José Mourinho on Real Madrid's Midfield Unity and Vinicius Jr's Form
José Mourinho insists he has not had to play peacemaker between Aurélien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, despite the bruising feud that overshadowed Real Madrid’s dressing room last season.
The pair clashed twice in May, one confrontation ending with Valverde in hospital with a head injury. It was ugly, public and, for a while, felt like the kind of rift that can split a squad.
This season, it looks like a different story.
From hospital ward to harmony
Over the summer, the club quietly redrew the internal map. Tchouameni signed a new contract. Valverde took the captain’s armband after Dani Carvajal’s departure. Power shifted, responsibilities changed – and the mood, Mourinho says, followed.
“Look, I haven't done anything. They've done everything themselves,” he said ahead of Madrid’s meeting with Rayo Vallecano. “The empathy within the group today, the friendship, the way they work together, the frustration when they go off because nobody wants to be substituted, but still supporting their teammates, the player who comes on in the final minute… the group is fantastic.”
The reconciliation was on full display in the Champions League win over Inter Milan. Tchouameni, making his first appearance of the season after returning from World Cup duty, came off the bench late on, replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold. At full time, cameras caught him embracing Valverde. No drama. No distance. Just two key midfielders celebrating a European win.
Mourinho admitted he had braced himself for a very different scene when his internationals returned.
“If I knew nothing, if I walked into the dressing room without knowing anything about the situation, I'd think they were great friends,” he said. “When they came back from the World Cup, I was obviously paying attention to see whether I needed to act as a peacekeeper, but I didn't have to do anything.”
For a coach who has built a career on managing egos and conflict, choosing not to intervene is almost as telling as any tactical decision. The players solved it. The group, as he keeps repeating, is “fantastic”.
Mourinho’s shield around Vinicius
With the midfield fires seemingly out, Mourinho turned his attention to another storm: the scrutiny around Vinicius Jr.
The Brazilian ended a summer of speculation by signing a long-term contract through 2032. On paper, that should have settled things. On the pitch, his start has been subdued – one goal in five games across all competitions – and the noise around him has grown louder.
Mourinho is having none of it.
“The best Vinicius is coming soon,” he told reporters. “The one from last year, when the Bernabeu was terrified against Benfica and he ended up winning the tie. The Vinicius who won matches single-handedly hasn't arrived yet. But he will.”
In a football culture increasingly obsessed with numbers, Mourinho reached for the data to back his conviction.
“In an era of data and statistics, he's very close to his top speed. He's broken his records for high-intensity sprints, records for ball recoveries, for ball recoveries in the final third... He's coming.”
So while the goals column looks thin, the underlying picture, in his eyes, screams imminent explosion rather than decline.
Questions from the Spanish press about Vinicius’s form and attitude drew a sharper edge from the Portuguese coach. He bristled at the tone, framing the criticism as the inevitable tax on a player who has already carried Real Madrid through some of its biggest nights.
By 26, Vinicius has three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues and two FIFA Club World Cups, plus a stack of other honours. That kind of record changes how a player is judged. It also changes how he is targeted.
Mourinho reached for a proverb from home to make his point.
“In Portugal there's a proverb, I don't know if it's the same in Spain, ‘you only throw stones at trees that bear fruit.’ What has Vini done here in recent years? How many Champions Leagues has he won? How many goals has he scored? He's a tree with plenty of fruit. And people throw stones because they want fruit.”
The message was unmistakable. Inside Madrid, the coach sees a united dressing room, a healed rift in midfield and a world-class forward about to hit full stride. Outside, the stones will keep flying.
How long they bounce off, and how long that “fantastic” group holds its line, may define Real Madrid’s season.
