This one might not be as football analytical or focused dives as I usually do on here. This is about a time period that made me addicted to reading news about press conferences, off-pitch behavior, and statements: Mourinho's stint as Real Madrid's manager.
I am not certain about other areas in the world. But, the Arab world was football-obsessed in the social media world at the time. Not one day, the subject of Mourinho/Pep wouldn't come up during a hangout. Everyone had their eyes on La Liga at the time. For many people, 6 titles existed only, La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Super Coppa, the Champions League, and the FIFA World Cup.
Barcelona and Real Madrid were fighting with claws every time, the rivalry was so intense that Xavi and Casillas held a peace summit to make sure the Spain National team wouldn't get affected. Behind all the escalation is one man, Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho Went to Real Seeing Red
After winning the UEFA Champions League, Mourinho went to Real Madrid on a suicide mission. Mourinho needed to go against the best team in the world. And even worse, he was doing that from the Real Madrid bench, Real Madrid is a team that demands titles. There's no such thing as building a team in Real Madrid. It was a dangerous mission, his career was on the line as no manager sacked from Real Madrid during that time period had been sought after. The pressure increased when he opened his El Classico record with a 5-0 loss.
Inanity Began
After his loss to Barcelona, the media was already after Mourinho's head. He calmly said to the media that Madridistas get up and train after a loss, they don't cry. He also told his players to go out to public places and interact with people so they wouldn't think that Madrid collapsed. That's when people realized that Mourinho was simply built differently.
Making Stories out of Thin Air
Every week, eyes would be glued to see what Mourinho is up to. If there was no story about him, he would make one. Mourinho was a god gift to the media.
During a Champions League match, he sat out Pedro Leon which enraged the Spanish media who are usually biased toward Spaniards. Mourinho fired back stating that Pedro wasn't like Zidane or Maradon.
Mourinho's "Spokeperson"
Mourinho also hired a "spokesperson" by the name of Eladio Parames at the time. That man was absolutely vulgar. So much so that he said that Dani Alves is a "Donkey with glasses". That man had a library of insults that Real Madrid management asked Mourinho to silence him as Royal Spanish Football Federation threatened to take action against Real Madrid because of him.
Over-celebrating against Valencia
During the 2011-12 Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-1. If you recall that period then you'd know that Real Madrid beat Valencia constantly. But, during that win, Mourinho jumped on Calejon's back and over-celebrated
After he was criticized by Valencia management, crowds, and Spanish media he simply stated that Valencia should be happy they celebrated that way as it means he considers beating an important thing.
Many more incidents
Mourinho, unable to give instructions to Ozil during a Champions League game, so he told Marcel Schmelzer to tell Ozil to move higher up the pitch
Also, Mourinho poked the late Tito Villanova's eye during El Classico
The Casillas Saga
Let's not forget his war with Casillas where Real Madrid starting XI was constantly getting leaked and Iker was the main suspect. In the locker room, Mourinho threw a bottle near the legendary keeper and said that if he was in a war and the soldier next to him is betraying him, he would kill that soldier first. He was motivating the Madrid players to revolt against Casillas.
He continued his hostility against Iker Casillas when he benched him for Adan in a game against Malaga. Real Madrid went on to lose that game but that didn't stop Mourinho from continuing his actions against the Spanish captain at the time.
Mourinho Creating a Story out of Thin Air
During the 2012-2013 season, everything was relatively calm. Pep had left, Tito was fighting cancer. So there wasn't a lot to cover in the media. That's when Mourinho decided to interfere with Real Castilla manager's job, complaining at the fact that he was playing 25 and 24 years old players.
Mourinho's fight with Jorge Valdano also came out of nowhere. The feud between the two ended up with the latter being fired from his job as general manager.
His Cristiano Ronaldo Prophecy
When Mourinho started coaching Cristiano Ronaldo he said that the Portuguese star hasn't "accomplished anything" yet, even though he joined Real Madrid after winning the Champions League and a ballon d'Or. His words were true as Cristiano's peak turned out to be much better than a single Champions League title and one ballon d'Or.
In Conclusion
I didn't even cover half of the things that happened under Mourinho in his three seasons as Real Madrid manager. His constant blows with Ramos, Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Casillas. Him benching Ozil at halftime for showing off his skills in an easy match. Benching Ramos for Varane against Manchester City. His media fights with Cruyff, mocking Ruud van Nistelrooy when Real Madrid wanted to sign him.
For a football fan, Mourinho's time at Real Madrid wasn't the most enjoyable. But for a movies/TV shows fan, I was enjoying the drama. I have a friend who worked at an Arabic sports site. He told me that whenever Mourinho would have a press conference, they'd assign two people to cover it.
It was a rather insane period. At times it felt more like war than it was sports.