How Jose Mourinho has turned Real Madrid around – and why it might force Vinicius Junior out
When have you ever characterised Jose Mourinho’s teams as fun? Not the manager himself or what he may say in the media, but the actual football played?
Never, right? This was the guy who invented parking the bus, a master of dark arts and arming teams with an us-versus-them approach. Sure, Mourinho is box office, but his teams haven’t been.
Until now.
It must be remembered how much of a mess Real Madrid were in before he took over. But we all thought the Portuguese would be petrol thrown on a toxic fire.
Instead there has been a calm Uncle energy that has helped this young Madrid team take to him.
Jude Bellingham is in irresistible form; Vinicius Junior’s suspension has meant the side is more comfortable catering to one star (Kylian Mbappe) as opposed to two; and new signings in Bernardo Silva and Yan Diomande are beginning to have an impact.
Imperious Jude
Thomas Tuchel may have come away from the World Cup enduring heavy criticism for his Argentina cop out, but he did unlock Bellingham, teasing the Englishman in the media by igniting the fire in him.
Bellingham’s game currently resembles a mix of Zinedine Zidane, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
Mourinho is using him as a roaming 10, which means you have all the benefits of him receiving in build-up or working hard in midfield and, crucially, his capabilities to dart forward.
It means you can use Kylian Mbappe’s ball control to draw a centre-back out when fizzing it into him from long, while Bellingham gallops forward as a third-man run.
Bellingham’s creativity in midfield can be utilised, but the threat for teams doesn’t stop there because of the license he has in joining the attack. It also means a player has to go with him and track him, freeing up others.
He’s also very skilful for a player with his height and strength.
The El Clasico that changed everything
Before El Clasico, Los Blancos had stumbled against Real Betis and lost the Madrid derby.
The jittery mood turned around when Real Madrid sealed a memorable late El Clasico win through Mourinho’s shrewd tactics.
The former Chelsea manager proudly explained in the post-match press conference how he did it:
“I told Camavinga to attack the spaces. It is difficult for any attacker to attack space against Barcelona; the only solution is to do it with your midfielders.”
Their flat 4-4-2 midblock worked out of possession as they stopped the pass getting into one of Barca’s midfielders in the middle of the pitch, be it Rodri, Fermin Lopez or Pedri.
Real Madrid also managed to nullify Barca by telling their wingers, Arda Guler and Diomande, to join their full-backs and double up on Anthony Gordon and Lamine Yamal.
Out of possession, it was a typical workmanlike Mourinho performance and, in possession, a Mourinho masterclass of the old age. Springing a surprise in a big game when no-one expected it, just at the right time.
We even got some of the taunting that has made Mourinho the lovable anti-hero as he stared down Barcelona’s bench after the winner.
It’s as provocative as we’ve seen him since he took charge of his second stint at Real Madrid, as he’s embraced a calmer approach to tackle the superstars of the Spanish capital.
The use of wide overlaps and life without Vinny
Before doing this piece, I was shocked at how little game time Trent Alexander-Arnold is getting. I find it nuts that Mourinho or Tuchel can’t find a place for a player who helped redefine an entire position.
But re-watching a lot of Real Madrid matches made me realise how many of their attacks utilise wide overloads with the full-backs overlapping. It’s drawn the best out of players like Marc Cucurella and Diomande.
Madrid can have their attacking players sometimes join in to outnumber full-backs with wide overloads, but often, they benefit from using their central midfielders or Mbappe to start attacks from the middle before instructing Cucurella to overlap and create space for the winger.
All of this has been working a lot better since Vinicius Junior got suspended against Villarreal.
There was shock in the summer that the Brazilian was close to a move to Arsenal, but now? It makes more sense than ever.
He is undoubtedly still an excellent forward, but the team gets more out of its attackers when it’s catering just to Mbappe rather than the Frenchman and Vinicius too.
Guler and Diomande work hard; they don’t need to be instructed or cajoled to do so either; they are young forwards willing to stake a claim to have a place in the team.
Mbappe can also perform more freely. It’s partly why he and the Brazilian haven’t clicked. They like occupying similar spaces, and as we saw from the World Cup, Mbappe likes taking up deeper positions, but the team complements the Frenchman better without Vinicius Junior in it.
Mourinho has already warned him that he is not guaranteed a place on his return, but it may be the case that the team only has room for Mbappe as the superstar.
The toxicity and dressing room uproar from last year has gone. Mourinho made it a point to address that straight away.
Vinicius Junior’s suspension was a blessing in disguise, but now we’ll get to see how Mourinho handles his return.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid have won seven on the bounce and have also gained a knack for scoring late goals in to their manager’s never-say-die image.
His last box office swansong at Los Blancos is turning out to be fascinating as he has grown calmer and more mature – he has needed to be when handling the chaos of Real Madrid.
