It was something we already knew, but Carlo Ancelotti confirmed it for us anyway.
“When I joined Real Madrid I knew it could last a month, a year, or three or five, depending on the titles won,” the Italian told Le Parisien (via AS) in early October, reflecting on his time at his former club. “Madrid sacked me because in my final year we didn’t win the league or the Champions League. That is their philosophy.”
When Ancelotti was asked to pack his boxes and hand in his security pass at Valdebebas, of course, he was only 12 months removed from steering Madrid to the capture of the European Cup. But not just any European Cup; the 10th European Cup. La Decima, Real Madrid’s burning obsession.
Elsewhere in Europe, such an achievement might see a statue erected in his honour, and at a certain north London club, for instance, he’d probably be handed the keys for all eternity—even after his passing, a carefully constructed wax model of him would manage the team.
Not here, though.
“Winning La Decima only assured me of another year at Real Madrid,” added Ancelotti. Go and try that on for job security.
Few will need reminding that it’s a high-stakes game managers are invited to at the Bernabeu. Nowhere else in football is a coach burdened with such intense pressure while also being routinely denied of the authority most need to succeed. This is a club with an almost unworkable win-now-or-get-your-things mentality, a point underlined by the fact not a single manager has seen out the duration of a contract at the Bernabeu since Vicente del Bosque’s dismissal 12 years ago.
Thus, this isn’t a hot seat; it’s a rickety stool hung above a volcano with no support on any side. And now Rafa Benitez is perched on it.
So how long can he balance himself above the lava?
When it’s asked what Benitez must do this season to retain his job, what constitutes the minimum requirement, the answer seems obvious: Win. After all, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Titles, yeah?
Well, sort of. But not really.
Though the league title and/or the Champions League will make up one of the criteria Benitez must fulfil in 2015-16, there’s also another box he must try to cover as best he can, a box that doesn’t have an exact definition but one based upon an idea perhaps best described as a style-aura-personality-charisma cocktail. With a dash of strawberry—there’s nothing sour here.
For Benitez, it’s not entirely fair. But like it or not, he is fighting on two fronts.
Ever since his appointment in June, there’s been a cynicism evident in the Spanish capital toward the madrileno. Seen as prickly in character, perceived as defensive, mocked for his rants, derided for his spell at Inter Milan, Benitez is battling with his own history; to many, he’s just not good enough for Madrid.
In May, when Marca ran a poll asking who should replace Ancelotti, Benitez got just 8.9 percent of the vote. Ahead of him were Michel and Unai Emery. One is a club legend, yes, and the other is a rising boss, but Michel’s biggest job had been at Sevilla and lasted all of 11 months, while Emery is yet to win a league title of any description.
But Benitez? He arrived in Madrid with two league crowns with Valencia—yes, Valencia—and one European Cup. But that didn’t matter.
The cynicism, then, isn’t just founded on credentials; many simply don’t like the guy. His style. What he stands for. Thus, it’s this battle that he must neutralise—he’ll never truly win it—to prolong his tenure in Chamartin beyond this season.
But can he?
One of the problems for Benitez is the popularity of the guy he’s replaced. In character, Ancelotti is seen as everything Benitez is not. Charming, endearing, funny, the ultimate diplomat, the Italian was not only adored by his players but was also well-liked by those who apply the external pressure at Madrid.
His sacking by president Florentino Perez, therefore, was not taken pleasantly. Particularly after El Pais correspondent Eleonora Giovio asked specifically why Ancelotti had been sacked and Perez answered with the spectacularly shambolic: “Erm, I don’t know.”
Consequently, Benitez has become another avenue through which to criticise the president for the anti-Perez camp, with Madrid-based daily AS particularly keen to stick the boots in. “Benitez is in no-man’s land,” it wrote of the new manager after the Madrid derby, presenting an unfavourable comparison with his predecessor despite the fact that Benitez’s team remain unbeaten.
Evidently, he’ll never win the popularity war, he’ll never completely tick the style-aura-personality-charisma box. But—and this is the crucial bit—he can tick part of it: the style part. His team’s style.
For Benitez to keep his job beyond this season, his Real Madrid will need to do more than just win. They’ll need to win with a swagger, in an expression of attacking freedom, scorelines being representative of the squad’s talent and the money spent to put it together. To date, though, this writer will argue the early signs have been positive, performances have been mixed and that hasn’t entirely been the case, but time is available to do so.
And he must do so. He must oversee that.
It’s the only way.
Benitez will be hard-pressed to sway people through personality or charisma; he won’t unite a club with an aura. The only thing he can do is win, and win in style. This is a club, remember, at which Fabio Capello was chased out twice after winning the league, a club at which pragmatic triumphs are not enough—particularly when you’re not popular.
So while for Real Madrid as a club this season’s target is a double—the league and the Champions League—for Benitez, the double is slightly different: it’s win at least one of them and put on a show.
Neither will suffice without the other.
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