Everyone insists that José Mourinho is calmer. He claims that he is less emotional; From Madrid they point out that it is a “spineless” profile; and the people who are close to him see him “more mature and balanced.” The coach has twice thanked LaLiga (a confessed enemy of the club) for postponing the first day so that the World Cup participants could add training sessions. He has declared that he trusts the honesty of today's Spanish referees and that he does not sense Negreira's shadow in them. This Thursday, in the run-up to the visit to Betis (9:00 p.m., Movistar; still without Dani Ceballos in the premises), he acknowledged that he would not despise the current Verdiblanco coach, Manuel Pellegrini, as he did in his first stage, when he indicated that he would not go to Málaga (that was the Chilean's next destination after Castellana).
Indeed, the Portuguese appears in public in these first weeks with a relaxed and, at times, even conciliatory tone. Behind this BambiMou, yes, messages have also been appearing in the locker room, the press and even the club that link with the old Mou. The first pointed out to the entity: "Many people failed last year, not just players or coaches. People from here have failed," he stated in El Chiringuito.
His current kid glove has not prevented him from drip-feeding messages. For the staff, especially, to whom he told that he had arrived “with a lot of information.” “I was there for three years and I have grassroots contacts,” he told the players in his first press conference. This Thursday, he denied that one of his informants was Álvaro Arbeloa, with whom he said he had frequent conversations. Not so with Xabi Alonso, with whom he has not spoken since Leverkusen-Rome in 2023, according to his words.
Mourinho wanted to convey to the locker room from his vantage point in the press room that he knows what has happened inside in the last two campaigns and that he does not lose sight, for example, of the relationship between Tchouameni and Valverde, who fought last May and one of the most sensitive points in human relations in the booth. “Since the first day Tchouameni arrived, I have been attentive,” he warned. At the moment, the Frenchman continues his training outside the group and there has not yet been an opportunity for them to meet on the field.
The squad is being examined for what it does and runs (“I don't like laziness”), and also for how it behaves from the outside. Possible leaks, which obsessed him so much in his first stage, have been another of his warnings. Without raising his voice, even downplaying its importance and even joking with journalists, he has made it clear that this is still a basic issue for him. "The players already know who's playing. I'm not hiding it," he said before the debut. "If it doesn't come out, it's a positive feeling. It means that no one has opened their mouth. But if it comes out, it's not dramatic," he concluded in the Málaga preview. Two seemingly innocent comments with which he conveyed to the dressing room, and not only to the footballers, that their discretion is under surveillance.
His “dark side”
The functioning of the Vinicius-Bellingham-Mbappé trio will determine an important part of their success, or failure, as happened to their predecessors, and the first thing he said about them was a reminder that the company is not that simple. “The tactical combination can be a little more difficult,” he stressed. "Carlo has found a perfect Brazil for Vini. Just like Deschamps in France with Mbappé and Tuchel in England with Jude. For Mou it is more difficult to find a perfect Madrid for the three of them," he clarified.
The three have been permanent fixtures - the only ones along with Courtois and Huijsen - and they have not made any public complaints about their performance as a shortlist, although they have left several separate footnotes. For Kylian, he claimed the Ballon d'Or and, meanwhile, reminded him of the collective meaning of football: "I prefer him to score 40 goals with titles than 60 without titles. I prefer 40 goals with work than 60 just looking at himself, as happens a lot with attackers," he slipped after the Frenchman's hat trick against Real. For Vini, he has asked for more protection, but also for him to improve his relationship with the opposing stands if there are no xenophobic insults.
Mou emphasizes that he is more serene, although he remembers that his DNA has not changed and that a “dark side” lives within him. Almost after each victory, he has warned that problems will come. “Your criticism [of the press], the negative reaction of the fans… And there we have to be very balanced, the team must be the salvation,” he demanded in the midst of this summer peace.
