Uruguay’s World Cup calamity deepens a Real headache for Mourinho
On his return to Madrid, José Mourinho is tasked with restoring Fede Valverde to his best after an unhappy season that culminated in World Cup disaster with Uruguay.
Uruguay’s failure at the World Cup is beyond dispute. For La Celeste to fall short of qualifying out of a group that included Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia speaks volumes about their performance. It was a collective collapse, even if a few individuals have come in for particular scrutiny.
“Go back to Real Madrid”
One of them is Fede Valverde, whose tournament left him especially exposed. He was among the players who clashed with head coach Marcelo Bielsa ahead of the decisive match against Spain, and was substituted with more than half an hour remaining (“I was trying to add more punch to the attack,” Bielsa explained). After the elimination, moreover, furious fans zeroed in on him: “Valverde, go back to Real Madrid - don’t ever come back here, because you did nothing. Not in qualifying, not at the World Cup.”
For Valverde, this is hardly an isolated episode. Quite the opposite: it’s the latest nail in the coffin of a season to forget. Not so much in terms of production (he steadied the ship statistically with nine goals and 13 assists for Madrid, albeit he managed just one goal throughout Uruguay’s qualifying campaign), but because of performances that failed to consistently sparkle. And, above all, because of what happened off the field.
Chief among those issues has been his relationship with his coaches. He finished on poor terms with Bielsa, and at Real Madrid he was identified as one of the dissenting voices against Xabi Alonso, publicly resisting a move to right back (though he later denied it) and drawing controversy with a warm-up in Almaty, Kazakhstan, that was interpreted as a challenge to the Basque manager. After Alonso’s dismissal, the Uruguayan absorbed a significant share of the crowd’s whistles.
Set for Real Madrid armband
Valverde found a better fit under Álvaro Arbeloa and his level picked up, but his image had already taken a hit - and the incident with Aurélien Tchouaméni further damaged it. The two argued over the course of two days, and on the second, Valverde ended up in the hospital after taking a blow, falling, and suffering a gash to his forehead that briefly knocked him unconscious. Both players were fined €500,000 and reintegrated into the squad, but the scar remains…
That’s the backdrop José Mourinho now has to manage, as the Portuguese begins his second spell as Madrid head coach. Los Blancos view Valverde as a cornerstone, whereas in Tchouaméni’s case the club has hinted it would be open to a transfer if the right conditions arise. The Uruguayan, moreover, is set to become the club captain following Dani Carvajal’s departure. Mourinho is planning a central role for him in a Madrid side geared more toward counterattacking and exploiting space. The one upside to this early exit? The pair will be able to get to work together almost from the very start of Madrid’s preseason.
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