40-year-old Ronaldo + controversial Mourinho = Portugal’s redemption? A big bet without fault tolerance!

Mourinho's slide track

Mourinho has never been short of news. It's not that, it's said that Lao Mu didn't do well in the Turkish Super League, was eliminated in the European game + the league championship, and was preparing to "break up peacefully" with the club. As soon as there was a turmoil on his side, it was immediately rumored to connect him with the Portuguese national team again, and it was so rumored that Mourinho is about to coach the Portuguese national team! We don’t know whether

can come true. So, is Mourinho suitable to coach the Portuguese national team?

Let's talk about the possibility first:

tactical adaptability analysis

advantage 1: Ronaldo's "last stop"

Mourinho and Ronaldo in Real Madrid's period

Mr. Mourinho and Ronaldo in Real Madrid's period (2009-2013), during which Ronaldo transformed from a winger to an efficient shooter, and contributed 450 goals in Real Madrid's career. If Mourinho takes office, he may design a "free forward" role for Ronaldo, reduce the running burden and focus on ending in front of the goal.

Portuguese Football Association data shows that Ronaldo's header success rate in the 2024 national team match is still 58%, and high-altitude threat is still an important tactical fulcrum.

Advantage 2: The right to speak in the locker room

Mourinho once publicly stated that "Royce is the only player who can change my tactics", and the two have deep personal relationships. Portuguese media revealed that Mourinho plans to let Ronaldo be the captain and use his leadership temperament to unite the team.

Even with the above advantages and possibilities, the editor is still not optimistic about Mourinho's coaching the Portuguese national team. Not to mention that he has no experience in coaching the national team, the following points are enough for him to have a headache:

Risk 1: Core player age and physical fitness

The 40-year-old Ronaldo

According to Saudi League data, Ronaldo's average running average in 2024 was only 8.1 kilometers (down 22% from 2022), and the number of high-intensity sprints was reduced to 1.3 times per game. If Mourinho insists on counterattacking defensively, Ronaldo's physical fitness may be difficult to support the 90-minute high-intensity game.

The current Portuguese national team does not have enough courage to hold Ronaldo on the bench and not move out. It really lacks the person who can succeed Ronaldo. So if Ronaldo is on the way, Ronaldo must have the guarantee of playing time and tactical status. How can Mourinho solve it? How to arrange tactics?

Risk 2: The new generation is dissatisfied with

Mourinho's tactics: Leo and Gonzalo Ramos once publicly questioned Mourinho's "conservative tactics", saying that it "suffered creativity." It’s not their fault, Mourinho is famous? The answer is to set up a bus. The Portuguese national team is slow to warm up most of the time. If you do another bus tactic, you will backfire if you accidentally do it. If Mourinho forcibly suppresses skilled players, it is very likely to cause division in the locker room. Wouldn't it be worse?

Mourinho coaches the Portuguese national team, which is a challenge to the Portuguese national team, Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, and young technical players in the team. I personally think that such a trade-off is difficult to balance, so I personally think Mourinho is not suitable to coach the Portuguese national team.

For the first time in football history, "tactical masters" and "40-year-old superstars" joined forces to compete for the World Cup. Can Portugal start this big bet without fault tolerance?