Preciado: Mourinho number one

Posted Thursday, March 08, 2012 by ESPN

Former Sporting Gijon coach Manuel Preciado has hailed Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho as the "true numero uno" of football management.

Preciado recently visited the facilities at Real and he believes the Portuguese tactician deserves a huge amount of credit for the progress the club has made in attempting to break the dominance of Barcelona.

Madrid currently lead the La Liga champions by 10 points and remain in contention to win the UEFA Champions League which the Catalans are also the current holders of.

"The team plays at a very high level. They have a 10-point lead over Barcelona, which is something nearly stratospheric, and they're still alive in the Champions League," Preciado told the club's website.

"Mourinho and I have a magnificent relationship right now.

"I truly appreciate his behaviour and he also regards me in high esteem. He is a great coach. His track record shows it, as well as his daily vitality. His success becomes obvious once you see how he trains his team, how he works, and how he motivates his men.

"He is a true numero uno."

Preciado was sacked from his role at Gijon at the end of January and he is hoping to use his time away from the game to learn from his peers and improve his own standing within the game.

"I'm here to watch Real Madrid in action and use this period of intactivity to learn, improve and observe different work methods," Preciado said.

"I couldn't ask for a better place to do this. I'm delighted. I've spoken with Mourinho and Karanka... I want to learn more."

"I feel fine. I had been working for many years non-stop, close to 15 I think, and it's good to recycle yourself every once in a while. I'm going to use this opportunity to explore new paths. Your team is the only thing you focus on when you're coaching and you sometimes lose perspective of the world around you. I'm going to continue to improve on my coaching skills in order to be better when some other team calls me up."

Gijon appointed former Spain boss Javier Clemente as their coach until the end of the season last month.