Rifts, cliques? Real Madrid players fire back at Mourinho
Real Madrid went into yesterday's win over Athletic Bilbao with reports of a massive blow-up between coach Jose Mourinho and the players.
Marca says Mourinho addressed his squad on Friday and accused some of "killing me in the mixed zone" after their Copa defeat to Barcelona.
The Spanish members of the squad took issue with the accusations, particularly when Mourinho threatened to ban them from speaking to the media before the Athletic match.
But another piped up, saying: "You are angry with Iker (Casillas) for apologising to Xavi, yet what Pepe did in the video yesterday there is nothing, mister?"
Sergio Ramos is said to have lost his cool with Mourinho after discussions over Barca's goals last week. It took some teammates to calm the Spaniard down.
After yesterday's game, however, Casillas insisted: "We can't start losing our minds and pointing the finger at each other. Whistles are really aimed at all of us. We must all be united, team and fans alike. That's the way to earn good results. We must all row in the same direction if we want to celebrate winning the league title. I don't have a bad relationship with any of my teammates. You'll have to ask Marca about what they publish. I have nothing against it, but you'll have to ask them about today's article. We're not here to say if it is or isn't true. We shouldn't get dragged into this.""Sure, mister, we won't talk to the press, you can do it," said one, tired of the demands from the coach.
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat May 12th | |||
| Real Sociedad | Valencia | 18:00 | |
| Real Betis | Barcelona | 2 - 2 | 20:00 |
| Sun May 13th | |||
| Levante | Athletic Club | 18:00 | |
| Racing Santander | Osasuna | 2 - 4 | 18:00 |
| Real Madrid | Mallorca | 4 - 1 | 18:00 |
| Málaga | Sporting Gijón | 18:00 | |
| Rayo Vallecano | Granada | 18:00 | |
| Villarreal | Atlético Madrid | - 1 | 18:00 |
| Getafe | Real Zaragoza | - 2 | 18:00 |
| Espanyol | Sevilla | 1 - 1 | 18:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 38 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 89 | 100 |
| Barcelona | 38 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 85 | 91 |
| Valencia | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 61 |
| Malaga | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 58 |
| Atletico Madrid | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 56 |
| Levante | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 4 | 55 |
| Osasuna | 38 | 13 | 15 | 10 | -17 | 54 |
| Mallorca | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | -4 | 52 |
| Sevilla | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 50 |
| Athletic Club | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | -3 | 49 |
| Getafe | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -11 | 47 |
| Real Sociedad | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | -6 | 47 |
| Real Betis | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -9 | 47 |
| Espanyol | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | -10 | 46 |
| Rayo Vallecano | 38 | 13 | 4 | 21 | -20 | 43 |
| Real Zaragoza | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | -25 | 43 |
| Granada | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | -21 | 42 |
| Villarreal | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | -14 | 41 |
| Sporting Gijon | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | -27 | 37 |
| Racing Santander | 38 | 4 | 15 | 19 | -35 | 27 |
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Comments (9)
Upfront I should say I am a Barca fan. That said I have always had great respect for Real Madrid. The way they have tried to play great, attacking football and yet done so with a sense of fair play and respect has made them one of the great clubs in the world. That's all changing though isn't it? The Real I respect is the 'old' Real of Casillas and Ramos not the new Real of Mourinho and his 'disciples' Ronaldo, Marcello, di Maria and Pepe. It's been a while since I have seen such a group of whinging, cheating and arrogant players come together at the same club. It would seem that far from this group being in any way 'out of control' that in fact they take their lead from Mourinho. His antics and outbursts have consigned this once great club to something of a joke. Or it would be a joke if it was in any way funny! How can Real, or any club, believe it's a good thing to have a manager who:
'pinches' opposition assistant coaches on the face,
claims their is a conspiracy in world football because he has just lost to a side with Unicef on their shirts,
excuses his own tactical deficiencies by a claim that some of his own players (the Spanish ones)are 'protected' because they were part of a world cup winning team,
brings in mostly players 'connected' with with his own agent/company.
Wake up Real, a great reputation built over many years is going downhill rapidly. Real may well win La Liga and the Champions League this season and while that may satisfy the 'Ultras' their could, in the end, be a price to pay that will negatively affect the club for years to come.
this has all stemmed from real madrid being a team of individuals.....there a reason it has not happened at other clubs, this is because the team have respected the manager and stood behind him, not thought so highly of themselves that they question the manager's decisions and authority....this is sadly why barcelona will continue to dominate the spanish league and win this year again, because Real Madrid as a club do not stand by their managers..you can not say that Fabio Capello is anything but a top manager, yet after doing well he went the same way as all managers do, replaced because the club always makes the manager 'scape goat for it's own downfalls
p.s to the comment about english Premier League being technically inferior to Spain...I say so what, technicality doesn't make a great league...this is why players like rooney, drogba, and any strong, fast player with technical ability would take the Spanish league by storm, because spanish defenders are slower and weaker than the EPL where play is more physical, fast paced and demanding..which is why Messi does well in domestic football but not internationally, because he gets given time in Spain but internationally he gets outmuscled, closed down, he should join the England international team being equally as unimpressive as they could be on the international stage
Mourinho is a loser that simply can't cut it in Spain.He should go back to his beloved,but technically inferior,England!
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