Whenever a manager walks into a post-match press conference brandishing a piece of paper, we’ve come to expect a bit more than the usual post match platitudes: it’s a signal that we could be in for a ‘bit of a rant.’
When it’s Jose Mourinho holding a piece of paper above his head, you can guarantee things are going to get interesting. After Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Seville at the Bernabéu on Sunday, Mourinho took up his position in front of the assembled journalists and said “I don't want to talk about the game, it was too ugly. I wouldn't have paid anything to watch it. At home, I would have put on Eurosport to watch one in Vietnam."
He then went on to explain that he wanted to talk about that piece of paper he was waving: a sheet of headed club paper that had been handed to him by Madrid officials immediately after the game. Printed on that sheet of paper was a list of "13 grave errors" committed by the referee during the match.
Mourinho was furious, not at the referee, but at the fact that the club remains silent while, according to him, bad decisions keep being given against Madrid.“My team needs to be defended, but not just by me,” he said. “But if I say what I think, I will be on the front pages tomorrow and I will be suspended.”
The Real coach is upset because he feels that he is constantly being placed front and centre to take full responsibility for defending the team and the club, while always being made to play the scapegoat and take the punishment – and whenever he is criticised or reprimanded by the football authorities or fellow managers, the club are not backing him. “There is a club and a structure and I want them to defend my team from there,” he said.
At around the same time as the club were handing Mourinho a list of complaints against the referee, the football director, Jorge Valdano, was refusing to criticise the match official, merely suggesting that it was “a big game for him,” and it has been claimed by several sources that when Mourinho saw that on the TV, he decided to produce that piece of paper in front of the press.
When asked if there were differences of opinion behind the scenes at Real Madrid and if there were problems in his working relationship with Jorge Valdano, Mourinho responded by saying “Why can't we have a division of opinion?"; before going on to say that he would be holding talks with the club president, and simultaneously firing a shot at Valdano in a way that only Mourinho could by finishing "if I can talk to the No 1, why would I talk to anyone else!"
The differences of opinion between the manager and his employers at the Bernabeu regarding Mourinho’s need for a new striker were detailed in this column last week, but the manager’s list of grievances goes way beyond his need for more firepower up front, and relates to issues that indicate the former Chelsea manager has a very different view of how the club should be run. Consequently, after communicating much of the following to the club president by text message, Mourinho will meet with Florentino Perez today, with his own list of grievances and questions already prepared; these include:
- Mourinho is upset that, after he said he would give himself a score of ‘11 out of 10’ in terms of his own performances; Valdano, when asked refused to rate the coach.
- At the last club dinner regularly held between the team captains, that should have included Marcelo and Diarra, only Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas were invited by the club.
- Mourinho would like to keep hold of Pepe who is currently negotiating a new deal. The club leaked to the press that the Portuguese defender is demanding €6 million a year and that this amount is excessive. He is being offered considerably less, while Sergio Ramos, who also happens to be good friends with the president, is being offered €4.5 million until 2017 without question, despite the fact that Mourinho prefers Arbeloa.
- After the shameful scenes surrounding Sergio Ramos’ dismissal at the Camp Nou a few weeks ago, Mourinho told the player that he could not speak to the media in the aftermath. Valdano subsequently gave the player permission to explain himself publicly.
- Mourinho has consistently asked for a new No 9, while the club prefers to wait and see how Higuain recovers from a back injury. The coach believes that Higuain needs an operation that will result in a lengthy lay off, while the club prefers an alternative, more optimistic less invasive approach. In order to resolve the matter, Mourinho suggested that the player visit a specialist in Portugal, the club refused.
- Mourinho does not believe that Karim Benzema is up to the task of leading the line at Real and has only used the player as an impact substitute; the club insist that, as one of the president’s acquisitions, he is shielded from criticism.
- Winters in Madrid are harsh and fiercely cold, and the training pitches at the club’s Valdebebas do not have sufficient heating.
- All 25 first-team squad players were given a television as a Christmas gift by the club. Mourinho received one, but none of his assistants or technical staff were similarly rewarded. This goes against Mourinho’s belief that everyone should be treated equally.
- Mourinho is also unimpressed at the treatment received by other club employees. For example, the person responsible for greeting and hosting the player’s families at games was not invited to the club Christmas lunch today. This goes against Mourinho’s belief that everyone is part of the team and nobody should be excluded.
- In the build up to Madrid’s match against Sporting Gijon recently, the opposition coach, Manolo Preciado, called Mourinho a scumbag, criticised his behaviour, his football and invited him to sit with the club’s hooligans when he came to the match. Mourinho felt very let down when he arrived at the match and saw Valdano greet Preciado like an old friend.
- When he took charge in the summer, Mourinho believed that he would have full control over the team, and that Valdano’s role was to assist and support him in his decisions; in contrast, he feels that the sporting director is working for the club and not the manager.
- With just one match remaining before the club goes into the winter break, it is clear that the tensions simmering beneath the surface at Real are about to come to the surface. It is most likely that the football director will be the one who has to give way, but in a drama involving Real and Mourinho; it will be fascinating watching how it unfolds over Christmas. Changes to the management structure are likely, and Valdano is probably the one who will have to make way.
