Jose Mourinho Quotes

When I was a player, it was important to target the first few friendlies and plant a seed in the mind of the gaffer.

For me, making my intent clear to the batsman before he stamps his authority is important. Playing with his mind is a way of attacking rather than setting attacking fields.

What's important is to get into the pitcher's head: to know what he's made of.

Of course, the psychological part, the tactics, is very important.

My mental approach is totally different. My coach predicated everything on defense. He always talked about defense, defense, defense. I took it to heart that if you play defense, you can take the heart from an offensive player.

Pellegrini gave me back the joy of playing football. He is like Arsene Wenger: someone who likes to joke, someone who likes to talk and take an interest in your life.

I used to come out and say I was targeting certain players in the opposition team, particularly players I had had success against in the past: Gary Kirsten, Brian Lara and Michael Atherton, for example. It is a mental part of the game.

If the offensive player starts losing confidence, that gets the defender's confidence up - and I think the team can feel it.

As you develop relationships in your team you have to learn how your teammates react to being yelled at or how to put your arm around them and show them how to do things. You have to build those relationships up and understand who that person is and how they respond and choose your way to lead them to hopefully help everyone out.

In cricket, there is a lot of psychology in the game, especially if you are watching people who are not top-class.

I reckon you have to put a presence in front of your opponent - a bit of confidence and attitude - and then you can change what their next move may be.

I think that's good for a coach to have two sides: the jokey side and the fiery side.

There are various psychological advantages you can take into boxing match. One is getting your opponent to fight with emotion and anger because he hates you.

I tried to get into the mind of my opponent and psyche him out.

It is a pleasure to play under Jose Mourinho, and everything is OK. I learn every day. He is a normal coach. He speaks a lot with the players. I like it when the manager speaks a lot with you because it gives you confidence.

If the coach on the sidelines is not that strong, transmitting the kind of spirit he has, players won't always handle it well. Life becomes difficult. But, with Mourinho, everything is good. He knows when to be among his players, as 'one of us' making jokes as a friend, and when to be strong and distant, even severe.

I think it's very important to have contact with the players that I will coach.

It's important to be vocal, and to be fair, I've always had that in me, to be honest. One of the things my dad has always said to me is make sure you're vocal, and before the game, I always get a text off him telling me to do the things well and again, 'Be vocal, Dec.'

Many times, I know before I speak to the player what they are thinking. It's very important to know when to push, when to put the pressure on, and when to take it off.

I think sometimes players must have a wake-up call before they realise they are back in African football.

I like Southgate as a manager, what he brings. He always wants the ball and adapts to the players.

Practices for me, when your team is not going really well, it can stake a lot of stink out of the air.

I have my way of doing things, because I am that way, I try to raise my voice to motivate team-mates and make them aware that if they lose a ball it is not a problem, so I try to motivate my team-mates and to speak to them and, because I see the game from the back I see everything in front of me; communication on the field can help a lot.

I try to get in people's heads. My job is to get the ball, so if I'm talking trash to an O-lineman or quarterback or receiver, and they start thinking about me, that's good, because they aren't thinking about the game anymore.

Harry Redknapp is a fantastic manager. He knows how to talk to players. You need that belief from your own manager. He tells you just to go out there and do your thing. That is what Harry has got more than anyone else.