Beast
The Observer
United for VDV , City for Gago & VDV.. already Gago offer last winter was 18 Mil ..
anyhow nice article on Mourinho /Real sums up the conversation
Mourinho and Madrid: A match made in heaven?
Brash, arrogant, cocky and with such an impressive record that success almost seems an entitlement. It is a description that encapsulates the personality that is Jose Mourinho, and the institution that is Real Madrid. Wolfsburg's former manager Wolfgang Wolf may disagree, but has there ever been a more obvious case of a coach and club being made for each other?
The consummation of the most public of courtships has resulted in Mourinho arriving at what must be considered his spiritual home, despite his service at Barcelona and professed love for both Chelsea and Inter Milan. Manuel Pellegrini has been cast aside, another victim of the ruthless policy which Florentino Perez adopts towards his coaching staff.
The Chilean has been treated poorly - with Marca even billing a recent interview with Mourinho as 'his first as Real Madrid coach' despite Pellegrini still being in place at the time - but Real do not do niceties, as a string of former employees would testify. Perfection is the demand, and with a disappointing Champions League exit to Lyon and a fatal home defeat to Barcelona in the league, he failed to deliver.
Now Madrid have a coach that they believe fits their profile (a galactico, according to Marca), and Mourinho has a new home in which to house his substantial ego. As Perez said in his press conference on Thursday: "This club always tries to have the best in every position and job. He is one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best, and this Real Madrid, which strives to achieve excellence, couldn't miss out on such an opportunity. Excellence is our goal. We want to win and be leaders." The Special Club, as it were.
The original Special One has been gushing in his praise as well, stating in the aftermath of Inter's Champions League triumph: "If you don't coach Real Madrid then you always have a gap in your career."
Clearly this is a club and a man both wrapped up in their own greatness and self-importance - and not without good reason. Real Madrid are the most successful club in the history of the European Cup and if Mourinho brings a tenth triumph to the club, he will become the first man to coach three different teams to the pinnacle of the European club game.
In his demands for excellence, formidable record and ultra-confident air, Mourinho seems a natural bedfellow for Real. But while the personalities are a perfect match, scratch beneath the surface and there are issues which could result in relationship problems further down the line.
Chief amongst them is Mourinho's style of football. Rafa Benitez, a former coach of the Real youth and reserve sides, said as much recently. In a dig at his former rival in the Premier League, the Liverpool manager said: "I know Mourinho has dreamed a lot about coaching Real Madrid but I do not know if he is the right person to train them."
His conservative nature reportedly frustrated Roman Abramovich at Chelsea - perhaps fittingly for a man who introduced the phrase "parking the bus" to the English football lexicon - and Inter could hardly have claimed to have dazzled their way to their Treble triumph this season.
Real fans, regaled from youth with tales of Puskas and Di Stefano and with the first, glorious, galactico side still fresh in the memory, will demand something more. Something ambitious, something attacking. This craving will not be easy for Mourinho to satisfy, though one suspects that if he can repeat the trick of nullifying Lionel Messi - as he did across two legs in the Champions League semi-final this year - Real supporters may grow to reluctantly appreciate the merits of substance over style.
Certainly some seem sceptical at present. Marca's online poll asks if the club will return to winning ways under Mourinho. At last count, just 44.9% had voted Si.
Pressure may come from within the club, too. After all, it was Real's current general manager, Jorge Valdano, who produced one of the finest quotes of recent years when responding to a Champions League semi-final between Mourinho's Chelsea and Benitez's Liverpool in 2007.
"Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion - and, in that, Anfield is unbeatable," Valdano said. "Put a s**t hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a s**t hanging from a stick. Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct. But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don't be ridiculous. None of that."
In a charm offensive with Madrid-based newspaper AS on Thursday, Mourinho suggested that he will employ a brand of football that will better appeal to the aesthetic values of his new colleague, and supporters, though his core beliefs of solidity and pragmatism will not be compromised. "My Madrid will always play well, attack and will be winners," Mourinho said. "Having said that, my team always goes out on the pitch with a clear idea: to win. And if we are winning 3-1 and we only have ten players on the pitch, then my players will have to sit back to defend. That's the way it is."
Mourinho certainly has the tools with which to construct a more adventurous approach. With Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Kaka, et al, Real scored 102 league goals last season and amassed 96 points - a tally that would have smashed the Spanish record but for Barcelona going three better in a frankly ridiculous season.
Perez is certainly confident that his big-money signing will not betray the club's history. "Mourinho's style of play will surely fit in with the style of play of the history of Madrid. Firstly, to win, the spirit of sacrifice, values, I think it will fit in perfectly,'' Perez said. "Madrid is betting on stability, the stability of the Madridistas is to win and be leaders in Europe."
The words "stability" and "Real Madrid" and do not look right together. "Jose Mourinho" and "Real Madrid" do, but it remains to be seen whether stylistic issues will serve to undermine this apparent match made in heaven.
