Hala Madrid 1.1

There has been a lot of talk from within and without the Santiago Bernabeu about the manner in which Real Madrid have started the 2010-2011 campaign. They are hugging the top of the league, with three wins and a draw to their name but until halfway through the Espanyol match, they had score a total of three goals in four matches. Sure, they put another two past keeper Carlos Kameni after that scoreline, flattering the ultras, but does anyone really think that this team will do what is expected of them? Demanded of them? To dominate. Give their best account against their eternal rivals; beating them at their own game?

It has become a perennial yoke on every administration that runs Real Madrid. They want to win everything, but do it with a style consistent to their club´s DNA. This is the club of Puskas, DiStefano and Gento. They steamrolled clubs with the immenseness of their talent. Every generation of merengue is compared to that standard, and they chafe at the comparisons, but frankly, I´m with the supporters on this one; it´s a standard that I think needs to be met.

Just think of this. Managers come and go as do players. Even chairmen hardly stay on for more than a handful of years any more. There are no Santiago Bernabeus anymore. The only real connection to the club are the supporters, but they are told by the media that their expectations are too high in this modern game. They are lied to by management when they are told that this coach will have them playing well sooner rather than later. A lie you say? The club´s most experienced defender is interviewed in the press stating unequivocally that the coach´s teams aren´t built to play well; and what, that the expectations shouldn´t exist?

The supporters know they´ve been had. It´s not as if this particular group of players haven´t played well together. They have, mere months ago, but because your new coach beat their rivals in the Champions League, and your chairman loves taking the latest shiny bauble to thrust under the noses of the culé collective without much attention to reason, rebooting his new Revolution again from square one, is it any wonder that some of them decide to whistle? Would you whistle if you were a Real Madrid supporter?

If my club´s best player had complained of our disrespect, or if the sporting director had promised that fortunes would change and beautiful football again return to the Bernabeu, knowing by the coach´s track record that it would be highly unlikely and then watching as the greatest coach of his generation spends all of his time turning the brand new Ferrari he has been entrusted with into a sensible passenger vehicle. Can we blame them for whistling? I´m finding it hard not to whistle myself.