Jose Mourinho engaged in the practice of spying on opposition training sessions long before it became widely publicized, according to former Chelsea captain John Terry. Terry shared this account in the upcoming three-part Netflix docu-series titled "MOURINHO."
In the documentary, Terry recounted an incident from Mourinho's first season as Chelsea manager. "I remember, we were due to play Bolton and up on the screen is Bolton's training session from the day before," Terry said. He recalled specific tactical advice allegedly given during the viewing, such as "Big Sam [Allardyce] was like 'hit Gallas, he's not very good in the air.'" Terry expressed surprise at the time, stating, "Who gets footage from someone's training ground? I'm actually still not sure where he got the footage from."
The specific match this occurred before is not clarified. If it was before the home fixture in November 2004, Chelsea drew 2-2 with Bolton. However, if the spying took place before the away fixture, it may have proven beneficial. Chelsea secured the Premier League title with a 2-0 victory at the Reebok Stadium in that reverse fixture, with Frank Lampard scoring twice.
The practice of spying on training sessions has surfaced in other high-profile football incidents. In 2019, Marcelo Bielsa, then manager of Leeds United, admitted to instructing a colleague to observe Derby County's training ahead of a Championship game. Leeds were subsequently fined £200,000 by the English Football League (EFL) for breaching regulations requiring clubs to act with good faith towards each other.