Exclusive: Sports psychologist reveals the reasons why Jose Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea



Sports Psychologist Don Macpherson reckons former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho ran out of mental fuel



 

MIND COACH and sports psychologist Don Macpherson has worked with the biggest names in sport. Here he gives his view of Mourinho's fall...

 

I love Jose. He is one of the best managers in the world. But he has looked to me like someone who was simply running out of mental energy.

The fuel gauge in his brain was in the red. And you run out of energy if you don't find the fuel. The fuel would have been Chelsea winning, or maybe him taking a break. But that did not happen.

Jose looked as if his brain was over-revving, like an engine overheating. He was not putting enough petrol in. Jose goes on high octane fuel, and a hell of a lot of it. But he looked as if he was on the reserve tank.

 

I have dealt with a lot of elite sports people and they will tell you it can be very lonely at the top. It's obvious Mourinho did not have someone professional to talk to. To let the steam out. Someone he trusted, and respected - but not a member of his family because they would too close.

If you don't talk, it stays inside you. That's obviously what has happened. The monkey remained out of the cage.

It is a cluster of those things all together. He has for several weeks given the appearance of someone who was in danger of burn-out. I truly hope he hasn't, because he is a marvellous coach, wonderfully talented. With each loss he was digging a hole that was only getting deeper mentally.

The reason people do stupid things is because of anxiety, caused by many things. That blocks access to whatever part of the brain they need in a crisis. That is the monkey brain hijacking that part of the brain he really needs.

 

Macpherson insists Mourinho lost his players because of anxiety and not having a neutral balance

 

When you get the natural balance wrong it can all go wrong. This is why he lost some of his players.

He would have been working hard to hide his mental stress from staff, players, everyone, by humour, being grumpy or refusing to talk. That would have wasted energy that he simply no longer had.

But no matter how hard he tried to cover it up, players - especially players who knew him well - would have picked up little signs. And that would have eroded their confidence in him.

Subconsciously all humans give away their true thoughts and feelings without knowing they are doing it. You cannot separate the mind and the body, the body will give it away.