Real Madrid made one of the biggest moves any club could make in a summer transfer window right at the beginning of it, hiring legendary manager Jose Mourinho to run it back. Florentino Perez has been a huge fan of Mourinho for what he did in saving Real from years of the doldrums and setting the stage for the six Champions League titles they would win later in the 2010s and 2020s - and now Mou is the one who wants to win the Champions League for his own.
One of the biggest reasons why Mourinho was hired by Perez was to relate to the superstars, get them to have a winning mentality, and get them to work together on the same page, as that was a huge reason why Real Madrid did not achieve all that they could in 2025/26.
But there was another, tactical reason. Real Madrid did not play the way they usually do, and the way their players do when they are at their best. And they were at their worst, in particular, when Xabi Alonso tried to impose a slow, pedantic possession based system that neutered the club's best players, especially Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Junior.
Real Madrid need to go back to basics
The idea of Jose Mourinho as a defensive coach is a huge myth. He is far more than that. Mourinho broke a La Liga record for the most goals in a single season at Real Madrid with a ruthless, counterattacking system, turning Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain, and Cristiano Ronaldo into monsters like never before.
Mourinho has to run that back, too, with Real Madrid. Vinicius, Jude, Fede, and even Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe all thrive much more in this kind of a quick attacking system with early balls, explosive runs off the ball, and quick passes. Space is greater than possession, because possession is the lowest form of manufacturing space and even less effective in 2026 in La Liga than ever before - even Barcelona have divested from that form of football under Hansi Flick.
Real Madrid have to go back to the way they played when they were at their best, and there is no manager better equipped to bring that swagger and tactical style back than Mourinho. With the personnel they have, it could be the big change that brings the silverware back to the Spanish capital in 2027.
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