Ex-Real Madrid Star Iker Casillas Says His Relationship With José Mourinho Was ‘Like a Girlfriend’
Current Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho has split opinion over his time in the game. The Portuguese great, nicknamed the 'Special One', coached Real Madrid for three seasons from 2011 to 2013.
After coming in with a considerable reputation, he won the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup. The latter came in his final season, but not enough to keep him in the job despite signing an extension before the season began.
Recently, Luka Modric revealed that he was thankful to Mourinho for signing him and for being a big reason for his success. That was in the final year of his time in Madrid. Others see his three years a little differently.
Iker Casillas saw relationship spiral with Jose Mourinho
Club legend Iker Casillas spoke on his own podcast 'Under the Goalposts' with former coach Aitor Karanka, who was Mourinho's assistant. He had a different view of his three seasons under Mourinho, describing them as a period of life with a girlfriend.
"For me, it was like a girlfriend. The first year, I was in love. The second year, you start seeing things, and you think, 'Oh no...' By the third year, you'd completely fallen out of love. He dumped all the crap on me and said, 'Okay, fine, this one...' Sometimes these things happen. With time, you look back and say, 'We should have talked things through...' We were seeing problems where there weren't any."Iker Casillas
Casillas continued, revealing that more could have been done on both sides to prevent the relationship from spiralling.
"We should have wasted a day or two and said, 'What's going on here?' As captain, I've had to deal with a guy who's a very good coach, a very good psychologist, he knows very well how to implement the method he needs to use, but he has his own personality. It's just like the ones the rest of us have."Iker Casillas
Mourinho and Karanka thought they would be at the club for many years after signing an extension until 2016, after the 2011-12 season. However, after the failures in the 2012-13 season, they departed the club, with president Florentino Perez suggesting it was by 'mutual consent'.
Despite how it ended, Karanka believed that what they achieved would have a lasting effect on the fans and the club going forward.
"The recognition comes from the fans, and they still remember that. Something was set in motion for what came after."Aitor Karanka
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Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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