A Real Madrid reunion with Ken Jose Mourinho seems increasingly likely

If Jose Mourinho has any kind of license to use his name, after recent speculation about him potentially taking over Real Madrid The 63-year-old would have earned enough to compete with all the pay from the various layoffs since he left. white man Back in 2013.

On TV, radio, newspapers, online, in bars and in Madrid boardrooms, the debate over Mourinho to Madrid has been so ubiquitous that it has been almost third and potentially dwarfed. La Liga title-determiner Classic of the season, which will be staged at the Camp Nou this Sunday (Live at 3 pm ET on ESPN and ESPN+ in the US)

Above all else, it was the relationship with Mourinho Classic (Whenever a rival Barcelona and Madrid meet to compete) that elevated him from fame and popularity to mythic status.

The “Special One” took over the prime shortly after the 5-0 defeat at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s mega-team. cristiano ronaldo, Karim BenzemaSergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Marcelo; His ability to shake off that humiliation and win a classic Classic In 2011 King’s Cup beat Barcelona 1-0 in the final; His streak of red cards to players, controversial claims that the referee’s behavior towards Barcelona asks him “Why, why!?“(“Why, why?!”) and the media guerilla-war he waged on Guardiola.

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Does Mourinho see it? Classic At the time of his writing – ready to catch live Benfica Match against the team Braga No date or kick-off time has been confirmed for this weekend.

A lot of other things are clear.

First, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and Mourinho have maintained a sense of friendship, respect and “unfinished business” since parting ways with the Portuguese coach 13 years ago.

Second, the job in Madrid is almost indescribably different and more threatening than when Mourinho left. Inter Milan As a treble winner and took over at the Bernabeu in 2010.

Third, Mourinho left disproportionate followers and “haters” behind when he left Chelsea Won a La Liga title, two Copa and Super Cup. Definitely more “haters.”

Finally, both Mourinho (via his agent Jorge Mendes) and Perez have actively encouraged his name to be “out there” in the media over the past few weeks. It wasn’t and still isn’t a “breaking news” story, brought up by some nimble reporter or “well-sourced” editor. It works in that old adage of taking temperature – the general consensus madridistas.

Poor old Alvaro Arbeloa, Madrid’s interim coach, not only seems to be running out of options to keep his job but seems to act and talk with this very realization in mind. Especially player power… or at least, player behavior and attitude.

His super-sharp words on Sunday night, after his side prevented Barcelona from being crowned champions, momentarily, spoke volumes.

Accept that reality Alvaro Carreras Suddenly the profile left back as the third choice, and the fact that injured Kylian Mbappé Spotted jumping with his girlfriend in Italy, Arbeloa said: “I often tell my players that it hurts when we see all the other teams make more runs than us, and only when we don’t have the ball, but it’s something we have to focus on even when we have possession.

“We have to be a much more mobile team, make a lot more runs off the ball, which is uncomfortable, because you have to make 10 runs to get one pass.

“We need the commitment of all players to press, to defend, to attack. I think, nowadays, if you want to be a complete team, a team that is difficult to beat, talent alone is not enough.

“I like to see when the players understand that not only that commitment is important, but that they embody the values of Real Madrid. When we talk about what Real Madrid is and how it was built, I believe that we did not build Real Madrid with players who enter the field in tuxedos, but with players who finish the game with their shirts covered, always sweating, with the best sacrifice, with the best sacrifice. Talent, that’s how. We made Real Madrid history.”

Words that will echo for generations to come. Painful, blasphemous, dangerous words. They embody what we all see with the naked eye, the “insider” knowledge that a coach gains from working with his stars — and they’re words that can rebound because some, who are the intended targets, will resent using them in public.

One thing Mourinho has, when he is careful to use it consistently, is the charisma, personality, Machiavellian skills and man-management art that can not only convince but hypnotize those who work with him. On the face of it, his years since coaching Madrid have been full of explosive, corrosive, intemperate, uncouth and self-indulgent episodes. But could he have the ability to tap into that side of his character and consistently become precisely the combination of sticks and carrots this squad needs? No, in my opinion. But it is not my decision.

For him? The eagerness to take the job, the relationship with the controversial president, the towering personality, the ability to settle a team into a certain style of play and then translate that philosophy to competitive heights.

He is also available. His Benfica contract was for this season and next season. There’s a small window of opportunity in the summer where he or the club can scuttle the deal — that is, if Perez ultimately opts for the Special One (or maybe the Special One). once) then it can be installed quickly.

It is, you know, a FIFA World Cup The season means Madrid’s already tired, overworked footballers whose number one problem isn’t that they’re anarchic over-pampered children but that they’ve had a total of three weeks of preseason training over the past two summers!

Anyone running this outfit for a second season without a major trophy needs a massive game-changing plan, and they need it now. Not in the middle of summer when other potentially interesting coaches like Mauricio Pochettino and Didier Deschamps could be available.

I hand the microphone over to Jorge Valdano on that matter. The 1986 World Cup winner from Argentina, who led Madrid to the Spanish title three times (as a player in 1986 and 1987, then as a coach in 1995), was director of football at the Bernabeu when Mourinho first moved there. In due course, Valdano described the Portuguese product as “s— on a stick” and was dismissed.

But he is still one of football’s true thinkers and outspoken evangelists. Valdano now argues: “This is a moment that requires stability. To choose a project, to support it and to accept the consequences. You don’t achieve great things with some fairy-magic — with the naive idea that ‘someone will come along, wave a magic wand and the team will transform and everything will be right again.’

“Madrid have to increase the intensity and you have to convince the players for that. Often this kind of transition in the daily life of a squad can lead to reactive injuries because you pay the price when you are not used to working at a high-level.

“Players see only two things: a weak coach or a strong coach. And if they see a weak coach, they’ll knock him down in two seconds flat. But strength is something that the club projects. It’s not about the talent of the coach — it’s about the club making it clear that they support him.”

While I have my doubts about Mourinho’s ability to not wreak havoc if he takes over, there is an alternative view – recently expressed on Spanish radio by Portugal’s SIC TV’s Nuno Luz.

“Mourinho has changed a lot. The years have passed, he is older, calmer,” he argued. “But he’s got something that seems more important at a big club — the players respect him. He’s got so much personality. He’s not the warlike Mourinho who first came to Madrid.”

Shortly after Mourinho left in 2013, Perez went on TV to praise and defend him. If you haven’t been following the soap opera closely for the first time, here’s a little reminder of what the president felt about his coach: “I’ve always heard Jose say that he’s been to a lot of clubs, he loves them all, but Real Madrid is on another level.

“But, in Spain, Mourinho was crucified and suffered all kinds of abuse. I am ashamed to repeat what they said about him. Mou, who is from another country, like his family, did not understand it. You can tell him a lot, but not what he had to endure. He respected both, if he made a mistake, he never made a mistake. Apologized.”

And so, dear reader, two questions remain: Does this sound like a president who harbors affection for a man who could be the solution to Madrid’s current problems? And, if you’re in his high position, would you risk Jose Mark II?