Time for Real Madrid and Barcelona to show some loyalty
W hether it’s Barcelona or Real Madrid that end up being successful domestically and on the European stage in 2014/15, the likelihood is that both will have new managers in place for the start of next season.
Such are the machinations of the Spanish game that you can go from winning a longed-for Champions League trophy to unemployment within 12 months.
Ninety-nine goals in the league to this point and a 22-match winning run earlier in the campaign seemingly isn’t enough to assuage the Real Madrid directors to keep Carlo Ancelotti in the hot seat.
Media outlets have been awash with strong rumours for a while now that Real have allegedly lined up Zinedine Zidane to take over at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer.
Indeed, Sky Sports’ Graham Hunter recently noted on the channel’s ‘Revista de La Liga’ programme that: “There’s a succession plan. The dauphin is Zinedine Zidane. It’s a formal plan. Everybody knows it’s the case.”
With the greatest of respect to ‘Zizou’, why is that? A player of unquestionable quality, but as a manager someone who has barely cut his teeth. Running Real Madrid Castilla hardly qualifies him for the top job and certainly not at the expense of a man who has been European champion on no less than five occasions as player or manager.
The lack of a sensible managerial policy also seems to have afflicted Real’s eternal rivals Barca.
Astonishing statistic
Luis Enrique has become the most successful manager ever for the club over his first 50 games and is still likely to find himself out of a job.
Forty-two wins from 50 matches is an astonishing statistic and means that ‘Lucho’ has surpassed both Helenio Herra ria (40 wins) and Pep Guardiola (37 wins) over the same period. And 145 goals in all competitions ahead of yesterday’s game against Getafe is just about as good as it gets, meaning the Catalans have found themselves again after a sabbatical post-Guardiola.
It had been suggested of course that there was no way that Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez could play together in the same team and still be successful.
That they are on the verge of becoming Barca’s most potent front three of all time is testament to Enrique’s nous and acumen. No one can question the impact that he’s had in such a short space of time.
Yet he too is likely to be cast aside when Barcelona have their presidential elections in the summer. A new man at the top will invariably mean staff changes across the board, including at first team level.
The only way Enrique stays is if he pulls off the treble of King’s Cup, La Liga and Champions League, which has only been achieved once before in Spanish football’s rich history. No pressure there then.
For clubs that are lauded as the exemplar in football circles, both decisions are incredibly short-sighted and arrogant.
No man is bigger than the club of course, but isn’t it about time we saw some loyalty return to the world’s favourite pastime?
The writer is a freelance journalist and Spanish football expert