Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho Slammed by Almeria Coach Francisco
Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho have both borne the brunt of Almeria coach Francisco, who has questioned the Portuguese pair's methods.
Referring to the Real Madrid star, Francisco accused Ronaldo of caring too much about individual records, while he called out Mourinho for lacking personal relationships with his players.
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Ronaldo picked up his Golden Shoe award on Tuesday for being last season's joint-top European scorer with Luis Suarez on 31 league goals.
Francisco compared the former Manchester United player to Lionel Messi ahead of Almeria hosting Barcelona on Saturday, with the Argentine having equalled Raul's Champions League scoring record on Wednesday with his 71st goal. Spanish outlet AS (h/t Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC) provides the quotes:
"Messi will be appreciated by all the teammates he has had in his professional life. The only person I know who gets happy over individual prizes, and he said it himself a week ago at [the Spanish League] gala, is Cristiano Ronaldo. He is very good -- and he would have to be very good to say that.
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Ronaldo's Real boss, Carlo Ancelotti, insisted midweek that individual awards were unimportant to his star player after the 29-year-old himself failed to find the one goal he needed to equal Raul's record against Liverpool, per beIN Sports:
However, Ronaldo did express his eagerness to win individual gongs when he collected the Golden Shoe, per Corrigan: "[I thank] my family, the fans, the club, for giving me the opportunity to play for the best club in the world, and to win individual trophies. The collective is important, but so is the individual, I work a lot for that."
Whether Ronaldo is driven by individual prizes is to disregard the fact that what he produces on the pitch in pursuit of excellence is quite phenomenal.
He has already scored a staggering 17 goals in nine La Liga appearances this season, per WhoScored.com, and he has been a huge factor in Real continuing their current 12-match winning streak in all competitions.
Ronaldo's unbelievable drive comes from his desire to be thought of as the very best, per The Independent's Sam Wallace, and that benefits any team he plays in:
Indeed, he is likely a player whom any manager would want in their team. He played under Mourinho at Real when the Portuguese manager ruffled several feathers, including those of both Ronaldo and skipper Iker Casillas, who was sensationally dropped, per the London Evening Standard.
The 36-year-old Francisco—currently in his first top job at Almeria—believes Mourinho often goes too far when dealing with players, per AS (h/t Corrigan): "We all know [Mourinho] gets a lot of performance out of his teams, although maybe he does not bond so much with his players as people. We have seen clear examples when he has not worried about humiliating them."
Mourinho's Chelsea side currently top the Premier League by four points to second-placed Southampton and are preparing to take on underperforming Liverpool at Anfield—the site of the Blues' 2-0 win last season which effectively ended the Reds' title hopes.
He certainly has a unique management style and does often seem to rub people the wrong way, but his phenomenal record speaks as a testament to his talent—as with Ronaldo.
It is highly likely Francisco is aiming for the heights Mourinho has hit in his career as a coach. It does, however, seem as though he will be taking a slightly different approach to man management at Almeria and beyond.
