Honestly Because of the hype of Real Madrid.
Where you play matters a lot when we talk about influence, perception and ultimately how your legacy will be viewed. Real Madrid is almost the pinnacle of football in that regard.
You can have an incredible career somewhere else, but when you do it at Madrid, one kind everything feels amplified. It’s like the trophies are bigger, the nights are bigger, the expectations are bigger, and the spotlight is different.
That is why it is easier to build a legendary figure at Madrid. You are playing on the biggest stage, in the biggest games, with the history of the club constantly sitting behind you.
Look at the players who became almost a mythical figures there. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul, Modric, Ramos, Roberto Carlos, Casillas. Their careers were already incredible, but playing for Real Madrid gave their achievements another layer.
It is not just about being a great player. It is about where people watched you become great.
And Madrid gives you more opportunities to create those moments that live forever.
That is the power of Real Madrid.
People are shocked that Mourinho’s Madrid are scoring freely, they really think this man cannot coach an attacking team.
This is the same Mourinho whose Real Madrid scored 121 goals in a single La Liga season and collected 100 points, both records at the time. His greatest quality as a coach has always been adaptability. He doesn’t force one football philosophy onto every squad he gets. He looks at the players available to him, understands their strengths and builds around them. No one does that better than Mourinho.
10 goals in three league games.
But it’s not even just the goals. Look at the freedom he’s giving the attacking players.
Against Real Sociedad, Bellingham was constantly moving between the lines, Vinicius was getting involved centrally, Mbappe had the freedom to attack the box from different positions, and the combinations around the final third were much more fluid.
This is what people miss about Mourinho.
He is not married to sitting deep. He is married to winning.
Give him a squad built for counter-attacking football and he will create one of the most dangerous transition teams you have ever seen. Give him technical players and he can allow them more possession and positional freedom. Give him a striker who can pin defenders, wingers who can isolate fullbacks and midfielders who can carry the ball, and he will find a way to get those qualities onto the pitch.
That 2011/12 Madrid team wasn’t some defensive, low-block side. It was explosive. Ronaldo, Benzema, Di María, Ozil, Marcelo, Khedira, Alonso, the team could go from defending to creating a clear chance in seconds.
And that is why I think people misunderstand Mourinho a lot calling him a defensive coach.
His football has never really been about a formation or one fixed style. It is about what gives his team the best chance to win.
Right now, he has Mbappe, Vinicius, Bellingham, Guler and Bernardo Silva.
Why would he coach them like a 2010 Inter Milan side?
The early signs are already there, Mourinho is adapting to the players he has, and Madrid are playing with a freedom that people didn’t think he was capable of giving them.
🚨 REMINDER: Arda Güler, Camavinga and Bernardo Silva got RED CARDS in their last UCL games last season.
They’re all set to MISS the first UCL game vs Inter.
🚨 Dean Huijsen vs Málaga:
- 7 defensive contributions
- 2 tackles won
- 2 interceptions
- 2 clearances
- 2 recoveries
- 4 duels won
- Interception leading to goal
- 1 key pass
- 0 times dribbled past