Mourinho: Football Should Rejoice At Kaka’s Return

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho says Kaka’s return to form should be a matter of joy for the entire football fraternity. Kaka

The Brazilian midfielder struggled for form and fitness since his move to the Bernabeu in 2009, but now seems to be rapidly reaching the form that made him so fearsome for AC Milan.

His performances for the club were recently rewarded when he was called up to the national squad by coach Mano Menezes for Brazil’s upcoming friendlies with Gabon and Egypt.

And that is something everyone should be happy about, according to Mourinho.

In comments quoted on the club’s official website, the Portuguese said: “I’ve known the real Kaka. He was a fantastic player when I was in Italy. Real Madrid have never had that version of him and he’s finally found physical balance above all.

“He enjoys playing football. He is strong and is good at changing the pace to the game. It’s only natural for him to return to the Brazilian national team and I’m happy for him because he’s earned it through hard work. Football should rejoice at Kaka’s return.”

Kaka’s return to form has coincided with a good opening part of the campaign for Madrid who sit a point clear of Barcelona in second place and a point behind surprise leaders Levante.

They’ll play Real Sociedad in Saturday’s final game, just after the Barcelona-Real Mallorca game ends.

Speaking about the game, Mourinho admitted it won’t be easy.

“Our match against Real Sociedad tomorrow [Saturday] probably won’t be one we’ll be able to resolve in 45 minutes. They are a solid adversary and they’ve allowed their best men to rest in order to face us. It will be complicated, just like it was last year.”

“I know football and I’ve had a lot of years of experience. It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t play well in the next few games and people started to talk differently about us. We’re playing very well now.

“Everything seems easy when you do, but balance is important in football. We’ve won on our turf, but we’re calm. We’re the sort of team that doesn’t win when it doesn’t play well.”

Emphasising the importance of continuing the purple patch, Mourinho claimed: “Winning is important. Our victory over Rayo Vallecano was a turning point even if we didn’t play too well. We think better on a collective level. Our defensive line is more advanced and pressurises with intensity.

“We also move the ball around faster, which makes it more comfortable for us to have possession. We wait to hurt opponents in spaces they leave wide open, we don’t lose the ball and we create ball movement in more ways. We have more options and we’re not predictable.

“The best medicine to make us stronger is to win, win and win.”

The 48-year-old also mentioned exciting midfield talent Nuri Sahin, who was bought from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

“Nuri Sahin has trained two days with the team. We must be careful and adapt him to the group’s dynamic slowly. He’d like to play now, but we don’t want to take any risks. He is a very important player to us because we don’t have someone to replace Xabi.”

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