La Liga 2011-12

[destinydude]

Doing your bit to get into this years' papers too eh Shaggy?

[Shaggy]

Haha

I don't normally like Hayward but I did like that article. Completely agree with this point:

Mourinho's loss of self-control, then, was proof of an emotional inability to accept a subservient role for another year.

[Vermilion]

Under this kind of provocation Guardiola likes to play the statesman: "The images speak for themselves. We must be careful, because one day we will cause harm, not on the field but off, and we're all a little responsible for this." That was another jab in the eye for Mourinho, who has rather lost control of his own anti-hero act.

Agree with this, Guardiola is spot on.

The rivalry is getting a bit over the top since Maureen went there (and lost), no doubt had he been ruling the spanish roost, he'd just be swanning around all cool making humourous comments and playing to the press.

[Chris]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvoudp4STF0"]Mourinho kicks Cesc Fabregas CROPPED FOOTAGE - YouTube[/ame]

[RichC]

Agree with this, Guardiola is spot on.

The rivalry is getting a bit over the top since Maureen went there (and lost), no doubt had he been ruling the spanish roost, he'd just be swanning around all cool making humourous comments and playing to the press.

you wonder if we're seeing the real Mourinho, first time since he "arrived" as the special one that things have consistently gone against him.

I would think the axe's are sharpening for him already in Madrid as not only do they not tolerate a coach not winning things for long but also his behaviour will start to damage the clubs reputation.

[Gaz]

Mourinho kicks Cesc Fabregas CROPPED FOOTAGE - YouTube

As much as i hate to stand up for the guy that video doesn't show him kicking anyone

[Reece]

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez begins to lose patience with Jose Mourinho after night of shame

Jose Mourinho is facing failure for the first time in his managerial career after it emerged Real Madrid’s hierarchy are growing increasingly impatient with the endless swirl of controversy generated by the Portuguese and are prepared to end the Special One’s reign at the Bernabeu if his second season at the club does not bring tangible success.

Jose Mourinho is facing failure for the first time in his managerial career after it emerged Real Madrid’s hierarchy are growing increasingly impatient with the endless swirl of controversy generated by the Portuguese and are prepared to end the Special One’s reign at the Bernabeu if his second season at the club does not bring tangible success.
The former Chelsea manager was once more at the centre of the storm on Wednesday night as his Real side lost the Spanish Super Cup to Barcelona, a result marred by a mass brawl on the Nou Camp pitch in which the Portuguese appeared to eye-gouge the European champions’ assistant manager Tito Vilanova. Mourinho then proceeded to label his conquerors “a small club” in a frenzied outburst after the game.

Such antics have long been associated with Mourinho in his spells at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, but it is believed Real’s president Florentino Pérez is unimpressed by actions he perceives as damaging to the club’s reputation.

The notoriously implacable construction tycoon is likely to tolerate them only as long as Mourinho is successful, raising the possibility of the 48 year-old being sacked for the first time in his illustrious career should he fail to topple Pep Guardiola’s side either domestically or in Europe this season.

Though Mourinho has been under pressure to surpass Barcelona ever since he arrived at Madrid fresh from his Champions League triumph with Inter Milan last summer, the scale of Pérez’s investment — together with Real’s owner’s acquiescence to Mourinho’s wishes in terms of the structure of the club — means the Portuguese targets are now narrower than ever.

Pérez removed Jorge Valdano, Real’s long-serving and hugely respected technical director, at Mourinho’s behest this summer, affording his manager the control he craves, as well as taking his spending past £100 million in the two years the Portuguese has been in charge with the signings of Nuri Sahin, José María Callejón, Raphaël Varane and Fabio Coentrao.
Though Mourinho is under no immediate threat and Pérez remains wary of enraging a manager he fears could walk out of the club if he feels he is not being granted the support he demands, that will change should Pérez’s huge investment to a squad which already included Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and a host of Spanish internationals fail to bear fruit.

In such a climate, Mourinho’s actions on the touchline at the Nou Camp, and in front of the world’s cameras afterwards, do not help his position.

The Real Madrid manager is not expected to face any disciplinary action for his apparent altercation with Vilanova after referee David Fernández Borbalán failed to mention the incident in his match report. His players Marcelo and Mesut Özil — as well as Barcelona’s David Villa — are also not expected to be punished beyond the mandatory sanctions for their red cards.

Mourinho’s comments about the Barcelona assistant manager after the game, though, showcased the lack of respect which has so enraged the Catalan club. “I do not know who Pito is,” said the Portuguese, deliberately getting the coach’s name wrong. “I have nothing to hide. It is all on camera.” His complaints about Barcelona’s gamesmanship, too, prompted anger in Catalunya. “From the first minute of the second half there were no ball-boys, no balls. That’s something small-time teams do when then are in difficulty. I am very happy for my team after what happened in the end. What happened is somebody provoked the situation, and it certainly wasn’t a player from Real Madrid.
“I was taught that football was a game for men, not a game where you fall over at the slightest touch.” Barcelona’s reaction was typically furious, with the Catalan club’s players and officials lining up to demand that Mourinho be censured for his consistent belligerence towards a club where he worked as translator and assistant manager.
“Mourinho is destroying Spanish football,” said the defender Gerard Piqué.

“Sometimes they say it is a problem with the Catalans, but it is a problem in Madrid. Every game cannot end like that. It cannot always end well.” Guardiola, too, warned that the escalating tensions — stoked, he feels, by his Real counterpart — in clasicos are a recipe for disaster; Spanish observers have blamed Mourinho’s attempts to foster further rivalry between already bitter enemies for the lunge from Marcelo on Cesc Fabregas which triggered Wednesday’s fracas. “One day, someone will get hurt,” said the Barcelona manager.

Most worryingly for Pérez’— and therefore Mourinho — was the assessment of the respected, considered Barcelona midfielder Xavi. “Real’s image is pathetic, lamentable,” he said. “Some of what happened is regrettable. The tackle [from Marcelo on Fabregas] was criminal, animal.”

Even Real stalwarts offered Mourinho scant solace. Fernando Morientes, the club’s former striker, said he was “ashamed” to see his former team-mate Iker Casillas allege that Fabregas had dived, while Valdano himself described the brawl as “the worst way” to end a game he had seen.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/la-liga/8709951/Real-Madrid-president-Florentino-Perez-begins-to-lose-patience-with-Jose-Mourinho-after-night-of-shame.html

[Reece]

“I was taught that football was a game for men, not a game where you fall over at the slightest touch.”

Is he for real?

Such a prick.

[Darkon]

Oh the irony in that

[Shaggy]

“I was taught that football was a game for men, not a game where you fall over at the slightest touch.”

Is he for real?

Such a prick.

It's laughable

We remember this lot:



And this

[Craig_H]

Doing himself no favours, is Mourinho. Alienating more and more people and isolating himself.

[anfieldanfield]

If Madrid win the league or CL this season he will leave Madrid a hero.

[Shaggy]

If Madrid win the league or CL this season he will leave Madrid a hero.

I don't think he'll be around long enough to find out.

And if he is, he won't win either.

This mess is gonna leave a huge stain on his CV. No shame in being beaten continually by the best team ever to have played the game, but the way he's gone about it and the shame he's brought on a club like Real...it won't go away easily.

Madrid are a proud club. The great team of Di Stefano & Puskas, the Galactico's era, 9 European Cups etc. All this and now they've got a little man in charge who thinks he is bigger than the club. Unable to lose with dignity and dragging the image of Real Madrid into the gutter. They should sack him now, get back to playing the most attractive football they can play and if Barca are too good hold their hands up and say well done.

[dww]

Haha yeah, Mascherano was brilliant. Ridiculous how underrated he's become since going over there.

I think the thing is that his lack of quick passing (relative to Busquets) has meant he struggles to fit in as a DM in their system. He's still a top (maybe even a top, top) player. I guess he isn't quite the player that Arn sometimes made him out to be but he is possibly the best out and out DM in the world at the minute.

[Craig_H]

I think the thing is that his lack of quick passing (relative to Busquets) has meant he struggles to fit in as a DM in their system. He's still a top (maybe even a top, top) player. I guess he isn't quite the player that Arn sometimes made him out to be but he is possibly the best out and out DM in the world at the minute.