If benching Iker Casillas only for fortune to take a different turn wasn’t enough, Jose Mourinho probably made it even harder to see him as Real Madrid manager next season by skipping the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala event.
Florentino Perez, the president of the club, is getting close to the edge of his patience with the Portuguese manager, who’s actually doing everything in his power, or at least it looks that way, to get himself fired or at least piss off everyone he can while doing things no one ever thought can be done.
Perez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo all represented the club in what was a crowning night for Spanish football and the La Liga, with all 11 players in the FIFA XI for 2012 came from the league, including the top 3 players in the world, competing for the Ballon d’Or which eventually went to Lionel Messi.
Jose Mourinho was supposed to be a part of the event as a candidate for the FIFA head coach of the year, next to Pep Guardiola and Vicente Del Bosque. Mourinho, trying to prove whatever it is he’s trying to prove, announced he won’t be coming because he has a match to prepare to.
That didn’t go down to well with certain Madrid and Spanish papers, especially AS, who has put an image of Mourinho going to watch his son in Canillas playing football, which apparently isn’t a good enough way to pass your time according to the paper and plenty of Real Madrid supporters while there’s somewhat of an obligation to the club he has to fulfill.
Mourinho doesn’t care, and while Perez and the rest of the ‘Madridistas’ think that being manager of Real Madrid is a great privilege and is supposed to be performed with dignity and honor, not to mention success, for Jose Mourinho it’s exactly the other way around. It’s the club that is fortunate that Mourinho chose to take the job and also accept so much of their money.
With two opposing views like these, only titles can breach the gulf. Alas, Mourinho is likely to end his three year tenure with the club carrying only one La Liga trophy, not enough in Real Madrid terms. How he performs in the Champions League this season, meaning a trophy or nothing (that’s is how things are viewed in Madrid) will determine if his legacy in the club is that of a complete failure or partial success.