Mourinho: “Higuaín will play left-back against Mallorca”

In his pre-match press conference before Madrid’s away game with Mallorca on Sunday, coach José Mourinho appeared tired of the questions about who would play left-back, and joked: “Tomorrow, Higuaín will be left-back”
Sergio Ramos: “He’s fit and will play. His problem is not just muscular, it’s something else. He’s thinking about the team and is concerned that they’re a bit short at the back. His attitude says it all because he’s made himself available for the team despite not training; now he’s ready to play and will do so.”
Essien: ” Higuaín will play left-back tomorrow – he’s quick, strong, crosses well from the left and scores goals. Essien will either play in the centre or not at all.”
Higuaín and Benzema: “They’re both great players and, one way or another, will achieve the same as last year.”
Mallorca: “They’re a good side, and playing away against them is tough. Caparrós is a good trainer so it will be a difficult game, as it always is. It doesn’t matter if you win or draw, you always have to fight for it. Tomorrow will be no different.”
Modric: “He’s on track, playing better and better and has settling into the team. He may or may not play tomorrow, but I’m happy with his progress. He does and is job and is also a nice guy. He can play in any position, in central midfield or as a playmaker and that’s why he’s here. We know he’s a player that gives us that diversity and I have more and more faith in him every day, particularly looking to the future.”
Nacho: “Nacho is a problem. In Castilla he was centre-back but here, in the first team, he’s right-back. It’s a problem because a player’s development shouldn’t have contradictions; that’s where the difficulty is. In the first team he’s not going to play in the centre, but that’s where he normally plays in the other team.
Carvalho: “At the moment we’ve got a lot of very good centre-backs and he is one of them. However, he is also the eldest of them all. He has less time in front of him and obviously shows less progress. When his contract ends it won’t be renewed. We’ve also got a 19-year-old central defender (Varane) that could be playing in the C or B team. In the B team the centre-backs are 24 or 25 years old, and he’s even almost too young to play for Castilla. We’ve got Ramos and Pepe, both great players with a lot of experience, then there’s Albiol, also a top player. It’s tough for Carvalho because he works hard and is ready to play; if we have any problems he could feature.”