Iker Casillas has asked the Real Madrid fans to remember the good that Jose Mourinho has done for the club, in preparing for a crucial derby.
Los Blancos have slipped 11 points behind League leaders Barcelona and Mourinho received a mixed reception from the home support during Tuesday’s Copa del Rey win.
Casillas believes, though, that the fans should not turn their anxiety towards the bench.
“I’m philosophical. A couple of months ago, the whistles were cheers, but in football there is no memory,” he told reporters today.
“There was a team that was champion of the League, with record goals and record points. This project has developed from long ago and has been growing slowly.
“I think that you have to think about yesterday and take things little by little. It is not a moment to be happy, because a team must have its fans behind it.
“But we can change and we can do so in the derby. We were not good last weekend and we want to show the fans that we had a bad day, that’s it. We remember the good times we’ve had recently.”
Madrid have already dropped 13 points in La Liga this season, just one less than they did during all of last season, but Casillas does not see this as just down to Mourinho.
“We have had difficulties and I will not go into the refereeing, or the injuries, or the bad luck. We should in the group with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. The public demands this from the players and that is good. We want Madrid where they deserve to be too.
“It may be unfair to Mourinho. He took on a new team with young players. Much of the success has been down to him, we have had some very good seasons recently. He is the best Coach in the world and has shown this.
“Our trust in him is absolute. Mourinho is a Coach who has given us much. Barcelona were playing well and went on to win titles and over those seasons defeated us. Last season the clear favourite was Barcelona…
“We hope to continue to regain ground in the League. We thought we might be closer going into the derby if we had won in Seville, but it cannot be and we will try to now make it a five-point gap with the derby.
“Right now, both teams are ahead of us. In recent years we have been fortunate to have gone unbeaten against Atleti, but that does not mean anything when we are looking for nothing but a win. The draw is worth nothing to us.”
Madrid go into the derby at the Santiago Bernabeu eight points behind their city rivals. Casillas was asked if the game could represent a turning point.
“I agree with you, it is an exciting game that people have been waiting for a long time. They come into the game at a great moment, but for us it is vital. We must win and then keep waiting to see what Barcelona do.
“Until the end of the season we should win every game. The things we have not done well during these four months we will now start to do well. I have been a madridista since I was small and now we look so different.
“I think what we need to do is sit tight and remain patient. Our objective through the season is to have been much higher.
“We have achieved objectives in reaching the next round of the Champions League and Copa del Rey and we now have to make up the positions in the League. We know we were not at our best last Saturday. We are all responsible, especially me as I know I can do much better.”
