Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s confounded expression upon hearing that veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas had been dropped for Saturday’s game against Malaga showed just how far manager Jose Mourinho has gone in his quest to exert control over the club.Mourinho may have finally gone too far.
After waves of criticism from fans and players alike as Madrid slumped to a 3-2 loss in the game, the question arises whether Perez has reached the limits of his support for the often successful yet equally abrasive Mourinho.
“Mourinho has his particular way of dealing with his squad,” former Madrid player and manager Jorge Valdano said. “But this was him doubling down. It was an exhibition of power. It was him imposing his decision on a club legend.”
Photo: Reuters
Mourinho did not announce his decision to drop Casillas — highly respected both in Spain and abroad for his decade of quality service in Madrid’s net — for the little-used Adan Garrido until minutes before the game.
The move backfired in the second half when Malaga scored on the inexperienced Adan three times to deal Madrid another loss that left it flagging 16 points adrift of Spanish leader Barcelona and its league title defense hopes shattered.
Mourinho said that he had picked Adan because he was “in better form” than Casillas.
That argument was far from convincing to fans and players past and present.
A fan poll published on Monday by Spanish sports daily Marca indicates that most of Madrid’s fans want Mourinho out. Eighty-two percent of the almost 100,000 participants in the online poll voted “yes” to the question “Should Real Madrid fire Mourinho?”
“Iker doesn’t need to be punished to play better,” said former Madrid goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez, an old teammate of Casillas. “This only brings to a boil the atmosphere of conflict that Madrid already has.”
Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said after the match that he was “surprised” by the decision.
Casillas told La Sexta television on Sunday that he felt fine and that Mourinho had not told him why he had been benched.
“I’m not used to being a backup,” Casillas said. “But the team is above any player. I have to keep training and try to win back my place in the starting lineup.”
Since arriving at Madrid three seasons ago, Mourinho has won a Spanish league title this year and a Copa del Rey a year earlier.
However, he has also ruffled the feathers of more than one of Madrid’s purist fans, as well as dispatching several perceived enemies within the club.
Casillas, the captain of Madrid and Spain’s world and two-time European championship national team, was always seen as untouchable.
The 31-year-old goalkeeper is the most revered member of Madrid’s squad. Many fans see him as the last link to the winning days of the “Galaticos” of David Beckham, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane and to the prior golden era of beloved forward Raul Gonzalez and Vicente del Bosque, the club’s ultimate “gentleman” manager.
Two weeks ago, Perez called Casillas “a legendary captain of Real Madrid.”
“He is one of the great captains in the history of this club,” Perez said. “He shows that above and beyond winning titles, he knows how to interpret this institution.”
Therein lies the potential problem for Mourinho.
Perez had not been informed of Casillas’ exclusion when a journalist for Canal Plus television showed him the lineup minutes before the game. The 65-year-old club president, who in his 10 years has made Madrid one of the world’s richest teams, raised his glasses as if to get a better look at the player list and then, apparently stunned, turned away.
Perez has been Mourinho’s biggest backer.
He has defended the Portuguese manager every time he has been questioned by the sector of Madrid’s fans who interpret that his aggressive style goes against the club’s proud tradition of always behaving in a “noble” manner. Perez did not flinch even when Mourinho poked Barcelona’s then-assistant and now head manager, Tito Vilanova, in the eye during a melee between the archrivals.
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