Mourinho smarter than the referee? Legendary Terry reveals what trick the Portuguese used at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho is one of the best coaches in history. Especially at Chelsea, he shone. He has turned the London club into one of the best clubs in the Premier League. His favourite John Terry revealed what trick the Portuguese strategist used to help his team to stall.

The year was 1963 when one of the best coaches in history was born in Setúbal, Portugal. Wherever he was, Jose Mourinho collected success and trophies. Even in the less successful engagements.

But he was most famous as Chelsea coach. Until his arrival, the latter had ambitions, but there was no success to speak of. However, that changed with the arrival of the Portuguese strategist.

“The Special One” had two tenures in London and under his guidance, the Blues produced world legends such as Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry. Under him, these players matured into absolute top players.

Mourinho was celebrated for his tactical ability. And not only that. He tried to exploit every detail. Even in the rules. The aforementioned Terry, who captained both Chelsea and the England national team, has now spoken about this.

What did Mourinho advise his defenders?

Terry admitted in an interview with beIN Sports that Mourinho advised him and his partner Gary Cahill on how to stall the game properly when Chelsea were one goal up.

“When the ball went into the sixteen, we should have both gone down after the duels. Because in this case the referee can’t order you to go over the touchline. We have never heard of this rule before,” Goal quotes Terry as saying.

“In the last 10 minutes, for example, the ball flew into the hexagon. He managed to clear it and Gary fell to the ground. I thought I’d better lie down on the grass as well. So I did and the referee wanted to send us both off the pitch. But I told him that the rules said he couldn’t do that and to ask the linesman. Mourinho was way ahead with these little things. The best managers can find even these little things to their advantage,” the England legend added.

Admittedly, it is not a very sporting method, but given the fact that the trend of setting up was quite different back then compared to the current World Cup in Qatar, for example, and the fact how many seconds or minutes were managed to stall in this way, it was a stroke of genius by Mourinho.

Source: Goal, Transfermarkt