What’s Real Madrid’s secret?

It’s mad that they can bring in a stoke reject as an emergency centre forward, and even he’s been indoctrinated with the juju.

We brought in Wout Weghorst and it went about as well as you’d expect.
 
Basically a lot of it comes down to high standards. The club has a lot of pride and will not allow players, managers etc., to tarnish that. They also have a mystique and allure that makes top stars desperate to go there, so they can cherry pick the very best a lot of the time.
 
Zen said:
On the manager thing, Abramovich did that too, no fecks given, maybe that's the true key to the CL?
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Since 2012 the CL has been won by a manager in his first season of his tenure in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021 & 2022. In 2012, 2016, 2020 & 2021 it was won by managers who took over mid season.

Being decisive pays off at the top level. You make your own luck by taking decisions that'll give you a shot at competing.
 
Big Ben Foster said:
Every single Abramovich sacking, perhaps with the exception of Ancelotti, was 100% correct. Through swift and decisive action, Chelsea during his ownership rescued so many seasons that would've otherwise been wasted.
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You can never convince me sacking Mourinho in 2007 was the right decision.
 
2 man midfield said:
It’s mad that they can bring in a stoke reject as an emergency centre forward, and even he’s been indoctrinated with the juju.

We brought in Wout Weghorst and it went about as well as you’d expect.
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Maybe if ETH got Chupo Moting in January things would be different.
 
Big Ben Foster said:
Every single Abramovich sacking, perhaps with the exception of Ancelotti, was 100% correct. Through swift and decisive action, Chelsea during his ownership rescued so many seasons that would've otherwise been wasted.
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Correct, it is so depressing watching us give up on seasons and slowly descend to the inevitable, while fans blindly hope the manager turns into Fergie if given "enough time" and a full squad of "his own players". Nonsense, the sides that are most successful are the most ruthless and have the highest standards that must be met.
 
Apokalips said:
Correct, it is so depressing watching us give up on seasons and slowly descend to the inevitable, while fans blindly hope the manager turns into Fergie if given "enough time" and a full squad of "his own players". Nonsense, the sides that are most successful are the most ruthless and have the highest standards that must be met.
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Agreed, the only real way to keep high standards is to be ruthless, we’re just toothless.
 
It’s very simple: standards. They never accept anything less.
 
Adisa said:
It’s very simple: standards. They never accept anything less.
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Precisely this. Players who underperform are quickly shown the door, likewise the manager. Contrast that to us who dither on any meaningful decisions and proceed to reward occasional good performances with the highest salaries going.
 
Adisa said:
It’s very simple: standards. They never accept anything less.
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Exactly. Tried explaining this to some on here but got responses like "we should never aspire to be like them, look how toxic they are. Who would wanna play in front of a crowd like that".

Demanding standards was deemed to be toxic here.
 
ayushreddevil9 said:
Exactly. Tried explaining this to some on here but got responses like "we should never aspire to be like them, look how toxic they are. Who would wanna play in front of a crowd like that".

Demanding standards was deemed to be toxic here.
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There's something in that. The away fans applauded after being shellacked 4-0 by Palace and it was deemed "classy."

There's a happy medium between Madrid fans bile and our cosy acceptance and adulation of lazy bastards not giving a toss.
 
Standards of excellent seeped throughout the club.

If they had a similar result as we did against Palace(or Bournemouth earlier at OT), fans would have booed the crap out of the players/manager at the end and heads would have rolled.

We should aspire to bring back standards of excellence at this club.
 
WeePat said:
You can never convince me sacking Mourinho in 2007 was the right decision.
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Fair enough, you know better than I do. I thought he had fallen out with Abramovich / Kenyon and thus his position was untenable at that point. Regardless, even then, Chelsea managed to turn around a poor start and came extremely close to a league / CL double!
 
Malkovich said:
Great scouting department. Who had Joselu as a good signing?
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Tbf Perez is a lucky git at times. He just couldn’t be bothered and went for a cheap option and like a lot of things it just worked out for us :lol:
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
Standards of excellent seeped throughout the club.

If they had a similar result as we did against Palace(or Bournemouth earlier at OT), fans would have booed the crap out of the players/manager at the end and heads would have rolled.

We should aspire to bring back standards of excellence at this club.
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Never mind booing, players would have had a hard time leaving the stadium.
You don’t see players putting in lazy performances at Madrid like ours routinely do. The entire club including the fans would not accept it. Here we talk about support.
I accept there are negatives to it, but the level of demand at Madrid ensures that only elite players with elite mentalities survive there.
 
Adisa said:
Never mind booing, players would have had a hard time leaving the stadium.
You don’t see players putting in lazy performances at Madrid like ours routinely do. The entire club including the fans would not accept it. Here we talk about support.
I accept there are negatives to it, but the level of demand at Madrid ensures that only elite players with elite mentalities survive there.
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Pretty much.

This is a club who accepts mediocrity far too easily.

I blame the Glazers. If they had any ambition of success, we would have won 2 more Premier League titles after we sold CR7 and potentially another CL title. SAF masked all of their flaws. Once he left, they were fully exposed.

Hopefully INEOS bring back greatness and standards.
 
Adisa said:
Never mind booing, players would have had a hard time leaving the stadium.
You don’t see players putting in lazy performances at Madrid like ours routinely do. The entire club including the fans would not accept it. Here we talk about support.
I accept there are negatives to it, but the level of demand at Madrid ensures that only elite players with elite mentalities survive there.
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They would have burned the stadium down.
 
Von Mistelroum said:
Basically a lot of it comes down to high standards. The club has a lot of pride and will not allow players, managers etc., to tarnish that. They also have a mystique and allure that makes top stars desperate to go there, so they can cherry pick the very best a lot of the time.
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You guys aren’t the only ones who have lost that. And it can’t just come from the Managers. You have to sometimes be ruthless with players as well. You have to have a squad that will outcast people that don’t take the standards seriously.

That’s what makes nervous about the idea of selling Gallagher at the same time Silva is leaving. Through all our inconsistencies I at least felt like the players were working and taking losses personally. But that can disappear quickly if the people that hold that line disappear.
 
What's the implications of Real and Barca having had the ability to negotiate their own TV rights deals and take home the lions share in La Liga for what was over 15 years until around the late 2010s?

This can't mean nothing.
 
Bluelion7 said:
You guys aren’t the only ones who have lost that. And it can’t just come from the Managers. You have to sometimes be ruthless with players as well. You have to have a squad that will outcast people that don’t take the standards seriously.

That’s what makes nervous about the idea of selling Gallagher at the same time Silva is leaving. Through all our inconsistencies I at least felt like the players were working and taking losses personally. But that can disappear quickly if the people that hold that line disappear.
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Correct, in fact I'd go one step further and say the high standards have to be engrained throughout the organization, from top to bottom, front office and back, on and off the pitch.
 
We were Real Madrid when Fergie was here. In terms of standards, culture, juju, turning it around etc. We've dropped so low from those heights.
 
Big Ben Foster said:
Fair enough, you know better than I do. I thought he had fallen out with Abramovich / Kenyon and thus his position was untenable at that point. Regardless, even then, Chelsea managed to turn around a poor start and came extremely close to a league / CL double!
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He was the hottest manager prospect in football. We had been incredibly successful with him and he went on be incredibly successful elsewhere. Whatever their disagreement was, you keep him and make it work. They rehired him anyway 5-6 years later. We faffed around with Avram Grant and Scolari, wasted 18 months until we hired Ancelotti.
 
I dont believe that clubs have any kind of special magic but this team clearly has a lot of players that are great at this competition and they prioritise it.

Ollie Derbyshire said:
Agreed, the only real way to keep high standards is to be ruthless, we’re just toothless.
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Constant sackings don't guarantee anything. Plenty of midtable sides do it.
 
Tyrion said:
I dont believe that clubs have any kind of special magic but this team clearly has a lot of players that are great at this competition and they prioritise it.



Constant sackings don't guarantee anything. Plenty of midtable sides do it.
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Yet all top clubs does it, at most even the most successful manager lastes 2-3 years and moved on.
 
GatoLoco said:
Much has been said about City's 115 charges, but not enough about Uncle Flo practicing the obscure and ancient art of nigromancy.

Joselu's brace to overcome an adverse result in CL semis with less than 5 minutes to go is taking the piss.
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reported.
 
Standards is an extremely important part of it yes, but also because of that and the success over time, there is an inbuilt expectation in basically all players around the world that Madrid are the biggest and best club and will always be there or thereabouts in the CL. It provides a belief.

Honestly it’s similar to what SAF relied on in the latter years domestically, able to win big games and ultimately titles with odd lineups and a number of unremarkable players filtered throughout the squad.
 
justboy68 said:
Standards is an extremely important part of it yes, but also because of that and the success over time, there is an inbuilt expectation in basically all players around the world that Madrid are the biggest and best club and will always be there or thereabouts in the CL. It provides a belief.
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I usually say to others it's something that can't be explained, but the closest I can explain to it in my brain is exactly what you said.

I've seen, throughout the years, mid-level Madrid players on their normal weekend routine of playing La Liga, pull off world class displays in the CL way too often.

Edit: And the 3 consecutive CLs won a few years ago probably did the most to add to the belief you mention. That's a (maybe?) somewhat underrated achievement that probably will and is having lasting repercussions within the club and the squad.
 
I have no idea. A team with that starting 11 should not be beating teams such as Man City and Munich.
 
Sky1981 said:
Yet all top clubs does it, at most even the most successful manager lastes 2-3 years and moved on.
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Except for Liverpool and City. Besides our managers only last 2-3 years anyway. We sack our managers at the same rate. Our problem is appointing the wrong ones and having terrible recruitment.
 
Tyrion said:
Except for Liverpool and City. Besides our managers only last 2-3 years anyway. We sack our managers at the same rate. Our problem is appointing the wrong ones and having terrible recruitment.
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They're quick to sack though. Most 2 3 years managers were actually good manager but not good enough. We gave them 3 years regardless of whatever shit on a stick football they've shown


Klopp took over Liverpool in shambles the first 2 years is seething years.

He only rose to the top for 2 or 3 at max before being burnt out.

Pep is off course an outlier.

It's not reasonable to expect another Ferguson. When he took over we're 80s club not the behemoth we are now. Back then the amount of aspects he needs to oversee is much less than those of todays with the advancement in sports
 
Comes to mind,

-La Liga is the perfect platform for them to compete in CL. (2 top teams, 3-5 competitive teams, the rest just enough for comepetitive matches, PL is different at least the last decade with all the money involve, scheduls, intensity and competitiveness of overall teams).

-Feels like they always prioritise the CL more than home league (CL money, apeals to worldwide market...etc, EPL is different, can argue that EPL brand is trying to compete with CL)

-Being ruthless with coaches and players (board and fans alike, business is business, nothing personal vibe). They just go and hire the best coaches available and if not working out, hire the next one. Buy the best players and it helps with their prestigue, city, weather, culture, connections with regions that often produce best players...etc. Also, best planning for transition between squads, from Ronaldo, Bales, Benzema, Modric, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, to now Vini, Rodrygo, Bellingham, Valverde, Chuameni, Camavinga...etc. They have at least 2 or 3 of those to carry the team through various stages during transition.

- And then the aura becomes a bonus factor when it comes to small margin competiton like this, teams deep down hs e the feeling that RM would just somehow find ways to go through.

I really dont like Madrid amd Barca for all the shenanigans they have with tactics to buy players, dramas, advantages in continental competitions...etc but the way RM run their club this last 15 years is great overall. United should be more ruthless with coaches and players but we still trying to find our next SAF to come in and build us a squad and lead us to glory for the next 20 years....
 
Not sticking with fraud managers when they are obviously shit. Good recruitment. High standards across the club and fanbase. Hunger to be the best and win. Football heritage and institution. Success above everything.
 
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