Robert Huth has spoken about what life was like at Chelsea under the guidance of Jose Mourinho.
As a youngster, Huth played 23 times across Mourinho’s two title-winning campaigns as Chelsea boss, acting as a squad player behind the likes of John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and William Gallas.
Despite not featuring heavily under him, Huth was full of praise and admiration for Mourinho, stating that the Portuguese boss was a “total game-changer” for his career.
But there was one detail that left Huth sold on Mourinho's quality - the introduction of ball boys in training sessions; the idea being to keep up the intensity and not waste anyone’s time.
"He is amazing. He came to Chelsea after winning the Champions League at Porto and everyone was in awe of him," Huth told Paddy Power’s Pitch Invader magazine.
"For me and my career he was a total game-changer. He came in with his mentality, his training and preparation and just took the club to another level.
"It was always good, but with him it was something else - the sheer level of detail for training and for games too.
"We had ballboys at training! I've never seen anything like it.
"He didn't even want to waste even one minute of a player or a member of staff's time by having them collect balls.
"So he got a few teenagers from the local area, so that training was continuous.
"I remember thinking 'whoah, this guy means business!'
"His influence was enormous. He didn't give a s***. He just wanted to win."
This winning mentality is evident throughout Mourinho’s career, as he holds the fourth best points-per-game record in the Premier League.
Huth spent five years in West London before moving to Middlesborough in 2006, joining the club before both billionaire Roman Abramovich and notorious manager Mourinho.
Although Chelsea are not currently seen as title contenders, the Blues are still one of the biggest clubs in Europe, something that was certainly not the case before Mourinho took over in 2004.
Former teammate John Terry has also previously spoken about the incredibly high standards that Mourinho demanded from his players and staff in training.
He spoke on Monday Night Football about his attention to detail and how ‘The Special One’ revolutionised pre-season training by getting rid of pure fitness sessions without footballs.
Mourinho’s influence is felt across football, with Leicester boss Brendan Rogers, a coach at Chelsea throughout Mourinho’s first tenure at Stamford Bridge, reportedly an advocate of this training methodology.
