A new side to the coach: Mourinho abandons a flaw from his first era at Real Madrid

FBL-ESP-LIGA-REAL MADRID-TRAINING

Real Madrid have turned to a familiar face to set things right.

José Mourinho is back at Real Madrid, and his mission is urgent: drag the team back on track after two brutal years.

Those two years opened with the tail end of Ancelotti's golden era, then unravelled into a turbulent campaign that undermined the head coach. Confidence in Xabi Alonso drained away fast, and Arbeloa could not turn things around.

According to "Marca", Real Madrid have simply turned to a familiar face to fix things and restore the authority of a coaching staff the club's management claims has been badly damaged in recent years. Fourteen seasons on, the exceptional coach is back, if in a slightly different guise.

The old Mourinho is already stamping his authority on the place: high demands, meticulous attention to detail, relentless work. Time has changed little about the Portuguese coach's approach to the game, say those who worked with him for years.

His aim is to instil a work ethic that may have slipped in recent years and to knit the team back together. First time around, the key word was "imposing" his style, which sparked friction with most of the big names of that era. Those who know him well reckon he is now chasing greater harmony.

"I want to create a culture of work, responsibility and ambition, and something I know well, namely the responsibility and honour of working for Real Madrid. I like this concept very much. It is not about working at Real Madrid, but about working for Real Madrid. And with this spirit driven by this mission, I am here," he said on his arrival, speaking on the club's official channels.

Players at Valdebebas have already felt Mourinho's intensive schedule at close quarters. Week one of training featured three days with two sessions. The first kicks off at ten in the morning, but the players start rolling into Valdebebas in their cars two hours before that.

Last season, more than one player was caught speeding on the way to the complex.

Mourinho balances physical and tactical work, but the ball comes first, as it always has. His sessions are short and ferociously intense. His influence stretches well beyond the pitch too, and he and the board had been thrashing out various changes before he even set foot on the grass at Valdebebas.

José Mourinho is waiting on all his players to be fully fit, but for now he leans heavily on the youth academy to fill out sessions. He is watching closely, keen to develop the players he believes can contribute across the season.

Just as the Mourinho who landed at Real Madrid in 2010 was surrounded by stars, the newcomers and the old hands alike will have to earn their place through graft.

That passion has never left him. During his time at Benfica, he would often sleep beside the training ground, especially when his family were away from Lisbon.

He never shied away from a fight in his first spell at Real Madrid: the referees, Barcelona, the journalists. Some of those who have spoken to Mourinho since his return to Madrid, though, believe the Portuguese is no longer as combative towards the outside world as he was across his three years at the club.

So the running battles with referees may not define this Mourinho, nor loom as large on every front as before. A new chapter is beginning, and everyone senses he wants to start from scratch, uniting the group behind a single goal.

Mourinho spoke about that personal shift just a year ago in an interview with UEFA. "In the past, I used to think about myself more, I was more selfish, but I have changed now to the point that I feel more selfless," he said.

"I feel that I am in the world of football to help others more than to help myself. I am here to help the players of my team more than to think about what will happen in my life. I think more about the club, I think more about the joy of the fans, more than I think about myself," he continued.