Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld has lauded the man management skills of Jose Mourinho in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.
The Belgian defender described Mourinho as an “unbelievable people manager”, adding that “you don’t want to disappoint him”.
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Alderweireld proved this with an eight-hour commute, from Antwerp to Birmingham by rail, to be available for the 3-2 win over Aston Villa earlier this month, shortly after the birth of his second child. His flight had been cancelled, but the 30-year-old had to be at Villa Park – for Jose.
He scored an own goal that day, before making amends at the other end.
Alderweireld told the Daily Mail: “For me Jose Mourinho is an unbelievable people manager, someone who you want to travel eight hours by road to play on a Sunday after your son is born.
“That’s the feeling you get, the feeling I have for him. You don’t want to disappoint him.”
It seemed inevitable that the former Ajax centre-back would leave Spurs before Mourinho came in and helped persuade him otherwise.
The Portuguese has been accused of being a spent force tactically in recent weeks, by sickeningly idealistic milennial journalists and tiki-taka fanboys.
But he clearly still has much of the aura which made disciples of some of the best players of their generation at Chelsea, Inter Milan et al.
Give him time, and we will see the fruits of that adoration.