Friday, 4 February 2011

The other match (2). Mourinho vs Valdano

Mourinho gave an interview a few days ago to the newspaper O Jogo in which he analyzes his stay at Real Madrid, both sporting and institutional. About the club, the Portuguese said: "Real Madrid is not structured for the scale it has. It suffers functional deficits of empathy. In a club all must work for the same purpose. When I speak of empathy I do not mean the meaning of the word, but another kind of empathy, a functional has to exist for the success of a large company, a great club". In this line, added: "In football, I've always won my battles against the foreign enemy. I do not know if I can win the others".

Mourinho in a restaurant answering to a journalist
Jose Mourinho

Asked directly about his relationship with Valdano, Mourinho was specific: "I have no hidden war with anyone. What I have to say, I say. The others? You would have to ask them".

O Jogo was also interested in the label of "provocative" that some have laid him. Real coach replied gravely: "I am not provocative, is the world that is hypocritical. I'm sad to see people who are unable to be true and choose to hide behind political correctness".

Another issue was the status of team sports and their struggle with Barcelona. Mourinho praised red-blue team: "Barcelona plays hard, but Madrid also. They play better because they have seven points and they thrashed 5-0 Real Madrid. But our team has a good season. We compete against a finished product of many years of work with the same idea". In addition, the Portuguese refused dependence on Cristiano Ronaldo: "Last year, Higuain and he scored the same goals, but now is not Higuain. It is not anyone's fault".

On the other hand, Jorge Valdano tries to cool tempers and after the signing of a striker it looks like he will move away from team sports environment. After the last match against Sevilla answered to journalists.

Valdano in a hall of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
Jorge Valdano

Finally Mourinho has the striker wanted and Adebayor starts scoring goal...
"All the club has a striker, not just Mourinho. It was a target since we knew the diagnosis of Higuain. We took a bit, but finally comes a player who likes to the coach".

How is your relationship with Mourinho after the coach has said in recent days about you?
"In my responsibility is important not to create more tension than there is in these moments. It's something I do for the job. And then see how the coach is comfortable. He talks about how he talks easier with Florentino and I feel natural and we accept it. We need to create working conditions and autonomy for him because he has a great desire for autonomy and independence and the club is willing to give it. The enemies are the enemies, and sometimes very fierce like Sevilla, and that is where we have to focus energies".

Will you take a step aside to solve your differences?
We have to take a step back and make him feel more comfortable and we will give him that comfort. It's about everyone working freely. We have to create those conditions for the team. The Real Madrid does not want a situation which causes discomfort to the social mass.