José Mourinho is confident Real Madrid can find a way to accommodate Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham in the same starting XI as he prepares for his second spell in charge of the Spanish giants.
Madrid’s previous coaches — Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa — faced difficulties finding the right balance between attack and defence when deploying the club’s biggest stars.
Mourinho, however, believes the trio are too talented to keep apart.
“They are incredible players and incredible players want to play with incredible players,” Mourinho told reporters.
The Portuguese coach admitted that combining the three could present tactical challenges. He pointed out that Ancelotti has created a system that suits Vinícius with Brazil, while Didier Deschamps and Thomas Tuchel have also found successful roles for Mbappé and Bellingham with France and England respectively.
“It’s harder for Mourinho to do it for the three of them,” he said. “We’re on it.”
Mourinho insisted that the players can coexist because they do not occupy completely incompatible positions.
“I want the three, when all three play, to feel comfortable on the pitch,” he said. “They are three players of great quality. They don’t play in incompatible positions. We will have a great season with them.”
But the Madrid stars have also been warned that their responsibilities will not end when the team loses possession.
“We have to defend with 11 players,” Mourinho said. “If a team is pushing us back and giving us problems in our final third, we all have to defend.”
The 63-year-old also acknowledged that managing such a star-studded squad will inevitably create frustration when players are left on the bench.
Mourinho said he expects competition for places to be intense and wants his players to respond positively when they are not selected.
“I can’t start a game with 15 players, only 11 can play,” he said. “I hope each game is difficult for me, because they keep working in the way they are working.”
For Mourinho, maintaining the right mentality will be just as important as tactical decisions.
“The day that one lowers his level because of frustration, decisions will be easy for me,” he said. “I want hard decisions. The team needs to know how to navigate moments of frustration.”
Mourinho says dressing-room tensions are over
Mourinho also played down concerns over a reported dispute between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde during the previous campaign.
The coach said he had chosen to start his tenure without dwelling on past incidents and believes the relationship between the two players is now completely normal.
“I’ve decided to start from zero,” Mourinho said.
He added that there was no need for him to intervene between the pair, saying their current relationship appeared to be one of “normality” and “friendship”.
As he prepares to return to the Real Madrid dugout, Mourinho said he does not feel weighed down by pressure.
“I wouldn’t call it pressure, I’d call it adrenaline,” he said. “It’s a positive feeling. The day I don’t feel it, something’s not right.”
