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Real Madrid: Philosophy Must Change After Barcelona Loss

By Sean Donnelly
Published on: 21:31 PST, Nov 22, 2015

The knives are out for Florentino Perez at Real Madrid, and when club presidents come under pressure, it tends to be the manager who falls.

Saturday evening’s 0-4 humbling at the hands of Barcelona in El Classico saw the Catalans draw six points clear of Real at the top of La Liga, and left the home fans in open revolt at full-time.

Madridistas were in full pañolada mode at the final whistle, waving white handkerchiefs in that classically Spanish gesture of disgust at the indolence of their side’s performance, as well as the perceived incompetency of their manager, Rafael Benitez, and his boardroom superiors.

Less than six months after succeeding Carlo Ancelotti in the Madrid dugout, it already seems as though Benitez is on the brink. Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, for instance, told Sky Sports that it is difficult to see the 55-year-old surviving Saturday’s humiliation.

“There is no way whatsoever that this kind of performance – we’re not even talking about the result – but the performance, will have no consequences,” Balague said. “That means of course that Florentino Perez will probably get rid of the manager, and if that’s the case, what is next? Yet another manager.”

There can be little doubt that Benitez has to shoulder a large share of responsibility for Real’s inane showing at the weekend.

Throughout his time in Madrid, the former Liverpool boss has been accused of being overly defensive in terms of team selection and strategic approach. Conservativism, of course, is not a characteristic one would readily associate with Real Madrid, a club which has spent most of the last decade breaking its own record for signing the most expensive players in the world.

The pressure clearly got to the manager on Saturday.

All of the stars were selected from the start: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, and Karim Benzema composed a four-man Real attack worth over €350 million in transfer fees and they were backed up by the creative passing duo of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric on front of the back-four.

Gone was Casemeiro, the one natural holding player at the club, who Benitez has previously praised for bringing a vital “balance” to his midfield. Faced with a Barcelona side in possession of attacking threats as varied and dynamic as Neymar, Luis Suarez and Andreas Iniesta, it is impossible to believe that a coach as pragmatic Benitez would select two lithely built playmakers to shield his defense.

This felt like the president’s Real Madrid team, not that of the coach, and Benitez’s decision to leave the entirely ineffective Gareth Bale on for the full 90 minutes might also be perceived as the result of presidential pressure. It has been widely reported that Bale is something of a pet-project for Perez, the player that the president sees as the heir to Ronaldo who was signed by the previous administration.

Perez pioneered the so-called Galatico policy at Real Madrid during his first spell as president at the turn of the millennium, signing players like Zinadine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo, and David Beckham for eye-watering transfer fees. The manner in which he is currently running the club is entirely in keeping with that never consistently successful and ill-conceived philosophy.

Real Madrid is a marketing behemoth, the richest club in the world according to Deloitte’s Football Money League, and much of that has to do with the manner in which Perez has recruited players with the principal aim of expanding the club’s global commercial appeal. Such a transfer strategy is unlikely to yield on-field success, however, and in the seven seasons since Perez began his second term as president, Real have won one La Liga title compared to Barcelona’s five.

Benitez may well go as a consequence of Saturday’s defeat, but the fans are clearly aware of the fact that Real Madrid’s results will not improve until the club appoints a president more interested in trophies than in profit.

[Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images]

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