Jose Mourinho reveals how he benched a player who refused a painkiller injection
The Portuguese coach shared an anecdote about a former player who was excluded from the squad after refusing a medical injection before a match.
José Mourinho a partagé une anecdote sur sa carrière d'entraîneur. (J.-B. Autissier/L'Équipe)
Jose Mourinho has shared another anecdote from his career, highlighting his uncompromising approach to player management. During an appearance on the BeastModeOn podcast, the Portuguese coach recounted an incident where a player refused a painkiller injection required for a match.
To prove that the procedure was not a significant issue, Mourinho went as far as taking off his shoe and sock, putting his foot forward to the doctor, and asking him to inject him instead. Despite his efforts to demonstrate that his own toe was perfectly fine after the treatment, the player remained unmoved and reportedly called his coach "crazy."
The consequences for the player were immediate and lasting. Mourinho concluded the story by noting that the player never appeared in a match for him again. The coach did not disclose the name of the player, nor did he specify which club or time period the story refers to.