These observations — where I look at Real Madrid’s history, its players on loan, Castilla, tactical tidbits, and other relevant thoughts — are now a regular thing. All previous editions can be found
here.If I had to choose my favourite version of Jose Mourinho, it’s easily the one from April 2010 – April 2012. That’s just enough time to enjoy seeing him dance in the sprinklers at the Campo Nou in Inter’s winning season while also feeling his pain and heartbreak deep in our bones after the penalty
shootout against Bayern Munich in 2012. In between, he won the league in a record-breaking season against Barcelona’s best ever team, rained fire with his tongue to his opponents and the referee, and formed a brotherhood — laying foundations for a dynastic era. From that moment, he was one of us. Forever.
Of course, 2012 conveniently cuts short Mourinho’s third season at Real Madrid; but — my article, my rules. I’ve bubble-wrapped those two years as peak Mou, where the emotional roller coaster — the ratio to pain and success was just about right, and he draged us back into being one of the most feared teams in Europe following a nightmarish seven seasons.
My prayer to the football gods is this: Please, extend peak Mourinho for just a couple more years. Give us one last chapter, where he comes back to Real Madrid, Carlo 2.0 style, and defies the odds. I don’t know if that’s delusion or reasonable optimism, but it’s my prayer nonetheless.
Mourinho is now calmer. At least that’s what they say. But, he still cuts with his words. My favourite part about today’s presser was, after his headline quote, there wasn’t the usual laughter or chuckle — just dead silence as he dropped truth bombs.
“It was almost impossible to negotiate with Daniel Levy’s Tottenham to sign Modrić,” Mourinho said of signing Luka Modric back in 2012. “But he was the player I wanted. Luka was a player I thought could take us to the next level.”
“You media guys killed me, you said it was the worst signing in Real Madrid’s history, then Luka shut your mouths!”
Mourinho got most of this right, although, to be fair, the media weren’t the ones who made that claim; rather it was readers (possibly Culés, or just very uninformed Madridistas) who place their votes on it in Marca.
But, the media did play their part in adding hysteria to a supposed failed signing. If Managing Madrid was around back then, it would probably plead for caution and calm, the same way we now embarrassingly have to remind people that Yan Diomande is 19 years old and will be just fine.
Frankly, I’m not sure what the fuss was about back in 2012 either. I remember watching the 2012 Spanish Super Cup with my dad, and one of Luka Modric’s first touches off the bench as a Real Madrid player was an inch-perfect slide tackle on Xavi Hernandez which led to him nearly scoring the other way. It felt like a passing of the torch, from one midfield generation to the next. Modric’s touches throughout his debut were beautiful and had a sense of control. My dad and I both agreed that this guy was special.
There are two things to extrapolate here: 1) Luka Modric is fucking awesome; and 2) Always trust Jose Mourinho’s track record. His Real Madrid recruiting barely has any misses. We brought this up regularly throughout the summer: Regardless of how we feel about the players Mourinho is bringing in, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt as he is someone far smarter than us when it comes to scouting. Not long ago, one of our podcast listeners challenged us on the weekly mailbag, claiming the Mourinho’s signings at Real Madrid weren’t successful enough to praise it as much as we do.
Easily debunked. This is some Nick Fury level recruiting:
Mesut Özil (from Werder Bremen): Gold.
Ángel Di María (from Benfica): Gold.
Sami Khedira (from Stuttgart): Vital.
Ricardo Carvalho (from Chelsea): Vital.
Pedro León (from Getafe): Bust, but had little expectations anyway.
Sergio Canales (from Racing Santander): Injuries.
Nuri Şahin (from Borussia Dortmund): Bust.
Hamit Altıntop (from Bayern Munich): Bust.
Raphaël Varane (from Lens): Gold.
José Callejón (from Espanyol): Vital.
Fábio Coentrão (from Benfica): Gold.
Luka Modrić (from Tottenham Hotspur): Gold, wrapped in vibranium, sprinkled with saffron.
Diego López (from Sevilla): Vital.
That’s three busts out of 13, in a list which includes one of the best three-year playmaking spells in football history (Özil), one of the most underrated and clutch players ever (di Maria), and arguably the greatest midfielder in football history (Modric). Truth be told, you could write a byline about most of those players and how great they were for various reasons.
The other day, Mourinho alluded to the fact that bigger tests will come. Pain will arrive, losses will befall us. This is the Mourinho honeymoon phase. I suspect we’ll see some absolutely timeless quotes if and when the team’s mentality truly gets tested. Regardless, those waves are inevitable. What Mourinho reminded us of today is to trust his judgement in the players he chooses.
