Real Madrid – The Evil Empire
News is starting to hit that the Real Madrid-Jose Mourinho-Inter Milan drama is about to come to an end with the special one given the all clear to become the next coach of Real Madrid. It still amazes me how Real Madrid fired lame duck coach Manuel Pellegrini after letting him twist in the wind for a bit then announced how Jose Mourinho would be the next head coach before he was able to leave Inter Milan. Could you imagine if the New York Yankees were to say Tony LaRussa is going to be our next head coach while he was still the coach of the St Louis Cardinals? Needless to say Real Madrid operate in a way which is quite operate in the world of sports.
As for Jose Mourinho leaving Inter Milan? I can’t blame him for leaving. Yes, Inter did treat Mourinho well but he disliked life in Italy as the Italian press hated him cause in the end he was able to do what none of the great Italian coaches were able to do before him and win the treble with an Italian club. Mourinho learned from Chelsea that loyalty is a one way street. He could of had the Real Madrid job back in 2007 when Fabio Capello was fired but instead stayed at Chelsea only to leave a few weeks into the next season. Football at it’s highest level is a cruel business. Sure, Massimo Moratti would of loved to keep Mourinho as coach but everyone knows when your a coach you are just a day closer to getting the sack. Besides Mourinho isn’t the Sir Alex Ferguson type who can stay at a club for 25 years. With his personality Mourinho will either wear out his welcome or look for a new challenge every couple of years and right now Real Madrid offers him the challenge of not only winning in Spain but to overtake Barcelona in the process.
Now Jose Mourinho is free to take over Real Madird where the critics are already writing about Jose Mourinho style not fitting with Real Madrid. Any smart Real Madrid wants to win and right now Jose Mourinho on the sidelines gives them the best chance of winning. After two years of being the brides maid to Barcelona, Real Madrid fans are going to want to vault themselves back to the top of Spain and Europe by any means possible. Maybe after the first year fans may want Real Madrid to make a return to the style where they win games by 5-3 but by then Jose Mourinho will also be thinking my work is done and would be looking forward to his new challenge.
Real Madrid’s director Jorge Valdano summed up the Manuel Pellegrini era perfectly.
“Pellegrini created a very good working environment, avoiding dressing room conflicts and he had an impeccable record in the league,” Valdano said. “But in the most important games of the season he was not able to succeed and so we decided to dismiss him.”
Something tells me Real Madrid performances in the big games next year will change with Mourinho in charge.