Last Tuesdays Champions League defeat at the hands of Liverpool 4-0
(5-0 on aggregate) not only knocked out Real Madrid from the European
competition it also put the institution & its whole structure on the
canvass. The Best Football (Soccer) Club of the 20th Century (FIFA
award) has been on the decline since ex President Florentino Perez left
voluntarily the post three years ago. The Club under his successor Ramon
Calderon has been full of controversy & unfilled promises, with coaching
changes & lack of success. Success in the sense that Real Madrid is so
BIG that winning two Spanish Leagues in the wriiten time space is not
enough, it seems the institutions fate is destined & tied to the European
Cup, something that hasn’t happened in recent years being eliminated
consecutively in the final 16 team stage. This & the ongoing corruption,
the more than 300M€ investment on new signings that haven’t lived up
to expectation, the lack of planning & other decadent activities has now
come under scrutiny by both players, ex-players, media & the Club members.
The Liverpool defeat was the straw that broke the camels back, or the event
that has finally let loose the worms in the Real Madrid can.
The upcoming Presidential elections look like that they will be put forward
from July so as to begin & allow the much needed in-house cleaning that
everyone is advocating. The hot favourite for the Presidency is precisely
the man who left voluntarily, Spanish businessman Florentino Perez, who
by the way has not pronounced a word as yet to whether he will present
himself. However, it’s assumed by everyone that the ex-Real Madrid President
will shortly make his grand announcement as the “second coming of the
messiah” to save the Club from disaster. His strategy is two fold; firstly he
is “secretly” working in the shadows to set up his new project that includes
star signings, new directives & long term plans, & secondly his silence is
eliminating all potential Presidential competitors as they haven’t an entity
to “shadow box” in these times of “crisis”. In fact all the surveys give
Florentino Perez a landslide win & the man hasn’t even pronounced himself
or appeared publicly manifesting any interest so far to date.
Now with all this said, the details of Florentino Perez strategy & plans for
the future are public knowledge & SFS will like to give a summary of what
to expect if Perez “shows up” & wins the Presidential elections ( which
everyone is certain). Here are a few hints:
· Zinedine Zidane will become the Clubs International image & ambassador
· Jorge Valdano will return to take on an important Directive Role which
will serve as a bridge between the institution & the Sporting entities
· Raul Gonzalez will serve his 2 years of contract & then be enlisted in an
executive role with weight within the Club structure
· The whole financial, marketing & institutional organizations to date will
be overhauled with new blood & formal processes
· Perez wishes to involve more the members in he decision making process
· Basketball will again have a high profile
That’s the “business side” so to speak, now the grass roots or the playing
side:
. The new Coach wished is said to be Carlo Ancelloti (Rafael Benitez, Mourinho
?????), current coach Juande Ramos will not be Coach next season.
. Two new signings next season – Cristiano Ronaldo & Kaka.
Perez is in the process of shutting these names so as to possibly announce
with his triumphant comeback, plus:
. If not next season, certainly the following, the signing of Xabi Alonso of
Liverpool FC & an attempt on Steven Gerrard
. Other names in the air David Silva & David Villa of Valencia CF, plus
Sergio Aguero of Atlético. However, theses are speculations & are part
of a list of other names flying around – Ribery, Mario Gomez, etc.
. Perez wishes to have more Spanish players, thus will put emphasis on
the young in-house Clubs
All this means that Real Madrid will have to make a “Spring Sale” or a
deep cleaning effort that will see current players leave via the exit door.
Names being published in local media (“Mundo Deportivo”, Radio
COPE, SER… & “elmundo.es”, as examples) are the following:
Codina, Dudek, Salgado, Heinze, Cannavaro, Javi García, , Drenthe,
Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Metzelder, Saviola, Faubert, & Miguel Torres.
To this list Huntaleer, Gago & Robben maybe added, the latter is being
heavily criticised for his excessive individual play & the fact that he
“chokes” in big occasions, like last Tuesday against Liverpool. SFS feels
that all last three will stay because of their youth & will be put on trial
another season, it’s said that everyone will know in the next 45 days their
future & the final decision of the Club.
Two other players “up in the air” are Mahamadou Diarra, who with the
incorporation of Lassana Diarra is now not vital, & Marcelo whose current
good play & youth may serve him to stay. That leaves the players who have
nothing to worry about at all: Iker Casillas, Raul, Guti, Pepe, Sergio Ramos
& Van Nistelrooy who is appreciated for “sweating the shirt”.
Keep this in mind, the fact that theses names are being “leaked” may be
a thought out plan & serve as part of a psychological strategy to pressure
the players to give their 100% from now & until the end of the season to
assist in the Clubs attempt to pull back the 6ºpoints that FC Barcelona
enjoys in the Spanish League classification table & try to win the title.
The players who have been mentioned have the opportunity to prove that
they are good enough & worthy to play in the future in a Club that is being
rebuilt to be the Best Club in The World again.
So that’s the score folks. There is a revolution being planned & it is going
to shake the current foundations of Real Madrid & indirectly World
Football. The man who will lead that revolution will be ex-President
Florentino Perez who will descend from the skies & proclaim the “New
Jerusalem”. Stay tuned as this is going to be REAL news generating stuff
in the next upcoming few months.
