Mourinho: This player is out against Villarreal, and I will not hide for the sake of Vinicius
Missing support and ongoing suffering
Jose Mourinho, the Real Madrid coach, spoke about the situation of his injured players Eder Militao and Federico Valverde ahead of the clash with Villarreal in La Liga.
Asked in the pre-match press conference whether Militao and Valverde might be available, Mourinho replied: "Valverde is a doubt, while Militao is not a doubt and will not be available, but considering the way he trains, we have never trained with five players, always with 20 players, and we have trained with the academy youngsters, where sometimes the Castilla team came, other times the third team, and other times the youth team mixed with players from Castilla and the third team."
Turning to the Brazilian defender and the rest of his injured players, the Real Madrid coach added: "If a person does not know the problems Militao is suffering from, he would play him tomorrow, and I joke with him and say to him, are you going to play? He is better than I thought, and he will not be available tomorrow, nor in the Roma match, nor against Sevilla, because he needs two weeks, as his medical record is extremely heavy and caution must be exercised. Mendy will also train on the pitch for the first time with us, while Rodrygo is still far away. As for Valverde, the problem has continued until today, and today we will decide about his participation tomorrow."
Mourinho then touched on the principle of merit and picking the most ready players at Real Madrid: "Merit yes, but there is also openness, not for the sake of the name but for the sake of the moment and the current situation, and knowing what could be the best way to help a particular player. There are players who, when they are not in a good state, there are strategies to improve their level, and one of them is pure merit, and if you are not in a good state you are out of the reckoning, and this matter carries risks, because there are players who take time to return to their natural level."
He pressed on with his defence of his Brazilian forward: "You mean Vinicius. I do not hide, and the thing that hurts me and makes me sad is realising that he wants to be in a good state and wants to be the player who settles matches and makes the difference, and what hurts me is feeling this pain that he feels. He is a player who surprised me by being an exceptional person and works very hard to return, so will he always play until he returns, or will there come a moment when we put in place a specific plan whereby he does not play or goes to the bench and we find another way?"
Finally, Mourinho addressed the fans and the media pressure on the player: "I do not interfere in the affairs of Real Madrid's real supporters, I only respect them. But it hurts me greatly when I see a player like this, who is not currently delivering the exceptional level we have been used to from Vinicius, and I feel sad because some of the fans, influenced by what many of you say, do not help him. He deserves support, and he strongly wants to return to the Vinicius who gave Real Madrid's fans so many happy moments."
