Three things to watch out for as Mourinho begins pre-season with Real Madrid | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho is officially back as Real Madrid’s new manager, and he is set to begin his pre-season campaign on Monday the 13th of July.

Coming in to replace Alvaro Arbeloa after a disappointing spell at the club and given Real Madrid’s trophy drought for two seasons, the new manager will not have much time to get the side back on track.

There is, however, a lot of internal support for Mourinho and belief in the manager’s ability to bring the best out of the squad, especially given the quality in the dressing room.

On paper, Real Madrid have one of the most fearsome squads in Europe. That, however, has not translated to results and Mourinho is out on a mission to change that. His pre-season campaign, needless to say, will be critical on that front as well.

Madrid Universal brings you three things to watch out for as Mourinho begins pre-season with Real Madrid.

Will Mourinho trust the youngsters?

The ongoing FIFA World Cup presents Jose Mourinho with a relatively complicated pre-season campaign with Real Madrid this summer, for the manager will be unable to count on many of the team’s regular starters from the get-go.

Will Mourinho rely on the academy like his predecessors? (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

After all, the creme-de-la-creme of the squad either participated in or are still participating in the event, and the coach will have to make do with the remaining names for the initial stage of his pre-season.

To make up numbers, Mourinho is thus expected to count on numerous academy stars in the first few weeks of the pre-season campaign, and one is forced to ponder if the situation leaves any chance for an academy star to have a season-long role.

Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso’s recent stints at Real Madrid handed a real chance to academy graduates to stand out, and the result was evident with the likes of David Jimenez, Thiago Pitarch, Cesar Palacios, Jorge Cestero and others earning debuts.

The aforementioned stars, quite clearly, will be involved in Mourinho’s pre-season with Real Madrid which is set to begin next week, and all that remains to be seen is which of the youngsters the manager takes a liking to.

Over the years, the ‘Special One’ has not been one to fancy academy players and has always preferred big-money signings and instant solutions. 

Should any of the aforementioned names impress the manager, however, it would help the club make a massive saving on their transfer budget and possibly even re-allot the budget to a higher priority department.

A sneak peek into the manager’s tactics

What will the identity of this Real Madrid be under Jose? (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Ahead of Mourinho’s first season back in charge of Real Madrid, the big question is around what tactics the manager will deploy once the campaign begins. That question will begin to find its answer in the coming weeks.

So far, Mourinho has only prioritised defensive signings for his project and it is clear that the backline will play an important role in his dynamics. 

He will have the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alvaro Carreras, Dean Huijsen and Raul Asencio from the get-go, and it will be interesting to see how he lines up his defence.

In midfield, Mourinho continues to push for new signings but has not received any new names so far barring Bernardo Silva. 

He will be without most of his players in the department for pre-season, but Eduardo Camavinga will be available and Arda Guler and Federico Valverde are also expected back soon.

What also remains to be seen is what the coach has in mind to make up for Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr.’s lack of effort off the ball, for that was one of Real Madrid’s biggest limiting factors last season.

Should the Portuguese manager be able to solve that crisis, a big part of the puzzle will be solved in the dressing room.

New signings remain unavailable

None of the new signings will be available for the start of pre-season. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

While Mourinho will indeed look to implement his ideologies and create an amicable environment from day one, the lack of multiple first-team players does indeed arrive as a significant blow.

Keeping the regular starters aside, however, what will be a bigger concern for the manager is the unavailability of new signings whom he has personally asked for this summer.

Ibrahima Konate and Marc Cucurella continue to remain alive in the World Cup with France and Spain respectively, while Bernardo Silva and Denzel Dumfries are out of the event.

The latter is expected back in training by mid-July, but the former could join only towards the end of the month at the same time as Vinicius Jr and the rest of the Brazilian contingent.

Cucurella and Konate, meanwhile, are only expected back in August in what comes as a massive blow to Mourinho’s plans.

Needless to say, the idea would have been to have all new signings under his command from day one so that Mourinho can instil in their minds what he expects of them. At this point, however, not having them available could seriously hurt the coach’s plans.