Mourinho Takes a Parting Shot at Weekend Penalty Calls Before Leaving Press Room

Some questions stand out precisely because nobody asks them. That's what happened to Jose Mourinho the day before his team's trip to face Elche: not a single reporter in the press room brought up the weekend's penalty controversies. And the Portuguese coach, who rarely lets an opportunity for irony slip by, couldn't hold back.

Real Madrid's manager wrapped up his press conference with a line that landed like a small dart: "No questions about the penalties? Strange, don't you think?". He was referring to two contentious calls from Sunday: the penalty awarded to Barcelona after a foul by a Levante player on Lamine Yamal, and the one that went Atletico Madrid's way for a handball inside the Real Sociedad box. Both decisions sparked heated debate among fans on each side, and Mourinho seemed content to leave the comment hanging in the air without elaborating further.

But the press conference covered more ground than that. There was also time to discuss timelines and expectations, a recurring theme in his messaging since taking over at the Bernabeu. On that front, he didn't mince words:

"I ask for three months, others ask for ten years... Maybe I haven't made myself clear. What I mean is that in three months I want us to be better than we are today, but I don't have any magic formula to get us to an incredible level in three months. In every match and every training session, the goal is to improve. When a team stays together longer and spends more time with a coach, it has a greater capacity to become strong"Jose Mourinho

Praise for Arda Guler

If there's one name lighting up Real Madrid's start to the season, it's Arda Guler. Mourinho, who isn't typically generous with compliments, gave the Turkish playmaker his full endorsement:

"There are people more qualified than me to talk about his development, about how he's transformed physically. But for me, the quality is incredible: the vision, the decision making, the stability he gives our style of play, the creativity. I think he has fantastic potential and already some very interesting numbers. Maybe I don't want to go so far as to call him top, top, top, three times, but definitely top, top"Jose Mourinho

That "top, top" sums up pretty well where the young attacking midfielder stands right now, becoming increasingly important to Madrid's starting eleven.

The coach also took the chance to explain his defensive philosophy, a topic he seems a bit reluctant to fully embrace: he's not a fan of sitting back in a low block, but he acknowledges that certain matches and opponents call for it. "I don't think it's possible to press high for 90 minutes, nor is that our profile," he explained, stressing that the team needs to know how to adapt without becoming passive or suffering too much against talented opponents.

The Diomande Situation and Internal Competition

The press conference wrapped up with some thoughts on Yan Diomande, who finally earned a starting spot against Rayo Vallecano after months of waiting. Mourinho was candid about how hard it is to lock down a regular starting role on this roster: "If instead of being at Madrid with this squad, he were at a team with fewer high-potential players, he'd surely start all 90 minutes of every match," he admitted, pointing out that internal competition from players like Vinicius, Brahim or Guler himself, and Rodrygo come January, makes it nearly impossible to talk about undisputed starters.