Iker Casillas, once one of Jose Mourinho’s most outspoken critics, has offered a more positive assessment of the Portuguese manager, saying he believes Mourinho is now a different person from the coach who previously led Real Madrid.
Casillas was a key member of Mourinho’s Real Madrid side during the manager’s first spell at the club between 2010 and 2013. Together, they won the Copa del Rey and La Liga.
However, their relationship deteriorated, and Casillas was left out of the team during the 2012-13 season, as tensions between Mourinho and Real Madrid’s hierarchy also increased.
In the Netflix series bearing his name, Mourinho suggested that Casillas had become “spoiled”. He also criticised the close relationships between Real Madrid players and their counterparts at Barcelona during a period when the two clubs were competing for major honours.
Casillas previously described the relationship in an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe by saying: “With Jose Mourinho, it was a marriage that ended badly.”
Before Mourinho’s second appointment at Real Madrid, Casillas wrote on X that he did not question the manager’s professionalism, “but I don’t want him at Real Madrid”.
The Spain goalkeeper, who won the 2010 World Cup, was also considered for a leadership role by former presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme, who opposed Mourinho’s return to the club.
But Casillas has now struck a notably different tone.
Speaking to former Atletico Madrid assistant manager German Burgos on Burgos’ YouTube channel, he said Mourinho appeared to have changed since his previous time in charge of Real Madrid.
“Jose is different,” Casillas said. “He looks like the same successful manager, with his talent and everything, but he came with a different idea.”
Casillas chose not to discuss the details of their past relationship, adding only: “I still laugh about it. I remember a lot of things.”
The former goalkeeper stayed at Real Madrid for two years after Mourinho left the club. He won the third Champions League title of his career in the season following the Portuguese manager’s departure.