Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has recalled how Jose Mourinho pushed him to work harder during training.
Varane told an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that the Portuguese felt he wasn’t pulling his weight in training and didn’t let it slide.
“During my second year at Madrid, Mourinho kicked me up the backside. I wasn’t doing what he wanted on the training pitch,” Varane said, Marca reports.
“He asked me ‘why don’t you run in training?’ and my first reaction was to mutter ‘oh, come on!’ but I knew he was right. I had more to give.
“Mourinho doesn’t have to give long speeches. He’s precise and direct. He told me that for my own good.”
Varane added that after accepting Madrid’s offer he had to change his personality in time.
“I was very hyper, not like how I appear calm today. I was too playful with my brothers and sisters. They had to calm me down,” he noted.
“You can live without worries when you’re young. But that phone call from Madrid changed everything. It was the craziest moment of my life.
“The phone kept ringing! I spent my exams signing autographs for the other students. I didn’t understand what was happening. It was surreal.”