Job security is a rare commodity for Real Madrid coaches. Jose Mourinho had it, perhaps surprisingly so, for three seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu. And his sudden availability means Santiago Solari may not for much longer.
Solari took over as interim coach after Julen Lopetegui was sacked at the end of October and was the handed the role on a full-time basis with a contract until 2021 after winning his first four fixtures.
But Mourinho was always in the thoughts of Madrid president Florentino Perez and now the Portuguese has been relieved of his duties by Manchester United, Solari seems to be under increased pressure.
The Argentine coach (below) is out in Abu Dhabi where he hopes to lead Los Blancos to a first trophy in his tenure as the team kick off their campaign in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
However, instead of focusing on the game against Kashima Antlers, he was forced to field questions about Mourinho in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Asked about Mourinho and if the Portuguese being linked with his job made him uncomfortable, Solari said: “I have the utmost respect and admiration for all of my colleagues, professionals and amateurs, who also do exceptional work, and even more for those who have been part of this club, given us joy and worked to the maximum for the good of the club.
“And how can I be unsettled by speculations about Madrid? That happens every day.”
It is not every day, though, that Mourinho becomes available again and the news is certainly overshadowing Real’s preparations for their Club World Cup opener.
Later on in his press conference, the 42-year-old was asked if he prefers Mourinho or Guardiola in style terms.
It is known that the Argentine is an admirer of the Catalan’s football more than the Portuguese, but he skillfully swerved the question while making it clear that he favours a positive approach.
“I identify with the values that Real Madrid represent,” he said. “We have to be a team that dominates, always looking to win, to attack, score goals. We should not give in, whatever the circumstance.
“To achieve that, we have to work on a lot of tactical and methodological content and also physically. But, to summarise, I feel identified with the football values that Madrid represents.”
Solari is aiming to win his first trophy as Real boss, but in order to stay in the job, he will likely need to follow up with a major title at the end of the season as well.
That is the reality of life as a Madrid coach and although Mourinho claimed only the Copa del Rey in his debut season in 2010-11, the cup competition was a long-term target for Real back then (they had not win it since 1993) and he was also still seen as the man to lead a project to bring down Barcelona.
He did that to an extent, beating the Blaugrana in that Copa final and winning La Liga the following season, before a Spanish Supercopa success against the Catalans at the start of 2012-13.
It all went downhill from there, though, just like it did in his third season back at Chelsea and now again at Manchester United, but Perez is still fond of his former employee and has thought about bringing back the Portuguese on a number of occasions.
At the moment, Madrid maintain they are happy with Solari, who has led Los Blancos to nine wins in his 11 games in charge.
That is a marked improvement upon Lopetegui’s last few weeks in charge, although many of the performances have been lacklustre and the two defeats – 3-0 at Eibar and 3-0 at home to CSKA Moscow – have raised doubts over his credentials in the long term.
One thing which did seemingly go in Solari’s favour on Tuesday was Al Ain’s shock win over his beloved River Plate (where he began his playing career) on penalties in the first Club World Cup semi-final.
That means the Argentine will not face the emotional baggage nor, in theory, the extra difficulty of playing against the South American champions in the final on Saturday – although first his side will need to beat Japanese and Asian champions Kashima Antlers on Wednesday.
These two teams last met in the Club World Cup final in 2016 and in it, Zinedine Zidane’s side came from 2-1 down but still needed extra-time to secure a 4-2 win as Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick.
Back then, Kashima Antlers were playing in their homeland and even without Ronaldo, Madrid will be big favourites this time in a competition Mourinho has never won.
The Portuguese left both Porto and Inter after winning the Champions League in 2004 and 2010, respectively, while he was knocked out at the semi-final stage in the continental competition in each of his three seasons at Madrid.
The year after his exit, Real did win the Champions League under Carlo Ancelotti and then the Club World Cup as well, although that proved to be the Italian’s final trophy at Madrid as Barca won the treble and he was sacked in May.
As his own Club World Cup campaign gets underway on Wednesday evening, Solari’s fate could turn out to be similar as Mourinho’s spectre looms large. And even if he wins it, the questions about the Portuguese are unlikely to go away any time soon.
