In the last four years, the richest football club in the world has had it really bad. It won no trophy at all. And this current season, hopes were really high that the team would win a major trophy, with the appointment of the former coach of Juventus, Fabio Capello to be in charge of the team. Capello, who had coached the team once in the nineties, had led Juventus to win two back-to-back Scudetto titles in Italy in 2004 and 2005. With such high qualifications, it was assumed that he was eminently qualified for the job and would lead the team back to winning ways. While he resumed as manager, Capello vowed that he would only lose five matches in the league (la liga) all season.
However, with just about twenty matches into the league, Capello has lost seven matches. And he has led the team to some of it’s worst performances in recent history. Real has lost some vital home games in the Bernabeu against lowly rated teams like Recreativo and Levante, who are at the bottom of the league.
In a run of ten matches, the team scored just three goals, a far cry from it’s high scoring nature in the past. Even the recruitment of new players in the January transfer window has not helped matters. The club now lies four points adrift of Barcelona on the league table.
Having being knocked out of the King’s cup by Real Betis, the only hope of winning any trophies this season are in the champion’s league or the Spanish league. On current form, the chances of the team winning in Europe are very slim. As such, the expectation is that the team is more likely to go empty handed again this season.
What could have led to the current crisis in Europe’s most successful football club?
For one, the coaching style of Capello has been much criticised by the players and fans. The new manager’s defensive style has not been popular with fans and neither has it produced the desired results.
Also, the sudden change in the club’s player recruitment policy from the era of buying «galacticos» or world famous players, to that of buying relatively unknown players seem to have affected the club internally. It is not uncommon to hear of wranglings and power play in the dressing room.
Also, the manager’s apparent dislike for some players has helped in polarising the club and dampening the team spirit. The recent comments by the club president, and the manager about some key players in the team, which was hyped by the media, served to show the extent of the animosity that exists within the club’s rank and file.