José Mourinho: At Real Madrid, we are prepared for everything

With two consecutive victories, Real Madrid quickly bounced back from their defeat to Betis, which remains their only misstep so far this season. The demanding schedule for the "Royals" continues with two La Liga fixtures this week. First, they travel to Elche (Tuesday, 10:30 PM CET), followed by a city derby against Atlético Madrid (Sunday, 5:15 PM CET). At his regular press conference, coach José Mourinho was in excellent spirits and addressed a range of topics:

What kind of Real Madrid do you want to see against Elche?
I want us to win. I'd like us to play well and secure the victory.

On Vinicius Junior
His best version involves scoring goals. Assists are important, working for the team is crucial, and his daily effort is significant, which he does very well… But there's another Vinicius. The Vinicius who came to Benfica last year, who gets an opportunity, scores a goal, and then leaves. He lacks consistent top-level performance.

The importance of Arda Güler
There are others more qualified than me to discuss his development. Physically, he has transformed, but for me, his playing quality is incredible – his vision, his ability to organize play… For me, he's a young player with fantastic potential and very interesting attributes. He has a huge impact on the game, but I don't want to go as far as saying "top, top, top" three times, though I can certainly say "top, top."

How long until we see the team in its best form?
I don't have a magic ability to know that. The goal is to improve with every training session. I believe that the longer a team is together and has stability in its work, the more capable it is of being strong.

Pressing in the opponent's half
It's difficult to explain. I don't think it's possible to press high for 90 minutes, and that's not our profile. Few teams have that profile and press for an entire match. But what we need to know is how to behave both when we're high up the pitch and when we're deep. If you ask me if I like a low block, I'd say I don't. What I don't want is a contradiction between what I like most and the qualities of my players. I like us to press high and kill the opponent within three or four seconds during transitions. But when we are in a low block, because the team has quality, we shouldn't be passive. I don't like suffering through four or five corners or relying on three incredible saves from the goalkeeper.

Injury prevention
I know the numbers from the past, but not the process. We are part of a global plan involving players, the technical staff, experts in injury prevention, and the medical department, which is very committed to this holistic approach. They know a lot about this invisible work. Players arrive at Valdebebas earlier not on a whim, but to work. We do exercises in the gym before training. When you see them step onto the pitch, they've already spent 35 minutes in the gym. We approach this intelligently and have good indicators. For example, when Valverde came off at halftime the other day, it was due to a physical issue… Perhaps at 0-0, he would have continued, that's true, because sometimes we push to the limit. But we also need luck, because there are traumatic injuries, and you might be unlucky with a knee – these are things you can't control.

Yamal and his comments about the "Ballon d'Or"
I don't comment on a player's statements. I respect all opinions.

Will Valverde and Tchouaméni be the starting midfield duo?
We need to look at how we work as a whole – with Cucurella and Carreras, with Dumfries and Trent, with the center-backs… We work so that everyone plays, to ensure they are as prepared as possible when we need them. The players in midfield also change, and we can play with one No. 6 and two No. 8s, or vice versa. We are prepared for all of this. We can change players and profiles, but our playing philosophy and dynamics don't change. We always try to find balance without losing our identity.

Yan Diomande
He lacks nothing. If he were at another club instead of Real Madrid, he would be a starter and play 90 minutes. However, here we have a very strong squad. We have Vinicius, Brahim, Arda, and from January, Rodrygo… At Real Madrid, it's difficult to talk about an undisputed starter.

How do you approach the week?
Six press conferences in a week! In other countries, they'd spare me one press conference, but not here. I get tired of you, you get tired of me, and you no longer know what to ask me… Well, it's pretty much the same for the players. Now Atlético Madrid has one more day to rest than us, but then they'll have one less day before the derby… That's how it is. But this is our job.

On the accumulation of matches and workload
I have great faith in a player's ability to know their own body. Today is an important day because we only have two days between matches. We need to listen to the doctors, to the sports science specialists, to analyze the data… If I can and if there's nothing unusual, I'll be with them tomorrow.