Former Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz has hit out at Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, claiming that his transfer strategy ruined his chances of success at the club. The former Manchester United man also noted that he feels Barcelona have too good a squad to collapse and forfeit a Liga title they looked favourites to win not too long ago.
Queiroz was in charge of Real Madrid when they blew an 8 point lead to lose out to Rafa Benitez-led Valencia in 2003/04, with the Portuguese manager blaming Perez, saying “Barcelona haven’t sold Luis Suárez, the way we did Morientes by by letting him go to Monaco. Nor have they sold Busquets, like we did when Makelele went to Chelsea.”
Queiroz further criticized Perez’s style of leadership, saying “He’s a fantastic person but when he gets to thinking he knows everything about football he makes mistakes. The president didn’t want to understand how things worked and in the end it was me who was made to pay.”
Quieroz’s side had an eight point lead, but the former Manchester United assistant manager noted that his squad was weak, saying “Considering the squad we had, it was a miracle we took an eight-point lead over Valencia. [After Makelele’s sale] At the time I said a Ferrari engine is no use without wheels.”
“With all due respect we should have held onto Fernando Morientes, not sold Claude Makelele and signed a good centre half, to replace Hierro. There was a massive gulf in quality between Ronaldo and Portillo and, it pains me to say it but, the same was true in terms of Hierro and Rubén.”
Queiroz backs Barcelona to win La Liga
There are some who are drawing parallels with Barcelona blowing a 9 point lead at the summit of La Liga and Queiroz’s Real Madrid blowing an 8 point lead to lose the title.
However, the Portuguese manager feels Barcelona have too much quality and experience to left it affect them, saying “You can’t compare Barça’s current squad with ours from back then. They are experienced players and a downturn in form shouldn’t affect players with the quality that Barcelona’s possess.”
Queiroz’s comments to Spanish radio station La COPE came before Barcelona’s 8-0 hammering of Deportivo la Coruna, and he seemed prescient when saying “You can’t compare Barça’s current squad with ours from back then. They are experienced players and a downturn in form shouldn’t affect players with the quality that Barcelona’s possess.”
The former Real Madrid manager backed Barcelona to pick up the Liga title, saying “As long as Barcelona play as they have been, they’ll have a very strong chance of winning.”
