Madridism wonders if it has made a mistake by signing Mourinho
A month after starting the season, the coach has neither achieved the expected results nor put order to a locker room filled with stars
BarcelonaJosé Mourinho's Real Madrid began the season with an agonizing victory on the field of Espanyol, in stoppage time. After two thrashings against Real Sociedad and Málaga, they suffered their first defeat on the field of Betis and struggled to defeat Inter, by the minimum, in their Champions League debut. They returned to thrashing against Rayo, but then achieved a new triumph at the death on the field of Elche, in stoppage time. Too many doubts against inferior rivals, both in individual quality and budget. Finally, against a top-level rival, they added the second defeat of the campaign in the derby on the field of Atlético de Madrid. 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 in the Madrid environment they are not so worried about the numbers but rather about the feelings. "Real Madrid needed a modern coach and has brought the coach from 15 years ago," sentenced 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, that of Mou's first stages on the bench. "Little will be said about football".
The arrival of Mourinho had been sold, through the usual propaganda channels, as the return of a coach capable of restoring order to the locker room and fixing a flawed team that had gone two years empty-handed. In the collective memory of many fans—and especially president Florentino Pérez—was that of the 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 football world.
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, a Champions League, a 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 a refereeing conspiracy. In the press rooms, he spoke about everything except football and had no shame in pointing out the referees, by name and surname, who had supposedly prejudiced him. This 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.
"There are a lot of nerves at the club. Raising the tone about the referees is a response to Barça's six-point lead. There is concern about what might happen in the Clásico and if this has consequences for the next assembly," assesses Kike Marín, a journalist for El Confidencial. "It is the same Mourinho from the first stint, but things have changed a lot. The environment has changed, social media... and they have started to lose their fear of Florentino," he adds to justify an avalanche of criticism that, a few years ago, would have been unthinkable.
Criticism of Mourinho's defensive and timid 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 locker room and the lack of courage when it came to penalizing stars who, like Vinicius, do not offer the expected performance. "Madrid has done nothing. It hasn't had the ball, it hasn't created danger, it hasn't had self-respect, it hasn't looked for the draw, it hasn't played as a team, it hasn't had rebellion...", added journalist Antón Meana on the same broadcast.
"The club had to do two things this summer: clean out the locker room and sign a defensive midfielder. And it hasn't done any of those things", concluded Meana, who, besides pointing at the coach, also had darts 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 discarded by Barça, and that Rodri preferred the blue and garnet team because, precisely, he did not trust either the sporting planning or the style of play that the coach wanted to carry out.
"Madrid isn't getting it right with the coach and they will drag this out throughout the season. You can afford one player who doesn't run, but if it's two...", analyzed Santi Cañizares, former goalkeeper and current commentator at COPE, with a very critical view of Real Madrid's play, lacking solidarity and unbalanced.
On Sunday, Mourinho was the protagonist in the press room, even though 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 numerical 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 began, those in the white environment are beginning to wonder if they made a mistake by signing him again.