Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho relying on reputation to save job after Champions League exit
No wonder, for the last 18 days, Jose Mourinho has thrashed so wildly. No wonder, for the last 18 days, he has sown the seeds of poison so freely, adding phosphorus to the flames of football’s most burning rivalry with liberal abandon.
On the edge: Jose Mourinho has failed to deliver at a club whose president is even more ruthless than Roman Abramovich Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Rory Smith 10:30PM BST 03 May 2011
Follow Rory Smith on Twitter
Comments
The Real Madrid manager was not simply battling Barcelona for three trophies over four games. He was fighting for his future.
As he unmasked a global refereeing conspiracy to ensure Catalan primacy which Dan Brown might find improbable, as his assistants produced the flimsiest of proofs to suggest that Sergio Busquets had racially abused Marcelo, the Portuguese gave the impression of a man scraping the barrel for slurs to hurl at the club who seem to torment his every waking hour.
He cut a desperate, deluded figure. Here was no master of mind games. Here was a man on the edge, almost drowning in hysteria. Mourinho, typically, will not regret a word, an allegation, a second. The ends justify the means. This was not just about saving face. This was about saving the ‘Special One’.
Mourinho, famously, wins wherever he goes. And he wins immediately. League titles have been his in his first season at Porto, at Chelsea, and at Inter Milan. That record has been unceremoniously ended by Barcelona. That may prove the most significant victory of all in the last three weeks.
Florentino Perez, who now holds Mourinho’s fate in his hands, was clear when he appointed the Portuguese that one aspect of his record made him suitable for the Bernabeu.
“The style of Mourinho fits with Real Madrid,” said the construction magnate. “Aiming above everything to win, with sacrifice and spirit. We could not miss the chance to bring in the best in the world. What matters to Real Madrid is winning and being the top side in Europe.”
Madrid, though, are clearly not the top side in Europe. They are very clearly not even the top side in Spain, despite the millions Perez has lavished on his team. Mourinho was made the world’s highest-paid coach with one clear aim. He has failed to deliver.
The Portuguese may recognise the scenario in which he now finds himself. It was the same, after all, at Chelsea, where he eventually fell victim to the capricious whims of Roman Abramovich. In Perez, though, he has chosen an even more ruthless puppet-master. Mourinho must now try to retain his job when tainted by failure at a club where those who succeed are not even safe.
Perez, famously, dismissed Vicente Del Bosque little more than a day after he won Real’s 29th league title, and just a year after his second success in the Champions League.
“Del Bosque is a traditional coach and we feel we need another kind of person,” said Perez at the time. “We feel the team would be more potent with a more tactical coach. We want someone with a high technical ability but a slightly lower profile.”
Del Bosque, who went on to lead Spain to their first ever World Cup last summer, still rankles at the insinuation that he is old-fashioned. “That was one of the evil deeds that hurt me the most,” he said, seven years on. “I do not know whether it came from Perez or the court that surrounded him.”
Whichever, it was bunk. Carlos Queiroz, a man cut out to be a bridesmaid but never a bride, succeeded him, and lasted less than a year. “We have had two very bad months,” Perez said, after sacking him for losing his last five games. “We are going to fight to be always the best.”
And so Jose Antonio Camacho (resigned after a poor start to the season), Mariano Garcia Remon (sacked for lack of glamour), Vanderlei Luxemburgo (beaten by Barcelona) and Juan Ramon Lopez Caro all arrived, and departed, before Perez’s first reign at the club came to an end.
After little more than a year of his second, he had dismissed Manuel Pellegrini, a coach he inherited and with whom he rarely spoke – “I did not meet him after August [2009], and there has never been a good connection between us,” said the Chilean – but who did manage a record points haul for the club.
Mourinho, by contrast, has just his reputation to save him. It may be that Perez cannot see where he goes, who he appoints, if his ‘Special One’ goes. That may be enough, but it is a perilous position for the Portuguese to be in. And he will know, deep down, that he cannot talk his way out of it.
Rule of the axeman hangs over Real
Vicente Del Bosque (June 23, 2003)
Sacked despite winning two Champions League and two Spanish titles in his four years at the club, Del Bosque is Real president Florentino Perez’s greatest sacking error. He led Spain to their first World Cup.
Carlos Queiroz (May 31, 2004)
Recruited to add a dash of Manchester United’s success to the Bernabeu’s team of egos, the Portuguese lasted less than a year. Returned to Old Trafford before managing Portugal.
Jose Antonio Camacho (Sept 20, 2004)
The combustible Spaniard lasted only slightly longer in his second spell at the Bernabeu – he managed 22 days in 1998 – resigning his post after a disappointing start to the season.
Mariano Garcia Remon (Dec 30, 2004)
A distinguished goalkeeper with the club, Remon lasted 11 games. Given his previous record – stints at Numancia and Albacete – that was hardly a shock.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo (Dec 3, 2005)
The former Brazil manager did well to last a year. After an encouraging end to the 2004/05 campaign, Luxemburgo’s Magic Rectangle formation failed, Barcelona triumphed 3-0 at the Bernabeu and Perez pulled the trigger.
Juan Ramon Lopez Caro (July 5, 2006)
Not a Perez sacking – the president had departed himself, in acrimony, on Feb 27, 2006 – but never likely to survive long after the construction magnate’s demise. Recently joined from Romanian side FC Vaslui.
Manuel Pellegrini (May 26, 2010)
Perez’s sack-happy attitude pervaded Madrid even in his absence. Fabio Capello and Bernd Schuster won the title and lost their jobs, while Juande Ramos was replaced by Pellegrini, who Perez dismissed after a season.
florentino perez, roman abramovich, getty images ebook download, scraping the barrel, inter milan, man on the edge, busquets, rsquo, ends justify the means, real madrid, league titles, bernabeu, mind games, saving face, four games, magnate, primacy, allegation, hysteria, phosphorus
No comments:
Post a Comment