Mourinho: We're Starting to Resemble the Real Team, and It's Not Easy

Jose Mourinho, the head coach of Real Madrid, expressed his satisfaction after the team secured a 3-0 victory against Schalke in their last friendly match ahead of the new season.

Jose Mourinho stated after the match: "The team performed positively as a group and as individuals. There are players who arrived late, and therefore do not have the same level of readiness as those who started from day one."

He added: "Those who started from day one have gone through 30 training sessions and 6 matches, while the players who just arrived have only had 3 or 4 training sessions. There is, of course, a difference in rhythm, intensity, and endurance, but tactically the ideas are gradually becoming clearer. They are players with very high and exceptional quality, and they work wonderfully as a team both with and without the ball. I think it has been a very good experience, and a final good training before things get serious."

Regarding the players who joined the team late, Mourinho said: "It's difficult at the moment to talk about each player individually, because we are growing as a team. We have good players here, very good players, and very, very good players."

He added: "By combining the efforts of these players, we need to create a very good team, and that’s what we are trying to do. I believe we are heading in the right direction. I am also very happy with the players who arrived late; it’s not easy to step directly into a high level of intensity as we are working."

The coach emphasized: "It's not easy for them to train in the morning with the group, then in the evening with the smaller group that just arrived, in unbelievable heat. Training at five in the evening is very tough, but they arrived with a great mentality."

Regarding the distribution of playing minutes, Mourinho said: "45 minutes for Mbappé and Konaté, or 30 minutes for Bellingham, Cucurella, and Diomande, are matters we analyze scientifically with the data we have, and the most important factor, which is the player's own experience and knowledge of their body. I believe we will be better next week; we are in a very acceptable condition for this stage of the season. We are ready to move forward."

Mourinho concluded: "Everyone is excited, and most importantly, the players are excited. If the fans are excited, I am excited, the president is excited, but the players are not, then we have a problem. But they are proving to be enthusiastic. We see small and big details, like a player who was supposed to return on a specific day after vacation but came back early, and others who arrived on the last day after preparing well individually. We play as a team, and there is empathy and teamwork. The team is starting to look like a real team. If we talk about the players individually, we have very good players, and very, very, very good players."