Jose Mourinho’s famous mind games are not exclusive to the opposition as John Terry will tell you, having been one of the ‘big personalities’ in the Chelsea dressing room to find out the hard way.
Terry was captain under the ‘Special One’ during his two spells at Chelsea, with the pair winning six major trophies together.
The former centre-back has often spoken about the intensity of training sessions from day one, and how he has kept coaching notes that he still has today.
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Speaking to the Mail in 2018, Terry revealed how Mourinho got inside his head off the back of a title-winning season.
The ex-England skipper said: ‘He embarrassed me after one pre-season, after we had won a league title.
“He stopped the training session, came in, threw down his pad. ‘If you keep giving the ball away, I will go and buy someone for £50million’.
“I am thinking, ‘I played every game for you last season! And now you’re trying to humiliate me!’
“I didn’t understand why he was doing that, but my instinct was to run and give everything; flying into tackles, winning the ball.
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“We made eye contact and he grinned. He knew exactly what he was doing – to get the best out of all of us.
“I have seen him do the same to Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack. Big personalities in the dressing room.”
Terry has since retired and is now assistant manager to Dean Smith at Aston Villa, while Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs last November – the two go head-to-head this weekend.
The former Chelsea man played his final year as a professional footballer at Villa Park, losing the Championship play-off final in his last game before becoming Smith’s assistant in October 2018, a few days after announcing his retirement.
Mourinho recently praised his former captain for the way he approached management – revealing the two ex-Chelsea men still keep in touch.
“He could have chosen that way, waiting for a big call,” said the Portguese. “But he didn’t choose that way. He went the difficult way but probably the more stable way, being an assistant.
“Going to the Championship [then] coming to the Premier League. Taking time to reach what he wants to reach.
“It will arrive.
“So I am proud of the way he is doing things. We keep in touch when it’s possible, when we have time and when big moments arrive.”
Terry played under 12 managers during his 19-year senior career at Stamford Bridge, including Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafa Benitez.
But he is adamant Mourinho is the best of the best.
Speaking on the French television documentary, Mourinho, Terry opined: “When he said we need more champions in the dressing room to become better, I just believed everything he said.
“Everything he said seemed to happen for us.
“In my career, he has been the best manager by a long way.”
Sunday’s meeting will be the first with both Terry and Mourinho on the touchline, with a win for Villa moving them four points clear of the Premier League’s bottom three.
Three points for Spurs, meanwhile, would see them close the gap on fourth place Chelsea to just one point ahead of the Blues’ meeting with Manchester United on Monday.