According to Spanish Football Expert & Columnist, Guillem Balague, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will “probably get rid of” manager Rafa Benitez after the 4-0 whitewash against Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
The La Liga champions ran riot at the home of their rivals yesterday, November 21, with goals from Neymar, Luis Suarez (2) and Andres Iniesta putting them six points above Real in the Spanish table.
With a dismal performance in front of their home fans, Balague believes there impatience at the club Real will most likely soon be looking for a 12th permanent manager this century.
Rafael Benitez
Balague said: “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. It has to have consequences. That’s how Real Madrid works.
“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.
“This is a problem for Real Madrid that will not change unless the whole idea and whole philosophy changes.
“The business plan is brilliant – they’re very, very rich. The football plan is very poor, and under Florentino Perez they have won one league in seven years, which suggests that his idea of putting big names on the pitch does not work.
“Of course, Rafa is not the only one to blame, but it’s almost much easier to get rid of the manager.”
However, Benitez admitted after the match that Real were “hurting”, but stressed: “We have lost three points in La Liga and nothing more.”
Speaking with AS after his side’s defeat, the Spaniard said he will accept partial responsibility for the defeat adding that the players have to take some blame too.
“I try to manage my group the best I can. In this case the players have enough quality to do better,” he told AS.
“In the end we are all responsible and we must look for a solution as a group and to give joy to the fans.
“I think in the opening minutes of the second half we went forward and had chances. It’s not the time to analyse individual mistakes. We must reflect, be together.
“We made mistakes and we paid against a team that has top quality. We lost the ball against the opposition. It’s important to recover as a group.
“We wanted to push forward, to attack, to get the ball forward and we paid for not recovering. We wanted to use players with personality but it hasn’t gone well.
“Our idea was to squeeze possession and to take advantage of having players with experience.
“It’s not a question of attitude. We talked about improving at half time. We faced a good team. The chance for Marcelo was a key point. If that had been a goal, we could have gotten into the game. We paid for our mistakes and it was increasingly difficult.
“Whenever we win or lose we are all part of it and obviously it hurts a lot to lose and to lose this way. I worry about the team recovering emotionally for the next game.”
Benitez had lost just once in his first 15 games in charge of Real Madrid before last night’s defeat against.
Mourinho and Zidane
He is under mounting pressure despite only taking charge in June and former player Zinedine Zidane, Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho top the list of those lined up as possible replacement at Real Madrid.
Naij
