Eye for talent doesn't always mean discovering young kids and developing them from the ground up. It could also mean signing undervalued/ underrated and obscure players and gluing them to make a winning team. He has almost always been hired to "win now". So this develop youth players directly goes against his mandates.
Whats the point of this if hes fired three months into the season for not being first in the league or clashing with a star player?
Then we can say this way of doing things worked for a change because Mournho's just here to be the fall guy and the sooner he falls the sooner the club can get on with the business of being the best club in the world.
Seeing the grudges people hold, I feel like Florentino hit the jackpot with Mourinho. Nothing better than a good old "they are stealing it from us" narrative to wash away all flaws.
The best thing about Jose (second stint) will be that Florentino actually likes and even respects him a little. That can't be said for almost 99% of football people. That's the reason he listens to him and actually signs some of the players he asks for rather than "pointing to the cantera". If only that shitty Italian coach had gotten this level of trust and respect. Jose isn't 100/100 regarding signings but its sometimes useful to give people the tools they need to be successful. As a long term strategy i don't want a coach in charge of recruiting but this whole thing is short term and i like the fact that Florentino will listen to Jose seriously. I recall in one of those recordings Florentino said that if Jose spoke less and wasn't so controversial he would be one of the most successful and highly paid coaches in the game.
He has a decent eye for talent, in his first term insisted on Ozil when we already had Canales and Kaka, and pushed for the right signing in the right positions (Di Maria, Khedira, Coentrao are anything BUT Perez signings). His signings might've not always worked out at other clubs, but his record here is actually almost prophetic, even Zidane was more miss than hit with signings. The squad needs a shakeup this summer, and I think Jose is more appropriate in this stage than either Carlo or Zidane, even if once the planning is over and the coaching/managing starts we might not feel the same way
I kinda get it. But he is already a legendary coach even if he retires tommorrow. And his bullish personality is part of this. I also think Jose is like one of those good but headstrong employees and every now and then barges into the manager's office and demands a raise. While Carlo is that quiet company many who get's things done quietly and doesn't want to rock the boat.
Perez said this because he knew back then (before dementia hit) that nobody in their right mind would sign this version of Mou where you can’t expect win titles only press conference battles vs. the press. Mou could be making living off his past if he kept his mouth closed and played ball but Mou doesn’t know how to play ball he only knows how to run his mouth and tell players to run harder. I get it he’s making a living off his reputation anyway (not the winning one) and found another sucker (Florentino Perez) to pay him millions for it, so I guess he is kind of special in his own way.
🗣️ Gareth Bale on Mourinho back to Real Madrid: “[the dressing room] seems a bit all over the place. By having that experienced head coach, like Carlo Ancelotti was, Jose will hopefully settle the group down and get them all on the same path.” @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/6Bzh7LsNJf— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 21, 2026 🗣️ Gareth Bale: “At a big club like Real Madrid, you don’t need to really coach. You need to manage egos. That’s why Carlo Ancelotti has been so successful at the biggest clubs.Carlo was just a great man manager. He understands the psychology and the pressures that come with… pic.twitter.com/L3pQbItPuV— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 21, 2026 🗣️ Gareth Bale: “Mourinho prods to get the best out of you. He’ll try and figure each player out and find whatever it takes to make them tick. Sometimes it might be (prodding) someone in the media, sometimes it might be just putting an arm around them.Jose has been at Madrid,… pic.twitter.com/PIazxwASXS— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 21, 2026
🚨 José Mourinho: “Barcelona is seen as the team that plays amazing football, the team that scores a lot of goals. But this is a BIG contradiction.The team that scored the most goals in the HISTORY of Spanish football was my Real Madrid in 2011/12, with 121 goals and 100 points… pic.twitter.com/heMRPCXGTU— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨 José Mourinho: “Real Madrid is the BEST club in the world. Barcelona is ONE of the best clubs in the world after Real Madrid.” @VanityFair pic.twitter.com/V4lcWhdnd0— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨 José Mourinho: “Do I like being the main character? No, I never thought about that.The most important people in the game are the players, without a doubt.But I was one of those who made coaches more prominent.” @VanityFair pic.twitter.com/kOBBrNVi1m— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🗣️ José Mourinho: “People don’t look at the Clásicos the way they used to. The world stopped. It wasn’t just Madrid and Barcelona, or Spain, it was the entire world. People used to wait for those matches. Of course Cristiano and Messi were the two best players in the world.”… pic.twitter.com/NFtmENkoMv— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨🗣️ José Mourinho: “I love Real Madrid, and this is the reason why I’m coming back. I don’t deny it.” @AranchaMOBILE pic.twitter.com/ZSfxARpGMC— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026
🗣️ José Mourinho: “There are periods where you cannot win like Madrid do all the time. There are always periods where you have to build, you have to rebuild.” @AranchaMOBILE pic.twitter.com/bFyGyoQ6Nx— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨 José Mourinho: “Kylian Mbappé is a PHENOMENAL player.I will help him become EVEN BETTER than he already is.” @VanityFair pic.twitter.com/yiXagBM9Kv— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨 José Mourinho: “How will I handle the fans’ unhappiness with the team and Mbappé criticism?I have to see with my own eyes. What I know at this moment is what I read in the media, what I watch on TV. I need to know the players.It's not time to talk. It’s time to be very… pic.twitter.com/5XjzcxoIbA— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨 José Mourinho: “What makes Real Madrid different from other clubs? The history. You cannot compare Real Madrid’s history with ANYBODY. The white shirts have something MAGICAL. The shirts could be black, green, or blue, it wouldn't change. Because what made Real Madrid what… pic.twitter.com/KZDLoM9xzC— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026 🚨 José Mourinho: “When we speak about Real Madrid, we speak about football history, football HERITAGE.” @VanityFair pic.twitter.com/TGYFgaQeNO— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 24, 2026
Here we go the man is taking us all the way back to 2012 the greatest era in Madridismo where 3 consecutive CL Semi Final participation trophies were won. He absolutely wants to be the main character and the rest of the quote tells you all you need to know "I was the one who made managers prominent". Not Rinus Michel or Johan Cruyff. Not Arrigo Sachi or Sir Aelx Ferguson. Not Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti. ME. It it was all me. ME! ME!! ME!!! I am the "meme one" - a living, walking, talking meme. He somehow found a way, and the audacity, to claim "now is not the time to talk" and then go on with an interview where he fills the room up with enough hot air to make a lead zeppelin fly. The rest him throwing red meat to base when he already knows nobody cares anymore about what he has to say. It's a loser mindset to be honest, the stuff we let Barca indulge in because Madridismo knows nothing needs to be said, Hala Madrid y nada mas. But he's not one of us and he's only riding on the bandwagon of achievements made without him.
Just as assumed, he's trying to get support by playing to what the crowd wants to hear. Classic cheap populism, but it was part of the reason why he was hired wasn't it?
Funny enough, i went for my walk yesterday and was thinking. What happened to that "incredible Haaland buyout clause nobody knows about"? Raul and Iker found the most remote island and completely disappeared off the face of the earth.
It you read between the lines Bale is quietly taking a dig at Mou. Basically describing the things that made Carlo a great (GOAT) manager then describing Mou’s man management style but not connecting it with success or greatness.
If you look even closer, you can see he thinks Israel's threat to Turkey will be the deathblow to a declining NATO alliance.
For all the negative baggage the signing has, the Vanity Fair piece Mourinho did is wonderful. It's not the full behind the curtains, but the little bits show a fascinating football Personality.
🚨 José Mourinho’s coaching staff together in Madrid today:🇩🇪 Sami Khedira: Assistant🇵🇹 Pedro Machado: Assistant/Physical trainer🇵🇹 João Tralhão: Assistant🇵🇹 Nuno Santos: GK coach🇮🇹 Roberto Merella: Analyst🇵🇹 António Dias: Physical conditioning@elchiringuitotv pic.twitter.com/mi4enlluMI— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) July 10, 2026