12/07/2024
🎙️José Mourinho believes there is no way to prepare for penalty shootouts:
“I am a coach with a specialty in losing matches that go to penalty shootouts. I have lost the Champions League semi-finals twice on penalties and also lost the UEFA Super Cup twice on penalties. I've only won once on penalties. I have tried in every possible way to win them but ended up with the conclusion that it doesn't matter!
“I trained for three months, day by day, relying on statistics and the players who are most effective in penalty shootouts and who have the best advantage for shooting... ‘You should shoot to this side because your success rate is higher on this side than the other!’
“I studied the opponents' capabilities and how they take penalties, relying on years of statistics to tell the goalkeeper which side to jump to because that's where they are supposed to shoot!
“We trained differently and I tried to think outside the box, looking for the players' psychological comfort so they could shoot in the direction they saw fit without any psychological pressure. I tried this method with wingers and all midfielders!
“With Real Madrid, I lost the Champions League semi-final where Cristiano missed the first shot, Kaká the second, and Ramos the third!
“With Chelsea, I lost the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool after three months of training for penalty shootouts!
“I saw outstanding statistics for a player, Jeremy, but he didn't play the match and was on the bench. I brought him on 5 minutes before the penalty shootout because I was sure he would score, but he missed!
“The only time we won was in the Italian Super Cup against Roma, where they missed just one penalty and it was Totti who missed it!
“Totti, who scored 500 penalties in his career, missed it. Thus, I realized that there's nothing I can do, and there's no way to prepare for penalty shootouts in my opinion!”
