I actually think people are being far too harsh on the losing side of this story because if Madrid do go with Mourinho then it does not automatically mean they have made a terrible choice or that everyone else in Europe is somehow smarter, it just means they want a manager with authority and a proven history of surviving pressure and there is value in that even if it is not pretty all the time. Some clubs need calm, some clubs need order, and some clubs need somebody who walks into the room and changes the mood instantly. Mourinho can still do that, and if the squad respects him then this could look a lot better than the doom merchants are saying. Everyone loves to act like older managers are useless the second the hype fades but football is not a video game and experience still matters more than people admit