Real Madrid legend and former head coach Jorge Valdano has slammed the club’s re-appointment of Jose Mourinho in an interview with one of the leading newspaper’s in the Portuguese’s homeland, A Bola.
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Real Madrid legend and former head coach Jorge Valdano has slammed the club’s re-appointment of Jose Mourinho in an interview with one of the leading outlets in the Portuguese’s homeland, A Bola.
Succeeding Alvaro Arbeloa, now managing Fulham, Mourinho has taken the reins at the Bernabeu for a second time after previously leading Los Blancos from 2010 to 2013.
Once more, Florentino Perez has hired the two-time Champions League winner to break up FC Barcelona dominance.
Yet Valdano, a highly-respected pundit in Spain who resigned as Sporting Director at Madrid during Mourinho’s first tenure, can’t get his head around the development.
“Almost fifteen years have passed: football is no longer the same, society is not the same, Florentino is no longer the same, and Mourinho certainly won’t be either. Therefore, we will see what happens,” the Argentine first said to A Bola.
“Florentino opted for another type of coach,” Valdano added, in reference to the fired Xabi Alonso, who now leads Chelsea.
“The truth is that there are not many available for Real Madrid. The options are running out. I don’t know what sense it makes for Jose Mourinho to be at the helm of this responsibility again; only the club knows,” Valdano adds.
No hard feelings between Valdano and Real Madrid boss Mourinho
Despite their previous fall out, Valdano doesn’t bear a grudge with Mourinho. “I’m the least resentful person in the world, conflicts don’t last long, I turn the page very easily,” he said.
That’s a similar line taken by another Madrid icon in Iker Casillas. He too had a clash with Mourinho during their shared time in the Spanish capital. Maturely, though, the former goalkeeper also stressed that there are no hard feelings ahead of last season’s installment of El Clasico at the Bernabeu.
“I have no problem with Mourinho. I think he’s a great professional. I just don’t want him at Real Madrid,” Casillas wrote on X, when it wasn’t clear who the next manager would be.
As we now know, though, that is indeed Mourinho. After a 2-2 friendly draw with Fiorentina on Saturday, Real Madrid’s attempt to dethrone back-to-back La Liga winners Barcelona kicks off with an away trip to the Catalans’ crosstown rivals Espanyol on August 22.