On the eve of one of the more important matches of the season for Real Madrid, manager Jose Mourinho is making headlines again for all the wrong reasons.
According to reports out of Spain, Mourinho is letting it be known that he wants out of Madrid at the end of this season, which would be two years into his four-year contract with the club. It's not the first time that a premature Mourinho exit has become a topic of conversation in his brief time at the Bernabeu, though this one comes at an odd time.
Real Madrid leads the Spanish league table by five points over Barcelona and has been dominant in league play. Mourinho's men also were the only ones to collect maximum points in the UEFA Champions League group stage and have a favorable draw for the Round of 16 by getting paired with CSKA Moscow. Reported locker room dissent and an overall sense of frustration, however, have allegedly pushed "The Special One" to the brink of an exit.
Madrid travels to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in tomorrow's second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals a week after his side blew a 1-0 advantage and fell at home to its bitter rivals by a 2-1 scoreline. Should Mourinho and his club not overturn the deficit, their title defense would come to an early close.
How do you see this playing out? Think Mourinho would really leave Madrid after this year? Think it's all a bunch of fruitless hype? Wish Special1TV would just come back already? Which team would you want to see Mourinho go to next?
Share your thoughts below.
this will not happen. he will stay at madrid until he wins the league and CL. and madrid won’t fire him.
Succeed the Original Special One at Old Trafford.
Madrid can lose the 2nd leg an they can lose the 2nd regular game to Barcelona and STILL be champions.
Theyre 5pts up on Barca and a tie in that 2nd regular season game will seal the season for Real.
Only Mourinho could win La Liga and lose every game to Barca.
That will be soooooo funny but not as funny as teh Barca fans who will then feebly whine about how they are better.
Still think that Mourinho’s buys have been rather mediocre.
The team needs 2 central midfielders and a central defender or two. Why they didnt spend 25million on Subotic from Dortmund (hey Wrongen,,, how are you doing?) is beyond me?
Coentrao? Really?
On paper, Barca should be leading by 5pts yet its a 10pts swing the other way.
He brought the treble to Inter, so he is forever great in my book. Madrid will wish they had him back if he leaves. That lot is never satisfied with anything.
“gloryhunting” means that you support the team only when winning.
If tim is a fan because he likes the players or manager or style of play (this last one is a common claim among Arsenal fans) that is something else entirely.
+1
Jose clearly wasn’t hugged enough as a child.
He needs to look in the mirror and repeat after me: “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!”
It’s true. I do want to leave. I can’t stand looking at Ozil anymore. He freaks me out!!
what a bitch. i would not be surprised if he quits after they lose tomorrow
He is good, but frickin annoying. He is very good, but not very humble. I also am not sure if he’s better then Ferguson. Ferguson’s Aberdeen was less equipted than Mourinho’s Porto (of who half went on to top 10 world clubs).
Problem is you can’t buy or quickly build a team like Barca, no matter who the coach of Real, even with lots of good players around Ronaldo.
At best he will beat Barca once this year, win league, and high tail it out of there.
Messi has 6 goals in 2 games that both Xavi and Iniesta sat out.
Alves is trash? The greatest right back in the world is trash?
Just… shut up. Please.
I don’t mean to take away from Mourinho’s Champions League win with Porto, but it was kind of a screwy year. It was the first time they scrapped the 2nd knockout round, and avoided everyone in the knockout bar Manchester United, far from vintage that year.
JK seems to see himself in a much bigger picture i.e. the guy who created and made American football whereas Jose sees himself as a GREAT coach. nevertheless ego’s would prevent such an idea
Which team would you want to see Mourinho go to next?
Stoke if he brings Pepe.
Pep’s situation will always bring up speculation because other than his original contract from when he took over the team after moving up from Barca B which was a 2 year contract, he has only signed 1 year deals. He has said himself he likes it better this way because it keeps him hungry for success but the question remains, will he decide not to resign one of these summers and leave Barca, honestly I think the right job or jobs haven’t or aren’t likely to be available yet so he hasn’t felt the need to do so but keeps his options open as to be able to finish a season and then move freely.
I think he wants the Spain National team job and is waiting for Del Bosque to step down.
Like I said above, I have heard of a MARCA, a Madrid based Newspaper known for being a Pro-Real paper putting out a conversation or argument in the locker room where Mourinho singled out Ramos, Iker wasn’t too happy and he didn’t call out the obvious defensive liability in Pepe who completely waited for the ball in which Puyol looked like a young guy FLYING across him to anticipate Pepe’s lazy clearance attempt and then Pepe not covering Abidal’s deep run.
If it weren’t for 1 little goal in which unfortunately Barca got scored on by the slightest of margins not having Valdes and Abidal, I think if Abidal is covering the cross into Cristiano instead of the shorter Adriano the ball is deflected and Real doesn’t score, then there’s a great chance that if they keep playing Real has NO trophies in the 2 seasons under Jose.
He’s about to eliminate himself from 1, if he doesn’t win CL OR La Liga, he might not need to quit they might fire him. Pelligrini lost with much more dignity to Barca and only barely lost the League with less players and less of a budget to spend since Mourinho has his signins and then some
He’s going to have to wait a LONG time then, because Barca are not going to just let that happen, he has gotten lucky with some results lately in League play and only has a 5 point lead because Barca has had too many upsetting performances. Messi’s PK and the late goal they gave up in the Catalan Derby are why he has a 5 point lead. If you compare to the last 2 seasons, I think they be around the same, if just Madrid have improved not losing a single game all year after that 1st one. The way some of his players keep acting they stop getting some of the calls that have bailed him out, if he ties a game and Barca hold serve on all the points they each gain, guess what it’s up to Barca to win at home in April.. and then it’s tied and Barca takes the title on head to head tie breaker.
Marca had a report on a very heated convo he had with Ramos about his failure to cover Puyol when they made a switch, he hasn’t acknowledged that Pepe missed the mark on BOTH goals even tho Pretty boy also didn’t track back to help cover Abidal from what I remember, but the theme is that he was saying something along the lines of “Oh since Spain won the World Cup and Euro now, they think they know better than anyone” and what a coincidence that he doesn’t admit his Portuguese players messed up. And that was coming from Marca a very PRO Real Madrid paper
Thank you some sanity to the comments about mny beoved Blaugrana!
Thiago is the heir apparent to Iniesta and Cesc the more realistic replacement to Xavi.
I’m not saying Thiago is already as good as Iniesta, but it’s pretty convenient that he is already good enough to start in La Liga and Champions League games and even vs Madrid in certain spots of the last 4 Clasicos, but he is a lefty from what I remember and just seems right for the role.
If you were going to point at any weakness Barca has as far as age and when they might slow down in their overall form/level and dominance is that Puyol is starting to age and well is not so much losing pace as it is staying healthy, but luckily Mascherano has been the ultimate teammate covering in his absence be it at CB or in Center D-Mid with Busquets at CB. Abidal is also around that 30 year old mark like Xavi. But with Adriano there’s good cover for both Alves and Abidal. Yes they just lost Maxwell so they need an outside back but between Muniesa and Fontas they’ll have some cover. I know Fontas just got hurt but those guys coming from Barca B team keep the La Masia going
2 to 3 years is def a solid assesment. Take out Xavi and everyone on that list drops 3 notches in class. As a Madrid fan I have no problem admitting that Xavi is the best mid since Zidane, maybe even better! Mascherano is trash, Alves is trash, Messi is amazing when he has both Xavi and Iniesta feeding him ridiculous passes, Iniesta is great, but only next to Xavi, Sexy Lexi and Cesc get touched and they are out for 3 months…put some thought behind your statements cuz anyone can look at a few young guys and say wow this team is going to be good for however amount years. No team can be dominant for 5 or 6 more years after they have already won almost everything the last 2 campaigns. Be real, its impossible.
Actually in an ESPN interview he was asked if he would ever coach the US national team, and he did say he’d consider it….
I wouldn’t want him tho, after what he’s pulled at La Liga and the Parking of the Bus while with Inter, he can go back to England and land with either Chelsea, Man United or what he should really do is get a mid table team like Aston Villa or Fulham and see if he can turn them into a top 5 club? Who knows maybe he gets them into Champions League and helps them turn into a legit contender for a few years….
It’s called a blog.
Kind of thing that I’ll believe when it happens, have a hard time seeing him leave with such unfinished business.
If they beat Barcelona and advance in the Copa, this will all magically disappear.
I don’t think many people fully understand how the Spanish soccer media operate, how rabid it is. I’m not even sure why a respected journalist such as Ives would promulgate this report, especially when it seems to pop up every few months.
Write a story when he actually signs a contract with another team. Until then, it is all bull**** and speculation. I mean, do you remember when there were reports that Pep Guardiola was on his way out of Barca? He had won every trophy in sight and still the Spanish media was talking about him leaving.
You should all read Phil Ball’s book Morbo. Explains a lot.
And you are a hattteerrrrrrr!!!!!!! He is one of the most winning managers in football history.
Don’t have the players? 2 more years?
Xavi is only 31 and just finished 3rd in player of the year voting. He is in incredible shape and probably has 5-6 more years as a world class player.
Thiago is 20.
Cuenca is 20.
Sanchez is 23.
Busquets is 23.
Messi is 24.
Cesc is 24.
Pedro is 24.
Pique is 24.
Iniest is 27.
Mascherano is 27.
Alves is 28.
That team’s nucleus is very, very young.
of course being able to “take a break” would label you as a gloryhunting plastic, but this is arsenal were talking about i suppose…
…unless of course he goes to Man City in which case he’ll win the league in year one and be fired mid way through year two after not getting along with the ownership.
sort of a no win lol
Its BS spanish media hype. Mou won’t leave the greatest club ever untilhe wins La Liga, and he’ll want the 10th European Cup as well.
Hold on… Barca have 2-3 years of dominance left, then they don’t have the players. When Xavi goes, so does Barca. hold on…
He’s consistently stated that he misses England and still has a home and many of his closest friends there. I can’t imagine him going anywhere but the EPL. In my opinion, he’ll be gone at the end of the season and wearing surprising colors in the EPL next year.
He said he wanted to coach in the US, but he’s also said he doesn’t want to coach an international side. I wouldn’t be shocked if one day the Red Bulls throw obscene amounts of money at him, but I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon.
I’m not surprised. Sadly Mou come to Real Madrid because they wanted to beat Barcelona. But Barcelona are just dominate after a lot of things falling into place and a lot of hard work paying off after years of investment.
So yeah I’m not surprised that because he hasn’t had success against Barcelona that he’s feeling the pressure from all sides and wants out. He’s a brilliant coach but that doesn’t mean he has all the answers.
This would be a very smart plant for Barca to try and shake up RM’s locker room. It’s also very believable with the “Special One’s” track record.
I think I’d take a break from being a gunner fan if he was brought in… I absolutely hate him! Send him to some hole of shite in China please!
Before all this news about tension in the Madrid locker room, I was thinking that Iker Casillas, one of the classiest guys in soccer, looked miserable. Casillas maybe has had enough of Mourinho’s childish antics. Me too. I hope he goes. He has sort of lost his mind in sort of a Captain Ahab way in his failure to beat Barcelona. Tomorrow’s game could be epic. Can’t wait.
Mou will always be a legend
It’s not as unfeasible as it sounds. He’s said before that he’d like to work in the United States. As for coach/assistant coach, you seem to have a juvenile idea that you just make the “better” coach the head coach. While I don’t think it would happen, as JK and Mourinho would have egos and ideas too large to work with each other, the reality is that assistant coaches and coaches have very different roles in preparing teams to play. It’s just as important to have a world class assistant as it is to have a world class coach.
LOL @ him saying he wanted to coach the USMNT. And even bigger laugh at Mourinho as a JK assistant. JK isn’t a good enough coach to be JM’s assistant. Those two reside in completely different coaching stratospheres.
Shut Up Ives #ExpectJose
Actually I think Mou could succeed at the Emirates. I love Wenger to death but look at what he did at Porto? When he has a roster of talented players who wholehearted buy into his philosophy the results are unquestionable. Who else could pick up the pieces from a Wenger exit though ask yourself that (hypothetically of course)? Who would you want as the coach? I’d take the Special One any day of the week.
Mourinho is so awesome. He’s switched from his charcoal suits and suede boots to the bubble vest. I miss seeing the lunatic run around the Camp Nou with his suede boots on taunting the fans and sticking his tongue out.
Didn’t he say he wanted to coach the US National Team at some point in his life? Bring him in to be Klinsy’s tactical assistant and “groom” him to be our head coach for the next cycle–wonder what that pays in relation to his salary at Real Madrid?
Jose doesn’t want a challenge, he wants headlines.
And please, God, not Arsenal. We’ve been through enough.
For a real challenge, Jose will next coach NYRB
And thus would end the days of the beautiful football that Arsenal is known for and the return to the days of “boring, boring Arsenal”.
Where he couldn’t spend much money? Not likely.
Get rid of Wenger and bring in Jose at the Emirates!
IF true… whirlwind return to Chelsea.
…and he’ll end up with PSG for more money, and spend the entirety of that contract talking about his desire to return to England.
he is a joke!
He’ll end up at PSG or Man City