Former Real Madrid Castilla coach Alberto Toril said he had learned from working with Jose Mourinho that “either you were his friend or you were his enemy.”
Toril was in charge of Madrid’s youth side from 2011 to 2013, when Mourinho was first team coach.
Tensions between the pair were widely reported at the time, with Mourinho publicly criticising Toril’s development of young talent.
The long-serving youth coach was first banned from attending Mourinho’s training sessions and then sacked mid-season by club president Florentino Perez.
Toril, now coach of Segunda side Elche, told Onda Cero: “He [Mourinho] was very extremist — either you were his friend or you were his enemy.
“I always speak well of him as he is a great coach. There were personal things I did not like, but I learned a lot.
“He is one of the best coaches I have seen in the way he works and plans. His style of football you can like more or less.”
Mourinho left the Bernabeu a few months after Toril’s exit after falling out with players including Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But Perez has never criticised Mourinho’s approach to Friends running the team, saying on more than one occasion that he could return for a second spell as coach one day.
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