Real-ly Ranting

When I started writing this blog, I told myself that I will never make a rant entry. And even if I did, I never once thought it would be about something I love so much, Real Madrid. And now that it is about Real, it must speak volumes about how bad the current scenario at the Spanish capital is.

With 11 games gone in the season, sitting at 4th place on the table, 3 points behind the leaders, and most probably getting into the next stages of the Champions League, would not mean that a team is in crisis. But this is Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world. A club where, two continuous losses would mean that the manager's neck is on the line. A club where, a title-less season would be catastrophic to even imagine. A club where just winning is not enough, it has to be done with a certain amount of style and conviction. And that is exactly why this season looks like a bad one for Real.

A wise man named Murphy once said that, everything that can possibly go wrong happens all at once at the worst possible time. He couldn't have been more apt with the current situation in Madrid. 2 back to back Champions League losses to Juventus is completely inexcusable. A friend of mine wrote on his blog in the preview to this game as the game against the Old lady with a broken hip, referring to the number of injuries they had. Away loss was okay, home loss, an embarrassing one at that is completely inexcusable. Losing to Real Union in the Copa, a Segunda B team, which means they play two divisions below us. How on earth does that happen? Only god knows how. Barely scraping a win against Malaga, and then going on to losing against Valladolid, a team that Barca beat 6-0 the previous weekend, surely meant there was a crisis at the Bernebeu.

Now, the blame game begins. Spanish press is dying to get things to sell their papers, And Real have given them a cakewalk for achieving what they want. So who is really at fault. Naturally fingers point to the manager, Schuster. I really do not think the fault lies with him. It is more at the top level of the hierarchy. Calderon cannot be expressed in non swear words at this moment by most Real fans. Mijatovic, the supposed technical director, is equally to blame. Their over ambitious chase for Ronaldo in the summer meant the rest of the buying would be hit, and hit it was. No naturally right sided winger yet in the team. An aging Cannavaro, a full of himself Pepe, and the truly horrendous Man Utd reject Hienze in charge of the centre of defence? Surely that is not the material of champions. Garay's loan has to be terminated. Ramos has to be moved back to centre and Torres has to play on the right. Midfield is a mayhem. There are far too many central midfielders, far too many players who stray forward never to bother about defending once they lose the ball. And to top all that, Van Nistelrooy is injured for the remainder of the season. Raul is looking like a mere shadow of the great man he was. Thankfully Higuain has found his scoring boots. And then there is Saviola? Who? That's right that Argentine, the Saviola we all know about. Yup, he is rotting the benches at Real.

With possibly the toughest part of the season coming up where Getafe, Sevilla, Villareal, Barcelona and Valencia the next five opponents and two crucial Champions League games thrown in to the mix, it will take quite a run to bounce back from the situation they have put themselves in. This is Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world. A club where a title-less season would be catastrophic to even imagine. A club where winning is not enough, it has to be done with a certain amount of style and conviction. And that is what this team has to prove. Hala Madrid.