Jose Mourinho taught John Terry how to use little-known rule that even referees didn't know

Jose Mourinho has developed a reputation as a manager who is desperate to win at all costs.

The legendary Portuguese coach, who is now at Turkish club Fenerbahce, has won trophies across European football - thanks to his tactical nous and attention to the smallest details.

Former Chelsea captain Terry enjoyed two spells playing under Mourinho during his time at Stamford Bridge.

He won two back-to-back titles between 2004 and 2006 in Mourinho's first spell in London, before another in 2014/15 after the Portuguese returned to the club.

It was during this second spell that Mourinho taught Terry a little-known rule and how to capitalise on it using the 'dark arts' of football.

If his side were winning 1-0 in a close game, Mourinho would instruct Terry and his then centre-back partner Gary Cahill to collide with each other before hitting the deck.

Terry claimed that one referee was unaware that the rule states that both players could not go off the pitch in the event of a collision.

It led to a situation which allowed Terry and Cahill to wind down the clock without either man having to go off.

Explaining Mourinho's desire to win at all costs, Terry told beIN Sports: "Didn’t care about anything else, he did anything to get an edge.

“I remember, the rule was, if we were 1-0 up and the ball got delivered into the box…if two defenders went up together and both went down on the floor after, you didn’t have to go off the field of play.

“So last 10 or 15 minutes, he would sit me and Gary Cahill down and go: ‘when the ball comes in the box, make sure you both go down - bump into each other and both go down because you can’t both go off.

Image: Getty

“We’d never heard of that rule ever. So ball comes over in the last 10 minutes, head it away, Gaz goes down and I think ‘I better go down’. So I dropped to the floor and the ref said ‘you two off the pitch’. I said ‘no that’s not the rule, ask the linesman’.

"Mourinho was so far ahead with those little bits and you’re talking small margins and the best managers find those little margins. Incredible.”

Mourinho's way of doing things has been much-maligned and he has frequently been accused of negative tactics and "parking the bus" during his coaching career.

However, Terry disputes that claim and and says he liked his team to be free-scoring on occasion.

He added: “If we were two or three goals up at half time against certain teams - Spurs being one of them - he’d say ‘go and kill them, go and make them suffer today.”