Goal.Commentary: If I Were Florentino Perez

A Real Madrid fan gives his take.

I am a huge Real Madrid fan – yes, I have already explained myself. This past weekend's debacle in the Bernabeu against Barcelona was certainly another huge disappointment for madridistas all over the world. Nobody wants to be Florentino Perez right now.

Well, nobody except me. That particular thought has been on my mind since last Saturday and it has festered quite long enough.

I asked myself for hours why Los Blancos lost, though I know why. Barcelona was simply better. Then I moved on to thinking about solutions, because when something is broken, it needs fixing. So after pondering every possible scenario involving the addition and subtraction of numerous players and coaches, I finally got the answer: NOTHING.

Florentino Perez should do absolutely nothing with this team.

While the 2010 Liga title is not out of reach yet -- yes, I am an optimist -- another early failure in the Champions League combined with a third consecutive loss at the hands of Barca is sending Madrid fans into panic.

And let’s be clear. Panic is what Real Madrid and its followers do best.

The day after Madrid crashed out of the Champions League against Lyon, the Spanish media immediately called for the head of Manuel Pellegrini. Everyone settled briefly, but the failure to beat Barcelona last week set off another panic attack, and frankly I will be shocked if Pellegrini keeps his job.

Real Madrid has often been compared to the New York Yankees in terms of the way they spend outlandish amounts of cash for the top talent available. Much like how the 2009 World Champion Yankees spent record amounts on CC Sebathia and Mark Teixeira, Real Madrid dished out a record amount to snag Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Xabi Alonso.

Money and historical success aside, when I look closely at Real Madrid and the New York Yankees I find that they are far less similar than many think. For despite being named the club of the century just 10 years ago, Madrid is shockingly unstable as a club – unlike the Yankees, which exudes stability.

Quick, name all the managers for Real Madrid for the last 15 years.

The task is nearly impossible because Real Madrid has had a whopping 17 different managers in that time frame. Contrast that with the two managers that the Yankees have had during that same 15 year period in Joe Torre and Joe Girardi and you begin to see my point.

How can a team be expected to win when there is that much turnover at the top? Not to mention all the turnover on the field the club has experienced as well.

Real Madrid has to be the only sports organization that will fire managers who actually win the league. Bernd Schuster was fired the year after he won La Liga. Fabio Capello was fired twice in the last 15 years after having won the league. Even Jupp Heynckes was fired in 1998 after he brought the Champions League trophy back to Madrid after a 32 year drought.

The pressure on the players and coaches at Madrid, a pressure that Real Madrid seems inexplicably proud of, is far too high. Sure, if a club is making a ton of money there should be high expectations, but there is a line between high expectations and being delusional. And at Real Madrid, they crossed that line a long time ago.

I am not saying that victory should not be the standard, because in professional sports, it is. But as Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari knows all too well, championships are rarely won with a one and done mentality. Teams and coaches need time to grow.

The Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner knew that he could always manipulate his roster, but there had to be some sort of stability in the organization for it to breed success. In addition to the nucleus of players who stayed with the Yankees for several years, Steinbrenner established that stability through selecting quality managers and then giving those managers the time to indoctrinate the team.

From top to bottom Real Madrid really has a spectacular roster. There is no reason that given the right manager and the right amount of gelling time, this team should not go down in history as one of the greatest teams in soccer history when it is all said and done.

But my fear is that they will not get that chance. History tells us that Madrid will most likely fire Pellegrini. After he is gone they will probably drop a few of their players. Then they will revamp with a new star studded team and create more buzz and, of course, pressure going into the 2011 season.

Some will say that with that roster there is no excuse and you should never lose. However, Pellegrini, much like several of his predecessors at Real Madrid, is undeniably an elite coach. The man has had success everywhere he has been. It’s just a hunch, but I refuse to believe that somehow he lost his ability to manage when he signed on the dotted line with Madrid.

I hope Florentino does himself and all of the Real Madrid faithful a favor an for once tries to truly emulate the Yankees. I know deep down inside he probably can’t stop thinking about all the money he has seemingly wasted on the Galacticos part deux. But I would beg him to not pull the plug.

Many fans and “experts” will disagree with me. But I believe that just as a child is disgusted at the taste of medicine, but then feels better shortly after consumption, so will madridistas of all walks feel better after this team and coach has another year to grow into their expectations.