Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has bashed his successor Florentino Perez for not taking the advice given by Zinedine Zidane before his departure.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has been severely criticised by his predecessor Ramon Calderon on Twitter for the current plight the club find themselves in.
The past week has been quite painful for Real Madrid, as they were dumped out of the Copa del Rey by arch-rivals Barcelona, before the Catalans ended their recent revival in the La Liga as well. Post that, the Merengues crashed out of the UEFA Champions League, as Dutch giants Ajax hammered them 4-1.
All the defeats came at the Santiago Bernabeu, leading to a hostile atmosphere, with the fans calling for Perez’s head after the run of defeats. And now former Los Blancos head honcho Calderon has taken to social media to take a dig at Perez, claiming that the club is suffering because he ignored to pay heed to former manager Zinedine Zidane’s advice.
Zidane led Real Madrid to an unprecedented hat-trick of UEFA Champions League triumphs in the last three seasons. Having made history during his reign at the club, the Frenchman decided to depart last summer after reported disagreements with the current president.
And Calderon has now revealed in a social media post that Zidane left Perez with three pieces of advice prior to his exit, which the president has failed to listen, leading to Real Madrid’s current situation.
According to the former Real Madrid supremo, Zidane had asked Perez to not recruit a new goalkeeper in the last summer window and instead have faith in Keylor Navas, who had played an integral role in Los Blancos‘ Champions League triumph. However, Perez went ahead and brought in Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea, relegating Navas to a role in the bench.
The second piece of advice that Zidane had left Perez with was to not let go of star attacker Cristiano Ronaldo at any cost. The Portuguese maverick had a strained relationship with the club president and Zidane had reportedly told Perez to mend fences with the attacker and ensure he remains at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He warned about what was coming when the President did not follow his advices. He did not want a goalie, considered imperative to keep Cristiano and thought it was convenient to change Bale. Just the opposite was done. The results are well known. pic.twitter.com/abIqo4u3bu
— Ramón Calderón (@rcalderonorg) March 7, 2019
However, that wasn’t to be, as Ronaldo sealed a summer switch to Italian champions Juventus, where he is currently thriving, while the reigning European champions have struggled in attack. Former Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Redondo lamented Ronaldo’s departure in a recent interview, claiming that his exit was a major reason for the club suffering this season.
And the final suggestion that Zidane had provided Perez with prior to his exit was to offload Welsh winger Gareth Bale, which also went unheard by the president. Bale was largely expected to fill in Ronaldo’s vacant shoes, but that hasn’t been the case, with the former Tottenham star struggling for form and fitness once again.
After a disappointing period, Real Madrid will be hoping to turn things around when they take on Valladolid in the La Liga this weekend. But, it remains to be seen if they continue to be haunted by Perez’s inability to pay heed to Zidane’s advice.
