Dale Jordan passed along this amazing packet of training sessions that Mourinho used to run when he first took over at Chelsea (and still might use some today). These 39 drills are all purposeful exercises and each has its own intention. One of Mourinho's rules is that every player has to go through all of these before they can play a game in the first team. By doing this, Mourinho is able to better get across how exactly he wants his players to play come game time. By making it mandatory to play in these exercises, Mourinho can access how players follow his playing style guidelines. If they do well in the drills he can better trust that they will play the way he wants them to come Saturday.
One big thing about Mourinho is making every training session about something that you would see in a game. Ever session is 'game-like'. It could be a little aspect or it could involve larger team tactics, but either way a session isn’t wasted because it focuses on some aspect that he wants to see executed in a match. Again, if every player can perform very well in each drill then each player is more holistically prepared to play well in a game because they have covered 39 different aspects or situations they will most likely see. Not only have they covered different situations and elements of the game, but they know now how their coach wants them to play in each situation. The guidelines and style are clear, thus his vision is able to come more to life!
