The Mourinho Way!

I should preamble this write-up by declaring that I may harbour a slight bias towards Real Madrid. Okay, I lied. I am not slightly biased, but am very biased. I have been a Madridista since the time I started following professional football and am willing to bet good money that I will be a Madridista for life.

With that declaration out of the way, there is something that has been bothering me after watching the first few weeks of the 2012 domestic seasons kick off. In particular, the La Liga. Real Madrid do not seem to be playing with the same fire and passion as they did during the end of last season. There is a certain magic that is missing. Could it be that the “sadness” of Cristiano Ronaldo has got his other team mates sad as well? Or could it be that they’ve gotten complacent after their moderate levels of success against the one club that they truly want to beat all the time … Barcelona? Then again, maybe – it could be that they need a kick in the butt (a few players in particular) and be reminded that while the rest of Europe goes through another year of the Eurozone crisis, they are paid handsome wages (some, much more handsome than others) to go out and compete.

With that said, here is what I have to say about the following players who have been a bitter disappointment so far. I have 3 people in mind and will start from #3 and work my way down to #1.

#3 Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid number 10. Position: Attacking Midfielder)

Ozil started off the 2011 campaign with some serious football, and yet – he seems to have gone quiet. He had a rather dismal outing in the Euro-2012 which I imagine is still gnawing at the back of his mind, but he scored a double a couple of days ago during the International break. He looks demotivated on the field and he hasn’t found the ferocity that he is now famous for. I don’t mean his state of emotion of course. I mean his football. He has a magnificent way of making his guard look like an idiot especially along the touch lines and this season so far (granted, it is only 3 games old in the La Liga), he has been abysmal. I attribute a small amount of this to the insecurity he may be feeling to now having 2 people breathing down his neck, Ricardo Kaka, who is itching for playing time and the new arrival, Luca Modric. There are many who believe that Modric will become a regular starter in Mourinho’s now trademark 4-2-3-1 formation. The “3″ being the key bit. The first of the 3 on left flank will be CR7 and let’s just say there’s no way his place will be in doubt. The second of the 3 on right flank will probably be Di-Maria who has already started the season off in sublime form plus his midweek international goal against Paraguay was excellent. This leaves the central attacking midfielder – ergo Modric, ergo Ozil, ergo Kaka? Track record itself should make things easier for Ozil. Let’s hope for his sake and for Madrid, that he finds his left foot sooner rather than later.

#2 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid number 9. Position: Center Forward)

Really? Do I need to go there? He has been absolutely horrific in the games that he has played so far. He last had a good game against er … I actually cannot remember! He was goal-less in the Euro. Come to think of it, did France even score a goal in the Euro-2012? The few games he has played so far this season, he has been COMPLETELY outclassed by Higuain. Now, Benzema is clearly a smart guy. He knew that his best chance to prove himself was when Higuain departed for his hernia surgery to the US during the middle of the 2010 campaign. The problem then was that he was unfit, overweight and clueless. To this extent, Mourinho had to bring in Adebeyor on loan. The hope in the Madrid camp was that Benzema would somehow “snap into it” during the 2010 season, but he never did.

2011 on the other hand was a diametric opposite. Karim had slimmed down, he had clearly been training very hard and he started his campaign off very positively and at one stage had outscored even Cristiano! He had a superb assist record and yet … this year, he looks like he should be playing with the “B” squad.

What is he doing! He looks very uncomfortable while being fed the ball in the box and it seems like he is fumbling more than playing! Higuain on the other hand (I have nicknamed him the offside king by the way) looks far more comfortable and dare I say … looks far more like he belongs in the starting 11. Buck up Karim! Did the rumor that RVP may join Madrid scare the crap out of you? Well, don’t worry. He’s scaring the crap out of Welbeck and Hernandez now. So you can revert to your regular style of non fumbling play.

#1 Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid Entrenador)

For me, there are 2 sports persons who can do no wrong. The first being Bill Belichick. The second being “The Special One”. But there are 3 things that I think Mou should have considered doing differently. The first and perhaps the more excusable of the 3 was giving Kaka’ some playing time. But the way I see it is that Mourinho is someone who takes things personally and Kaka looking to go back to the San Siro despite Mourinho wanting him to stay may be seeing its end results rearing its ugly head now. Kaka has not even been considered as a substitute. Preference has been given to Luca Modric and to add insult to injury – Modric has been mollycoddled by Mourinho and received personal attention before heading out to play. The others usually get instructions from Assistant Coach, Karanka.

But I digress. I honestly feel that Mourinho should have given Kaka’ some more playing time and perhaps even tried him out in a different position to see how he adapted. This is the perfect segway to the second annoyance. Lassana Diarra. How in GOD’s name was this waste of space given any playing time whatsoever? Diarra was at one stage the Madrid number 10 when Wesley Schneider moved to Inter. SHUDDER! I cannot believe that Madrid paid 20 million Euros to get this guy from Portsmouth. If Madrid wanted to sell Esteban Granero, why not this idiot?

And the worst part is, he got playing time! Okay, maybe I’m getting carried away. Khedira was out of commission, so Lass had to play, but still. Fortunately, the light has been seen and Lass has been sold to Anzhi. This brings me to my last question mark. Michael Essien. Yes, clearly Mourinho sees something in him because he was the one who signed Essien to Chelsea. But, that is not the question. The question is, does Madrid need him? I don’t see it. Then why did they agree to a loan transfer? Last year, Altintop and Sahin were both seen losing their minds because they didn’t get to play. I suspect Essien will have the same problem. The way I see it is that if Chelsea do not have room for him, well then, Madrid certainly do not. But then again, Mourinho is God for me. So here’s hoping that my blind faith proves the rest of me wrong!

My typical Madrid-11 for this year is as follows:

1) Formation: 4-2-3-1

2) Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas

3) Defenders: Alvaro Arbeloa, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Fabio Coentrao

4) Defensive Midfield: Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso

5) Attacking Midfield: Christiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria

6) Center Forward: Gonzalo Higuain

7) Bench: Marcelo (Defender), Albiol (Defender), Varane (Defender), Kaka (Defensive Midfield, controversial, yes) or Callejon (traditionally an attacking midfielder, but I believe he has the tenacity to do this position justice), Kaka, Callejon or Modric (Attacking Midfield), Benzema (Striker)