Jose Mourinho talks Huijsen, Bellingham, Camavinga, Diomande after Real Madrid 4-0 Malaga | OneFootball

Real Madrid continued their winning run in La Liga at the start of the season as they got another impressive win at the Santiago Bernabeu last night. The Merengues beat the newly-promoted Malaga side with a 4-0 scoreline, with Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Arda Guler all getting on the scoresheet.

Jose Mourinho was naturally quite happy with his team’s performance, which would especially be the case because of the several changes he had made in his starting lineup for this match. His satisfaction was quite apparent as he appeared in a press conference after the match, which has been reproduced by Diario AS.

The Real Madrid coach was asked about a comment from the Malaga coach about unfair treatment for his side by the referees, but Mourinho refrained from getting into this issue:

“It doesn’t deserve a comment.”

The Portuguese coach highlighted why Dean Huijsen is so important for his team:

“I don’t want to compare with last year. I don’t know what the dynamic was. What I’ve found is that we talk, because I like a center-back to have quality on the ball and play passes between the lines. But for me, the important thing is solidity, winning duels and giving confidence. He has evolved a lot in a short period of time.

I need to watch the match again calmly at home, but I think he misplaced one pass inside and then did everything well. That is the version I want. I like center-backs who defend well; if they’re also good-looking with the ball, perfect. But first you have to defend, and in that regard I see a good version. And his teammate alongside him also helps.”

The Merengue tactician also spoke very highly of Jude Bellingham, who put in an incredible performance in this match:

“He is very demanding of himself and of others, and I like that a lot. I agreed with him that I didn’t want to see him defending like a second left-back, which I had seen a lot. With Benfica, we exploited that situation a lot. We have organized the team differently, he knows what he has to do, and he feels comfortable.

I’m very happy with everyone. But it’s true that towards the end we lost a little bit of our organization at 3-0. Some players remain focused, others relax… That’s the feeling we all had. But this organization allows us to win the ball back high up the pitch without having to drop back. It’s normal that we don’t have the energy or mentality to do that for 90 minutes.

I said that there is more than one player at Madrid who can win the Ballon d’Or, but Jude is right there. Of course, there is one player [Mbappé] who made history at the World Cup. But Jude, in midfield, is incredible. Today, a player who isn’t particularly loved had a fantastic game, and that’s Camavinga. And Fede, and Bernardo… A lot of people are committed. Now Betis away in Seville is coming, which is extremely difficult. It will be a great match.”

Mourinho ensured that having such a star-studded forward line is not really a problem for him:

“Very, very good players want to play together. With people of their quality, their speed of thought and decision-making. These players must always be compatible. People used to say that Mourinho didn’t want one player, another player, another player… I always want the best players. If there is empathy and collaborative work… I don’t see any problem; I see that they are good.”

The Portuguese manager ensured that every player will have the chance to play, but based purely on merit:

“It’s a difficult mission. It’s not something for one month, but for an entire season. The frustration of someone who doesn’t play is something that is more in the players’ hands than in mine. I can give signals that I trust everyone. They have to manage it themselves. Today Trent and Cucurella played, while Carreras and Dumfries didn’t…”

Despite the good start to the season, the Real Madrid coach knew bad times will also come, but already knew what will save his team in such times:

“I didn’t watch Madrid much last year. I watched them a lot when we played them three times in one month. Before that, I watched a match whenever I could. I can’t compare. The problem will come, a defeat will come. With Benfica, I didn’t lose a match throughout the entire season last year and we finished third. I’d sign right now to lose some matches and win titles.

But the negative period, a less successful phase, injuries… that will come. The problem will come. Criticism from the press, negative reactions from the fans. We have to be very balanced and not allow the negative impact to affect the entire season. That’s when the team has to stay united; that is what saves you in those moments.”

The Portuguese manager wanted the press to go easy with Yan Diomande, who has, so far, not been a starter for him:

“He has to take it step by step. He works hard and well. He is open and humble, wants to learn, listens to his teammates, and will grow. I can’t look at the 120 or 130 million… How much did we pay for him? I need to look at a player who is coming off a high-level season at Leipzig. When you talk about such a huge number, you’re talking about someone who arrives and immediately tears everything up. But that’s not what this is. He’s a young boy. Calm, take it easy.”

Although the team’s performance dropped a bit in the second half, Mourinho did not have too many complaints with his players:

“A very strong first half, from a team that didn’t want to waste any time and came out looking to settle the match. The second half was more about managing the game, with a lower tempo. Málaga wanted to have more composure to keep the ball. But every time we accelerated, we created danger. The feeling was that we could have scored one or two more goals.

But as a team, keeping a clean sheet was also an objective. Defending well. You can’t always attack with great intensity. Sometimes the opponent gets out and you have to know how to stay balanced and defend well. We did that today. Three important points.”

The Real Madrid coach revealed he had already told the players he would make several changes for this game:

“That’s my objective. I told the players that I would make a lot of changes before the match against Real Sociedad. That I would repeat the lineup there, but in the next game I would make four or five changes. Without wanting to change the team’s identity, but bringing in more players and more quality. Because everyone has an extremely high level.”

The Portuguese trainer was seeing improvement in his team beyond just the goals:

“It’s important that people enjoyed themselves with so many goals, but they should also have a view of high-level football and enjoy it that way. Because they saw a committed team. If Vinicius loses the ball, he chases his opponent. There is a huge commitment.

It’s not all about enjoying the beauty of the goals, but also going home with the feeling that there is a unit, a team. In one season we scored 121 goals, and you can only do that when you have top players in attack. We’ve already scored ten. But one day we’ll win 1-0 and leave equally happy.”

This latest performance against Malaga must definitely have excited the fans, especially because Jose Mourinho was able to once again get the best out of all of his attacking stars. Hopefully, he will continue to lead Real Madrid to success as the season becomes increasingly grueling in the coming weeks and months.