Perez's Real Madrid rapidly becoming unmanageable
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-21 10:43

  Florentino Perez may soon have to accept the fact that finding a coach capable of managing a Real Madrid squad with his personal hallmark is an impossible task.

 Jose Antonio Camacho's resignation on Monday left his former assistant Mariano Garcia Remon to become the club's fourth coach in a little over 15 months.

 Camacho and his predecessors, Carlos Queiroz and Vicente del Bosque, have all fallen victim to Perez's policy of signing players on the basis of marketing muscle rather than the needs of the team.

 That has given the Real squad a top-heavy look, with quality attackers playing alongside journeyman defenders, and stories of dressing room dissent have started to become commonplace.

 "When I was appointed, the president, the board and the fans all had confidence in me as coach... (but) the form on the pitch has not been up to expectations," Camacho said on Monday.

 The president, the board and the fans might have been behind him, but it soon became clear that the players were not.

 RUTHLESS POLICY

 Since taking over as president in 2000, Perez has added Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham and Michael Owen at a rate of a "galactico" per year, while offloading talented, hard-working midfielders and defenders in ruthless fashion.

 The team won league championships in 2001 and 2003 and brought the club their ninth European Cup win in 2002 with a glorious Zidane goal.

 Even while titles were coming in, the problems were starting to emerge.

 A Champions League defeat by Juventus in 2003 cost Del Bosque his job but instead of bolstering the defence, Perez sold Claude Makelele to Chelsea, sacked the captain, Fernando Hierro and signed Beckham as a snub to Barcelona.

 Camacho returned only on condition that reinforcements were forthcoming and Perez spent 45 million euros ($54.6 million) to bring in centre-backs Walter Samuel and Jonathan Woodgate, while making Owen his fifth "galactico".

 By that stage, the problems with discipline in the squad had become so grave that there was little hope for a new coach demanding a change in attitude.

 Well connected Spanish newspapers were soon carrying regular reports of tension in the squad, with senior players said to be upset at the extra work in training demanded by Camacho.

 There was also talk of dissent over Raul's place in the team despite his loss of form but Camacho received no public show of support when he finally took the decision to drop his captain against Espanyol at the weekend.

 THREE FAILURES

 Perez has now worked his way through three coaches with three distinct styles in his attempt to find someone capable of restoring equilibrium to an unbalanced squad.

 Del Bosque cut an unassuming figure, gently coaxing the best out of the players at his disposal before the evident weaknesses in defence took their toll.

 Queiroz, a suave, multi-lingual technocrat, appeared the ideal candidate to front the image-conscious club but he could do nothing to stop a collapse in morale at the end of last season.

 Perez then turned to Camacho, an old style blood-and-thunder coach, to restore the squad's competitive edge but the job proved too much even for him.

 Garcia Remon now has the chance to make a name for himself by succeeding where Camacho and company failed but Perez will already by eyeing up longer-term replacements.

 He would surely love to bring in a successful and highly respected coach in the mould of Arsene Wenger of Arsenal.

 There has also been speculation that Sven-Goran Eriksson will be offered the job. After all, three members of the England squad managed by the Swede already play for Real.

 Spanish sports newspapers are fond of saying that when Real Madrid come calling, no one can turn them down.

 The problem for Perez, is that the coaching position at Real is no longer looking such an attractive position. 

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