Alex Ferguson: Jose Mourinho facing tough challenge at Real Madrid
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson showed empathy for his Real Madrid counterpart Jose Mourinho on Thursday, saying that the Portuguese is under huge pressure to start delivering results immediately.
Mourinho joined Madrid in the summer after a hugely successful spell at Inter Milan which culminated in winning the UEFA Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup last term.
That has raised expectations at a club where the board and supporters are already extremely demanding. Madrid failed to win any trophies last season despite huge sums being shelled out to bring in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Izecson dos Santos
Leite (‘Kaka’). They are hoping to win their tenth Champions League title this year, but above all they are desperate to get their hands back on the La Liga title which has resided at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium for the last two years.
Ferguson has a great deal of sympathy for Mourinho as he tackles what is arguably the most difficult job in his career to date, but he believes the former Chelsea boss will be a hit in Spain.
'Difficult club to manage'
According to the Daily Mirror, Ferguson said that: "You can expect Real to improve with Jose this year. The Real Madrid job is the hardest challenge in his career. I've spoken to Jose a couple of times. He's not managing a normal football club, sometimes
he's managing a circus, sometimes a fantastic outfit in terms of the quality of the football they can produce and the kind of players they always want. It's a very difficult club to manage."
Mourinho has got his Madrid career off to a good start, having won every game aside from their Primera Division opener against Mallorca — which ended in a draw — to sit at the top of the standings with ten points from four games.
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