Mourinho Discusses Ballon d'Or and Real Madrid Squad Strength
Jose Mourinho did not sit down on Friday to talk about Málaga. Not at first, anyway.
Before Real Madrid’s coach could even get into team news ahead of Sunday’s clash, the old debate dropped on the table: the Ballon d’Or. Mourinho leaned into it, and his answer cut straight through the usual noise.
“For me, the Ballon d’Or has to go to those players who, when they retire, we miss forever,” he said. “I miss Maradona, Nazario, Messi, Zidane, Matthäus… You can't give the Ballon d'Or just because they won the Champions League or the World Cup.”
He was only warming up.
“If you want to reward the Champions League, give the Ballon d'Or to Luis Enrique. For Spain, De La Fuente certainly deserves it. This is the great tribute. Another thing is the best in the world; it doesn't have to be from PSG or Spain. There are two, three, or four, and we know who they are. We know where they are — here. We know who has made history individually this summer.”
Then came the sting.
“The Ballon d'Or has politics, and if politics gets involved, I don't like it so much. We already know my concept of the Ballon d'Or. We're not going to invent it in Spain or at PSG. There, it's Luis Enrique or De La Fuente. The best player is someone else.”
Squad choices and internal competition
Once the awards talk faded, Mourinho moved onto what actually affects him this weekend. His squad, he insisted, is strong enough to absorb uneven pre-seasons and delayed starts.
“There are players who, I keep saying, have had different preseason experiences. We have a strong squad with solutions to compensate for these issues,” he explained.
Then he dropped a concrete example.
“Tomorrow, Cucurella starts, and Álvaro, who played well against Espanyol and Real Sociedad, will be on the bench. If Cucurella runs out of steam, we have Álvaro to come on. It's the kind of solution a squad like this provides a coach.”
No drama. Just rotation with a clear logic.
The ‘concentration’ Mourinho really wants
Talk turned to how much time the group is spending together, sleeping at Valdebebas or in hotels before games. Mourinho cut that down quickly. For him, the only concentration that matters is mental.
“There are two kinds of concentration. The one you're talking about, being together, sleeping in a hotel, in Valdebebas… The one I'm interested in is the one here,” he said, pointing to his head.
“It has nothing to do with sleeping in a hotel, it's here. Sometimes I think, and it saddens me, that all you see is warm-ups and rondo drills. In my other job, there's a lot of concentration. This is what interests me.”
He revealed that the group will not be staying over as a whole.
“Sleeping or not sleeping, it depends. We're not sleeping today. The players are together. We have a tactical meeting now, we're eating together. We'll be together a little longer and then we'll see each other in the morning. Espi, Cucurella, and I are sleeping here. The rest are going home.”
Diomande’s delayed start
On Yan Diomande, Mourinho refused to get dragged into individual criticism but still laid out the context.
“I'm not going to say anything more about individual players. Diomande arrived late and had a difficult summer because of the decision. He didn't train with Leipzig; when he arrived, he didn't have a foundation to work with, and he's progressing gradually.”
The plan is simple: minutes and patience.
“He's already had playing time, which is what he needs to develop. Tomorrow he'll either start or come on as a substitute. He's getting more and more ready.”
Bellingham, and the stars who make a coach “look like a phenomenon”
When Jude Bellingham’s name came up, Mourinho’s answer was immediate.
“He's unique. Super important for the team. He has different talents: physical, mental, tactical, ball recovery, his goal-scoring ability, his aerial game. He's impressive.”
He admitted he enjoys talking about his headline acts.
“I really like talking about Kylian, Vini, Jude. I understand the questions. But I'm very happy with everyone. As I said, here we only have great players and truly great players.”
Still, he circled back to the collective.
“The team has to function as a team. Real Madrid fans go to the Bernabéu to see these exceptional players, but they also go to see a team play as a team, suffer as a team, face difficulties as a team, and dominate as a team. I'm the coach of that team, and I really like the players I have.”
That theme carried into his description of the attackers’ freedom.
“When you have players of incredible quality, they make the coach look like a phenomenon. They do things that go beyond the everyday routine. We work on defense and attack. Today, the entire 45 minutes of training were dedicated to offensive organization. We worked on tactical formations and movement.”
The structure is non-negotiable; the rest belongs to them.
“When things get tough, they win matches. We have to give them space for creativity and for their ability to make decisions. We have to be organized. We're improving in that area.”
Castilla, Thiago Pitarch and the next step
Mourinho also took time to praise the work done with Castilla, and in particular by Arbeloa.
“Arbeloa has done a fantastic job in defense. Up front, the situation is different, and it hasn't been easy. He's done a fantastic job with the players. There isn't a single Castilla player I don't like.”
One name, though, has clearly outgrown that level.
“Thiago has shown he's no longer fit for the Castilla division. I like him a lot. He's part of this group of 21 players. We have Ciria, Cestero, and two goalkeepers on the bench because we don't have many options. When he's fit, he'll be part of the group and will get playing time.”
Then came a typically blunt Mourinho line.
“I tell him his leg muscles are the same as mine, and he needs to put on a couple of kilos through hard work.”
Endrick, Tchouameni and the injury timeline
On the fitness front, there was cautious optimism about Endrick, and a more guarded tone around Tchouameni.
[Endrick] is the closest to returning. I don't want to take any risks with Betis. Like I said, he could be ready for Betis or for the first Champions League match.
The French midfielder is a different case.
“The other situations are more complicated. With Tchouameni, we have to keep our emotions in check. I don't want him to be in and out, in and out again. I don't want to start the season in August with a situation like this. I hope to have Tchouameni fit again, and I prefer to wait a little longer.”
International break fears
Mourinho did not hide his unease about the looming international window.
“International matches worry me. It's a long time. I'm less concerned about players who go with their national teams to play than those who are selected but don't play. Those are the ones I worry about the most.”
His relationship with Carlo Ancelotti gives him some comfort.
“My relationship with Carlo means I'm aware of the situation, and we'll exchange information. With Carlo, it won't be a problem. With others, where we don't have this level of trust, having players away for three weeks is very complicated.”
He knows the pattern all too well.
“We're going to have faith in the professionalism of those coaches, in the respect they have for the players and the clubs. I don't want to dramatize it. Often, there are injuries while on international duty, and then when they return to their clubs, they lose the balance of the work they'd been doing for weeks, and then the injury happens. It is what it is, and there's nothing we can do about it.”
Managing egos, managing tactics
Asked whether handling the group is harder than the tactical side, Mourinho shrugged off the idea of difficulty altogether.
“I don't feel that anything is difficult. I see it as natural. Problems are a natural part of life. We haven't had our first problem yet, but it's going to come. Whether it's tactical or related to team management, it's normal for it to happen. You have to see it as a natural occurrence and manage it as a natural one.”
The line was delivered without tension. Just expectation.
Respect for Ancelotti, and a word on leaks
When Carlo Ancelotti’s name came up, Mourinho was brief but emphatic.
“Ancelotti is a great man in every way. He doesn't have a weak point. He's a great man at every level.”
Finally, on the possibility of his starting XI leaking early, he drew a clear distinction between minor information and real tactical surprises.
“If we go into tomorrow's match and the opposition doesn't know our lineup until an hour and a half before kickoff, I prefer that. But if our lineup starts today, it's not a big deal.”
What would worry him is something more radical being exposed.
“The worrying thing is when you make a lot of structural changes. If we played with three centre-backs, with Espi and Kylian together. If we do something that's outside of what the Málaga manager might expect, then yes, it's a concern. But the difference between Carreras and Cucurella isn't a big deal.”
Then came one last detail that revealed the mood in the dressing room.
“The positive feeling about him not starting is that nobody has spoken about it. Not the players, not the kit men, not the doctors… But if he does start, it's not a big deal.”
The message before Málaga was clear: the noise can swirl around Ballon d’Or politics, leaks, and international breaks. Inside Mourinho’s Madrid, the work, the hierarchy and the expectations are already set.
