Managers of football in general are not just about tactics. They need to know mind manipulation in equal measure. And while there might be other tacticians as good (or better) as Jose Mourinho in the business, there simply is no one who has gotten the mind games to perfection like he has. Let’s for now forget the ways he motivates players, but instead concentrate on that one facet, as equally important as anything else, the manipulation of the referees.This is what Jose Mourinho has done. Be it UNICEF or be it La Liga, Mourinho has made it look like the world has an agenda against him. So before a ball has been kicked, the referees are already under pressure. So if calls go against him, he goes ahead with the “I told you so” line. And if the calls favor him, he says it’s been about time we deserved it. He has become the kind of struggling hero the world has been unjust to. So what does a referee do?
Just make the right calls and not come under the influence of any media or person. Because when push comes to shove at the most important juncture of the season, where Jose has only one but highly coveted UEFA Champions league trophy to aim at, he will ensure by anecdotes, stories and sheer mental tactics that, it will never be him that would be responsible for a loss if any.
