Madridism wonders if it has made a mistake signing Mourinho

BarcelonaJosé Mourinho's Real Madrid began the season with an agonizing victory on Espanyol's field, in stoppage time. After two routs against Real Sociedad and Málaga, they suffered their first defeat on Betis's field and struggled to defeat Inter, by the minimum, in their Champions League debut. They returned to rout Rayo, but then achieved another triumph at the last minute on Elche's field, 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 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 in the Madrid environment they are not so worried about the numbers but rather about the sensations. "Real Madrid needed a modern coach and has 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 reminded, precisely, of the ones from Mou's early stages on the bench. "There will be little talk about football".

The arrival of Mourinho 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 spoiled team that had gone two years empty-handed. In the collective memory of many fans –and especially of 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, one Champions League, one Cup, two Spanish Super Cups, one European Super Cup, and one 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 spoke about everything except football and had no shame in pointing out referees, by name and surname, who had supposedly prejudiced him. It is just 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 justify the defeat.

Criticism of Mourinho's defensive and not very brave 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 the refereeing complaints, although he went further to criticize the dressing room management and the lack of courage in penalizing the stars who, like Vinicius, do not provide 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 the draw, they haven't played as a team, they haven't shown 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 number five. And it hasn't done any of these 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 rejected by Barça, and that Rodri preferred the blue-and-red side because, precisely, he did not trust either the sporting planning or the style of play that the coach wanted to implement.

"Madrid is not 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 for COPE, with a very critical view of Real Madrid's play, lacking solidarity and unbalanced.

On Sunday, Mourinho was a 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 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. For that reason, one month after the start of the season, the white environment is beginning to wonder if they made a mistake by signing him again.