Jose Mourinho refused to bend Real Madrid's identity for Lamine Yamal
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho said that he would not be making any special plan just for Lamine Yamal in the El Clásico on Sunday. The Portuguese manager spoke to the media at the press conference on Saturday, where he was asked about a lot of individual Barcelona players, as well as Mourinho's plan to defeat them.
He did not really go into his plan at all because he wanted to keep everything limited to himself, his staff, and his team, but he was asked specifically about Yamal. His answer was pretty much what you would expect.
He gave the player the respect he deserves, but he also said that Real Madrid need to focus on working as a team before working on one single player.
He said, “They are all good players. It is the same as at Real Madrid. He is a great player, and great players are respected. It is one thing to show respect, but quite another to change your plans and structures and lose sight of who you are. We will not do that, whether it is with him or against any other player of his calibre."
Jose Mourinho is handling this the right way
It will be interesting to see what the actual plan is to be able to stop Barcelona from creating all these chances, whether it is to play a higher line or it is to have a very low block so that two players are defending on both wings at every point.
Mourinho did not go into that, but this is probably the best mentality he could have had going into this match. Even if his plan is to double-mark Yamal or to have another special plan on him, it is better to just not say it because, obviously, you would not want the opponent to know what is going on in your head. Also, you don't want them to alter things that you are planning specifically for them, so that they're able to focus on other areas of the pitch as well.
Mourinho is playing it the right way, and whether it works or not is a completely different discussion to have. So far, it seems like Mourinho is taking a very different but correct approach to the Clásico. In all the press conferences, there have been quite a few fireworks, but it seems like Mourinho is trying to limit them as much as he can. He is also trying not to put too much pressure on his team to be able to win and perform well, or let this be the litmus test for his team for their season.
He's treating it as just another important game, and that is probably the best way to do it, given the scenario Real Madrid have been in over the last couple of years.
