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11th May 2019
03:34pm BST

"I had a club where they never understood how important the ball-boys are."You want a quick throw-in, the ball-boy needs to know that you want a quick throw-in. The ball needs to arrive fast." While you might believe that Mourinho could be talking about any of his former sides, it bears remembering the fact that during his spell with United, Mourinho became so frustrated with the performance of the club's ball-boys that he replaced them with academy players who he'd hoped would have a better knowledge of the momentum of a match. A former ball-boy himself, the Portuguese has had his fair share of run-ins with opposition ball-boys in the past and it's clear that Mourinho appreciates the need for youngsters to be able to read the game when they're responsible for returning the ball. "I was a ball-boy, a top ball-boy," Mourinho said. "When I was a ball-boy, I even knew where the players wanted the ball for a corner, so they didn’t need to touch the ball.
"A real football club, every detail is very, very important.
"In this game, the kid, very intelligent, very bright.
"I don’t know if he is an academy player or not, but the kid knew what he was going to do.
"Then Alexander-Arnold, he read the situation fantastically well. Young kid, Champions League semi-final, tired, 80 minutes of football. He saw everything.
"And then of course, Origi, he could have put the ball over the bar, it’s not easy, but he put it there."Explore more on these topics: