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How are you handling all these interviews?
Not very well. I don't really like being in the media spotlight, getting recognised.
How did you become a director?
I've had a season ticket sat next to [Real Madrid director] Pedro Trapote for many years. He called me one day and asked me if I knew Calderón and that's how it all started. I'm glad to have been a member of his team.
On Thursday when you left Calderón's house, he had no intention of resigning. Did you go to the Bernabéu on Friday thinking you would become president?
No, never. We were in his house the previous day and he was adamant he would remain.
Did you or any of the other directors force him to resign?
Nobody forced him to do anything. Some directors think one way and others think another. Calderón made the right choice in thinking of his health and what's best for the club. The directors were nearly unanimous in deciding that we would respect whatever decision Ramón took. I think his resignation was courageous, not cowardly and he has put his personal prestige on the line.
On Saturday morning, as the new president, what did you say to Juande Ramos? Did you know him from before?
I went to Valdebebas [the Real Madrid training ground] and said a few words to him. I am friendly with him. I said I had confidence in him and that I liked the way he worked. To the players I said not to worry, that we had confidence in them and that we needed them to fight on the pitch.
Were you one of those who recommended Juande for Real Madrid?
They asked me and I said I liked him and thought he was perfect for this club.
You have said that you will leave the club with clean accounts. Can we interpret that as a dig at Calderón?
The accounts are clean right now. All I have to fix is to bring all parties together so that there is peace at the club, for the next four or five months and that we fix outstanding items like the postal vote.
You will reconvene the AGM. Are you sure that Calderón knew nothing of what was happening at the last one?
We have to reconvene the meeting because of what happened. I can assure you that nobody knew anything, not even Ramón.
You are now the Real Madrid president and the next day you gave an interview to the paper that has been most responsible for the persecution [Marca]. Do you think Calderón may feel betrayed by that?
I have to bring a measure of peace, otherwise what am I here for. I have to talk with everyone. That's what I've always done and I will continue to do so. Calderón was not angry, perhaps a little hurt.
You said that Florentino was a good president. Have you spoken to him recently?
Not for some time. My relationship with him is good and we have spoken many times, but note recently.
If he invited you to form part of his candidacy, would you accept?
Not at this moment. I have said that I won't be part of any candidate's team.
Have any of the other candidates called you?
No. I know what is being published, but other than Villalonga, nobody has stated their intention to stand.
Are you sure you won't stand. What if the team wins the Champions League, would you change your mind then?
I won't stand. That is clear. If they win the Champions League, it will be to the players' credit.
Would you like to stay in football in the future?
I'd love to. Maybe in the future I will get involved, but only as a non-executive director, never as president.
Why is Real Madrid in this situation?
It all starts with the club's statutes, we have to make them relevant to the 21st century. It cannot be that the last four or five presidents have left the club in awful circumstances. We are a laughing-stock and we have to change the rules, starting with the postal vote.
How are you proposing to make these changes?
Voting has to be transparent and not able to be manipulated. We already said that we wanted the postal vote to work in the same as Spanish general elections, but it was not approved. We will have to fix this.
What will you decide about the manager's future? Will he stay on next year?
I think Juande is a great manager and that he will stay at Real Madrid next year, because there is a clause in his contract that gives him an extension if he wins a title.
That's not going to happen the way Barcelona is playing...
We will see; there's a long way to go and there's also the Champions League.
You have said you prefer Robben to Messi. Would you not swap them?
Robben is more fun to watch and I wouldn't swap him for Messi. He is a more electrifying player
You will have to plan the next preseason...
That's already arranged. It will be at the same location as the last few years. We are not going to change because I don't think it's necessary.
What about signings for next season. Do you not think that starting to look at these in July will be too late?
[Ironically] Don't worry, all the presidential candidates will come with seven or ten players signed up...
Wouldn't it be better if the elections were in May instead of July?
We have to close the accounts for the year and get them audited; that's how you bring normality to the club and the way it's always been done. We will look at the possible dates, but the election will have to take place after the accounts have been closed.
What things do you want to fix at the AGM?
I would like there to be a new discussion point to amend the postal voting rules.
Will Real Madrid appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport about Lass and Huntelaar?
Yes, because every socio would demand that we do everything in our power to defend Real Madrid's interests.
Will there be repercussions over the signing of these two players?
First we'll have to determine who's to blame. There is a commission to analyse everything that's happened. They were two players we were very interested in and it was also easier to sign them at this time. The fact that only one of them can play in the Champions League is not as important as the fact that they have signed five year contracts.
Will Mijatovic keep his job?
Pedja knows a lot about football. At this point we don't need to either buy or sell any players. He is a former player of Real Madrid and he can be helpful. Whether he stays or not also depends on him.
What will his job be until the election?
Leave everything in order for those who will come afterwards and to help ensure there is peace until then.
Will you be involved in trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo? I assume you will reply that that is up to the sporting director...
Exactly. Real Madrid is working on a number of things that will have to be concluded.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Boluda: I don't want to be president after the next election
Thursday, 8 January 2009
UEFA postpones decision on Huntelaar and Lass
The story has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, ever since Real Madrid signed Lass from Portsmouth and then 'discovered', via the press, that UEFA rules state that of a maximum of three new players that can be registered for the knock-out stages by February 1st, only one can have played in another European competition, such as the UEFA cup.
Admittedly, Real Madrid have found themselves in a fairly unusual position, having lost three players for the remainder of the season before the year was out. However, UEFA rules are quite clear on this point, and have been for some years. Protestations to the contrary cannot disguise the fact that the club's sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, or one of his team, should have known. The chances of a resignation, or, at the very least, some sort of apology for the mistake, are, shall we say, remote.
Mijatovic & Co. have tried to deal with this in typical fashion, acting as if it is someone else's fault. In this case, they argue that UEFA's rules are ambiguous and contradictory, given that third placed teams in the Champions League group stages then go on to compete in the UEFA Cup, and say they are prepared to appeal all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Besides the fact that it is unlikely that there is enough time for the appeals process to complete before the 1st February deadline, Real Madrid's directors are being at best disingenuous (and thus once again incompetent) or at worst just going through the motions for appearance's sake. The rules are quite clear (articles 17.17 and 17.18 if you want to look them up) and Real will have to pick one of their two recent acquisitions (probably Lass) for registration. Whether the rules are "fair", given Real Madrid's injury situation, is irrelevant, and UEFA may very well decide to alter them, but only in time for next season.
Update: UEFA finally announced late on Thursday evening that its Control and Disciplinary Body had rejected Real Madrid's request and that any appeals would be heard next week.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Youth Director resigns and lambasts Calderón
Calderón, who had already hinted at another possible transfer announcement in advance of the club's Annual General meeting on Sunday may not find it so easy to dismiss the comments made by former Real Madrid player José Miguel González Martín del Campo, or Míchel, as he is best known. For one, it was his idea to recruit the former legend to look after the lower teams to imbue them with the right kind of madridismo.
Míchel, a member of the famous Quinta del Buitre in the 1980s, joined the Calderón team in 2006 as coach of the Real Madrid Castilla side. As the team was relegated from the second division at the end of that season, Míchel then took overall responsibility for the younger sides, charged with spotting and moulding the future stars of Real Madrid.
It's no secret that few have made it into the senior side, and some, like De la Red, had to leave to prove their worth elsewhere. Schuster has been accused of not calling up the youngsters even when he was short of players through injuries and yet, a player like Juan Mata, whom Míchel pleaded with to stay at the club, is now succeeding with Valencia.
In a radio interview on Tuesday evening, Míchel had a few choice words for his former employer:In the last two years he hasn't even bothered to come for the annual team picture with the youngsters and we had to cut and paste it in.
On Monday the president asked Mijatovic to fire me. I believe it's because of an argument I had with one of the board directors who was pressuring me to include someone's child in the youth team. The president himself brought another lad three months ago to try to do the same thing.
How is it possible that in two and a half years twenty players have left the youth teams and not one of them is good enough for the first squad?
Back in February 2007 I was offered Fabio Capello's job, because according to the president, he was about to be fired. In March 2007 he offered me Mijatovic's job.
I leave it to the reader to decide whether this is just a case of sour grapes from Míchel or yet another nail in Calderón's coffin.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Early Christmas present for Real Madrid
In most other countries, presents are opened on Christmas morning. In Spain, and some other countries with a Catholic tradition, the custom is to open presents on the feast of the Epiphany on January 6th, commemorating the visit of the Magi.
Whichever tradition applies, Real Madrid have bought themselves an early Christmas gift in the shape of Ajax and Holland striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. They will however have to wait until January 1st to open that present, when the winter transfer window opens.
It is of course only "coincidence", as Mijatovic insists, that this signing is being announced mere days before the club's AGM this Sunday.
Both Calderón and Mijatovic are expected to face heavy criticism at the meeting, particularly over their disastrous summer transfer policy where they sold Robinho to Manchester City to finance the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Coincidentally, the Portuguese winger was confirmed yesterday as the winner of the Ballon d'Or, making him the European Footballer of the Year.
Huntelaar was this year made Ajax captain by manager Marco van Basten, an important recognition for a 25-year-old. He is seen as both a short and long term replacement for Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is out for the rest of the season, but is carrying an ankle ligament injury himself which means he won't play again until after he joins Real Madrid in January. This led Michel Salgado to joke that "we even sign them injured" on Tuesday evening as the agreement was made public.
Earlier in the week Ramón Calderón had promised new signings to alleviate the raft of injuries to the squad, although he said that any winter signings would come to "help out, because we already have the good players up front: Raúl, Higuaín and Robben". Let's hope Huntelaar sees a bit more of the pitch than Saviola, for instance.
On the technical side, there's little question that Huntelaar is a valuable addition to the squad. He's a centre forward at heart, so he will need good service from the midfield players, reather than tracking back to get the ball himself.
However, the presence of so many Dutchmen in the squad should make his adaptation relatively straightforward. His goal record speaks for itself; last season alone he scored 33 goals in 34 games in the Dutch league championship.
Real Madrid will pay Ajax 20 million euros for his services, plus another 7 million depending on results. Huntelaar will be in Madrid for a medical on Wednesday and is expected to sign a contract until 2013.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
And the scales tip yet again...
It's obvious, but perhaps it needs to be stated from time to time, and Xavi, the Barcelona and Spain midfielder put it succinctly the other day when he said that "Barça and Real are like a set of scales, when things go well for one, they go badly for the other, and viceversa".Just think back six months: Real Madrid were running rampant in a league championship they eventually won with an eighteen-point lead over Barcelona. When the Catalan club visited the capital, Real had already won the title and the Barcelona players had to do the traditional pasillo.
Key players like Eto'o were accused of forcing a yellow card in their previous game so they wouldn't have to face the humiliation in Madrid. Barcelona went on to lose the game 4-1. Club president Joan Laporta had to face a motion of confidence, which he narrowly defeated.
Fast forward to the last few weeks and you can see the scales have truly tipped. After six wins on the trot in September, Real Madrid have lost both Champions League ties against Juventus, been dumped out of the Copa del Rey by a third division side, and have managed just three wins in their last six league games, conceding ten goals in the process.
Conversely, Barcelona are riding high, with a five-point lead at the top of the standings, and a truly breathtaking start to the championship. They have scored thirty-six goals in eleven games and Eto'o is the current pichichi with thirteen. Confidence is clearly with the men in red & blue as the two sides look to their first meeting of the season in mid-December.
It's always been thus, but the roots of this particular debacle can clearly be traced to the disastrous way Real Madrid managed their summer transfer campaign. Having won the league early, and being in the enviable position of planning for the coming season with several months in their back pocket, they decided to base their entire strategy around the signing of one Cristiano Ronaldo (remember him?).
Ramón Calderón has always felt the long shadow of his predecessor, Florentino Pérez, and his failure to match the galáctico-signing antics of the Florentino years has always weighed heavily on this much-criticised president. Only yesterday, he hit out at Florentino's being photographed at a charity match organised by Zinedine Zidane: "It's sad. I would have loved to have seen that photo when we won two league titles and the supercopa. It illustrates that badly kept secret that he has spent the past two-and-a-half years obstructing and trying to discredit the Real Madrid board. He only thinks of his own personal gain."Calderón must have reasoned that the only way to make people forget about Florentino was to secure the services of one of the most sought-after players in the world. Well, we all remember what happened, which is that not only did Real Madrid not manage to sign the tricky Portuguese winger, but they also managed to enrage their most creative player (Robinho) to such an extent that he upped sticks and left them for Manchester City.
In all of this, Mijatovic has aided and abetted his boss, and Schuster claims to have been a mere spectator. However, while he may have a strong case to claim he has been handed an unbalanced squad, and taking into account a number of injuries in key positions, Schuster still cannot expect to be seen as purely innocent.
There is no excuse for conceding six goals and being eliminated from the cup by a third division side, not with this squad. There is no excuse for claiming he has "no idea" why his side is letting in a record number of goals.
We knew what we were getting when Schuster was signed. He's always been temperamental and difficult with the media, but when you barely get involved in a game you're losing and then go AWOL for several days without explaining what your strategy is to get the team out of the mess it's in, then, frankly, it's all downhill from there.
So the recent vote of confidence in the coach from the Real Madrid board is as convincing as Mijatovic's press conference to announce it. Fielding a question about what would happen if Real lost again this weekend at home to Recreativo, he avoided saying that the result was not linked to Schuster staying at the club: "I can't be certain as to what would happen. We would have no problem in taking difficult decisions if we have to, but we won't rush into them".We just need to keep watching to see whether the scales have any further to tip before they start heading back the other way...
Monday, 27 October 2008
Can you please stop moaning?
Pedja 'Brylcreem' Mijatovic left little of his state of mind (such as it is) to the imagination with statements like "we are worried. It's too easy to rule against Real. If in doubt they rule against and that cannot be". Even Schuster got in on the act during his post-match press conference saying he "shared Mijatovic's worries".
The thing is, the facts just do not stack up; some decisions went against Real and some benefited them. Higuaín's disallowed goal last night was not offside and Heinze's penalty was more than doubtful. However, Marcelo should have seen red, not yellow, for his horrific tackle on Etxeberria on the stroke of half-time. And Real Madrid won the game, like last week.
Refereeing conspiracy theories have been the bread and butter of the Spanish sports press for decades - probably since the first ball was ever kicked between two sides. Alfredo Relaño in As for instance, has been claiming for years that the Spanish Federation, and Villar, its president, are at the core of a monstrous attempt to pervert the course of Spanish football by favouring Barcelona over Real Madrid.
There are supposedly no direct instructions (of course not, these would be too easy to disprove). Instead, referees who see things 'the right way' are allegedly rewarded with Cup finals and international appointments, and those who don't are relegated to obscurity. In other words, a triumph of insinuative rather than the investigative journalism they should be doing if they really though there was this level of corruption at the heart of the game.
Now, for a conspiracy to prosper, you need a couple of things: as few parties as possible must be involved and they must all be able to keep a secret... for ever. Call me naïve, but the general level of competence of the federation and its lackeys does not inspire me with a great deal of confidence in their chances of keeping a secret for longer than 24 hours, on a Tuesday, in July, when they're all home with the 'flu. Plus, the level of discretion displayed by the average club director is such that they could just not keep it to themselves if they'd somehow managed to put one over the opposition.
But the funny thing is, the papers this time are taking a different tack. Uncharacteristically for Marca, they have published an "analysis" that seeks to show that controversial refereeing decisions have been both for and against Real and that in no case have they had an influence in the result of the game (at least against Real Madrid), given that they have won all those games.
The Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola, has taken the high ground that Real Madrid should aspire to occupy by saying that neither club should complain about the referees. "Seriously, these things work themselves out in the long term. We sportsmen have an obligation to behave ourselves. The referees do the best they can and that's the end of it". Let's hope that he continues to keep his composure, as neither Mijatovic nor Schuster seem to be able to do so. Perhaps they should also take note of the Athletic manager who said ironically "how hard it is to know how to win" after the game.
Another one who has recently joined the ranks of the moaners is Sergio Ramos. Following his midweek outburst saying that his recent poor performances are due to the fact that he gets little support on his wing, Bernd Schuster decided to leave him out of the squad and play Michel Salgado in his stead. "To be honest", said Ramos "I'm not happy playing right now. Before I had help on the right wing from Beckham and others and that helped a lot. Nowadays I feel very alone on the wing and it looks like I get the blame for all the mistakes". Though Schuster claimed that the change was for "rest and rotation" reasons, he also pointedly avoided making any comment on Ramos's statements, even after being repeatedly questioned about it just before the game.
Friday, 12 September 2008
Liar, Liar
He's been called President Pinocchio, Tourettes and Motormouth (that last one's mine), but if there has been one person on Ramón Calderón's case since he became Real Madrid president, that is José Antonio Abellán, a journalist and presenter of the popular late-night radio sports programme El Tirachinas. His recent tirades have proved too much for old Ramón and he has decided to take the pesky journo to court for lies and slander.
Abellán has certainly found a rich mine in Calderón's frequent escapades in front of the various media, often without seemingly thinking through what he was going to say first. Early in his presidential stint, Calderón announced that Real Madrid had signed a massive TV contract with Catalan production company Mediapro, but he couldn't get his figures straight. Initially worth 800 million euros, he added an extra 300 million to the sum less than a week later.
The non-transfers of Kaká, Cesc and Cristiano Ronaldo, plus Robinho's move to Manchester City have been covered to death in recent summers, so I won't recap them here, except to say that whatever he says one week, he denies the next, and then he contradicts himself again... and again.
Most recently, and what the president seems to have taken issue with, Abellán has accused him of fiddling the waiting lists of season ticket holders in favour of friends and acquaintances. If and when this goes to court, the thought of Abellán giving evidence must have every journalist in the land slavering at the mouth. I can't wait.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Schuster lets rip
Schuster complained about the lack of communication, as noone from the club called him following Monday's board meeting to discuss the transfer market: "that would be a good question for Mijatovic, to see whether he feels it is necessary to call me. Maybe he thinks it's unnecessary and a matter for the club only".
Ramón Calderón will visit the squad today and will meet with Schuster to keep him informed. The German coach will ask for reinforcements in the midfield and forward lines, and soon: "we have to do things more quickly than in previous years, where new players have arrived very late, at the last minute". He was no doubt referring to the late arrival of reinforcements last year, especially Heinze and Robben, leaving little time to integrate them into the team.
"We won the League, but we have to improve the squad, if the players are available, so we can go further in the Champions League. I assume no signings have yet been made official because everyone is still waiting for the 'big one'".
Schuster did confirm that, as far as he is concerned, Robinho is staying. But then, if he is not being kept apprised of movements in the market, he hardly seems to have the last word on the matter. He was involved earlier in "drawing up some strategies to follow. I don't know if they have changed, but it would be good to know".
Friday, 25 July 2008
Mijatovic makes a move
The 25-year-old Dutchman, who has a Spanish mother, joined Hamburg from Ajax in 2005 for €5.5 million as midfield playmaker and has since been given the captaincy of their squad. He was instrumental in Hamburg's performance in last season's Bundesliga and has been linked with a number of clubs even before the summer transfer window, among them Chelsea, Inter, Valencia, as well as Real Madrid. Though he signed a 5-year deal with Hamburg, his contract terms state that from the end of the upcoming season, he can leave the club for a "mere" €1 million, hence the upsurge in interest in his services.
The German club's website noted in a brief announcement yesterday evening that they had received and rejected an offer from Real Madrid, as "unworthy of discussion". The value of the offer was then disclosed in German newspaper Die Welt as €6 million, coming in the form of a fax sent to Hamburg Thursday evening by Real Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatovic.
Van der Vaart could potentially be seen as a medium-term replacement for Guti, as he has played alongside Sneijder in that position both at Ajax and in the Dutch national side. The Real Madrid vice-captain, though indisputably talented, suffers from erratic form (and questionable temper) and has finished many of his 14 seasons at the club as a substitute. Nonetheless, he had a pretty regular season under Schuster last year and back in April signed a 'life contract', which saw his previous deal extended until 2011 with an annual renewal clause if he plays 30 games every season.
Hamburg's outright rejection of the offer is seen as a first step in the negotiations between both clubs, who are expected to revisit the matter when they meet in London for the Emirates Cup at the beginning of August.
Monday, 19 May 2008
Garay in, but who's out?
Real Madrid currently has a potential surfeit of players in the central defender role: Pepe, Metzelder, Cannavaro, Heinze (who also doubles up as left back) and Ramos when there's noone else. Buying a new, young player (Garay's 21) makes sense if you're thinking of easing out one of your veterans, or someone who's simply not working out. Of the five above, it looks like only Cannavaro and Metzelder fit the bill. The Ballon d'or and World Cup winning Italian captain has one more year left on his contract. Metzelder, on the other hand, has a further two years left to run on the contract he signed last summer, plus he's had a bad run of injuries this season which have prevented him from really showing whether he will fit into the squad.
So it looks like Real will either try to sell Cannavaro over the summer and try to recoup a portion of the 15 million euros spent on him, or else see out his contract and pick up Garay in 2009. For his part, Garay joined Racing de Santander for a measly 2 million euros in 2005 as a 19-year-old and has proved to be a regular starter for the Cantabrian club, scoring several goals per season. He has been capped once with the senior Argentina squad, in a friendly against Norway in August 2007.
Garay was the subject of transfer speculation earlier in the year, when clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Lyon and Tottenham reportedly interested in bidding for his services. It then looked like a done deal with Barcelona as Racing president Francisco Pernía claimed that "he would be really surprised" if Garay joined any other club over the summer. However, the 18 million euro price tag proved too rich for Barcelona and the deal collapsed. With Manchester United still in the hunt, it's somewhat surprising that Real have managed to close a deal for 10 million euros, although perhaps this has something to do with the fact that it's "cash in hand" rather than over several instalments.
The signing of Garay was recommended by both Pedja Mijatovic and Miguel Angel Portugal. Portugal has a much lower public profile than Mijatovic, but as much, or possibly even more influence at the club. He is also the former coach of Racing de Santander, which means he has first-hand knowledge of Garay's abilities. Jpx, calling Portugal's approach 'the art of silence', argues that it makes a refreshing change to see someone being signed for a reasonable price (given the market) and without all the speculation and fanfare that ussually accompanies these things. I couldn't agree more.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
What might have been
Earlier this week, French sports daily L'Equipe reported that Mijatovic had recently been in the UK to talk to Queiroz about Cristiano. The Real Madrid sports director reportedly put 120 million euros on the table to make him the player to spearhead Real's assault on the Champions League. Queiroz is said to have retorted that "at that price, the striker will be with United next season", which, if the quote is accurate, suggests there is room for negotiation.
Of course, the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo has matured into the kind of player everybody wants must owe something to the way Alex Ferguson runs his Manchester United squads. The relative freedom from internal politics and his unchallenged status inside the club means that no player is more important than the squad and internal cliques and dissension are generally quashed before they can take hold. Whether he could have flourished in that way at Real Madrid is something we'll never know.
Ironically, it was Ferguson's intransigence in this regard that eventually led to media maelstrom David Beckham joining the rank of the galácticos at the same time as Queiroz. However, as Queiroz recalls, the seeds of destruction that resulted in three years without a trophy, including his one season at the club (the Spanish Supercup does not count) had already been sown. Real's president, Florentino Pérez, decided that "he knew something about football" and commanded that Makélélé be sold to Chelsea. This was "a criminal error, the president's worst decision. Makélélé wanted to stay. He told me and he told [Jorge] Valdano (then the club's general manager). But, in the president's mind, releasing Makélélé vacated a position in which David Beckham could play. He was worried that, with Makélélé in the team, Beckham would be blocked out. But of course we could have had both."
Queiroz also analyses Real's Zidanes y Pavones strategy: "the policy was to surround the galácticos with players from the academy, the cantera, as much as possible. It was a great idea and could have worked - except that the cantera could not deliver its requirements. The young players were not there. On top of that, the club had let some of the best go the year before - like Samuel Eto'o. He was a Real Madrid player before he went to Barcelona and emerged as world-class. When the season started, I gave an interview to Marca and said that, although it was true Real Madrid was a Ferrari, you could not win a race if the car had no wheels. Sad to say, I was proved right."
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
See-saw
The reasons for the slump are probably many and inter-related: there is a lack of confidence in the side, the "bad" luck in this half of the season merely balances out the good fortune in the first half, and the less said about Brylcreem boy, the better. But, all in all, while "crisis" may be overstating the case a smidgeon, the situation is drawing dangerous parallels with last season's run-in, except the other way around. The famous "cagómetro" (lit. shit-meter) is making a reappearance, as Real are facing their own brown-trouser time. One can't help but see the looming spectre of the 3rd last game of the season, the Clásico at the Bernabéu, which, due to the ridiculously tight Spanish fixture calendar will be played in mid-week instead of at the week-end.
Back in Sunday's game, it was interesting to note that when Raúl had scored his second of the night (and 15th of the season) and put Real ahead, the Bernabéu was echoing to the cries of "Raúl, selección". But Luis Aragonés has made his bed and will likely lie in it: his last squad selection before the European championships (for a friendly against Italy on Wednesday) did not include the former captain. It did include, however, the other brace-taker on the night, David Villa, who is preferred because "there are better players than Raúl".
Villa's league tally? 10.
Friday, 14 September 2007
General Disassembly
The club is bullish about the club's performance over the past year, claiming it as "the best fiscal year in its history" with €351 million in ordinary revenue (20% up), €83 million in earnings (EBITDA, 43% up) and profit of €44 million before tax. It seems clear that the club's finances are sound and the structure put in place by former president Florentino Pérez to run the club as a modern business is reaping the rewards. However, there is concern in the Real Madrid blogosphere (see El Triangular Madridista in particular) that good results should not overshadow a number of questions that need answers, aside from the reform of the electoral process:
More details next week.
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Capello lashes out
"Mijatovic lied to me and (assistant coach) Franco Baldini, who had a very important offer from another team. He said: 'You will stay here, we will all be staying here.' I never heard anything from him (Calderón). He has never called me... I think I deserved some respect from someone who came to get me from Italy, someone I helped to win the elections and succeed as president."
Harsh words, and yet not surprising. It's been fairly well documented that Mijatovic initially wanted Capello to stay, but probably buckled under pressure from Calderón and the rest of the board who wanted 'exciting football' at the Bernabéu. To save his own skin, he stabbed Capello in the back so that the decision was seen to be unanimous.
"What hurt me most was that they appointed me to do a serious, tough and difficult job and we had a very difficult dressing room to deal with. There were many conflicting groups and each one had its leader who blamed the others when things weren't going well. But we pulled the team together, recovered the team spirit and they played with great enthusiasm and belief."
All true. This is my main gripe with the management. They had no class. You do not set objectives for someone, knowing full well how they intend to deliver them, and then proceed to remove them when those methods become unpalatable. They may have had the excuse they wanted, had Capello not won the league (one almost senses that they would have preferred this), but they went ahead and did it anyway. This may come back to haunt them.
Capello also blamed the management for the decision to exclude David Beckham from the squad. "The decision was taken because the club management said that he had negotiated with them, having already agreed a contract with Los Angeles. They said that they couldn't count on a player that wasn't going to remain at the club."
At the time, I suspected this may have been the case. However, it cannot be the whole story. Capello must take responsibility for either bowing to pressure or agreeing that the punishment was adequate. That he eventually recanted when things got tough is not necessarily to his credit, if it's not accompanied by an apology for his earlier decision.
Capello also praised AC Milan for signing Emerson from Real Madrid for 5 million euros. "Milan have made a fantastic signing in Emerson. He is a champion that can give a lot. He struggled at the start of his adventure with Real Madrid but then he recovered well. Emerson is a complete midfielder, able to interpret to perfection all the roles in the centre of midfield."
He would say that, wouldn't he, given that Real brought him from Juventus on his advice. But, to be honest, Emerson never really completely clicked at Real, no matter how many chances he was given. It is true he brightened a little towards the end of the season, but his overall performances never justified his price tag. Presumably this is why he has been let go for a fraction of his original cost (both he and Cannavaro signed for around 20 million euros last summer). Emerson himself had harsh words for the management at the club: "During the hard times I lived through last season I never had a call from the president. He did not behave correctly towards me. There is a huge gulf between the players in the squad and the management."
It'll be interesting to see what Capello says in tomorrow's second instalment.
Monday, 13 August 2007
Going Dutch
- Johnny Metgod (1982-1984) - currently assistant coach at Feyenoord, so he knows Drenthe's game well.
- Clarence Seedorf (1996-2000) - only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs (Ajax, Real Madrid and current club AC Milan)
- Ruud van Nistelrooy (2006-) - most expensive Dutch signing when he signed for Manchester United for PSV Eindhoven in 2001 for 30 million euros
- Royston Drenthe (2007-)
- Wesley Sneijder (2007-)
If Robben also arrives, there'll be almost a many Dutchmen as Spaniards in the starting 11! Sneijder will be the second most expensive Dutch signing ever, at 27 million euros, according the the Ajax website, and 25.5, according to As (the devil will be in the detail, I expect with additional payments for trophies won, goals scored, or other such things).
Last week, Ajax publicly announced that negotiations had stalled at around 24 million euros, when they were looking for 27 (after initially asking for 30), and that if Real wanted the player, they had better hurry, or he would be cup-tied in Ajax's upcoming qualifier Champions league tie. Real responded with an ultimatum and a withdrawal of their offer on Friday. Clearly this was just a bit of posturing, as Mijatovic travelled to the Netherlands over the weekend to finalise terms and give Schuster the playmaker he's been asking for. Sneijder has, at 23, already several Champions League ties under his belt, quality and technique, scores goals (18 last season) and is a specialist free-kick taker. On paper, he's probably the best signing so far this summer, in my opinion. He should also alleviate some of the Guti-dependency that Real has had in the preseason, which can be no bad thing. Hopefully he will adapt to the new league, team-mates and language quickly enough to make an impression.
Both Drenthe and Sneijder will be officially presented later today. They are both reportedly potential starters in next Sunday's Spanish Supercup 2nd leg at the Bernabéu against Sevilla. It may be too soon to expect them to fit in; however, given the Dutch season starts earlier than the Spanish, they should at least be physically ready. Continue reading this article »
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Start of the Schuster era
In a presentation devoid of any kind of title promises, Bernd Schuster put pen to paper at Real Madrid once more, this time as its manager. It's been no secret that Calderón wanted him at the helm from the start of his accident-prone presidency, but was convinced by Mijatovic that Capello was a better guarantee both of getting elected and of putting the squad in order to bring back a trophy for the first time in three years. Calderón also recently admitted that Capello's fate was sealed as far back as February of this year, inexplicably, as far as I'm concerned, but I've covered that elsewhere.
Schuster supposedly bought out his contract with Getafe on Monday morning for some 480,000 euros, the last legal obstacle to his signing a three-year deal with Real and was duly presented in the early afternoon at the Bernabéu. In the subsequent press conference, he paid tribute to Capello's success in winning the league title, claiming it has calmed things down at the club, in terms of expectation. He did not follow this up with any promises to win, other than the usual comment that the club aims to win as many titles as possible. He placed much more emphasis on his playing philosophy, saying that "it's not just about winning titles. I want the fans to enjoy the football. I hope the idea I have in mind fits in with what the fans want. It's more than just tactics. All teams practically play the same, but we have to find something else. Giving freedom to player, for example, which is more important than a system. Last year can be an example. I have always preferred having a centre midfielder who helps in attack, and another who works in defence. That's just an example.".
This really says nothing about what he intends to do or whether he has any kind of clear idea of the way the team is going to play under him. I suspect that's partly because he is not as involved as some would have you believe in the club's transfer policy, so he'll have to make do with whatever the squad looks like by the time preseason training starts on July 22nd.
Given that Schuster is Real Madrid's 12th coach in 10 years, you would probably get very good odds on his not seeing out his three year contract. We shall see...
Friday, 6 July 2007
Just get on with it!
Mijatovic, Capello's hitherto strongest supporter (supposedly) inside the club, announced his sacking by saying that he was not the most suitable person to take the club forward. It has been speculated that Mijatovic was being forced sideways by Calderón, who wanted the former Racing de Santander coach (Miguel Angel Portugal) to take over as the sporting director. Mijatovic is said to have forced the issue with Calderón and his price for not sticking with Capello and making things awkward at the club would be if Portugal's role did not interfere with his - well, at least that's what As said and you can bet the mortgage on their investigative journalism, right?.
However, Portugal had already signed a contract, and things went very quiet about his future for a week until last night, when he was officially announced as the new new technical secretary. His duties are unclear and there is confusion (at least from an outsider's perspective) as to whether he works for Mijatovic or alongside him. It may be that Mijatovic's days are also numbered...
Still, that's just politics. It's a shame Capello got caught in the middle of it, but that's life. You'd think that at the very least the club would be doing their utmost to kick-start the planning for next season with a replacement in the manager's job. Well, Bernd Schuster is in the middle of his very own saga.
It's understandable that Angel Torres, the president of "modest" Getafe is a little miffed that Real Madrid have been 'tapping up' his manager, who, after all, has a year left to run on his contract. He's entitled to compensation, all 480,000 euros of it, and all he asked for initially was just a courtesy call. The response from Calderón was emphatic: "Real Madrid does not buy out coaches' contracts. If a coach wants to come here, he needs to sort out his own contract. We're looking at other options. Yeah, right.
Why all the playing of games? It's perfectly normal for a club to buy out a player's contract, why not a coach's? So Bernd has to buy out his own contract or the club will find someone else. What exactly is going on behind the scenes? Yesterday, Calderón even accused Torres of "seeking protagonism", of wanting to become Real Madrid president himself. He's not just paranoid, he's insane. Check out Tim's take at La Liga Loca,and Linda's over at The Beautiful Game.
In the middle of all of this, the names linked to Real Madrid succeed each other with all the regularity of a bad case of the runs - Chivu, Cesc, Malouda, Kaká (yet again), Adriano, Robben, Pato, Drenthe. This is perfectly normal for this time of year, but if only a handful of them are true, just who is making the plans, who is building next year's squad, and using what criteria? Does Schuster know, does he care?
Can someone explain to me just what is going on?
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Chronicle of a sacking foretold
It's official.
Calderón has finally got his way and Fabio Capello won't be back at the Bernabéu after his summer holidays in Tibet. Following the postponed board meeting that finally took place Thursday lunchtime, Miguel Angel Arroyo, the spokesman for the board, and Brylcreem Boy Mijatovic confirmed the news. The decision was "consensual and unanimous" and "without the need for a vote" (another victory for that paragon of democracy, Ramón Calderón).
What was not cleared up was exactly who would be taking Capello's place. While Bernd Schuster is the president's clear favourite candidate, even before last summer's election, and the former Real Madrid and Barcelona player has made little secret of his desire to manage the squad, he is still under contract to Getafe, at least until the end of next season. Getafe president, Angel Torres, though a Real Madrid socio is deeply unhappy at the way at the way the situation has been handled and the club's webpage has "categorically denied" that any agreement has been reached over Schuster's contract (though As, unsurprisingly, begs to differ).
Capello's farewell could be costly for Real Madrid: in the purely financial sense estimates vary between 5 and 9 million euros. However, it puts at significant risk, in my opinion, the club's recovery from the excesses of the galáctico years. Capello, for all the criticism he has received, was a known quantity. His methods are well known, and they yield results. Noone can deny that Real Madrid has had a large slice of luck in the run-up to the league championship, but the players, particularly in the second half of the season, showed a resilience and a team spirit that has not been seen for many a year.
Bernd Schuster, for all his brilliance as a player, and his success managing "modest" clubs like Xerez, Levante and now Getafe, has never been in this situation before. He may well turn into a superb manager and, if he signs, I would love to be proved wrong, but he has zero experience managing players of this calibre (and ego) and the high expectations of an impatient fan base.
What has been fascinating (if not frustrating) to watch over the past few days, has been the behaviour of the Madrid sports press. As, for many the official mouthpiece of the club (or at least of some factions within the club), has made no secret of its desire to be rid of Capello for some months now. They have been happy to peddle the fiction that nobody wants Capello and everyone wants Schuster. It really is manipulative journalism at its worst (both in the sense of being manipulative, but also in how unsubtle and obvious it is).
Marca, on the other hand, is little better. For the past week, they have been happy to run story after story predicting Capello's sacking, with little or no mention of any objections from the fans. Shortly after breaking the story last night, they proceeded to publish the results of polls asking for the Italian to stay, and the lack of coaching continuity. Still, they have to sell papers, don't they...
There is trouble brewing in the technical direction of the club. The president has often claimed that he does not get involved in such matters, but it is clear that he is not the sort to sit back and let others manage, particularly when there is PR capital to be made. He does not have to call elections for a few years yet, and I expect he won't. At least it looks like when they do come, there won't be the same accusations of fraudulent postal votes. This reform, forced on the club, may be the only bright spot in Calderón's legacy.
Let's hope not. Continue reading this article »
Thursday, 11 January 2007
No deal. Bye Bye Becks
In what some sections of the press interpreted as a Freudian slip, and others as a language mix-up, Mijatovic was asked in Italian whether he would renew David Beckham's contract this week. The Montenegrin Real Madrid sports director, who did play for 3 seasons with Fiorentina initially replied "No", shortly followed by "Beckham’s contract has not been renewed.".
However, all that was left behind as a footnote in this long-running saga when the player issued a statement earlier today in which he said, diplomatically as ever: "This week, Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract by a further two seasons.
"After discussing several options with my family and advisers to either stay here at Madrid or join other major British and European clubs, I have decided to join the Los Angeles Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year.
"I would like to thank the supporters and people of Madrid who have made my family and I feel so welcome in my time here, making this an extremely difficult decision to make. I have enjoyed my time in Spain enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans."
[Note to his PR staff: It's "my family and me", not "my family and I"]
Beckham has reportedly agreed a five-year deal with LA Galaxy, which would see him end his footballing days over in the States. Arguably it means he has decided there is no chance of being recalled to the England team and there's no point in potentially winning any major trophies if he's not playing regular first team football. He will see out his contract at Real Madrid which ends on the 30th of June, and make his MLS debut in August, going from galáctico to the Galaxy.
Tuesday, 9 January 2007
The knives are out
Their assessment is clear: there are a number of players in the club who are not responding as expected, and steps will be taken to resolve this. No details were forthcoming as to what these steps might be and when they would be applied, but Mijatovic reiterated his belief that Capello can 'fix' things: "He has been in similar situations before and always achieved the objectives that were set".
Of course, Calderón & co. cannot simply fire Capello and start again with a new manager: their situation is precarious enough as it is, and, in any case, this has not helped any of the times this has happened in recent years. If, as has been suggested may times before, the malaise lies in the fact that several players in the squad have far more influence than is healthy, then their biggest mistake was to expect results within 12 months; they should have cleaned out the Augean stables at the beginning of the season and started from scratch, calling this a 'transition year'.
What is interesting is the reaction from the Madrid sports press. As has an interview with Mijatovic where he says "we cannot afford the luxury of having a number of players living from their past, their Champions League successes". The paper also claims to know the contents of the meeting between Mijatovic and Capello and the players that are facing the chop, with Ronaldo first on the list, and adding Cassano (unsurprisingly) and Beckham (more surprisingly, given his recently increased renewal offer). Others who may see less first team football are Salgado, Emerson, Guti and Raúl.
Marca, on the other hand, does not seem to have the ear of the club management. Hence their headlines are all about players feeling that Capello is showing signs of weakness, that the players are not enjoying their time on the pitch, or that the club is looking at selling Diarra to Inter Milan, after spending 26 million euros on him in the summer at Capello's urging. More suspicious souls might infer that Marca is used to getting their exclusives from dressing room leaks, and that some of these leaks may be facing the chop, so the best way to safeguard them is to get the manager fired. Again.
The knives are out for someone. Who will end up surviving the cull is the question.
