Players are not stupid: a decisive factor in changing behaviour inside the Real Madrid dressing room

Real Madrid's players haven't changed their behaviour in the dressing room simply because results have improved and the team are winning again. One decisive factor has transformed the atmosphere inside the Spanish club.

That factor is the absolute trust José Mourinho enjoys from Florentino Pérez's board. It shows clearly in the way the players handle the Portuguese coach's decisions, and in their willingness to carry out his ideas without objection.

The squad have grown more accepting of the roles the technical staff define, even when those roles pull them away from their usual positions. Take Fede Valverde. He has shown great flexibility about playing right-back, after objecting to the same role last season under Xabi Alonso: "I was not born to play as a full-back".

Valverde's tone shifted noticeably after Wednesday's 3-2 Champions League win over AEK Athens. He confirmed his desire to learn from team-mates Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries, saying: "I have to work hard to be the best midfielder, and the best full-back alongside my teammates Trent and Dumfries".

He added: "I try to watch them and learn from them and understand their style in defence and attack. They are my role models, and I am keen to follow them daily. It makes me happy that the coach trusts me, whether in midfield or in the full-back position. I am very happy".

Media figure Manu Carreño flagged the shift on "Cadena SER" radio. The players now have a coach they trust, he argued, and the difference comes down to more than what Mourinho offers on the pitch. He also receives full backing from the club's board, something the players know well, which leaves them more convinced of his decisions and more consistent in how they respond.

The players are not stupid, Carreño added, and they can tell a coach who enjoys genuine board support from one without the same guarantees. That feeling shows in their behaviour on and off the pitch. They accept and carry out instructions more readily when they sense the coach holds real authority and isn't under constant threat.

Journalist Antonio Romero agreed. Mourinho's powers of persuasion play an important part in changing the group's mentality, he noted, but Florentino Pérez's support for the Portuguese has become obvious inside the club, even to those who visit the Valdebebas training centre daily. That support, he believes, wasn't there to the same degree during Xabi Alonso's spell.

Another factor has helped change the mood at Real Madrid: the club's recent history. Two seasons passed without a major title, and that left the players more aware of the group's need for change. They have stopped trading accusations and hunting for who was to blame for past failures, turning instead to carrying out the technical staff's ideas.

For Romero, the turnover of coaches while the same problems lingered pushed more responsibility onto the players themselves, rather than loading every bad result onto the coach alone. A group more open to learning and responding to Mourinho's instructions has emerged as a result. Administrative backing and trust in the coach stand out as one of the biggest reasons for the change under way in Real Madrid's dressing room.