It’s a well known that Real Madrid change coaches swiftly and on a regular basis. But this hasn’t really been the case in recent years, at least since Fabio Capello’s days when the team always had a manager who stood out on his own because of his own rich history.
The problem with Capello in Madrid was that everyone hated him and his double pivote system (double defensive midfielders) amongst a number of other issues. Since that time Madrid have had coaches like Wanderlei Luxemburgo, Juan Ramón Lopez Caro, Bernd Schuster, Manuel Pellegrini, you get the drill. Lower class managers who were always appointed because the real decisions didn’t lay with the managers in Real Madrid, the board ruled everything.
So came Mourinho. The first couple of weeks were dramatic and “Mou” learned many, many lessons from his first season at charge. The one thing that nagged Mourinho was that he had to go to the board to ask whatever he wanted for the club, and it became a known fact that Mourinho wanted complete control.
With the firing of some staff members the past summer, and with president Florentino Pérez now being a shadowfigure in the club, Mourinho has transformed the club into a force to be reckon with in Europe. Still there are some critics who claim that even they can do a better job.
From the last entrevista (interview) Mourinho had the following to say:
“I was told that the polls are open to everyone, not just the fans of Real Madrid. There is at the utmost just a hypotetical crisis. There are some people out there who want to judge the crisis. Many people aren´t happy with this situation that has occured but tomorrow we will see some joy. Many fans believe that the responsibility for the poor negative moments lays with me. When the media said a week ago that the team hadn´t reaches beyond the quarterfinals in the Champions League for years, but then did, it was down to my effort. I am delighted with the players i have on my team and when the crowd applaud me and the team.”
He is so right. Madrid were nothing in Europe for many, many years pre-Mourinho. I love Mourinho as a coach because he has stood up against the negative forces in Real Madrid and taken over the control. As such it’s the first time during this regime that a coach properly controls the club.