Mourinho: I don't want new signings in January, and I expected a bigger punishment for Vinícius

Real Madrid's José Mourinho appeared at a press conference to discuss tomorrow's match against Sevilla in LaLiga, in the 9th round at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

The coach said: "The team feels tired at the moment, but it won't be like that tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day, and we will be in good shape. We also have excellent options if we decide to make changes and inject new blood into the lineup. Sevilla are performing very well; they may have stumbled in one or two home matches, but they always compete to win. Luis García is doing a great job. It is undoubtedly a tough match, but we aspire to achieve victory."

He added: "What do you expect from a midfielder? I ask him to be a real midfielder. A player who only focuses on defending is a limited midfielder, and a player who only focuses on attacking is better off not playing in midfield; it is a very difficult position that requires possessing many qualities. It is very hard to become a good midfielder."

Regarding Valverde's participation in midfield: "I am here to do what I think is best for the team. I believe there will come a day when artificial intelligence and the surveys conducted by clubs will determine decisions, while the role of coaches will be limited to working on the pitch, but until today, it is still the coaches who make the decisions."

He added: "The stubborn coach who does not accept opinions, with all due respect, I see him as a limited coach. I believe there are people who express their opinions because they love football, and others because it is their job, but the opinions of these people do not surpass my own analysis. The stubborn coach is a limited coach, but that does not mean that a coach who is open to the opinions of others is necessarily a good coach. I am open to the opinions of my coaching staff, and I can change my mind, but I change it based on my analysis, not because of what others think from the outside."

He emphasized: "I can take different directions," referring to playing Tchouaméni and Valverde together or in other ways. The match involves many moments and multiple details. The five substitutions also represent an important point for teams that have strong squads.

He continued: "Do you give Vinícius advice on other matters? These are private conversations. When he renewed his contract, he signed that Real Madrid is his home, and that he has the ambition to continue writing history and winning titles. He has a good relationship with all his teammates in the dressing room and is a source of joy within the team. I have serious doubts that I would have had the same strength to stay here if I were in his place, with all the offers that were in front of him."

Regarding new signings in January: "Militão will be part of the team list tomorrow. The easy thing for me is that I don't have to announce the team list now; I'm not asking to sign players, I'm happy with the current group. The players are developing, especially when we have time and calm. My job is to develop them, and I don't see it as appropriate to ask for new players. I like short lists. If a new player joins, another player must leave. If the management decides to consider any move, we will evaluate it, but I will not initiate a request to sign players. I don't want new players."

Regarding Endrick's future: "I think we sometimes don't give enough credit to those who do good things, while you direct strong criticism when things go wrong. The credit goes to the player who ignited the match with everything he did. The three goals from corners and the way we earned those corners are both important. In 10 minutes, we had about 7 corners because we applied tremendous attacking pressure. There are many players who deserve to play. We have more than 11 players who deserve to participate; in fact, there are 15 or 16 players who deserve it. Lunin deserves to play, and I'm not joking. He is a player who works daily alongside the best goalkeeper in the world and maintains his positivity even though he doesn't participate. But I can't play both goalkeepers together, and the same goes for field players."

He continued in his speech: "I think we can all agree that the five players who came on as substitutes and changed the course of the match deserve to play tomorrow, but what about the others? Doesn't Diomande deserve to play? Doesn't Cucurella deserve to play? Doesn't Valverde deserve to play? Doesn't Mbappé deserve to play? This is the real difficulty in being a coach. My colleagues who coach teams with fewer resources will say that I am lucky. It is both a blessing and a curse to have journalists like you, because you make the task more complicated."

Regarding dealing with Vinícius's personality: "He is a wonderful young man, and it is easy to build a good relationship with him. I spend time alone with him every day, I appreciate him a lot because he always manages to carry on with his life and overcome difficulties with a smile. If I were in his place, I might not have stayed here, and I might have forced the club to let me leave for a country where I feel respected, but he stayed because of his affiliation with Real Madrid and his love for the club. He believes that things can get better, and he continues to smile. There is nothing or no one that can take that smile away from him."

He continued: "What do you say about Vinícius? I am curious: do people care about when we arrive at Valdebebas? And do they care about when we leave? It is interesting, Vinícius had a very difficult match against AS Roma, and for me, the main reason for the difficulty of the match he had was Gasperini, because he constantly attacked from his side. Making substitution decisions was very difficult for me as a coach. In the second half, AS Roma made changes, and what bothered me was the nature of the second goal we conceded, especially since the match was balanced and we were not facing any problem. He should not have acted the way he did, but it’s over and there is no problem. I made five substitutions, not just one. Substitutions are part of football; Vinícius needs to work harder. I don’t like to make promises, so I won’t promise anything, but I believe he will start on Wednesday."

Regarding Vinícius's four-match suspension: "As for the four matches, I am happy, because I expected him to be suspended for longer, as those who hide in the shadows would have punished him with a longer ban."

When asked if he believes Güler can play in midfield, he said: "He works hard. It seems to me that you find it very difficult to give hard work its due recognition. It's as if negative things have owners who bear responsibility for them, while positive things are attributed to luck. I want a player who has great talent but has not yet, fortunately, reached the stage of a complete player. He has the potential to play in different positions. I am very happy with him."

Javier Tebas concluded: "I do not want to talk about this subject. There are limits to everything. An apology can only be accepted if the matter is a clinical case; otherwise, there is no justification for an apology. I do not want to get into this matter; Real Madrid fans understand what the club is facing. Considering the reputation of LaLiga abroad, and that we are the current world champions, it is better to try to keep these matters here and not let them go abroad."

.