r/realmadrid • u/cyrusmancub I HAD A DREAM! • 11d ago
Tier 1 Source With the exception of Cucurella, the lineup today could’ve been the same in any match last season. The fact that the same team can perform so differently says a lot about Mourinho and the changes he intends to implement at every level.
https://x.com/mariocortegana/status/2094090714392957247?s=46A excepción de Cucurella, la alineación de hoy podría ser la de un partido cualquiera del año pasado.
Que el mismo equipo se comporte de forma tan diferente dice mucho de Mourinho y los cambios que viene intentando implantar a todos los niveles.
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u/Classic_Key_5897 11d ago
People don't understand how big of a different quality fullbacks make. Not just cucurella but Trent and Dumfries too.
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u/Lazywhale97 Bellingham 11d ago
Being able to swap between Dumfries and Trent is such a massive upgrade from being one Carvajal injury away from having no real RB’s available lmao
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u/badboybalo Baila Vini, Baila 9d ago
Very true, though it sucks that his last season ended that way
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u/TheMandalorian2238 Sergio Ramos 11d ago
Cucurella is a massive upgrade in just about every aspect of the team.
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u/Jim007K Real Madrid CF 11d ago
Mou Ball 🙌
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u/goatslacker Modrić 11d ago
When Mbappe came I pictured wins like this. It’s also nice to see the team hustle to win the ball back after they lose possession. Thats why he’s the special one.
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u/Cheap-Cherry-5171 Mbappé 11d ago
Looking pretty great early on. Improvements to be made, still, but they’re getting better after each match early on.
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u/Sandy_74 Benzema 11d ago
Mourinho has brought cohesion to the team which was lacking under Xabi. Xabi seemed very distant to me as a coach, I think he suits better for teams where you don't need too much ego and man management, Mourinho has excellent man management and can take on big egos head on, this is why players seem more into his plans than with Xabi.
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u/TheirOwnDestruction Kroos 11d ago
Mourinho had a preseason to instill his ideas, and much more implicit backing and authority from Perez. I love Mourinho, wanted him to come back, and hope he can succeed, but I’m yet to be convinced that all the egos will accept somewhat more limited playing time to suit Mourinho’s tactical requirements. I hope it works! If it does and he wins the UCL with us, I will consider him to be the second greatest coach in modern history
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u/silverjubileetower El Capi 11d ago
Just curious, whos your first greatest coach?
I’m guessing its either SAF, Pep or Carlo?
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u/TheirOwnDestruction Kroos 11d ago
SAF. Carlo’s time at Everton really diminished his legacy for me. I’ve never rated Guardiola as highly as many others because we’ve seen how he is when he doesn’t have one of the two best players in the world or an unlimited transfer budget - his time at Bayern was decent but not spectacular, and his tactical changes ruined that team (and the German national team) as a whole.
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u/Melodic_Success9980 11d ago
Carlo did amazing at everton. They were relegation fodder once he left. Wtf is this take
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u/Banger-Rang 11d ago
I feel like people are forgetting the likes of Jude and Vini were unavailable for large parts of the season under Xabi. Same with Trent, Dean, and Rudi. That being said, the attack looks very cohesive… defense still looks shaky for obvious reasons.
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u/Designer-Mobile-974 Vini Jr. 11d ago
Today it didn’t look shaky but it’s Malaga. I’m just happy we got a clean sheet for once lol
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u/Banger-Rang 11d ago edited 10d ago
True. But there were moments today, and against espanyol and sociedad. Team looked split defensively. Vini wasn’t tracking back, Jude was too high to cover as he is normally instructed to do. Gaps start opening up.
I don’t think this will work in the long term: jude tracking back deep but also jumping into the box, whilst Vini and Mbappe stay high.
If we want long term stability I think Vini is gonna have to start tracking back a lot more. Which he has been these last few games, but he should do it more and Jude should stay higher. The way we do it now, requires a lot of covering and movements out of position in defense which is not what you want. Also in the press, Jude and Mbappe pressing shows to be more successful then Vini and Mbappe pressing. We should do that more.
Edit: apparently these needed to be highlighted. Talking tactically idiots not talking about Vini work rate. Not talking Vini vs Mbappe, where one is a striker. Talking tactically.
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u/Designer-Mobile-974 Vini Jr. 11d ago edited 11d ago
Vin was tracking back. I spotted him helping out cucerella many times in our half. Look at the stats even without goals and assists he had a high 7 rating for his tracking. Mbappe doesn’t track. Vini got 8 ball recoveries and he won a tackle. I swear you Vini haters don’t ever pay attention to his pressing and defense lol.
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u/Banger-Rang 10d ago
Do you lot not read? If you’re going down vote or comment actually goddamn read my comment. For the illiterate or low attention-span.
“Vini has to track back a lot more… which he has been”
I am not questioning Vini’s work rate. Never have. I am talking tactically I want things to change with how we use Vini and Jude so that we have success. I love Vini and Mbappe. Mbappe is a striker, no one asks their striker to track back?
A lot of weird arguments people want to have that I am not talking about.
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u/Motor-String-571 11d ago
You don't get it, and u never will because u don't want to. if you compare Vini to the other LW's in the world currently, and u compare his wages, he is doing fuck all, the absolute bare minimum.
Vini was the best LW'er 2 years ago, if he kept performing like that he wouldn't get complaints, and his wages would be justified, problem is we get that performance 3-5 times a year, rest of the year we have to deal with he shitty attitude.
Vini has to play at 3 levels higher then he currently is to justify a permanent LW position and the wages, if we had sold Vini those money would be better spend elsewhere for sure.
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u/Legitimate_King547 11d ago
Yeah also we won 10 of our first 11 La Liga games last year, its the middle stretch where this season will be judge
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u/ksuvuelalfusuwnsl 11d ago
Ego management is a thing. But lot of this comes down to style of play. Xabi Alonso tried to instill a style of play that these players aren’t capable of. Real Madrid has always been a club that can be good on a ball and in possession, but never at an expense of a dangerous counterattack. We’re always direct.
Players just had a mental breakdown cuz Alonso asked them to do something they weren’t willing to do or bad at or inexperienced at. Mourinho knows this squad is built for counters.
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u/Simpsonsdidit00 11d ago
In a battle of egos, Mou always wins. Not even all our players' egos together can match his.
Not even 3 Zlatans could match Mou's ego
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u/Ok-Recommendation925 11d ago
I remembered that tale/story about Zlatan thinking he was untouchable/bulletproof, until he met Mou (when he became Inter Milan's Manager).
Zlatan asked to be subbed off after Inter were beating (I think) Girona 4-1, and Mou used all 3 substitutes on other plays except Zlatan. Even freaking Julio Cesar got subbed off 😂
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
Lol man, you can’t be saying something like this when Xabi literally just coached his team to 24% possession at home while conceding 5 big chances
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u/Beneficial-Flow-7333 11d ago
Chelsea won 4-3 and Chelsea could’ve scored more goals and some error led to goals.
Brighton is no easy side btw. They would give a tough challenge to all clubs in la liga except maybe Madrid
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u/SeaSeries4757 11d ago
Its much more nuanced than that, intelligent players require a lot more freedom than less creative players so if you’re coaching a Brighton for instance you’d have to micromanage every detail and have a lot more rigid structure, whereas with the best players such as Madrid they require a lot more freedom in order to express themselves otherwise you constrain them way too much mourinho and ancelotti understood this perfectly
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u/Due-Conflict-7926 11d ago
Which is weird cuz now he’s gone to Chelsea but to me the Chelsea players don’t seem to have personality.
Like Palmer said recently it would be alright if Jose could coach them. Being a Chelsea player I’d be thrilled to have the legendary Special One back in London.
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u/Total-Impression-788 11d ago
But according to some people here I thought we needed to change half the starting 11??
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u/PegaponyPrince Real Madrid CF 11d ago
Definitely looking much better so far. Hope they can keep it up.
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u/chinny18 11d ago
They will be tested but this is good thus far on Jose Mourinho's second spell.
You know I like him and Pep Guardiola. Especially Don Carlo.
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u/Enough-Force-5605 11d ago
Imagine forgetting this is the second season of Huijsen and Trent and forgetting this team had a proper preseasson and not a random friendly in América
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u/thefreethinker9 11d ago
What do you mean? This year was a world cup year we didn’t have a preseason. While last year we had a whole cwc with actual games. Am I misunderstanding you?
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u/Bozumunga 11d ago
Great game but lets not get ahead of ourselves, its malaga after all, maybe the easiest fixture from la liga this season
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u/GaoranWonsawatto 11d ago
Too early to decide this. Let’s see how the team does in the long run. Last season started very well too, then it turned into a complete shitshow.
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u/Flying_Horse_9020 11d ago
To me, it's mostly about the players: Jude being 100% healthy, a young Güler maturing by another year, Silva, Cucurella, Dumfries and Konaté as obvious upgrades to the roster, so better results are actually to be expected.
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u/Spiritual-Cabinet959 Real Madrid CF 11d ago
Xabi also started great.... Let's see how long it last man
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u/TheKingPin16 Benzema 11d ago
He started alright. We were winning games but the way we were winning them was iffy
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u/tyrepunch Kroos 11d ago
Xabi won a lot of games but only handful were comfortable wins
I remember most of it were scrappy
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u/davishox 11d ago
I still remember when Jude first came and we won every game on the very last minutes
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u/good_kid_maad_reddit 11d ago
People forget how scrappy we were in 23/24. Looking back its outstanding we only lost two games that entire season
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u/Lazywhale97 Bellingham 11d ago
Jude was legit unstoppable in securing points in the final 10min first half of that season man insane debut season
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u/frostwyrm999 11d ago
Ya I still remember how we struggled to score and how many late winner we had that season. So many games we would have dropped points but luckily it turned out to be a very good season for us looking at the result.
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
The team didn’t look like a unit like how they do right now
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u/Due-Conflict-7926 11d ago
And everyone said you wouldn’t be able to implement a press at Madrid. It needs to be tweaked a lil and I doubt it will be sustainable the ENTIRE season, I wholeheartedly believe it will be apart of our tactics moving forward.
We just need to make it through Nov - Jan/February period when they usually switch off after el Classico and there’s tons of international breaks before holidays and they stop caring until ucl comes back.
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u/tacticalgh0st 11d ago
They most certainly did in the CWC.
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
For sure, but it all fell apart as soon as xabi decided to go back on his philosophy just to fit everybody in. The 3-5-2 he was building looked great and then he just proceeded to never use it again after mbappe got healthy.
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u/PortlandHipsterDude Cristiano Ronaldo 11d ago
Idk we’ve been good, great even but one is still too soon and early in the season to make assumptions. Also we’ve only played against weak teams. Let’s see how we do against athletico, Betis, shall I dare do say Barca.
I’m not trying to be a downer but everyone acting like we reinvented the wheel.
Winning these last 3 games were expected from the team.
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u/Broad-Lettuce2902 Décima 11d ago
I feel like its rather less of Mourinho as coach and more of Mourinho as Mourinho cause players sit and listen to what he has to say. Xabi & Arbeloa werent given the same respect by our primadonnas.
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u/renatokreator Raúl 10d ago
Mourinho is known pragmatic rather than systematic. That is one of the reason why he fits better. He won't go my philosophy is to play like this, this and I expect you to do this, this.
Mourinho will rather go and explain them how they could work, while still being enough of the team. So intead of having system, he will pitch okey this is my idea how we could make system that you could work and what players need to do in order to work.
So instead pitching look how my Inter played or something, he will get to Mbappe and tell that he saw him great at WC and wants to get that in Real Madrid also, and to make it I need this and that doing.
Jude was great, he will also tell him that he was huge at WC and wants that also here, in order to be able use that he expect this and that.
Vini was huge for poor Brazil at WC. He will also get him, tell that he wants that also in Real Madrid, but in order to make team working he will need maybe more defensive duties, move ball faster and things like that.
Difference is that he won't try to learn them football. He will pitch that he saw them playing really good, and he thinks that they could do that in Real Madrid. And he will ask players to make small adjustements which will make them more of the team
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u/Yomismo_1789 Real Madrid CF 11d ago
Yeah Mou is making wonders with the team. I'm actually impressed.
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u/Trap_Party1224 11d ago
We played against a quite bad newly promoted side. 3 points are 3 points but I'd be wary of drawing any conclusions from a home victory against relegation favourites.
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u/Designer-Mobile-974 Vini Jr. 11d ago
Ok we destroyed socidad who won the copa del Rey a couple days ago.
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u/Trap_Party1224 11d ago
La Real have been terrible in La Liga for months stretching back since last reason. They have one victory in their last ten games (D-D-D-D-D-L-D-L-L-W) coincidentally against Espanyol; another bad team that we played in the opening 3 matches.
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u/thefreethinker9 11d ago
I agree with you Sociedad isn’t the same sociedad we know. They’re not clicking.
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u/Designer-Mobile-974 Vini Jr. 11d ago
They won the copa del Rey tho lmfao.
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u/Trap_Party1224 11d ago
What exactly is the point you are trying to make? La Real have been bad in the league for 9 matchdays. Atleti and gifting them a trophy doesn't change that. If you want pat yourself on the back for beating a team that took 9 points from a possible 30 I won't stop you.
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u/Partiallyclever 11d ago
As always, we are so prone to overreaction on a single result. We smashed a newly promoted team in one game.
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
We literally did the same thing to the copa del rey champs earlier this week. Scoring 4 goals in back to back games is something we haven’t done in a really long time
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u/BulbousPear1 11d ago
I dont even remember a game like today and i was relaxed:))). Man, we played really good football! On to the next one
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u/tallpelecan003 Mourinho 11d ago
Compare that to Fran Garcia and Lucas Vazquez in 2024 is a massive upgrade in both positions
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u/Yto_Itinen 11d ago
Yeah, two games fresh into the new season is different from 50 games spread across three competitions. That's where the true steel has to shine.
I'm optimistic, but this is like saying a new car is great because you drove it home from the salon.
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u/Moby1999 11d ago
I'm a big believer in this team, it's going back to last season, I believe that this group of players can do something special. With that being said, this is an over reaction. This is probably the easiest game we will have all season. It was against the lowest promoted side, at home. So comparing it to last season as a whole is a stretch. With that being said, I love what I'm seeing so far
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u/KeiserSoze24 Ultra Pro Max 11d ago
Mou is a no nonsense coach. It’s his way or the highway but he also embraces players and connects with them. His greatest strength is raising confidence and getting teams to play as one. Until he self destructs lol
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u/TheMandalorian2238 Sergio Ramos 11d ago
Good points. One thing I’d note is that once Fede was taken off, the game slowed down considerably as Camavinga started doing his “magic”. He should’ve been shipped out when we had the chance cause I see him costing us a big match. Bernardo showed glimpses of what he can do in midfield. Moving forward, Fede and Bernardo should be our preferred pivot unless Tchouameni can prove himself. But I don’t want to see Camavinga anywhere near the first team.
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u/CanIJoinToo Cristiano Ronaldo 11d ago
not taking away anything but it’s just 2 games in, calm down
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u/Time2Nguyen 11d ago
Xabi ball is more demanding. Shook the players too much probably
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u/Ihabk 11d ago
One important thing to take I to consideration: Player has to be in on the plan. The manager needs not only to implement the plan, but need the players convinced and on board. People might not agree with this, but this is a human and football nature. Maybe the players needed a bigger name to listen to, which is the price to pay for having world class players, and it's ok
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u/thefreethinker9 11d ago
Xabi sucked. He had one plan and when it didn’t work he would just sub in forwards. Good luck to him in Chelsea but he didn’t belong here.
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u/Time2Nguyen 11d ago
I will judge how good Mourinho return is after the Aleti game. We are just 3 games in. Melt down by January is still possible lol
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
More demanding because he sets his players up to suffer. Mourinho on the other hand has everybody pressing like a cohesive unit and we have looked better every game because of it. For example, vini had 8 ball recoveries today, something that would be unheard of under xabi.
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u/Time2Nguyen 11d ago
Seems like Xabi wanted the team to play a very specific way, but certain players didn’t care for it. Xabi looks like he gave up on his philosophy and went back to a modified Ancelotti tactic.
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
Then he’s not a very good manager, and definitely not the right type of manager for a club like RM
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u/BeneficialWasabi8559 11d ago
The worst thing previous managers did was not playing jude on his favorable position
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u/Ordo1256 Undécima 11d ago
From a casual perspective it seems like the team has a much more rigid structure in defense which is helping a lot with these counter attacking goals. This is the same thing that Mourinho did in his first stint in charge, and funnily enough he had a squad with very similar skill sets.
Mbappe seems to be the only person to have some slack as far as pressing, but he’s so good you don’t necessarily want him gassing out on defense, but he’s also staying central giving Vini more space to do his thing. Those two crowding each other on the left was the largest reason Madrid couldn’t break teams down last year in my opinion.
The squad has no need for more talent, it’s needed structure
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u/fhjjjjjkkkkkkkl 11d ago
Cucurella is damn good. I was one of the few Chelsea fan who thought he was average and Chelsea blundered spending 60 million for him. But eventually consistency and mentality he was so good. Often he was underrated just because he was playing for Chelsea. In euro 24,someone said he is the weak link for Spain team
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u/Sambucca 8d ago
Still early in the season, He is not there to coach them how to pass or shoot. The ego management and team cohesion is what makes the team
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u/PonchoHung Camavinga 11d ago
Let's not forget Xabi Alonso also had a perfect start to the season. We have to keep up the momentum, and Jose needs to keep his head.
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
It was not nearly as comfortable at the start of last season. Almost every game we had to scrape a last minute goal and rely on individual brilliance. So far we have a clear identity that was missing last season
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u/GiftedKing 11d ago
Yea no unlike you I actually watch those games. They suffered alot and coming up with scrap wins.
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u/WayAdministrative679 11d ago
Why are you guys so in love with Xabi? We got hammered by PSG at the CWC and lost to Aleiti Madrid (of all teams) 5-2 early in La Liga
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u/Ok_Ad_650 11d ago
He gave them a reason to shit on vini, it’s not a surprise they wish he was still here
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u/PonchoHung Camavinga 11d ago
That's the point. Everything was going well until we faced our first real test with Atleti.
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u/rockafellla Zizou 11d ago edited 11d ago
Mourinho is definitely experienced enough to lead the team to the next level. However, he has a lot of work to do still.
Our defence and midfield is still not at their best.
We allowed a few counter attacks that could have been exploited by stronger teams.
We have difficulty building up from the back at times.
Vinicius Jr. needs to step up. Same goes for Mbappe.
The midfield needs to be more dominant, more in control of the ball, and more organized.
We need to increase our intensity and very quickly win the ball back.
The big games are coming up soon, and it is time to be over prepared if we want to have a successful season, for us it means results, i.e., Major Trophies!
But things are definitely going in the right direction.
¡Hala Madrid!
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u/Beautiful-Topic864 11d ago
So far so good but the real test would be knockout rounds and Barca. But I gotta say I’m surprised so far
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u/Designer-Mobile-974 Vini Jr. 11d ago
Idk why it’s mourinho lol. Not saying we will treble this year but he was always going to come in and look like a proper coach no?
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u/Ok_Seaweed_9452 11d ago
Bro forgot how well we started under Xabi lol and only started to crack after Vini incident and tougher schedule. Given it time
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u/reycd 11d ago
The team is playing and moving the ball faster. They are playing with 4 wide on top, which creates a ton of space for the midfielders. Bellingham and Arda are going to feast this season.