How Long Will Jose Mourinho Last At Real Madrid?
-
Spanish Inquisition: How Long Will Jose Mourinho Last At Real Madrid?
Goal.com wonders if Jose Mourinho’s tenure at Real Madrid will follow the rule or become the standout exception…
Another day, another summer, another coach for Real Madrid.
This time, the newcomer goes by the pseudonym 'The Special One' and given his impressive resume of title after title after title, it must be acknowledged that he is in many ways special.
But one thing that is not special in any way is his arrival as Real Madrid’s coach this summer - such an occurrence would instead be better qualified as routine. In what has become a position with about as much turnover as a Roman gladiator during the height of Caesar’s rule, Real Madrid coaches have come and gone, some emerging triumphant and others woefully disappointing.
But one thing that has remained consistent over the past seven years is that the result has always been the same: a swift swing of the axe from above, a widely publicised rolling of heads, and a new figurehead rising to try his hand in the throes of battle.
Some would argue that if given enough time and freedom of reign, every one of the coaches Madrid have hired and fired in the past seven years could have been successful (except, perhaps, with the exception of caretakers such as Mariano Garcia Remon and Juan Ramon Lopez Caro).
But one of the greatest challenges that comes with managing a club like Real Madrid is the need to work under a mountain of pressure coming from the club hierarchy, the Spanish media, and the fans themselves. And even more important is the need to do that work quickly and successfully.
The multi-million euros of wealth at the Bernabeu serve as a double-edged sword: they ensure that the team will be able to employ some of the greatest superstar talents on the planet; but they also considerably shorten the fuse of patience on the part of the boardroom, media, and fans.
The model at the club under the Florentino Perez dynasty is simple: the club shells out the resources to employ the best players in the world, and the coach’s job is to make those players play the beautiful game beautifully... and win, too, of course.
Conversely, Barcelona’s model over the past few seasons has been to make the best players in the world (through their youth academy) and supplements that core group with other exceptional transfers. Even Barca coach Pep Guardiola exemplifies this ideal of creating one’s wealth through development rather than consumption.
At the moment and in the way that counts (victories rather than marketing, shirt sales, ticket revenues, etc.), Barca’s model has proven to be well and truly superior. Madrid’s reply to this model in signing Mourinho seems to demonstrate a will to prove that their model can ultimately succeed - an insistence upon the view that the greatest players led by the greatest coach will make the greatest team. Such is the theory.
In practice, however, things could turn out drastically different and for a number of Madrid’s previous coaches, it already has. Despite marked success with the Brazilian national team, Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s Blancos side, which consisted of four Brazilians (Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Julio Baptista and Robinho), was impressively unmotivated and inept.
But even when a coach manages to experience success at Real Madrid, the demands are such that titles do not necessarily serve as enough. In his first season as coach, Bernd Schuster won a Liga title easily with Los Blancos, forcing Barcelona to form a humiliatingly historic guard of honour for their archrivals before being picked apart in El Clasico. Schuster was fired the next season as the club hierarchy estranged one of the team’s greatest talents in Robinho and left the German coach to take the rap for it.
The most famous case of coaching successes being dismissed is, of course, Vicente Del Bosque who won two Liga titles, two Champions League trophies, two Spanish Supercups, one UEFA Supercup, and one Intercontinental Cup (the old Club World Cup) all in the span of four years.
In his last year in charge (2003), he brought the Liga title to the Bernabeu, but a day after securing the trophy and a week after David Beckham was signed, was shockingly not offered a contract extension with the club. The reason was suspected to be a rift with the hierarchy as the coach was reported to have complained of his lack of power in making transfer and tactical decisions.
The same was the case for Del Bosque’s successor, Carlos Queiroz, who objected to the departure of defensive midfielder Claude Makelele, but was overruled and saw his midfield suffer significantly in distribution out of the back. Queiroz also famously clashed with the club hierarchy over Pepe, who the Portuguese coach thought was going develop to be one of the world’s strongest players at centre-back.
At the time, Pepe’s transfer would have cost €2 million. However, Queiroz’s recommendation was famously rejected because, according to the club’s higher-ups, centre-backs didn't sell shirts. Just three years later, Real Madrid purchased Pepe for an astronomical €30 million.
And then there are those coaches who seemed doomed before they even took the helm. Juande Ramos and Manuel Pellegrini enjoyed great overall success during their spells as coach. But the truth is that neither was actually given a legitimate chance. Instead, both were viewed and painted by the media as stopgaps - proficient coaches that could win matches, but ultimately unfit to coach one of the biggest clubs in the world.
Upon exiting the Santiago Bernabeu for the last time, Pellegrini revealed that since the beginning, he never felt supported by the Madrid bigwigs, who turned a deaf ear to his requests to keep Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder at the club.
But perhaps it is the example of Fabio Capello that is most analogous to Jose Mourinho’s arrival. Under Ramon Calderon’s regime at Real Madrid, Capello was allowed to bring his own personnel, signing players like Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, and Mahamadou Diarra, and was even allowed tactical freedom, employing the infamously criticised, defensive-minded double-pivot in midfield.
Capello, like Mourinho, is a winner. One way or another, his bottom line is to win and if a team becomes less entertaining to watch as a result, assuming more defensive tactics, so be it. Such disregard for the tradition of entertaining Blanco football got Capello Real Madrid’s first major trophy in four years. But in the end, what is demanded at the Bernabeu in addition to success and the balancing act of the club hierarchy and media maelstrom, is mouth-watering, entertaining football.
Mourinho has the chance to, like Capello did, bring a new era to Real Madrid and he certainly is a winner capable of leading Los Blancos into an age of much-needed confidence and stability. But a beautiful winner? He certainly doesn’t have a reputation for it. At Inter, he was able to turn what would otherwise have been a mediocre Nerazzurri team into European champions by employing disciplined park-the-bus defensive tactics and efficiently threatening counterattacks. At Chelsea and Porto he did employ a more open, physical style, but nothing that can qualify as beautiful, attacking football.
At Real Madrid, Mourinho will have some of the world’s most entertaining players at his disposal and it is hard to believe that he would promote such conservative tactics with such an arsenal at his command.
But at times, he might resort to such tactics and the patience of the Madrid fans, boardroom, and media only lasts so long. How long Mourinho lasts at Real Madrid comes down to three things: how well he can get along with the megalomaniacal powers that be, how many “Olés” the crowd chants in a single match, and how many trophies he lifts to the sky. Oh… how many times he beats Barca may also play a role. -
Probably he will be 1 of the coaches that last at least more than a season? Thats what I feel....
-
depends on how he is able to tolerate the interference of the chairman. I think he would want to control who he is able to buy and sell and not take in the player the chairman just bought. if the chairman sold a player without his blessing or knowledge, I think he wont last long, maybe 2-3 seasons.
-
i think if he can bring title to rm next season maybe he may stay longer
-
I just wonder how will his tenure at Real Madrid end... By walking away as a winner of the CL or getting the sack...
-
he will be gone by dec 2010
-
get league title for RM + UCL and walk out !!!!
-
Maybe he will resign if things dont go out. I like his iron style. means those star players need to know their role
If those higher-ups interfer, mourinho wont crumble. Thats why i love mourinho/. -
he plays boring soccer. heavy defending with 2-3 defensive mids and score through counterattacks.
RM bosses and fans would hate that.
-
they need to give him at least 2 seasons to win the cl.. after that next stop will be man utd woho~
-
Mourinho unveiled as new Real Madrid boss
Jose Mourinho has been officially paraded in front of the press as the new manager of Real Madrid.
DominiqueFaget/GettyImages
Jose Mourinho: Eyes on the prize
• Adams: A match made in heaven?
• Forum: How long with Jose last?Mourinho, who led Inter Milan to an unprecedented treble last season, takes over from Manuel Pellegrini who was sacked after finishing second in La Liga and failing to get past the Second Round in the Champions League.
Mourinho is the Spanish giants' ninth coach in six years, with Real paying a reported ¬8 million in compensation.
Mourinho said: "I don't know if I was born to coach Real Madrid but I was born to be a football coach. I love important challenges. I am Jose Mourinho and I don't change. I arrive with all my qualities and my defects.
"My attraction to Real Madrid is due to its history, its frustrations in recent years and its expectations to win. It's a unique club and I believe that not to coach Real leaves a void in a coach's career. Luckily, I've had a beautiful career and it makes me proud to have come here.
"I am very enthusiastic. I want my players to think that way. The beauty is not so much to train or play at Real, but to win at Real Madrid.''
With Real's history of disposing of managers regularly regardless of success, Mourinho insisted he was not afraid for being sacked.
"I think a coach needs to be ready to be sacked,'' Mourinho said. "But if a coach fears that, he doesn't work well and has great problems. I am a coach that has a lot of self-esteem and confidence and I don't think about the possibility of being sacked.
"I think four years of contract is enough to win, to build a strong team for the present and the future. The sacking of Pellegrini doesn't make me happy. I am never happy when a coach is sacked. But football is like that. I have a lot of confidence in my players, I have the hope that my new players have confidence in me.''
Mourinho shed little light on what he will bring to Real but outlined his vision for the future of the club.
He said: "It's too early to speak about changes. I believe it's time to analyse the situation, to get to know my club, ask lots of questions and get answers. I need to realise the direction of my work. The most important thing is not the coach or the players but the club.
"We are too small compared to the dimension of the club. If we work as a group, it's not difficult to get results. I want this group to have an identity, to win everything. The strength of my team is always the team and not the individuals.
"Cristiano Ronaldo is an incredible player not only for Real but for the whole of football. Cristiano is a winner and it's not difficult to persuade him of this.''
When asked if this was his greatest career challenge, Mourinho said: "I cannot say this is the biggest motivation in my career. My biggest ambition is always the next one. Right now it is Real Madrid. I don't change my level of ambition or motivation. I gave everything to every club where I have been and I will do the same here.
"I don't feel any kind of different pressure. I am a coach that improves day-by-day. I arrive with everything a coach can win at club football.''
Mourinho refused to shed light on Real's transfer objectives. "I don't like to talk about players because their prices will go up if I do,'' Mourinho said. "The club is happy with the roster of last season and so am I. We don't need major changes.
"We need three or four players for the coach to have more possibilities to get closer to my ideal of a team. But I don't think it's going to be a summer with a lot of changes. I think it will be a more calm summer with all the focus on the World Cup.
"I am not anti-Barcelona. I am coach of Real but Barca doesn't worry me. My only concern is to grow Real. Barca are great rivals and we respect them. If I am hated at Barcelona, it is their problem but not mine. Fear is not a word in my football dictionary.''
The former Chelsea manager had kind words for Inter. "I hope my former players can win everything in Italy but not the Champions League,'' he said. "I cannot forget the group that I've had. Inter has a team for the future.
"They will need a quality coach and the coach that arrives will need to be intelligent and follow the path he needs to follow. Whoever arrives will be lucky because they will get the chance to play in three finals, the Italian Super Cup, European Super Cup and World Club tournament, a present I have left.''
Real sporting director Jorge Valdano said: "Mourinho has signed a contract for four seasons. It's an honour to have with us one of the most prestigious coaches in the world. We are delighted to have him here with us.
"The best thing for our club right now, is to have Mourinho with us.''
-
Originally posted by tripsky:
they need to give him at least 2 seasons to win the cl.. after that next stop will be man utd woho~
first season, he build, 2nd season, win the treble, and then off to EPL.
-
Originally posted by iceFatboy:
first season, he build, 2nd season, win the treble, and then off to EPL.
there is also a chance that those crazies at rm could pull the trigger if he doesn't win the cl during his 1st season
-
mourinho craves attention.
he wont be there for long, thats for sure.
-
yah and the rm manager is machiam like the smallest lifeform in the entire club... i wonder how long can he take the shit from the crazies up there. quickly win everything.. quickly run away