He’s one of the best managers in the game – the best, maybe. Every team he coached ended up on the biggest stage of the world, two of the three winning Champions League too. With Chelsea he only managed very good national performances, but with Porto and Inter he delivered performances on the European level too. Winning the UEFA Cup in 2003 and Champions League in 2004 with Porto and the treble with Inter in 2010 assured the Portugese coach he has now three major European trophies.
The job he got this summer will be, however, the final challenge of his coaching career. With Real Madrid board wanting to ensure European performances as soon as possible, Mourinho will have to deliver them fast. Maybe he will manage to overcome Barcelona’s reign over Primera Division, but the European challenge will be difficult. Mourinho showed he needs time to build new teams before delivering European performances, but will Real Madrid’s board be patient with The Special One?
Furthermore, even if the fans and the board will be patient, how much time and how much money will Mourinho need to win the 10th Champions League Real Madrid is missing so much? Florentino Perez knows Real Madrid didn’t managed to reach the quarter finals of Champions League since 2003-2004 and knows this is a shame for the team considered the best in the world. Internazionale Milano reached the quarter finals of the competition back in 2005-2006, before Mourinho arrived and won it in 2010. It took only two years for the Portugese manager to do it, but also consider Inter is a team with many players being together for a long time. Their profile is not the same with Real Madrid’s one. The Spanish giants are buying lots of players each year, most of the time even sacking the coaches each summer. That’s not easy for a player to take, because a new manager each year, and a whole bunch of new players each year can disrupt the balance of the team. That’s where The Special One has to work. He needs to ensure Real Madrid gets a kind of balance again. Furthermore, he needs to do it fast.
The Portugese coach might not have the same faith Manuel Pellegrini had this summer, because of his worldwide recognised status, but the fans might become unpatient. His coaching style is not even the one Real Madrid should be playing. From the successful team in which Zidane, Roberto Carlos or Raul were producing fine displays it may remain now a defensive team, always looking for the counter-attack. Real’s fans don’t like that. They want the same football Spain plays: fast and passing-minded; they want a goal-scoring machine in the squad. They do not have it right now, unfortunately. Benzema doesn’t look settled, Higuain’s good last season might be soon over, Ronaldo is not good enough up there. So we might ask ourselves: who will deliver Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria, Canales and the others good passes to, if there isn’t someone to score?
On the other side, we might also ask ourselves why Mourinho decided to invest in the midfield, instead of buying an additional striker after selling Raul to Schalke. We know Real is tracking Lukaku, Adebayor, Drogba, Torres and Rooney, but besides the first one, the other four will be very difficult to get. And by the way, even if Real will get Lukaku, will he be able to provide good performances at only 17 years old? Will one of the other ones gel in with his teammates fast if brought in January? Because otherwise Mourinho might have problems. There’s a long season ahead and the experienced manager is hitting the road of with only two box-strikers and 12 (!) midfielders. With only five midfielders on the pitch, in the names of Xabi Alsono, Khedira, Di Maria, Ozil and Ronaldo, what will it happen with Kaka, Diarra, Leon, Canales or Gago? In my opinion one of Mourinho’s mistake was not to improve the forward line.
The Special One might have a successful spell with Real Madrid, no doubt about that. He is recommended by his skills and portfolio, so if there is a manager out there deserving to coach this team, it’s him. I don’t even think it will take too much for him to bring Champions League, but there is also a chance that this will not happen at all. What do you think? How much will take for Mourinho to bring Champions League on Bernabeu, and how much do you think he will remain on the manager seat for Los Blancos?
Too bad he hasn’t got Duff to make insurance jokes.