Jose Mourinho’s Blueprint for Fixing Real Madrid Starts With Kylian Mbappe

The Portuguese boss is next in line to try and bring glory back to the Bernabéu.

José Mourinho has a tall task ahead of him. | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

To unite the fractured dressing room at the Bernabéu, new Real Madrid manager José Mourinho plans to adopt a “very fluent and honest dialogue” with his new squad to avoid any more bust-ups, both on and off the pitch.

Los Blancos’ 2025–26 season ended in chaos, with behind-the-scenes feuds further tainting an already trophyless campaign. Kylian Mbappé clashed with former boss Álvaro Arbeloa, Antonio Rüdiger slapped Álvaro Carreras and a confrontation between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde ended in a hospital visit for the Uruguayan.

To make matters worse, Real Madrid could not even salvage the dreadful season with a final Clásico win; they fell 2–0 to bitter rivals Barcelona in an uncompetitive display that turned even the most loyal supporters against the 15-time European champions.

Mourinho’s return marks the opportunity for a fresh—albeit familiar—start in the Spanish capital, and the “Special One” already knows his first course of action to dig his team out of the mud.

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How Mourinho Plans to Get Real Madrid Back to Winning Ways

José Mourinho is back at the helm of the biggest club in the world. | Gualter Fatia/Visionhaus/Getty Images

Patience has run out at the Bernabéu, and Mourinho will not be given much time to revive a Real Madrid side that has failed to win a major trophy since Mbappé made the move from Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the 2024–25 season.

When asked about the problems both and off the pitch at the biggest club in the world, as well as the team’s struggles to perform with Mbappé in the lineup, Mourinho delivered a cool solution.

“I have to see with my own eyes,” he told Vanity Fair. “I need to understand things that in this moment, I don’t know. What I know in this moment is what I read in the media, what I watch on TV. I need to know the players.

“It’s not time to talk. It’s time to be very calm and to be analyzing and to communicate and to ask questions and to answer questions and to [open a] very fluent and honest dialogue. Because in the end, what I want to do is to help the players to be better, to help the team to be better, to help the club to be better. I’m there to help everybody—not to criticize, not to speak, but to listen.

“The only thing I can say about Kylian Mbappé is that he's a phenomenal player, and I’m going to try to help him to be even better than this.”

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The Mbappé Problem Looming Over Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappé has yet to help Real Madrid claim a major prize since he joined in 2024–25. | M. Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images

Even if Mourinho gets the dressing room, which includes new arrivals Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konaté, Bernardo Silva and Denzel Dumfries, on the same page, there are still questions about how to get the team over the finish line with Mbappé leading the attack.

The Frenchman is a goalscoring machine, finding the back of the net 86 times in his two seasons in a white shirt. Mbappé may lead the team in scoring since his arrival, yet Real Madrid have no major prizes to show for it.

Meanwhile, the campaign before Mbappé arrived, Los Blancos won La Liga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup with an attack led by Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian has struggled to build true chemistry with Mbappé over the last two years; the two superstars often want to share the same spaces down the left flank and play better when the other is not on the pitch.

Just look at how they are dominating the World Cup for their respective national teams. Both Mbappé and Vinicius Jr have four goals to their names, firmly in the Golden Boot race. Yet in the biggest games at Real Madrid, they typically lack fluidity and come up empty.

Mourinho is the next manager to try and get the two forwards to complement one another; Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa all already failed. Without Mbappé and Vinicius Jr forming a true partnership up top, Real Madrid are in for another long, dreary season.

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