Juande Ramos has been named the new Real Mardid boss in place of the outgoing Bernd Schuster. Ramos has returned to Spain in in the nice comfy, if not pressurised, Los Blancos hotseat. His first game will be at home against Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday.
However, the Real board must have overlooked his year in London, which saw only 21 wins in 54 games, and focussed on his back-to-back UEFA Cup wins with Sevilla. Before he arrived at White Hart Lane the 54-year-old was regarded as one of the best managers of the time due to his UEFA Cup double and the way in which Sevilla had risen to become title-challengers. Then he arrived at Spurs and, although he managed to drag them away from a relegation fight and win their first peice of silverware for nine years, he managed to plump them straight into one for the very next season.
Will Real be getting a manager who can resurrect their season or will they get the man who failed so badly in the Premiership? I believe that he will thrive being back in a familiar league, as it was hinted at that the language barrier played a big part in his Spurs downfall. Even though he may feel comfortable in his new, familiar environment, the Real board are unlikely to let him go crazy with the cash, considering he is on a contract that only runs to the end of the season: why bring in expensive players now that will only get turfed out by the new boss in July?
Ramos appears to understand some people may have felt he never lived up (anywhere near) to his reputation at Tottenham and hopes its doesn’t happen again:
I hope I don’t let anyone down and that I achieve the successes that this club has set for this season.
Ramos arrives with the nine-times European Champions in a bad way, physically and mentally. With Mali international Mahamadou Diarra recently joining others such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Gabriel Heinze, Pepe, Wesley Sneijder, Miguel Torres and Ruben de la Red on the treatment table. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas shed some light on the morale at the Santiago Bernabéu:
We are going through a bad run. Defensively we are vulnerable – and I’m the first (to blame). At the moment it seems that our opponents will have three chances and score three goals and it’s clear that we are all to blame.
I have been 10 seasons in the Primera Liga and this, for now, is the worst start I have had.
With the way that Spurs tended to leak goals under his tenture, are Real destined to climb or fall in La Liga table with Romas at the helm?