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Is Mourinho heading for the Bernabeu exit door?

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The brief was simple: win the league and in doing so make the most expensively assembled side in football history finish higher than last year’s second place finish. The world’s best players had been brought in to no avail; Real Madrid needed the world’s best manager. The self proclaimed Special One, Jose Mourinho.

He just had the small problem of a certain FC Barcelona standing in his way, arguably the greatest club side in modern times. In any other league Real Madrid would have found themselves champions last season, finishing on ninety-six points, scoring one hundred and two goals and conceding just thirty-four in reply. It’s an amazing feat when you consider Chelsea won the Premier League with eighty six points and Internazionale finished their Serie A campaign with a relatively paltry eighty-two points.

Mourinho had built a reputation as the man that could beat Barcelona, his Internazionale side had wiped them aside in the Champions League Semi-final, following on from his success against the Catalan giants during his time at Stamford Bridge. He was seen by Real Madrid club president, Florentino Perez, as the Galactico manager needed to fully implement the arsenal of players at the clubs, yet it hasn’t gone as smoothly as everyone hoped.

The first major setback was of course the annihilation suffered at the hands of their great rivals Barcelona. The 5-0 destruction was a devastating blow to Mourinho’s La Liga hopes, the manner of which was unprecedented in all of Mourinho’s managerial experience. For a manager that prides himself on the defensive stoicism and discipline of his side, the no show of Real was a heavy blow. Especially in a league where the El Clasico matches are sure to define the location of the championship. If Real had won one of their El Clasico clashes last season, depending on the result, the La Liga title would be currently sitting proudly in the Bernabeu trophy cabinet.

Since the debacle in the Nou Camp, Jose Mourinho’s position at the Bernabeu has become more and more unstable. The early promise of Mourinho’s reign has subsequently undergone a metamorphosis into something a lot more fragile and political. Since the back injury suffered by Gonzalo Higuian, developed into a condition requiring surgery and subsequently keeping him out for the remainder of the season. Mourinho has found himself in the centre of a political minefield involving himself and General Director of the club, Jorge Valdano.

Mourinho wanted a replacement for Higuain to be brought in to give him more options than the temperamental Karim Benzema. Jorge Valdano argued that Mourinho had more than enough options. Subsequently Benzema became a pawn in the boardroom conflict and after the French striker was left on the bench during Real Madrid’s tame draw against Almeria, Valdano was asked about the club’s search for a new striker. Valdano responded by explaining:

“Well, we had a No. 9 sitting on the bench. Ultimately, we are only spectators to what the coach decides to do. I hope Benzema doesn’t stay on the bench for long. He is a good striker who can give us a lot of options. The situation surrounding him is unfair.”

It has been argued that Mourinho’s decision to axe the striker was intended to send a message to both Valdano and Perez about the club’s need for a new striker to be brought in.

Valdano and Mourinho have previous. It is fair to say they haven’t, and never will be, the biggest fans of each other. Valdano described Mourinho’s style of play as “s**t on a stick” and publicly denied Mourinho’s billing as the best manager in the world. The pair’s antics during Mourinho’s tenure at Real are unsurprising and have apparently made Mourinho’s postion ‘untenable’ and Mourinho has intimated that he will be returning to England much sooner than he anticipated. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, he commented that:

“It’s always important for me and my family to be happy and I love English football and my family love England. I have always maintained I will return one day but maybe it will come sooner than I expected.”

As always wherever Jose Mourinho goes, propaganda and drama follows. It seems however that at Real Madrid he has met his match in Jorge Valdano.

Ultimately the loan signing of Emanuel Adebayor was ratified to satisfy the demands of Mourinho but after Sunday’s defeat to Osasuna Real Madrid find themselves seven points behind the Blaugrana. With Barcelona rampant, catching them seems unlikely. Whilst the chance of Mourinho staying at Real Madrid after a season in second place is even more unlikely. Coupled with the political battles, it seems that Mourinho could be facing the Bernabeu exit door sooner than ever anticipated.

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