The irony of Real Madrid turning to Jose Mourinho in times of crisis is one that will never be lost in football, but have the Portuguese learned from their past mistakes?
Jose Mourinho to return to Real Madrid (Image: Getty Images)
Few would disparage Jose Mourinho as the “firefighter” of the football world. Because, let’s be honest, Portuguese people are well known for starting fires, let alone putting them out.
Mourinho has won trophies with most of the clubs he has managed. But some of this silverware fetches high prices, and controversy follows him around the world like some kind of sadistic shadow.
Torts became his middle name. Then, his star seemed to fade as elite clubs stopped calling him.
As a result, he has spent the last few years of his career at Tottenham, AS Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica. But a familiar face has resurfaced in Mourinho’s glamorous life.
It has the shape of the biggest club, Real Madrid. The Spanish giants are believed to be preparing to appoint Mourinho as manager for the second time.
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Mourinho has been in talks with Real for several months. Since the departure of Xabi Alonso. A clause in his contract allows him to leave Benfica for a short period of time after the final game of the season for £2.5m.
And Real president Florentino Perez turned to Mourinho in times of need. Real is in crisis. Two seasons passed without them winning a silver medal, and the locker room was in a state of civil war.
Last week, vice-captains Federico Valverde and Aurelien Choameny were involved in a brawl on the training ground, with the former hospitalized.
The incident embarrassed Real and split the team down the middle. Superstar Kylian Mbappe’s influence has become so toxic that more than 70,000 supporters have signed a petition calling for his sale.
Real Madrid fans sign a petition calling for the sale of Kylian Mbappé (Image: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)
A holiday trip to Sardinia that was supposed to recover from a hamstring problem did not help the French World Cup winner.
Desperate times therefore call for desperate measures and so on. But is Mourinho the best choice when it comes to restoring dignity and calm to all the chaos gripping Spain?
Perez is confident that Mourinho can stamp his authority on the club. Regain control of your emotions, give your team a new identity, and win big trophies again.
The club’s reputation has been dragged into a quagmire, but Perez believes Mourinho is the manager who can fix it.
But Mourinho’s return in such turbulent circumstances is a strange irony. Perhaps Perez has chosen to forget how Mourinho started his first match at the Bernabéu with a one-match suspension after Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos were sent off in the Champions League game against Ajax.
Mourinho will need to build bridges with star forward Vinicius Junior
Or when he poked then-Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye on the touchline after a 2011 Spanish Cup clash.
Meanwhile, in typical Jose style, he will bring home his own problems that need to be fixed immediately. In the form of Star Winger’s broken relationship with Vinicius Junior.
When he suggested that the Brazilian’s actions during a match at Benfica this season had provoked racist behavior by home supporters against Vinicius, he helped to quash that opinion.
Could Vinicius be sold now? who knows?
For the first time, no one was surprised when Mourinho was sacked less than three seasons into his role when things went south. But now Perez is ready to take the plunge again.
It’s a bold and brave move, but it may also be outrageous. Because if Mourinho can’t prove he has learned from the past and practices what he preaches, then his first 13 years in charge will be a truly unfortunate one for both sides.
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