No hard feelings between me and Jose Mourinho but our relationship wasnât good, confesses Iker Casillas
Iker Casillas made over 700 appearances for Real Madrid
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Former Real Madrid and FC Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas has opened up about his relationship with Jose Mourinho and revealed that the two didnât not part on the best of terms. The 2010 World Cup winner retired from football last season after a glittering career with the Los Blancos and Porto.
Few goalkeepers have been regarded as highly as Iker Casillas with the Spaniard considered to be one of the best to ever stand between the sticks. His trophy haul is beyond incredible as well with Casillas winning a catalogue of awards in a distinguished career which includes a FIFA World Cup and two Euros with Spain. Not only that, he made well over seven hundred appearances for the Los Blancos with him only leaving the club in 2015. That brought an end to a 25-year association with the club with Casillas a part of their youth academy.
It was a process that was started by former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho when the Portuguese manager dropped Casillas down the Madrid pecking order, something that the Spaniard didnât like which saw their relationship break down rather rapidly. However, in an interview recently, the 39-year-old revealed that he and Mourinho didnât have a great relationship although there are no hard feelings now. The former Spain number one also opened up about his relationship with Vicente Del Bosque.
âThe two situations were different. One was justified in footballing terms and the other was something personal. We [Casillas and Del Bosque] got on well for a year-and-a-half and the next year we had disagreements, but that was normal between the captain and the coach. It doesn't mean that you're more important than the coach, but you're going to end up having issues because you have to speak to him practically every day and the relationship starts to break down,â Casillas said reported Goal.
âJose Mourinho thought that I wasn't at the same level as my team-mate and, on top of that, our relationship wasn't very good, so it was easier for him to choose between one or the other. There are a lot of things that people don't see, but I have a good relationship with him.
"We've seen each other a few times since and we've had a nice chat. There are no hard feelings between us because both of us wanted the best for the team. I decided to not have much of a relationship with him because I didn't like a lot of the things I was seeing and he chose to pick another keeper."
