5 things that Real Madrid desperately need to change

Respect for people who have done a lot for Real Madrid

There’s a popular notion among the media and fans of rival clubs that “Real Madrid don’t respect their legends”. This became very famous particularly after Iker Casillas’ controversial press conference and departure from the club in 2015. And Real Madrid not giving a farewell to players gave further strength to this claim.

It is senseless to judge a club based on some incidents because the legends of Real Madrid wouldn’t be back at the club to work in some role or the other if they felt they were disrespected by the club. Even in Iker Casillas’ case, he decided to leave the club, and he did receive a farewell from the club.

But in recent times, there have been some incidents, which makes people doubt if that is how Real Madrid respect their players and managers.

Cristiano Ronaldo left the club in 2018 on good terms and he even returned to Madrid in 2020 to watch a Clasico, but there were some reasons behind his departure which don’t look good. He mentioned in an interview that the President didn’t see him as indispensable anymore, due to which he left the club where he actually wanted to retire.

Florentino Perez couldn’t provide Ronaldo with the pay-rise he once promised, and the club couldn’t support Ronaldo in any way during the trial of his tax issues. This could be one of the reasons behind his departure, though he didn’t reveal them publicly. But looking at the difficult life Real Madrid have faced post- Ronaldo, one could easily wish for this break up to never have happened. And maybe things could’ve been different if Perez saw his star player with the same respect and gave him the importance that he felt once.

The most recent case that is somewhat relatable to this issue is the departure of Zinedine Zidane. As mentioned in the previous slide, Zidane couldn’t feel the trust of the board at certain moments, though he didn’t mention any name in particular. But this open letter had exposed the board, and it wasn’t a coincidence that some Spanish media outlets, with one particular outlet being run by a friend of the president, started an agenda against Zidane. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the reason behind the agenda, and it’s nothing but a form of disrespect.

Sergio Ramos, the club captain, is facing such a difficult challenge again, with the club asking him to take a pay cut for an extension of a year, while the centre-back feels he deserves a two-year contract. The club has a policy of offering just a year extension to players in their late thirties, and the same happened with Luka Modric. But Ramos hasn’t lowered his demands, and at a time when a new player is offered the same wages as him, his reaction is understandable.

The club doesn’t need to arrange a grand farewell for every player to show that they respect their legends. They just need to value the existing players and deal with them in the same way they deal with players interested to join the club.