<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HnGKsfuEPGQ/Sf-tQrdf34I/AAAAAAAAADg/m1L6HtnLhd0/s1600-h/sergio.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HnGKsfuEPGQ/Sf-tQrdf34I/AAAAAAAAADg/m1L6HtnLhd0/s400/sergio.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332170985885917058" border="0" /></a>Juande Ramos’ era as coach of Real Madrid ended the same way it started- losing to Barcelona. It started in an awkward press conference in which they were giving Bernd Schuster his walking papers. Then all of a sudden he popped out from backstage. The match on Saturday showed that they were dominated (again) by their archrival. It became evident of the fact that La Liga was the <span style="font-style: italic;">Blaugrana</span> and then 19 other teams are fighting for the crumbs.
Call it fate or call it karma, there is no doubt that Ramos’ record as coach of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Merengues</span> was amazing. If any other coach would have gone 17-1-4 during their tenure replacing a team in flux would have had an extension signed and given the keys to the local harem in a matter of seconds.
The problem with Juande Ramos was two things. His losses were in the most important matches of the season. Coming into the knockout stages of the Champions League, the nine-time European winners were cocky. They thought that they could intimidate Liverpool at the Bernabéu. Then reality hit. They were going to talk big en route to Anfield but eventually had the life sucked out of them in their humiliating loss that February evening.
They said that they would shake that off and go "balls out" for the league trophy. Any time that Barca would stumble as they played on three fronts, the Madrid press exhalted them and made sure that everyone knew that Barca was wearing out.
"Chorreo".
That was argument number one. Barcelona was getting "Madrid-itis" and they were bound to have a historic choke. Madrid was strong mentally and they were poised to make a historic run against their eternal rivals. "Villarato". Whenever Barca had a call go their way, they would scream to high heaven about how much favoritism they got at the hands of Villar and …
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HnGKsfuEPGQ/Sf-oBIOexrI/AAAAAAAAADQ/du9gf0Nv6Z0/s1600-h/Iker.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HnGKsfuEPGQ/Sf-oBIOexrI/AAAAAAAAADQ/du9gf0Nv6Z0/s400/Iker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332165221171513010" border="0" /></a>oh yeah, Fernando Hierro. The latter would like to see nothing more than Barcelona win a title at the expense of the team that threw him out the back door.
Then the moment of truth came once again and they failed miserably. No need to talk about the game, but several things emerged that leave Madrid- the club- with several question marks for the future. If there is a person that has to leave Valdebebas before Juande Ramos it would have to be Pedja Mijatovic. While Barca got Seydou Keita to make the midfield deeper, Madrid got… (drum roll) Julien Faubert to pick up balls at practice. Players like Klass-Jan Huntelaar, Rafael van der Vaart have not shown their potential for whatever reasons the media might state.
The teams solution- let’s go to the past and we will find success. So Florentino Pérez, a man that literally was able to make the club economically feasible, but may not see titles for a few years. It is a complete shame to see such a proud club reach such an administrative low. There is a need for complete rehaul at Real Madrid.
The club needs to start looking at the young players they have under their noses and build with them. There needs to be a renewed sense of commitment at the club. I am not saying that Madrid did a horrible job, but when Fabio Cannavaro flies off to Italy the day after the Barcelona match, it says a great deal about the team as soon as things go bad. Team unity is easy to have when you are winning games. Players need to be ready committed regardless of the situation that the club is going through. It is shame for the fans that give their all at every game they attend.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HnGKsfuEPGQ/Sf-1-eC6W5I/AAAAAAAAADo/6p45s03ixBs/s1600-h/canavaro.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HnGKsfuEPGQ/Sf-1-eC6W5I/AAAAAAAAADo/6p45s03ixBs/s400/canavaro.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332180568651750290" border="0" /></a>Yes, let’s now get ready for an off-season where every footballer will be promised on next season’s roster. Several players will be gone, so the team will have to look at the They will promise players at the expense of possibly Van Nistlerooy and Higuaín. Now there is no Cristiano Ronaldo to go to. Is there Kaká? Possibly, but at what expense?
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