Ouch.
Jose Mourinho’s fractious relationship with Iker Casillas is well-documented. The Portuguese coach clashed with the legendary Spanish stopper during their time together at Real Madrid which, according to Casillas, stemmed from Mourinho taking exception to him having a conversation with Barcelona pair Xavi and Carles Puyol.
Casillas, Xavi and Puyol were teammates at Spain and the goalkeeper reached out to his compatriots after poor relations between Real Madrid and Barcelona started having an impact on harmony inside the international camp.
According to Casillas, his attempt at smoothing things over didn’t go down well with Mourinho, who subsequently dropped him. It was the beginning of a bitter feud between the player and manager, with Casillas being one of several Madrid stars to take exception to Mourinho’s tactics. Mourinho, meanwhile, suspected that Casillas was leaking tactical secrets to his journalist girlfriend, Sara Carbonero.
When Mourinho left Madrid in 2013, Casillas was glad to see the back of him.
Mourinho and Casillas presumably didn’t patch things up before they parted ways and their relationship will not be helped by comments made by Julio Cesar, another goalkeeper who worked under the coach.
Cesar was Mourinho’s first-choice stopper at Inter Milan and has revealed that Mourinho once sent him a very unflattering text message about Casillas.
After competing for Brazil at the 2013 Confederations Cup, beating Casillas’ Spain 3-0 in the final, Cesar looked at his phone in the dressing room and saw a message from Mourinho.
“When I got to the dressing room, I saw a message from Jose on my phone,” the keeper, now at Brazilian side Flamengo, told SporTV.
“The message was: ‘You’re crazy. He’s the one who should wear your shirt and not the other way around.’ He told me I stopped more with one arm than Casillas could with two.”
“He came to the dressing room to talk to me and I told him to keep his head, that Mourinho was difficult and that he had to face it,” the 38-year-old said.
“For me, Mourinho likes to go face to face with the players who are considered the stars in the team he coaches.”
That final statement may resonate with Manchester United supporters, following reports of a rift with Paul Pogba. It’s safe to assume that the animosity isn’t quite as intense as it was with Casillas, though.
