It's not me, it's you! Mourinho and Valdano rub each other..
-
It's not me, it's you! Jose Mourinho and Jorge Valdano rub each other the wrong way - but they'll carry on as long as Real get it right
THE GAME IN SPAIN
Dream team can be a Real nightmare: Mourinho (left) and Madrid director general Valdano look happy to be together
It was the most uncomfortable of Christmas lunches that Jose Mourinho shared with Jorge Valdano this week, but on Wednesday night the Real Madrid coach said he was prepared to stomach their uneasy relationship because the differences were philosophical and not 'personal' as they had been in his last days at Chelsea.
The Real Madrid coach and his director general sat down to a lobster salad, crab sticks wrapped in crispy bacon, and pheasant served with glazed spring onions on Monday but there was not so much as a 'pass the salt' between them and this week a newspaper poll of 14,000 fans in Madrid had 70 per cent saying they believed the pair were completely incompatible.
But Real thrashed an awful Levante side 8-0 in their last game of the year and Mourinho denied there was ill-feeling citing the arrival of two people at Chelsea during his time at Stamford Bridge as the reason he left the club.
'There is no problem on a personal level with anyone,' said Mourinho. 'That is the most important thing. That is what happened at Chelsea; everything was going well and we were making history but two people arrived who I had no personal relationship with and shortly afterwards I was out.'
The beginning of the end for Mourinho at Chelsea was marked by the arrival of sporting director Frank Arnesen and owner Roman Abramovich's advisor Piet de Visser.
At Madrid his relationship with Valdano has been uneasy since day one when Valdano had to apologise for describing the football Mourinho's Chelsea served up as 's**t on a stick'.
The fragile peace was then disturbed by Mourinho's insistence that the club sign a striker in pre-season. Valdano, who had brought Karem Benzema the previous year, vetoed the request.
Now with Gonzalo Higuain injured Mourinho wants Werder Bremen's Portugal international Hugo Almeida but he has been told the signing would destroy Benzema who bagged a confidence-boosting hat-trick against Levante and that he should concentrate on news of Kaka's return.
Mourinho remains sceptical that after knee surgery in August the Brazilian can contribute much this season. Valdano – also responsible for signing Kaka – begs to differ.
President Florentino Perez is well aware of his coach's gripes because he is given regular dossiers on the team's progress by Mourinho who likes to bypass Valdano at every opportunity.
Apart from wanting another striker Mourinho wants Valdano to stop undermining his authority.
Recently he congratulated Sergio Ramos for giving a press conference that Mourinho had specifically told him not to.
The defender was sent off in the Clasico and wanted to defend himself publicly the following day. Mourinho recommended a low-profile. Ramos ignored the advice and was given a pat on the back by Valdano.
Mourinho is also unhappy that during the traditional lunch between the club's four captains and the president and vice president only the Spanish captains Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas were invited with Brazilian full-back Marcelo and Mali midfielder Mohamadou Diarra excluded.
Hammered: Things went according to plan on the pitch on Wednesday as Real Madrid beat Levante 8-0
He is upset that another one of his trusted lieutenants, Pepe has not been given a new contract and that the club has leaked false accusations claiming he is demanding £5.1m a year.
He wants to be defended when he goes to war with other coaches; he wants the undersoil heating at the club's Valdebebas training ground to work properly; he even wants his backroom staff to be given the same Christmas gift by the club – a 3D television – as he and his players have received.
But he also knows his desire to control everything is matched by his president's desire to divide and rule.
Perez may have parked himself next to Mourinho for the lunch but he was right by Valdano's side 24 hours later when he described him as the 'spokesman who best represents the image of the club'.
'I'm not interested in image,' said Mourinho last night, which is precisely why smooth-talking Valdano will continue to work alongside him.
The club's image that was literally on the floor last weekend when at half-time in the win over Sevilla, a brawl broke out on the touchline as Mourinho's goalkeeping coach, Silvino Louro inadvertently pushed 75-year-old club delegate Agustin Herrerin to the ground in a bid to get to the opposing dug-out.
Louro should not even have been on the bench because of league restrictions about coaching staff numbers and was there in the guise of one of Madrid's medical team. It was another case of Mourinho bending the rules.
Jorge is the acceptable face of Jose's at times Wild West approach to management. The Argentine has the Madrid press on-side.
They want Mourinho for his knack of landing big trophies but they don't care much for his manners.
One respected commentator said this week that Mourinho's idea of how the club should be is 'not Madrid, never was and never should be'.
They will go on backing sheriff Valdano to keep the renegade in check. And Mourinho, as long as it doesn't get personal, will go on accepting it… for now.
GIMME FIVE
The five-fingered salute is currently more offensive to Real Madrid fans than just about any hand signal.
Gerard Pique raised his hand to supporters in Barcelona's 5-0 clasico win with an outstretched finger for each of the goals and the Sevilla bench taunted Real Madrid's coaching staff with the same sign last weekend.
So imagine the bittersweet moment for Iker Casillas (right) when he had to parade the trophy for the World's best goalkeeper of 2010 to his home crowd – a big outstretched golden hand with all five digits raised proudly to the sky