REAL MADRID: COACH PELLEGRINI DAYS ARE COUNTED?

The President of Real Madrid Florentino Perez wants him out, or
that is the unsaid rumour circulating through the Sports media.
Real Madrid Director General Jorge Valdano insists that he stays,
naturally was Valdano who recommended & brought the man to the
Club. Coach Manuel Pellegrini has lost the authority & control of
the dressing room, the catalyst being a series of bad decisions that
he is paying for now & their ramifications are spilling onto the field
& in the Clubs play.

President Florentino would have been pleased if Coach Pellegrini
had announced that he would resign last Wednesday after Real
Madrid most humiliating defeat in its History to a 2ºB Division team
(equivalent of 3ºrd Division elsewhere), but he didn’t. The front
page of Sports daily “Marca” today puts how Guti told Coach
Pellegrini “Go F*ck Yourself” at halftime of that same match.

Here is a translation of what was said ( on the front page ):
Guti - "Come on guys, we need to show some balls"
Pellegrini - "Perhaps you also could do more, if you don´t wish to
play tell me so"
Guti - "If I am the problem take me off"
Pellegrini - "Get dressed"
Guti - "Go F*ck Yourself"
























But there are more problems:

1. Rumours coming out from the dressing room suggest that the players
have no real idea of what they are playing at, that is, there is no
system, no strategy. One day its 4-2-2-2, another it’s 4-3-3 & then it’s
4-2-3-1 …etc. The team plays without wingers & as Benzema has
commented they run-over each other upfront because everyone goes
through the centre. In last Wednesday defeat the defensive flanks
were a real mess & a hole where the opposition team goes right
through.

2. At the start of the season, Coach Pellegrini was given orders to
begin “retiring”, or putting onto a second level”, current Captain Raúl.
The idea was to begin a “changing of the Guard” & transferring the
authority to Casillas & more specifically Kaká. The new project called
for the Brazilian to become the field “leader” & thus the Director of
the Orchestra. Instead Coach Pellegrini has succumbed to the influence
of Raúl & has favoured him over others, giving the Captain more time
& play than originally planned. Many believe that Raúl eclipses his
team-mates on the field as they all attempt to adhere to his play & not
to the collective. As a player – no name given – said; Raúl “disturbs”
upfront the play of the team. Now it’s too late for Pellegrini to go
back.

3. Coach Pellegrini has badly handed the psychological states of his
newer & younger players. Benzema has been taken off four games
straight in favour of Raul, this has created doubts in the young mans
mind which leads to frustration in his play as he wishes to score at
all costs when he does get a chance, he doesn’t & he get nervous
with more doubts. Young Granero has not escaped the confusion as
he has been the sacrificed player every time things go wrong on the
field with substitution. This can only ruin the confidence of the
player & do no good in the mid-term. Lastly, Higuaín has had little
play after scoring more than 20 goals last season. Here again the
youngster has been put into second-place in favour of the more
favoured veteran Raúl. Higuaín is another player whose confidence
has been affected & lowered by the Coaches decision.

4. Continual problems in defence that do not get solved. Real
Madrid is a “swiss – cheese” with big problems on their defensive
flanks. Every time the defensive wingers go forward they leave
huge holes that are not covered by the midfielders. Real Madrid
is at the mercy of counter-attacks & the opposition team knows
this perfectly. However, there are no solutions, the problems
reappear game after game. Lastly, Drenthe is not a player for this
Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos is in a real mess form wise & a worry,

plus Marcelo is not reliable in his defensive duties.Yes, you may say,
that injuries have not helped Pellegrini at all; Ronaldo, Arbeloa,
Xabi, Nistelrooy, Metzelder , Huguían, Lass Diarra…etc, but its no
real excuse if you take last Wednesday’s defeat in the Spanish
Cup.

The latest news is that Coach Pellegrini has two games to solve
things. This weekends “Liga” game against Getafe & next weeks
Champions League game against AC Milan. His future will depend
on these games, while the Club is already working on possible
substitutes, just in case. Names sounding are Italian Mancini,
Brazilian Scolari, Spaniard Victor Fernandez, Danish ex- Real Madrid
player Laudrup, surprisingly ex-Spanish National Team Coach Luis
Aragones & current actual Director General Jorge Valdano.
The latter has already said that this will not happen, but he may
have to swallow his words to “save the Club” even if it only
means a temporary & passing solution.

What is clear is that Coach Pellegrini will have to do miracles &
get some luck over to his side. Independently of what will happen
SFS feels his days are numbered & that the problems are now so
deeply embedded that they will keep on surfacing above any
band-aid solutions. The fact off the matter is that Coach Pellegrini
came to do fundamental changes, put aside a living legend & stamp
his authority. What has in fact occurred is that there are no
changes, the living legend has become stronger than Pellegrini, he
has lost credibility & Pellegrini has lost confidence & the authority
over the players. Some "bad tongues" have suggested that “key”
players may have already begun to set the path for the exit door of
their Coach, now that is a REAL problem, no Club should have does

sort of personalities in a dressing room.

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REAL MADRID 2009: WILL RAÚL ACCEPT TO BE THE 12TH MAN?

SFS doesn’t promote multinational sportswear companies directly,
except indirectly if there is something out of the normal to
illustrate, which is the case with this latest TV ad that seems to
have an element of uneasy clairvoyancy, I presuppose that it is
unintentional by the people who created it. The big debate here
in Spain is: what will happen with Raul? Will the REAL MADRID
Captain have a place in the starting 11 with Kaká, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Benzema & Huguaín , not to mention the possibility
(some now remote) of Silva, Ribery, etc to select from
beforehand. Many journalists predict that Raul doing some bench
warming time will eventually lead to the dressing room exploding,
other are sure Raúl will accept the new conditions & exercise as
the Captain, a true professional & bring equilibrium to the
internal issues. Either way, Raul will be destined to be news this
new season for one cause or the other, & this TV ad finishes with
the slogan:

“All team needs a 12th man player”

Yes, the TV ad really makes reference to the bald guy, BUT think
of it the other way; Will Raul accept this new role if it presents
itself?

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REAL MADRID: WHAT ABOUT RAUL?

While REAL MADRID brings onboard Kaká & Cristiano Roanldo,
& with the possible & probable incorporations of David Villa &
Franck Ribery, the million dollar question arises: what about
RAUL?

An old ex team-mate & friend Portuguese LUIS FIGO has precisely
brought this question into the frontline with his comments to media
“Radio Onda Cero” & “Radio Marca” yesterday saying (translated)

“…They are attempting to retire Raul, but they wont be able to”.
This maybe true, but what looks certain is that Raul is destined
(condemned) to occupy more time on the substitute bench this new
upcoming season & the for the rest of his time at Real Madrid.

There have already been signals transmitted to Raul by Club General
Director Valdano & Football Director Pardeza that indicate that the
Real Madrid Captain will have to dose his efforts in accordance to
team strategy & lack of field places. We are all sure that RAUL feels
that he has plenty still to give to his team & that his 32-33 years of
age are just numbers on a birth certificate, but the Real Madrid
legend is entering a “mind set” of change that many before him have
entered , passed & gone out the tunnel; the twilight & ending of your
career.

We may argue when will that moment be, plus if there are still
kilometres left in the engine & other variables, but what we cannot
debate is that the time has come to at least begin to reflect on the
idea. If the player does not begin planning his “twilight”, his Club will
accelerate the process of initiation when he finds himself on the
bench more than often looking onto the field a watching Ronaldo,
Villa, Ribery,Kaká & Higuain up front. There will be no getting away
from it. So what are the solutions & the possible alternatives?

The first option is obvious; he could leave for another Club. This
solution is nearly impossible as it is not in the "DNA" or the nature of
Raul to leave the Club that has seen him grow & triumph; he just
loves Real Madrid with passion.The second option is to come to terms
with the situation & exercise his leadership, experience & playing
skills from a second level, that is, dedicate more efforts in keeping
the dressing room united, helping the Coach & coming onto the field
to participate in critical playing moments &/or be the perfect
substitute for any of his injured team-mates.

It will be interesting to see how Raul reacts when he gets back to
work for the pre-season, to witness how he handles his new role &
position within the team, assuming Ribery & Villa get signed. But
seeing the full history & Raul trajectory at Real, the player will be
still giving his 120%, leading from the example & being the first &
last to leave training, the man is a Spanish Football playing legend
& his future will always be at Real Madrid. It is these examples, that
makes Raul the ultimate reference that gives him the most value &
makes him priceless at Real Madrid.

What do you think?

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