Mourinho, who has stated that he is unfazed by his image and popularity, says he welcomes criticism when Real fail to win and uses it to motivate his star-studded squad.

"As a coach, I prefer people to criticise me for being aggressive with my words, because I try to bring out the wounded pride of my players," Mourinho told Real's official website.

"I prefer that to being quiet, politically correct or friendly and going on losing. We can't accept this direction. I'm optimistic because the team is ready to win and win again, draw less and lose even less."

The Portugese coach also believes that his team are heading in the right direction and is looking forward to going on a good run when the players return from international duty.

He added: "We're prepared to win a lot, draw less than that and hardly be defeated. We're going to be a team until the end.

"The team is now going in the right direction, but 10-12 days without them is a long time. We'll have to see how they arrive after the international games."