No one doubts Jose Mourinho's ability to win titles. He has done so at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan. But the new Real Madrid coach's detractors say he knows everything about winning but nothing about winning the right way: with flair, attacking enterprise and style. That is, the Real way.

In fact, Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid's director general, once compared watching Mourinho's Chelsea play Liverpool in a Champions League semifinal to gazing at "s*** on a stick." But Valdano now says, "every style is valid in the search for success there are a thousand different ways to play football and each may be perfect at different times."

Ian Chadband writes: "What he really meant is that Real have settled for Mourinho's way because they cannot think of any other method of downing Barcelona. ... [If] Mourinho can topple Barca for his greatest triumph yet, Madridistas would probably forgive him for even winning his way rather than the Real way."

For his part, Mourinho says, "I will respect the cultural aspect at Madrid. I have an obsession to play attacking and attractive football at Madrid."