Jose Mourinho has begun imposing his principles at Real Madrid after spending more than a month at the club’s Valdebebas training centre, with discipline, hard work and responsibility at the heart of his efforts to change the dressing-room culture.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, the Portuguese manager has held meetings with the team’s captains and spoken individually to most of the players who have visited his office. He is laying the foundations for what he considers a new internal culture, which he believes is essential if Real Madrid are to achieve their objectives this season.
The timing of Mourinho’s Netflix documentary has also attracted attention. Marca says the documentary offers an insight into the manager’s personality and his approach to managing a dressing room – the same mentality he is now attempting to bring to Real Madrid.
The newspaper revisited Mourinho’s account of his previous spell at the club, particularly his relationship with then-captain Iker Casillas.
Mourinho recalled that, during his first meetings with Casillas, some of the requests made to him concerned holidays, training times and the way the team’s camps were organised.
In the documentary, Mourinho says: “In a short time I realised they were spoiled.”
Marca regards that episode as an indication of one of the principles Mourinho wants to reinforce during his current tenure: the dressing room must understand the limits of its privileges, while the relationship between the manager and his players should be built on responsibility from both sides.
The report says Mourinho is seeking to prevent a repeat of the internal problems that emerged during last season, while also removing habits that have become established within the team over a number of years.
He believes the best way to achieve that is to establish clear rules from the outset. Players must know what the coaching staff expects from them and which standards they are required to meet both on and off the pitch.
One of the clearest signs of Mourinho’s approach at Valdebebas is his determination to arrive at the training ground before everyone else.
The manager does not regard his early arrival as a simple display of discipline. Instead, he uses the time to observe small details around the squad, including which players arrive early, who is late and whether anyone appears tired or unfocused.
According to Marca, Mourinho’s attention to detail begins from the moment the players reach the training centre. Before a session has even started, he studies their state of mind, the way they arrive and their attitude towards the day’s work. In his view, these seemingly minor details can later affect the atmosphere inside the dressing room.
Once the players move on to the pitch, Mourinho displays the familiar character for which he is known. He focuses closely on each exercise and every movement, intervening when he believes a detail needs to be corrected.
Real Madrid’s players have already begun to experience that side of their manager during the first weeks of his work.
Mourinho’s official public appearance reinforced the methods he had started introducing at Valdebebas. At a special event attended by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, he described his return to the club as a “mission” and emphasised the importance of restoring a culture based on hard work, responsibility and ambition.
Addressing the Real Madrid players directly, Mourinho said: “I am one of you, and I always have been.”
According to Marca, the message being delivered inside Valdebebas is unmistakable. Mourinho wants to create a different dressing room, one that is not built on privileges or favouritism but on complete commitment to the team’s rules.
After only a month in charge, the Portuguese manager has already begun to impose a philosophy centred on work, respect and responsibility – and, above all, on making clear that there will be no room for being spoiled.
