Mourinho: “We had very good control of the game in the first half”
“The most important thing is his renewal; it’s a joy for him and for all of us,” explained the coach about Vini Jr.'s renewal.
José Mourinho spoke with Realmadrid TV and analyzed Real Madrid's second preseason friendly, where they defeated Ferencvaros 1-2: “First, I’d like to thank Ferencvaros for this very good training session. They have played five Europa League games, plus a couple more in their league, and you can see they have a high level of intensity in their play. I liked the first half more than the second. It doesn’t surprise me; the first half was played by a team we’ve been working with and that has played a couple of games before, so there is more connection between the players on the pitch. We had very good control of the game.”
“Then, Vini Jr. and Bernardo came on, players who don’t have minutes yet and have only had a couple of days of training. We also changed Endrick’s position, and we lost a bit of game organization, but what’s more important than doing everything perfectly is making some mistakes that allow me to reflect with the players, analyze them, and always improve. A very simple example: in a league match, if you’re winning 2-1 in the 47th minute, you don’t make a vertical pass, you don’t lose the ball, and you don’t end the game with a dangerous foul, as happened. In the 47th minute, you must know what to do. All those small mistakes that accumulate in these games are good for me.”
Vini Jr.’s first preseason match
“The most important thing is his renewal. It’s a joy for him and for all of us. He and Bernardo Silva have only had a few training sessions. The others have had a couple more weeks and are entering the game feeling the fatigue of the work we’ve already done. I didn’t expect Vini Jr. to pick up the ball 50 meters away and score today; it’s a process. Surely, next Wednesday he’ll be better, and next Sunday in Germany, even better.”
Bernardo Silva’s debut
“Bernardo Silva is very important, but the poor guy is another one who had a vacation. He’s the type of guy who benefits mentally from doing nothing on vacation, so he came back in a much lower physical condition and needs to improve. But he’s a tremendous player; he provides an outlet for the ball if he plays deeper. If he plays in the 6-8 position, he gives us great ball progression. During the game, I realized he was lacking a bit of physical strength, so I moved him up to the 10, putting Cestero in to give us more stability there. In the 10 position, Bernardo Silva is also comfortable.”
“He’s a player who can play in three or four positions, and for a coach and a squad that we want to keep small, I’d say around 20 players plus the injured ones like Militão, Rodrygo, and Mendy, whom I don’t expect to recover in the coming weeks, we need players like Bernardo Silva who can adapt to different positions.”
Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.