Goal spoke to a number of influential Blancos supporters who are unanimous in their support for the Italian coach Real Madrid fans want und...
Goal spoke to a number of influential Blancos supporters who are unanimous in their support for the Italian coach
Real Madrid fans want under-fire coach Carlo Ancelotti to remain at the club and are unhappy about Rafa Benitez emerging as favourite to succeed him at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ancelotti brought the club their long-awaited tenth European crown last season, but Goal understands that he faces a battle to survive a campaign in which he failed to retain the Champions League or win La Liga.
Goal spoke to a number of influential Real Madrid supporters to gauge their opinion on the recent developments - and the consensus is that fans want Ancelotti to stay and are generally critical of president Florentino Perez and any plans to appoint Benitez.
"Ancelotti's first year was very good, with many titles, but this season he finished as runners-up in the league and only made it to the Champions League semi-finals," explains Luis Molina, President of Peña Madridista Tivoli - one of Madrid's leading supporter groups.
"I would like Ancelotti to stay. But if not, Rafa Benitez is a better choice than Jurgen Klopp, Nuno, Michel or anyone else. He is Spanish and knows the club."
A former Real Madrid Castilla player, Benitez took charge of teams at every level of the club below the first team during his formative years in management, before moving on to Valladolid and eventually leading Valencia to two league titles.
“Benitez knows the culture and philosophy of the club, but is known to rule his clubs with an iron fist and that could hit the stars of Real Madrid hard – as it did under Jose Antonio Camacho in 2004,” says fellow fan member Javier Velasco.
“His profile as a studious and meticulous technician can work well back at the club he calls home... but I'm not convinced.”
There are also concerns from fans that president Perez is set to repeat the mistakes he made during his first term between 2000 and 2006. He was heavily criticised for sanctioning the sales of key figures such as Claude Makelele as he sought to pack the side with Galacticos.
The likes of Michael Owen, Julio Baptista, and Robinho ultimately proved failures as his Zidanes and Pavones policy was ultimately deemed a failure.
In his second term, Perez's decision to sign Gareth Bale for a club record €100 million has earned more criticism of his methods, with the Wales international repeatedly jeered by local supporters throughout the second half of the current campaign.
“It will be another Perez blunder, who is set to once again commit the same mistakes he did in his first term,” says club socio and writer Jesus Polo.
“You can bring in Benitez, Johann Cruyff or whoever else, but if there is no sporting project, continuity and trust in the staff, we will fail. Perez does not represent me. Not everything is about money.”
The club have now gone through 11 coaches in 12 years since Perez controversially fired Vicente Del Bosque in 2003, just a year after he had led the club to their second Champions League title in three years.
"Until Real Madrid let a coach work for a solid cycle of four to five years, they will not meet their general objectives, whatever they may be. They may win titles, but will never soar like Barcelona,” fan member Alvaro Gonzalez.
Another Madridista, Alberto Sanchez, is even more damning: “The arrival of Benitez means the departure of Ancelotti, which is a sign that the high command of Real Madrid understand little or nothing about football.
“After years of back and forth, the best team in the world has a coach to match, and both fans and staff are happy with him.”
The Real Madrid fans have spoken.
