More than a few fans of our club will have many fond memories of Jose Mourinho's reign at Real Madrid as manager, but there are also a few that won't…
After Iker Casillas' comments about how he decided not to respond to the Portuguese coach at the end of his time at the club, I've been seriously considering how I feel about Mou's time here.
Mourinho spent three seasons at the club between 2010 and 2013, after we signed him in an effort to bring unity to a team filled with stars that failed so dramatically under Manuel Pellegrini. Mourinho walked away from the team in June 2013 with his squad anything but unified and with three trophies to his name (A Copa Del Rey, a La Liga title and a Spanish Super Cup).
He created divisions amongst his players with constant claims of conspiracy and his very outspoken image in the media. During his time, he publically criticized Barcelona, UEFA and La Liga broadcasters when he needed to excuse his team's shortcomings.
However, the league title he won in 2012 was won with a record points tally of 100 and saw the team score a record 115 times in that campaign. He also led us to three Champion's League semi-finals, with the team stumbling at the round of 16 stage for all six of the seasons prior to his arrival.
Given that Mourinho's mandate was to bring a Champions League to the club (which he failed to do) and that he so epically lost the faith of his players, including his much publicized disagreements with Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos, his time at Real Madrid will surely be considered a failure, with his final season ending almost trophy less (the Supercup was won before the season even officially began).
What I can say in Mourinho's defence though, is that he built a solid foundation for our team to succeed, which we did under the much calmer, more attacking orientated Carlo Ancelotti. So his time here wasn't a complete waste and I'm grateful for seeing him in our dugout for the years he spent with us.
Do you think Jose Mourinho was a failure at Real Madrid?
