The Defensa Central network reported that Mourinho is a strict coach who imposes his ideas and demands the utmost respect inside the dressing room. That doesn't make his decisions set in stone. He'll tweak them to get more out of his team, and that's exactly what happened this season with Fede Valverde and Tchouaméni.
Planning for the campaign, Mourinho wanted midfielders with strength and physical quality, players like Tchouaméni and Valverde. He saw them as the cornerstone of Los Blancos, the pair who would give him the balance he craved. The matches told a different story, and he abandoned the idea.
Valverde and Tchouaméni simply don't deliver when they play together. So Mourinho scrapped the plan he'd intended for Real Madrid, and there's no sign he'll row back on it. Beyond the odd scattered fixture, he has no intention of pairing them in midfield again.
Against Villarreal, with the team needing a win, Mourinho pushed Fede Valverde out to right-back.
He repeated the move against Roma while chasing a comeback, then handed it a starting role from the off against Sevilla. That sealed it: he needs Arda Güler or Bernardo Silva in the XI.
Related Topics
LaLiga Matches
Athletic Bilbao vs Espanyol
Deportivo Alaves vs Deportivo de A Coruna
Rayo Vallecano vs Valencia
Sevilla vs Real Betis
Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo
Barcelona vs Villarreal
Racing Santander vs Real Sociedad
Osasuna vs Malaga
Getafe vs Atletico Madrid
Levante vs Elche
Real Madrid lacked creativity with Valverde and Tchouaméni together, yet the Frenchman remains indispensable. He's the one who breaks up the opponent's attacks, squeezes the lines together and brings balance.
Mourinho knows full well he has to put a player beside Tchouaméni who can dictate the play, create and build attacks from deep.
Real Madrid started the season impressively with Fede Valverde in the holding role. Tchouaméni was injured, so Arda Güler or Bernardo Silva took turns completing the midfield alongside the Uruguayan.
Then came the shift. Mourinho fielded Camavinga alongside Fede Valverde against Málaga, before Aurélien Tchouaméni reclaimed his place against Elche.
From there, Real Madrid stumbled through a run of games that cast doubt over their performances and style. The matches against Elche, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal and Roma laid bare a lack of footballing solutions, the by-product of a midfield pairing built on muscle but short on creativity. That's why Mourinho ditched his original plan and went back to backing creative talent.
Mourinho has said time and again that his line-up hinges on where the team is at and the nature of the opponent. On some nights, then, he may lean once more on a more physical midfield pairing. But the adjustment he's made now looks permanent, and it's the set-up he's expected to use in most matches.
Tchouaméni is indispensable for the balance and defensive solidity he brings. Alongside him, though, Mourinho will field a talent like Bernardo Silva or Arda Güler to keep the play flowing and the attacks building from the back.
He may even repeat the trick from the Clásico or the Valencia game, when he started the Turkish and Portuguese players together alongside the Frenchman.
