Mourinho defends Vinícius: Only fruitful trees are stoned

Real Madrid's José Mourinho appeared at a press conference to discuss tomorrow's match against Rayo Vallecano in the fifth round of La Liga, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Mourinho began his talk about the team's condition by saying: "We are happy, united, and working well. Of course, working well means recovering well. Today we did tactical work and there wasn't a lot of intensity, but we respect the opponent. They come from a victory and have shown their quality. We need to be at the top of our focus tomorrow. I take this opportunity to thank coach Benat San Jose for his words, which were very kind, perhaps more than I deserve. I will hug him tomorrow."

Regarding the venue for the World Cup final, Mourinho said: "There is a difference between the place it should be held and the place I wish it to be. Allow me, I hope it is in Lisbon. And my answer is not because I am the coach of Real Madrid, but because if you can play in a legendary and historic stadium, where some of the best players in the history of the game have played, it should be here. And I would say the same thing if I were the coach of SL Benfica."

Regarding the decision to uphold the non-replay of the penalty awarded to Real Madrid against Real Betis, Mourinho said: "I am not surprised by this, because there is a strong protection among referees. It is very rare, and very difficult, for them to criticize a refereeing decision. The federation is powerful."

José Mourinho has strongly defended Vinícius amid a divided fan opinion about the player, stating: "In Portugal, there is a saying that I don't know if it exists in the same form in Spain, which is: stones are only thrown at fruitful trees. What has Vinícius done here over the last few years? How many UEFA Champions League titles has he won? How many goals has he scored? He is a tree that bears a lot of fruit. And people throw stones because they want the fruit; the best version of Vinícius will come. The version from last year, when the Santiago Bernabéu was afraid against SL Benfica, and then Vinícius finished the match and the team qualified. That version of Vinícius will come."

He emphasized: "In the age of data and statistics, he is very close to reaching his maximum speed. He has broken his records in high-intensity running, shattered his record in ball recoveries, and in ball recoveries in the final third... that version of him will arrive."

When asked if it was time to make changes and give Yan Duyemand a chance to start, Mourinho replied: "I don't want to say who will play. I don't deal with it that way. I don't think about the next three matches, but about tomorrow's match. I want to win, but yes, there is room, perhaps not for rotation, but to give the team new energy. Legs that have a lot of fuel. We worked very hard in Tuesday's match. We have recovered Camavinga, Bernardo, and Arda... we have a strong group to give opportunities to legs that have a lot of energy to play, while at the same time others get time to rest."

The coach emphasized: "We have three matches in nine days, and the match against Elche is in three days... but the focus is on how to win tomorrow. In this regard, it is important that two or three players who did not participate in the last match can provide the team with more energy."

Regarding his feelings towards the boos against Vinícius, Mourinho said: "I don't even want to express my opinion, as it's not about criticism or giving an opinion. I'm not someone who has the right to express my opinion. I feel sad because I am very demanding with my players. I read the other day a statement from Jowison saying that I am an annoying coach and that I am always behind the players. And that's true, I am very demanding. And demanding means giving everything you have. I respect the player who gives everything he has; he wanted to play, he wanted to help the team, he played as a team, and he played with respect for his badge. This kind of player always makes me stand by him. That doesn't mean he will always play, but it means he will always find me by his side.

He added: "It saddens me, but I don't want to evaluate or criticize it. But from my experience, and not just at Real Madrid, when there is a union between the team and the pitch, you... I don't want to say you are unbeatable, but you are very close to it. I still hold the Guinness World Record for the number of home matches I played without losing in the top leagues, six or seven years without a loss... I don't know. But when you work as a team with the pitch, it becomes almost impossible to beat you. However, every pitch, at a certain moment, has the right to react."

Regarding Kylian Mbappé's defense of himself against criticism, Mourinho said: "I do not talk about the people who criticize. I use the same saying I said about Viní: he is a tree that bears a lot, a lot of fruit, he is right. A player who scores 40 goals is never a problem for the team. And when you succeed in creating friendship and respect, imagine it, there are things as a coach that I appreciate and admire a lot. There are people who talk about football but do not know it deeply. And there are others who understand it, and find it useful for them to talk about the bad things."

He said: "I saw the team in the last minutes playing with ten players, defending on the left side with Cucurella who was completely exhausted, and Kylian who was completely exhausted, and I saw that. As a coach, I appreciate this in an incredible way. For me, this kind of behavior is a source of happiness; there are people who understand football like me and have seen that too, but they don't say it. They then say that we didn't defend well, and that we could have conceded three or four goals. But they also don't say that we could have scored eight goals."

He continued: "There are matches that can be very boring, and we might play some of them. There are matches in the UEFA Champions League where both teams fear each other, and no one takes risks, and people go home with a bad taste, they could have scored four goals, yes, yes, but we could have scored eight. And there are people who understand football like me and do not say that. Why don’t they say that? Aren’t they happy that we won? We are united. We lost points against Real Betis, but the commitment we have will continue. We will do everything we can to make people happy."