Thu 28 May 2020, 11:33
Tottenham HotspurJose Mourinho has described the players’ attitude as ‘absolutely phenomenal’ during lockdown.
We’ve taken steps back towards ‘normality’ this week as first the Premier League voted to resume contact training and then, on Thursday, announced a return to action on 17 June, followed by a full match round starting on 19 June.
Our last match was in Leipzig on 10 March and the country went into lockdown to tackle the coronavirus on 23 March.
Jose and his coaching team used remote training sessions via Zoom to keep the players ticking over together until they were finally allowed back into Hotspur Way initially for individual sessions (28 April), then in small groups (19 May) and then Stage Two of the Return to Training protocol this week.
“The players have been absolutely phenomenal,” said Jose. “I don’t have even more words to speak about their professionalism, the way they faced the difficult period, the period of doubt, they were absolutely fantastic.
“When we were in lockdown and the training ground was completely closed, we managed to give them some work, fundamentally some discipline and some motivation and we managed to do the Zoom sessions, but they don’t involve all work, don’t involve pure football, but for a general condition, and from a mental point of view, to give them something every day, every morning, a certain time to wake up, a certain time to train, they were by themselves in front of a computer or iPad but they knew they were all together.
"So that was good, and when they had the chance to move to the training ground in individual training, that was the next step, and the players again did amazingly.
"It was hard but we knew we were giving them something. Then when we moved to groups of five, it was again another step and now, finally, we are all together to train. I think we can all feel that the first match is arriving.”
