Alvaro Arbeloa: Jose Mourinho Treated Real Madrid Stars The Same As Academy Players
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa spoke to the International Business Times and revealed how ex-manager Jose Mourinho would treat Real Madrid’s superstars just like the academy players. Basically he would treat everyone equally which may have rubbed some players the wrong especially the ones that expect special treatment. Alvaro Arbeloa on Jose Mourinho’s man management style:
"“We realised who Mou was one day in the preseason. The Spaniards were just coming off their World Cup win and we met up in Los Angeles. There we played a game against the Galaxy and at half-time we were losing 2-0. The screams that came from that mouth! At everyone, no one was spared. We learned very quickly who Mou really was. You could’ve never imagined Pellegrini yelling like that at Cristiano. We remember that chat vividly. He said: ‘You don’t want to run? It’s not a problem for me: to the bench. You neither? It’s not a problem for me: out. Whoever it was: a World Cup champion, I’ll put in Kaka or a youth player’.”"
Arbeloa also spoke about the falling out between Mourinho and the Real Madrid players and what ended their relationship:
"“Mourinho’s relationship with some of the players had deteriorated quite a bit [by the time Real lost 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last season]. But we were professional enough to not allow it to affect us on the pitch. We lost La Liga first, then the Copa del Rey and then the semi-finals of the Champions League. The 4-1 loss was the straw that broke the camel’s back, that was it. There was no coming back from that, good or bad.”"
It is no secret that things went very wrong for Mourinho in his last year at Real Madrid but Arbeloa revealed that it was not because he favored certain players over others, just that he treated all of them the same. Some players need special treatment to give their all for the manager and while Mourinho develops special relationships with his players, it is not because he gave them special treatment.
Mourinho inspires a rare sort of loyalty in this generation of footballers and it is a shame that it did not work for him in Madrid but he is back where he belongs now and he will thrive once again at Stamford Bridge.
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