Jose Mourinho, fresh from guiding Inter Milan to Champions League and historic treble glory, is likely to sign a four-year deal with Real Madrid after the sacking of coach Manuel Pellegrini.
Notwithstanding Mourinho’s remaining two year contract with Inter Milan, Real Madrid President Florentino Perez is certain of his appointment and could make that all-important announcement as early as next Tuesday.
There is no doubt that Real Madrid is recruiting a proven champion but not all Madridstas have taken warmly to Jose Mourinho’s impending arrival, at least not yet. Perez wasted little time in lauding Mourinho style as the perfect fit for Real Madrid.
He said, “Bringing in Mourinho – one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best – is an opportunity Madrid couldn’t let pass by. A change of coach is always hard but we believe now is the moment to give a new impulse to our project.”
In fairness, Manuel Pellegrini gave a good account of himself. Granted that he had a “dream” team of Galacticos, but achieving 96 points (a club record for los Blancos) and 102 goals in La Liga is no small feat. Unfortunately, the dominant Blaugrana proved hard to dislodge.
For his debut effort, Pellegrini cannot be considered an abject failure but the high expectations at Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola’s sextuple of titles (also won in his first season) made his tenure untenable.
Losing twice in the El Clasicos this season exposed the gulf in standard between both clubs and is something which staunch Real Madrid fans cannot forgive. The defeat by Olympique Lyon in the Champions League and a humiliating exit at the hands of Second Division B side Alcorcón in the Copa del Rey also did Pellegrini no favors.
I believe given sufficient time, Manuel Pellegrini will win something for Real Madrid, in keeping with his track record at San Lorenzo, River Plate and Villarreal. But Perez is loathe to wait for him to come good, not when Barcelona intends to set the bar even higher with their recent purchase of David Villa, one of the most promising and lethal Spanish strikers.
Jose Mourinho will certainly relish the challenge of improving on Pellegrini’s tenure but more importantly to stop Barcelona from winning titles and writing new chapters in Spanish football annals. However, this is far from a marriage made in heaven.
Florentino Perez’s vision of Galacticos (strikers and attacking midfielders only, defenders need not apply) is to set them free on the pitch and entertain the fans with goals and nifty footwork.
Such laissez faire attacking football where Galacticos flaunt their skills at the expense of the team while water-carriers do the heavy lifting runs contrary to Mourinho’s philosophy of organized defense and collective spirit.
Perez’s Galacticos model is ideal from a purely entertainment and financial perspective. After all, Barcelona also adopts an exhilarating brand of fluid, attacking football en-route to their unprecedented success.
Jose Mourinho’s ability to put up a barricade in front of goal may be peerless, but Real Madrid fans are not accustomed to such negative tactics. Hence, even if Real Madrid win a treble, its boring football will be viewed unfavorably compared to Barcelona. At least Manuel Pellegrini had 102 goals to account for entertainment value.
I doubt if Mourinho will bend his principles to satisfy Florentino Perez and Real Madrid fans. In any case, attacking football is not his forte. Arsenal, an accomplished master of one-touch football paid a heavy price when they tried to beat Barcelona at their own game, only to have a certain Lionel Messi tear their defenses apart. You will not catch Mourinho commiting suicide by playing into Barcelona’s strength.
To be sure, Mourinho doesn’t adopt an ultra defensive catenaccio style of football nor strive to win by the solitary goal. His teams possess a high work rate and organized defense but are equally capable of incisive and ferocious bludgeoning when they counter attack.
The Portuguese is flexible in adjusting his strategies but he hardly fall prey to mind games. Sparring with Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger did not derail Chelsea from winning the Premier League title. When Louis Van Gaal claimed that his Bayern side played a more entertaining football while Mourinho’s teams seek only to win negatively, the latter did not rise to the bait by pressing the all-out attack mode at Santiago Bernabeu, just to impress his future employer.
Mourinho persisted in his game plan which Inter Milan executed to perfection. His football philosophy has worked on so many occasions and he will not bow to pressure from anybody. This is where disputes will continually flare up between Mourinho and Perez’s management, regardless of the titles won.
Neverthelesss, such is the invincible aura surrounding Barcelona that some priorities have to be adjusted and pride swallowed. The mismangement of Real Madrid in the last decade has also strengthened Mourinho’s hand.
Mourinho’s appointment makes him the 11th coach in seven years. During this time, Los Merengues only won five trophies including two Spanish Supercopas while he has won 17 titles in Portugal, England and Italy.
Real Madrid had also gone six consecutive seasons without overcoming a single knock-out tie in the Champions League. None of the coaches Florentino Perez brought to Real Madrid has won anything. Clearly the Los Merengues need Mourinho more than he needs them.
Florentino Perez insisted he will not pay for Mourinho’s £16m get out clause but if truth be told, the money will be settled in some form or another. While arch rival Barcelona continue to celebrate their conquests, his expensively assembled team comprising Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema had yielded zero returns.
When Perez was re-elected, he promised greatness but his legacy at Real Madrid is now in danger of being written off as a shambles compared to the outgoing Joan Laporta at Barcelona.
Florentino Perez has to be clear what he wants or can get from Jose Moruinho before he signs on the dotted line. The Portuguese is a brilliant coach who plans meticulously and inspires football players to punch above their weight. Few coaches can incite passion and rally the troops to fight for a common cause as well as Mourinho. Sacrifice is the common value which run through the Nerazzurri as they defeated Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Having the best of both worlds is too much to ask for, unless he entices Pep Guardiola to defect to the “White House.” Being a true blue Catalan, Guardiola is unlikely to commit the cardinal sin. That leaves Mourinho, one of only 3 coaches to have won the Champions League in two different countries as Perez’s best hope of wresting European football leadership.
If his first objective is to win a treble to be on par with Barcelona, it will serve him well to see how Inter Milan coexisted with Jose Mourinho.
Inter Milan’s luck have improved in recent years, garnering five consecutive domestic championships and the perfect treble. But throughout its history, the Nerazzurri were regarded as underachievers.
When Massimo Moratti took over the reins in 1995, he bankrolled high profile players like Ronaldo, Christian Vieri, and Hernán Crespo but Inter were still no match for AC Milan and Juventus. It was a turbulent period with managers operating on a revolving door basis (including Luigi Simoni, Marcello Lippi, Hector Cuper, etc) and fans protesting against Moratti.
A large part boils down to Massimo Moratti’s impatience and distrust in his coaches. Surprisingly, for Moratti’s character, he backed Jose Mourinho who was on a generous pay package fully in the transfer market after the Portuguese failed to outperform Roberto Mancini in his first attempt.
There were also countless controversies which put Moratti in a tight spot, notbaly Mourinho’s war against the entire Italy football fraternity. Moratti was under pressure from the Italian media for not taking “energetic action” to rein in Mourinho’s impudence towards referees, players, coaches, journalists and the football authority.
Moratti’s perseverance paid off though as Inter Milan ended their 45 year wait for the Champions League title. This makes one wonder what Chelsea could achieve if oil oligarch Roman Abramovich had cast aside his ego and exercised the same faith in Mourinho by indulging his arrogance and disregarding disputes with John Terry… perhaps the first Champions League title will have arrived at Stamford Bridge.
Similarly, if the relationship between Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid is to blossom, the owner’s unwavering support is crucial. The trio of president Florentino Perez, director general Jorge Valdano and sporting director Miguel Pardeza have huge egos too but they will have to accept the outspoken Mourinho stepping on their toes.
It is painfully obivous José Mourinho is infatuated with himself, and his self-aggrandization made him lots of enemies. But it is this narcissism that sets him apart from the rest. Without a commanding and fanatical personality, he will be just another industrious coach with a clipboard, taking notes and strategizing away but unable to instill his plan into the hearts and minds of his players.
Modern football pays well but demands results in the shortest time possible. Managers and players are always a game or two away from the axe. To manage expectations and egoistic footballers, you need a cult-like or dictatorial figure with strong leadership and imposing personalities.
Jose Mourinho has made it clear that he will be the one making decisions about the Real Madrid first team but there are prima donnas in the squad who think otherwise. Raul wields enormous influence over the team as the captain and he has access to the inner sanctum of Santiago Bernabeu.
Unless the striker conforms to Mourinho’s teachings, high profile clashes are inevitable. Selling Raul in the summer will help Mourinho establish his authority but it is bound to raise the ire of Real Madrid fans.
On the issue of transfers, Mourinho will certainly be given a generous budget but the jury is still out on Mourinho’s talent spotting ability. There were hits and misses during his reign at Chelsea. Ferreira, Wright-Phillips, Schevchenko, Kezman, Tiago, Maniche, Jarosik, Del Horno, Boulahrouz, Essien, Drogba, Carvalho, Kalou and Mikel were bought but very few established themselves as first team regulars.
While Madrid’s directors and owner should steer clear of coaching matters, the delineation of approving transfer targets is less clear. Interfering to the extent of ignoring the coach is wrong as can be seen by Manuel Pellegrini’s frustration.
Pellegrini was not consulted about the sale of Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, departures he lamented as mistakes on the part of the club. He said resignedly: “I wanted Sneijder and Robben to stay but I never had a conversation at Real Madrid about who I preferred, if it was Cristiano or Kaka and Sneijder and Robben. The coach should have had a more important voice in what the team needs. At that point I felt small.”
One of the major factor for Inter Milan’s successful assault on multiple fronts this season was their shrewd purchases in the transfer market. Moratti has credited Marco Branco, Inter’s technical director, for working hand in hand with Mourinho to recruit quality reinforcements last summer.
Inter Milan bought Diego Milito with the €46m that accompanied Samuel Eto’o in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimovic last summer. The other arrivals were Wesley Sneijder, Thiago Motta and Lucio, whom have all played instrumental roles in Inter Milan’s campaign. Without doubt, this is the most successful spending spree in football.
Diego Milito, a late bloomer at age 30, deserves special mention for the way he repaid the transfer fee. He was an unpolished gem at Real Zaragoza and Genoa but he reached his full potential under Mourinho and scored crucial goals, like the winner in the Coppa Italia against Roma and the 1-0 victory over Siena, which won Inter Milan their 18th scudetto. Milito’s brace against Bayern Munich in the Champions League was the icing on the cake and encapsulated how much he has improved in one season.
Unfortunately, Diego Milito will not be arriving at Real Madrid as Moratti has said he is not for sale. Not to worry as there are so many transfer rumors swirling around currently, you can barely keep up. Mourinho has expressed his preference for players who are in their early 30s; coincidentally, English players Lampard and Gerrard fit that profile and are in his shopping list.
Mourinho’s thinking deviates markedly from conventional wisdom of youth policy exhorted by Arsenal and Barcelona. Besides experience and consistency, Mourinho may find older players easier to motivate as their chances of achieving glory is less than their younger counterparts. It is apparent from the way old warhorses like Javier Zanetti and Marco Materazzi dig into energy reserves to cover men and ground as the competition intensifies.
Regardless of the players arriving or departing Real Madrid next season, we are likely to see attacking instincts being curbed, less dribbling and stepovers, more running and selfless defending. If the Los Merengues demonstrate altruism in fulfilling Mourinho’s tactical demands to the letter, the trophies will come.
How long the Mourinho and Real Madrid union will last is another issue though. Fabio Capello and Vicente del Bosque, now in charge of England and Spain respectively, were dismissed after winning La Liga titles because their style was deemed too boring for the fans.
In the case of Mourinho, he will have no qualms about leaving once he satisfies his objective of winning the Champions League in 3 different countries. He doesn’t aspire to an impressive legacy with a single football club like Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
Mourinho has already indicated that he will not take charge of Real Madrid for the long-haul, and will love a return to the Premier League. This marriage of convenience is actually beneficial for all parties. The trophy cabinet has been empty for too long and Real Madrid fans can finally enjoy the feeling of winning major titles again. They also need not worry that Mourinho will overstay his welcome with his pragmatic football.
The rivalry in Spainish football has never been more intense. I believe other teams in Europe are having sleepless nights too as they contemplate their chances in the Champions League with Barcelona and Real Madrid fighting for the ultimate prize. Next season will be interesting, stay tuned…
No Comments on “Real Madrid and Mourinho – Marriage Made In Heaven?”