Mourinho is back at Real Madrid. But his football isn’t

José Mourinho has returned to Real Madrid years after his first spell, but the early signs suggest that the old version of Mourinho did not come back with him.

According to Cadena SER, the Portuguese coach is building a much more flexible Real Madrid during preseason. One of the clearest examples is Bernardo Silva being considered as a second central midfielder alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni — a setup the Spanish outlet argues would have been almost unthinkable during Mourinho’s first spell at the club. 

Arda Güler is another important part of the experiment. The Turkish midfielder has been used in a deeper role, receiving more responsibility in the buildup and allowing Madrid to put more technically gifted players in central areas instead of relying mainly on physicality. 

And this is not just a theory coming from a radio studio.

Against Deportivo, Bernardo started in midfield alongside Camavinga and Güler. Mourinho himself later explained that preseason has been used to test different structures, roles and combinations rather than simply chase friendly results. 

That is probably the most interesting part of Mourinho’s return.

He came back to Madrid with the reputation of a coach from another footballing era. So far, however, he appears to be doing the opposite of what many expected: instead of forcing this Real Madrid squad to play like his 2012 team, Mourinho is adapting his own ideas to the players available.

Bernardo deeper. Güler helping dictate play. More technical quality in midfield.

Apparently people really can change.

Even José Mourinho.