Real Madrid and Florentino Perez - the circus needs to end someday

Robin S
Real Madrid Florentino Perez
Real Madrid have won just one league title in the last seven years in Perez’s second term as club president

It must be awful being a Real Madrid fan. As one of the three true giants of football – the other two being Barcelona and Bayern Munich – Real Madrid are expected to beat the lesser teams that they face and receive no plaudits for winning the “games that should be won”.

And there’s always brickbats ready to be thrown at them when they do lose those handful of “games that must be won”. It is a lose-lose scenario for the club, the manager and the players.

Nothing is ever good enough. No one is ever truly happy because they always focus on what was not achieved as opposed to drawing pleasure and pride from their amazing accomplishments – i.e steamrolling (almost) every opponent they face, being privileged enough to house the best players in the world and having the biggest fanbase in world football.

Instead, Real Madrid fans and armchair experts view the club as a winning machine, sitting back lazy and uninterested as their team mercilessly swats aside the minnows, only sitting up to take notice when the Clasico is around and keeping the pitchforks ready for the eventual post-match scapegoating.

“Player X is clearly not interested, we must boo him”, “The team has no spirit”, “Poor tactics, my grandma could have done better as the manager”, “We need to play with more attacking intent” – these are the go-to phrases for a Real Madrid fan on the inevitable occasion that they lose the Clasico to a better, grander team that is Barcelona. Fact.

But don’t let the facts get in the way of a good narrative. The problem must be with Real Madrid. Why, there is no team better than Real Madrid, saying so would be heresy. And so begins the inquest. Someone has to be blamed, and the manager is the easiest target.

Real Madrid fans Bernabeu El Clasico
Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu express their displeasure during El Clasico

Who is to blame for team selection?

Let’s ignore the fact that the chairman interferes with team selection to such an extent that the manager is reduced to simply being a butler carrying out the boss’s orders. Let’s also ignore the fact that Real Madrid have to buy the biggest and brightest talents, even if said players would simply upset the already precarious team balance.

A conversation between President and manager would probably go like this:

President – I am sure you will play Player X and Y against Barcelona. Real Madrid did not spend hundreds of millions just so that said players would be benched in the biggest game of the season.

Manager – Whilst I understand your side of things, as a manager it is my duty to pick the best XI to win against the opposition, not necessarily the most expensive players.

President – I knew you would see it my way. So what positions will X and Y play in? Striker? On the wings?

Manager – I don’t think we are on the same page. Listen, it is imperative for us to be more organized and less gung-ho against Barcelona. For those reasons, I will be dropping X, who is a pure attacker, and will be going with Z, who offers more defensively.

President – I would go with X on the wing, personally. Y is better as a striker.

Manager – You are not even listening to me, are you?

President – But then X has scored more goals than Y. Maybe X should play as the striker.

Manager – Should I just leave? I don’t think you need me here for this.

President – Wait. I got it! Play X and Y both as strikers!

Manager – And leave the midfield and defense undermanned and unprotected against the most attacking side in world football? Dear lord, this man is insane!

President - It is decided then. X and Y as strikers. It is a real show of intent.

Manager – It’s a real recipe for disaster.

President – Perfect. This was a great meeting, and as always I value your inputs. You see, unlike other clubs, here, at Real Madrid, the manager is in full control of his team selections. Excuse me, I must tend to some transfer business. Player B hasn’t scored in over 100 matches, it’s time for him to leave.

Manager – That’s the goalkeeper, you dimwit!

Rafa Benitez Real Madrid
Is Rafa Benitez already running out of time at Real Madrid?

What is Real Madrid’s football plan?

Imaginary conversations aside, the last few years do raise pertinent questions for Real Madrid. What is their football plan? If it is to win everything all the time, then the right managers need to be hired and allowed to do their job without any meddling. This may result in less-than-enthralling football, but if result is king, then aesthetics will have to be sacrificed.

Or is it to simply acquire the best players in the world, cram them into a playing XI and show them off to the world? If so, then fans should ready themselves for many more humbling defeats; that’s the logical outcome when entertainment takes precedence over pragmatism. You might lose some games, but most of the time you will be entertained by the best footballers money can buy.

Perhaps it is both – the very best players and the best manager combine to produce the very greatest football that will beat every team all the time and win Real Madrid every trophy. This utopian project can be turned into a reality with the right funding, and that is never the problem at Real Madrid.

So if Real Madrid’s idea is to be the Bayern Munich or PSG of La Liga, then they simply need to replicate the measures taken by the German and French champions. Except that neither Bayern nor PSG have a direct, perhaps even superior, domestic team to rival them in every aspect of football. Real Madrid do. (Hint: it’s the side that just thrashed them 4-0).

Real Madrid simply cannot expect to dominate La Liga unless they can get Barcelona out of the way. And since that is not about to happen anytime soon, perhaps Florentino Perez can take a step back and evaluate the big picture – one league title in seven years.

Clearly, Perez’s philosophy of hoarding the best players has not been fruitful. So why not give the right manager the license to play his way? What’s the worst that could happen, apart from finishing second again?

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Edited by Staff Editor