This summer is going to be a summer of change at Real Madrid. With both player departures and arrivals, as well as the expected arrival of Jose Mourinho things are going to be looking very different once the 26/27 season gets under way in August. However we all know the saying as much as things change they stay the same, and for Real Madrid that looks to be the case for one staff member in particular who is expected to stay on Jose Mourinho's staff, a decision that leaves fans shaking their heads .
As being reported by theMadridZone on X, Jose Mourinho will keep long time Real Madrid fitness coach Antonio Pintus on his coaching staff when he returns to the Bernabeu ahead of next season. Mourinho is said to be bringing his own fitness coach as well, but will also be keeping Pintus as it was the request of Florentino Perez, a request which Mourinho has excepted.
Madridistas shaking their heads at this Jose Mourniho decision
For those unfamiliar with Antonio Pintus he has been a key figure on Real Madrid coaching staffs since 2016. He's served as the main conditioning coach from 2016-2019 before leaving for a few years and then returning in 2021 under Carlo Ancelotti and has been at the club ever since. His role was briefly changed from conditioning coach to performance manager under Xabi Alonso, before returing to the conditioning coach after Alonso's sacking.
The 63-year-old is somewhat of a polarizing figure at Los Blancos when it comes to his his methods and training regiments. While he was celebrated as the miracle worker behind the Champions League three-peat and recent double winning seasons under Carlo Ancelotti, his intense training methods have been tied to the major spike in injuries and fatigue we have seen in the Real Madrid players in the recent years.
His extremely high intensity conditioning mixed with the ever growing busy schedule is the perfect storm leading to the amount of injuries we have seen in the last few years. Real have seen six torn ACL's in the last three years, as well as over 50 muscle and joint injuries in just the 24/25 season alone and that has carried over into this season. Xabi Alonso realized this and decided to make a change, moving Pintus from his day-to-day first-team pitch duties to a more corporate head-of-performance role overseeing the academy and various coaching branches. This frustrated Florentino Perez as he has always been a long-time backer of Pintus, which no doubt played a role in Alonso's sacking.
Since Alonso's departure Pintus has returned to his old role and we've once agian seen a spike in injuries but Florentino Perez continues to ignore it and with Mourinho excepting his request to keep Pintus plus the shortened offseason this summer because of the World Cup, and we are sure to see even more injuries during the 26/27 season.
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