As Braun's ambassador how important is physical appearance to you?
What is important to me is that I feel really good. I used to train every day in the gym but stopped for a while. For the past couple of months I’ve returned to that routine and I feel in good shape. It’s perfect for dealing with the stresses of the job.
Tell us about your personal training regime.
Half is cardio. I try to vary what I do so sometimes it is running, sometimes on the bike or the cross-trainer. The other half I do weights. I do them at a low intensity because I don’t want to get big but I do want to keep lean.
Do you train in the gym with any of your players?
Sometimes but they are at a different level than I am, with completely different objectives. My routine helps me not just in my body but in psychological terms. Every day it’s 45 minutes and I enjoy having that routine in my life more and more. Even on the match days I’ll be training. Before the team talk I’ll be in the gym.
Do you like to work out after a match as well?
Yes. You put on your headphones and turn on your music. You don’t think much while you are doing it and you close yourself off to the outside. For these little periods I won’t allow a phone call to interrupt me so I have this 45 minutes every day.
Do you think your style and demeanour on the touchline influences your players?
I think the most important thing in our job is what you do before the match, not during it. The way we work during the week, the way we prepare for the matches, the way the players go onto the pitch. When the players are on the pitch the communication with the players is not much. Many times it is a fake communication because the managers are on the touchline screaming and gesticulating and jumping around and because of the noise and the pressure the players don’t understand what their manager is saying. The most important thing is what you do during the week and before the match. Of course during the match you have half-time to try to make an influence and you have changes and decisions to make but the way you dress, the way you behave, the way you walk, the way you are seated in the dug-out – I don’t think it’s important.
How about for the fans?
For the fans, yes. Sometimes the way you behave can influence the fans. Sometimes if they see support and enthusiasm coming from the coach and if they can feel empathy with the manager, then they can follow you. In the same way if the coach is behaving negatively and being too critical of the players, they can go against the manager. If the manager shows empathy and is loved by the fans of the team, especially when you play at home, you can use them to influence the game.
Do you feel you had a good relationship with Chelsea supporters?
With Chelsea supporters I am responsible for a big change. When I arrived the away fans were seated behind the dugout, behind me and behind the tunnel to the pitch. After a couple of months I was saying this is impossible. So I moved them to the corner. I wanted to have the most loyal fans just behind me and just behind the players when they go onto the pitch.
What are your memories from your time with Chelsea?
I don’t forget them; they don’t forget me. That’s normal. When I went there with Inter I was an opponent and an opponent in a Champions League quarter-final, so it was not just a simple match, and to feel what I felt that day at Stamford Bridge is unforgettable.
José Mourinho is the new global ambassador for Braun electric shaving. For more info on the Braun range, visit braun.com/uk.
To read about Jose Mourinho’s style and grooming tips pick up our December 2011 issue of Men’s Fitness magazine, on sale from 19th October. Subscribe now and get five issues for £5.
