Wesley Sneijder has exploded the myth that Jose Mourinho is a control freak who never trusts his players.
The Dutchman has lifted the lid on how Mourinho guided Inter Milan to a historic Treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia a decade ago.
And he insists the secret behind the success of Tottenham ’s boss is that he grants his players so much freedom off the pitch that they are driven to win games for him on it.
The 36-year-old, writing in his new autobiography Sneijder, said: “Mourinho made his own laws – and the players loved it.
“He knew how to handle us so well. He said, ‘I give you guys more freedom than you are used to and, in return, I get a better team’.
“During games he demanded everything from us. But away from the pitch he gave us a lot of space. Drinking wine, fags… I am sure he knew that we were doing this stuff.”
Sneijder, who last year brought the curtain down on a glittering career that saw him win titles in Holland, Spain, Italy and Turkey, added: “We were even free in our choice of what to wear.
“We had a sponsor for all our suits, but Mourinho said we did not have to wear the suits if we didn’t want to.
“He said, ‘You are football players, not fashion puppets’. Only three things were important: train hard, keep focus and have fun.
“So we all wore our tracksuits or jeans. Everyone was wearing different coloured polo shirts.
“It was so funny – but no one at Inter had the guts to tackle Mourinho about this.”
Mourinho was rebuilding his own reputation when he took over at Inter after being axed by Chelsea – just as he is at Spurs after getting fired by Manchester United last season. He won the Serie A title in his first campaign and then led Inter to the Treble.
But he was no soft touch – and Sneijder recalled how he taught controversial striker Mario Balotelli (below) a lesson in humility.
“Mourinho protected us always – but you don’t mess him about,” said Sneijder.
“Mario Balotelli tried it. He was young and thought he knew it all. And when Mourinho was not using him a lot, Mario walked in my hotel room one night when I was with a few other players. It was 10.30pm and he said, ‘I am leaving the camp, the manager is not taking me seriously. I want more playing time’.
“Mourinho later told us Mario was only welcome back again if he apologised to the entire squad and to him, the manager.
“Mario did exactly that and they came back with their arms around each other’s shoulders. It was all good again – at least that’s what Balotelli thought.
“During the Champions League Final, Mourinho told Balotelli to do a warm-up for 45 minutes, then let Marco Materazzi warm up for five minutes. Materazzi came on, Balotelli didn’t. Mourinho has his own laws.” Sneijder added: “He did the most unexpected things. Maicon got a red card and was suspended for two games. Mourinho pulled him over the next day in training, called him a silly boy and then told him to go to see his family in Brazil.
“He did the same to me. I was alone in Milan and my girl was in Amsterdam. When he heard this, he said I should jump on the plane and see her for a few days.
“Jose told me to be back on Friday and when I told him we had a game on Saturday, he said, ‘Exactly – and you are going to play out of your skin for me’.
“What a brilliant boss. Mourinho and I were one.”
