La Liga 2011-12

[Muddled]

It's his ego that has got him in to this mess in more ways than one.

I think he was getting annoyed with the 'guaranteed success' label that was thrown to him at Chelsea and Inter Milan and wanted to be known as the special one that stopped the mighty Barcelona.

It's kinda backfired, hence the frustration.

[anfieldanfield]

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.

He'll last the season Shaggy, defo.

And, based on his history of guaranteed success, it's quite bold to say he won win anything. He came pretty ****ing close to Barcelona last season and it looks to me like he has dragged his squad even closer this time around.

Did you watch the supercup ? Over two legs there really wasn't an awful lot in the quality of the two sides.

His behaviour is obviously pretty outrageous a lot of the time, but anything, anything can be forgiven with trophies.

Everyone else might hate him, but if he lifts the league or CL this year (and I for one think he will) then he'll be a hero in Madrid.

[Shaggy]

How can he have a history of guaranteed success when he won nothing of note last season? I know he won the Spanish Cup but ask 100% of Real fans was last season "a success" and 100% would answer 'no'.

I did watch the games and no there wasn't much in it. Thing is I suspect Real can't improve a great deal on that while Barca, who are still undercooked, have lots of improvement left in them.

And I didn't think he got particularly close last season. It ended up four points but Barca were top from November all the way til the end, had it wrapped up in about January and took four points out of six from Real, beating them 5-0 at home.

[anfieldanfield]

How can he have a history of guaranteed success when he won nothing of note last season? I know he won the Spanish Cup but ask 100% of Real fans was last season "a success" and 100% would answer 'no'.

I did watch the games and no there wasn't much in it. Thing is I suspect Real can't improve a great deal on that while Barca, who are still undercooked, have lots of improvement left in them.

And I didn't think he got particularly close last season. It ended up four points but Barca were top from November all the way til the end, had it wrapped up in about January and took four points out of six from Real, beating them 5-0 at home.

The Copa del Rey is still a trophy. In his first season. He took Madrid to the semi's of the CL, futher than they've been in years, and if Pepe hadn't been harshly sent off could well have got past Barcelona.

Barcelona play beautiful football but I like the fact that Madrid are stronger this year. It makes it more interesting.

I think they'll win something big.

[Shaggy]

It's a trophy but he certainly didn't guarantee success for Real Madrid last season. Their season was another failure. Indeed Pellegrini made a better fist of the league campaign the year before.

[anfieldanfield]

How can he have a history of guaranteed success when he won nothing of note last season?

In the past 10 seasons with 4 different clubs in 4 different countries he has won....

6 Domestic Titles
5 Domestic Cups (And that's not including Charity Shield/Supercups!)
2 Champions Leagues
1 UEFA Cup

Whatever you think of Mourinho, in the past decade he has been the most successful manager in the game, by a distance. His success has been simply staggering.

[Shaggy]

I'm not questioning his CV or doubting his capabilities. He's a great manager. He just doesn't guarantee success as last season proves. No manager guarantees success. No sane person would ever claim last season was a success for Real Madrid.

[anfieldanfield]

It's a trophy but he certainly didn't guarantee success for Real Madrid last season. Their season was another failure. Indeed Pellegrini made a better fist of the league campaign the year before.

I spent a few months in Spain recently and I can tell you that everyone hates him, except Madrid fans, who love him.

Which is what happens wherever he goes. It's part of the package and part of his success.

[Shaggy]

I was also in Spain recently and I met two match-going Real Madrid fans who ****ing hate him.

[dww]

That is a different argument though isn't it. Last season he had the most expensive squad in the history of the game (some would argue man for man the most talented squad too) and still finished second in the league and was beaten by Barcelona in the CL. Those are the only too metrics you can measure success by at Real. Any other manager there would have been sacked by them this summer. His previous record has insulated him from that but his failure last season shows that even with extravagant backing he does not guarantee success (although that may be because of the fact that doing so is impossible).

[CJ]

I spent a few months in Spain recently and I can tell you that everyone hates him, except Madrid fans, who love him.

Which is what happens wherever he goes. It's part of the package and part of his success.

the success he has not had a madrid?

when winning is all that matters, what happens when you dont

[anfieldanfield]

I'm not questioning his CV or doubting his capabilities. He's a great manager. He just doesn't guarantee success as last season proves. No manager guarantees success. No sane person would ever claim last season was a success for Real Madrid.

Ok, it depends how you define success.

He guarantees trophies, I should say.

[Shaggy]

That is a different argument though isn't it. Last season he had the most expensive squad in the history of the game (some would argue man for man the most talented squad too) and still finished second in the league and was beaten by Barcelona in the CL. Those are the only too metrics you can measure success by at Real. Any other manager there would have been sacked by them this summer. His previous record has insulated him from that but his failure last season shows that even with extravagant backing he does not guarantee success (although that may be because of the fact that doing so is impossible).

[dww]

I was also in Spain recently and I met two match-going Real Madrid fans who ****ing hate him.

Once again I am amazed by fans ability to think independently and not form some sort of hive mind.

[anfieldanfield]

I was also in Spain recently and I met two match-going Real Madrid fans who ****ing hate him.

Minority