Madridism wonders if it has made a mistake by signing Mourinho
One month after starting the season, the coach has neither achieved the expected results nor put order in a locker room filled with stars
BarcelonaJosé Mourinho's Real Madrid began the season with an agonizing victory on Espanyol's field, in stoppage time. After two goal fests against Real Sociedad and Málaga, they suffered their first defeat on Betis's field and struggled to beat Inter, by the minimum, in their Champions League debut. They went back to scoring big against Rayo, but later achieved a new triumph at the death on Elche's field, in stoppage time, and added their second defeat of the campaign in the derby at Atlético de Madrid's field. Leaving aside the refereeing controversy, the numbers say that the white club is six points behind Barça in the League and has worse numbers than last season: Xabi Alonso had achieved 18 points. Mou has 15.
If you look at the statistics, the Portuguese coach comes out losing. Although the Madrid environment is not so worried about the numbers, but rather about the sensations. "Real Madrid needed a modern coach and they have brought the coach from 15 years ago," stated Paco González, director of Tiempo de Juego, on COPE. He said this after losing at the Metropolitano and after a grotesque press conference that recalled, precisely, those of Mou's first stages on the bench. "There will be little talk of football".
The fact is that Mourinho's arrival had been sold, through the usual propaganda channels, as the return of a coach capable of bringing order to the locker room and fixing a flawed team that has spent two years empty-handed. In the collective memory of many fans—and especially of president Florentino Pérez—was the memory of that coach who prevented Guardiola's Barça from playing a Champions League final at the Bernabéu—in 2010, when he was coaching Inter—and who, on the Bernabéu bench, competed head-to-head against that team that had amazed the world of football.
The reality is that, statistically, the League, the Cup, and the Super Cup he won in his three years are little compared to the two Leagues, one Champions League, one Cup, two Spanish Super Cups, one European Super Cup, and a Club World Cup that Barça achieved in that same period. And when he didn't win, it was never his fault but rather due to a refereeing conspiracy. In the press rooms, he talked about everything except football and had no shame in pointing out the referees, by name and surname, who had supposedly harmed him. It is exactly what he did on Sunday after losing the derby, where he appeared with a paper showing two frames of the actions he considered key to justifying the defeat.
Criticism of Mourinho's defensive and unadventurous approach
"Mourinho was our last lifeline, and if this salvation fails us...", pointed out Tomás Roncero on the Cadena Ser broadcast. The journalist agreed with Mourinho regarding his complaints about the referees, although he went further to criticize the management of the dressing room and the lack of courage when it came to penalizing the stars who, like Vinicius, do not offer the expected performance. "Madrid has done nothing. They haven't had the ball, they haven't created danger, they haven't had self-respect, they haven't sought an equalizer, they haven't played as a team, they haven't had rebellion...", added journalist Antón Meana on the same broadcast.
"The club had to do two things this summer: clean out the dressing room and sign a defensive midfielder. And it hasn't done either of those things", concluded Meana, who, besides pointing at the coach, also had barbs for president Florentino Pérez and a questionable signing policy, where the star addition, Diomande –who cost 125 million– turns out not to be a starter, that both Cucurella and Bernardo Silva landed at Madrid after being rejected by Barça, and that Rodri preferred the blue and garnet side because, precisely, he did not trust either the sporting planning or the style of play that the coach wanted to carry out.
On Sunday, Mourinho was the protagonist in the press room, although during the match he was very often seen slumped on the bench, without giving orders to the players. Especially when Atlético de Madrid took the lead and Real Madrid was left with a disadvantage. Who knows if at that moment he was already thinking about how he would justify the defeat. A different Mourinho than the one the fans expected. That is why, a month after the season started, the white environment is beginning to wonder if they made a mistake by signing him again.
