Beyond all of the numbers and ominous scoreline’s they’ve been posting, the reality is that gradually, piece by piece, game by game, Mourinho is sculpting Madrid into a complete production, instilling his philosophies and virtues onto a group with absolutely no shortage of talent, but combined with a mean age and desire to grow together to dominate football for years to come.
The Real Madrid which Mourinho inherited were still largely cast in the individual Galactico’s mould which frequently promised so much, but delivered relatively little, yet in his own inimitable way, Mourinho has taken the egos and instilled a communal harmony, collectiveness and hunger to excel themselves and win the lot.
As demonstrated, when going forward Real can be just as destructive as Barcelona, perhaps slightly less aesthetically pleasing, but doing it with more conviction, and although Barca are still the purists vision of football, Real are equipped with a more solid backbone and more strings to their bow of how to win football matches.
Barca effectively play in a similar vein wherever and whenever they play. Their tika-taka approach knows no restraint, but as cynical as it may sound about one of the sides lauded as the greatest ever, they lack a plan B, and simply rely on their own brand of football not being curtailed. As difficult as it is to play against, it is increasingly being stopped.
As Mourinho has shown across his career, there is more than one way to skin a cat and whether it’s a back to the wall smash and grab or a steamrollering of weaker opposition, he is not scared to ditch whatever morals he has left to secure the points.
The prospect of the strongest pool of players in the world being schooled but not taught by the game’s shrewdest tactician is a worrying combination for anybody attempting to knock them from their stride this season. Mourinho has proven time and time again he has the strength of personality and character to command the ultimate respect of any footballer regardless of their standing and reputation and get them to do things his way, and given the quality of player who seem to be adhering his advice and buying into his ways, Real will be the one team nobody will want to face this season.
Written by John Baines for FootballFancast.com. Follow John Baines on twitter @bainesyDiego10
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