Real Madrid see Mourinho’s methods as catalyst for change

Growing confidence is emerging within Real Madrid that Jose Mourinho’s return to the Santiago Bernabeu has delivered exactly what the club needed, according to prominent AS journalist Jose Felix Diaz.

Diaz says the view that “Real Madrid’s best summer signing was the manager” is now being repeated day after day at the club’s Valdebebas training ground. It is being said with growing conviction and reflects a decision that was made despite significant criticism when Mourinho’s appointment was confirmed in the final days of April.

Less than two months later, the Portuguese manager is reported to have won over the people around him.

What happens on the pitch will ultimately determine whether Real Madrid made the right choice, Diaz writes. However, belief in the decision continues to strengthen internally, particularly in the dressing room.

The club’s daily rhythm has changed, with the squad now appearing fully committed to competing from the first minute to the last, both in matches and in training.

That atmosphere is markedly different from the one surrounding Real Madrid a year ago. Diaz argues that Xabi Alonso never truly established a meaningful connection with the club and failed to become part of the relationship that must exist between Real Madrid and its manager.

The breakdown of that connection gradually damaged the wider environment.

“Players are the first to sense the state of that relationship, and when they see it beginning to fall apart, they detach themselves and stop working as a group,” Diaz wrote.

He believes that happened even during the 2025 Club World Cup, creating a continuing sense of uncertainty at Real Madrid among club officials and the players who also hold influence within the squad. Alvaro Arbeloa attempted to alter the situation, but the dressing room had experienced similar circumstances before and, according to Diaz, history repeated itself.

Mourinho’s immediate changes

Mourinho’s arrival brought swift alterations to the club’s habits, rules and routines, Diaz says. His objective was to restore the players’ respect for the Real Madrid badge and revive their internal sense of responsibility.

The manager considered the squad to have become passive and disconnected, with players operating largely on their own terms during the previous two seasons.

He held individual meetings with every player to explain exactly what he expected from them. Those initially viewed as surplus to requirements were also given an opportunity to change the manager’s opinion.

Diaz says the result has been a growing belief that changing the manager and, in some respects, returning to an earlier approach was Real Madrid’s best decision since Carlo Ancelotti came back to the club.

The Italian’s return had also been somewhat unexpected. According to Diaz, both Ancelotti and Mourinho effectively presented themselves as options to Real Madrid, although Jorge Mendes played a major role in bringing Mourinho back to the Bernabeu.

The relationship between Mourinho and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez also helped make the appointment possible. Unlike many managers who have worked at the club, the pair maintained contact during the 13 years after Mourinho’s previous spell ended, even if that communication was intermittent.

“Messages were always exchanged at the right moments,” Diaz said. “The relationship was like that between old friends: even if you rarely hear from one another, you never doubt that the other person is there when you need him.”

The return also contained an element of fortune. Zinedine Zidane had already committed himself to the France national team, removing one possible option. In Ancelotti’s case, Diaz says, none of the alternative candidates managed to convince the club’s decision-makers.

Mourinho’s first request

Diaz says Mourinho did not attempt simply to impose his authority when he returned. Instead, he focused first on persuasion, communication and building consensus.

His initial requests included cancelling fines as a form of punishment and ensuring that every injured player completed their rehabilitation at Valdebebas.

He also asked for Bernardo Silva to be used as a deep-lying defensive midfielder. Given what has followed, Diaz concludes that the idea may not have been as misguided as it first appeared.

Discussion around Mourinho’s approach has also included a joke aimed at one of his players about having muscles exactly like his own, while questions have been raised over why he left Carreras out of the starting line-up.

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