Sunday, October 24, 2010

The genius José Mourinho

I think José Mourinho will go over to history as the greatest coach that ever lived. What he already achieved in FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan far exceed what most coaches achieve (and note, as a true global 21st century football legioneer, he has done it in now four different countries!), but what he is doing in Real Madrid is also impressive.
Real Madrid has been a circus the last years, with a rotating door of coaches, many who seem to have been pressured to use the stars in a lineup that seemed more about individual players than about the team. Understandably, fans have often been annoyed.
Everywhere he has been, Mr. Mourinho focuses on the team. No player is above the team, and he works to get the best out of every player. He has a superb eye for the form of the players and surely give them a lot of space and responsibility, something they also return.
Real Madrid's new players are looking awesome: Mesut Özil and Angel Di Maria (as well as Khedira, although with a lower profile than these two) have all been splendid. They are young, and have benefitted Cristiano Ronaldo from the passes and space that these players give him. Yesterday he scored four goals against Racing Santander, with Mesut Özil as the frequent architect.
Real Madrid has scored 12 goals in its last two home matches. Mourinho is certainly refuting his reputation as a defensive coach, but one must also mention that the team has so far only played "small" teams from La Liga (except for Espanyol). A big test will be in early November when they face Atlético Madrid, but surely the team is looking awesome.
I think Mourinho is on the way to adding more trophies to his and Real Madrid's CV.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi E,
do you think the special one will still be in Real after this season if they don't win either the spanish or "european" championship?

Hopefully he will.
jim

El Erik said...

Hi Jimbo, well, experience would tell that if he doesn't win, he will be fired. Real Madrid is so big that anything else is unacceptable (which the firings of previous coaches shows).
At the same time, there is no doubt that Mourinho is "different". Will he also be so different that he will not be fired if he doesn't bring glory to Madrid?