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Xabi Alonso is the new coach of Real Madrid. He replaces Carlo Ancelotti and, in addition to the challenge of replacing the Italian on the bench of the Madrid club, he will have to fight against the "curse" that Spanish coaches faced under the presidency of Florentino Perez, reports Mundo Deportivo.
Here's how these Spanish coaches did their jobs at Real Madrid under Florentino Perez.
Vicente Del Bosque
2000–2003
Florentino Pérez's first coach when he became president of Real Madrid in 2000 was Del Bosque. He served until 2003. After winning La Liga, the club announced that they would not renew his contract. During his tenure, Florentino Pérez won his first Champions League as president, as well as winning La Liga twice, the 2002 Club World Cup, the 2002 European Super Cup and the 2001 Spanish Super Cup.
Jose Antonio Camacho
May 2004 – September 2004
José Antonio Camacho coached Real Madrid for a few months. Florentino Pérez chose him to replace Queirús, but Camacho only lasted a few months on the Real Madrid bench. Already in the third round of the League, he decided to leave the club.
"I thought Madrid needed change, and I thought I was invited for that. I saw that the change would be very difficult," Camacho said of his departure from Real Madrid.
Garcia Remon
, September 2004 – December 2004.
He replaced Camacho as Real Madrid coach in September 2004, but left in December of the same year, giving way to Wanderlei Luxemburgo.
Lopez Caro,
December 2005 - June 2006.
The last coach appointed by Florentino Pérez during his first term as president of Real Madrid. He replaced Wanderlei Luxemburgo, who was dismissed in December 2005. López Caro finished the season, but under the management of Fernando Martín, as Florentino Pérez resigned in February 2006.
Rafa Benitez
June 2015 - January 2016.
The Spaniard was set to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the helm of Real Madrid. He was Florentino Pérez's first Spanish coach during his second term as president of the club, which he returned to in 2009 after resigning in 2006. Rafa Benítez never had the support of the dressing room, where he was heavily criticized. He was sacked in January 2016 and replaced by Zidane.
Julen Lopetegui,
June 2018 - October 2018.
He arrived at Real Madrid's bench amid controversy, as his contract with the club was announced while he was in charge of the Spanish national team and the World Cup in Russia was about to begin. He was dismissed after a 5–1 defeat to Barcelona. He was replaced by Santiago Solari until March 2019, when Zidane returned to the coaching bench.
As we can see, the only one who managed to achieve significant success was Vicente Del Bosque. However, this “curse” can be explained by the fact that most of the other Spanish specialists worked in the era of the “Galacticos”, when success was almost impossible. That team, full of stars, was unmanageable and completely unbalanced. In addition, Florentino Perez was looking for coaches who would be as loyal as possible to him and the team’s stars, so highly qualified specialists did not suit him.
During his second spell at the club, Florentino almost never appointed Spanish coaches, focusing instead on foreign specialists. It remains to be seen whether Alonso will succeed in becoming the best Spanish coach for the Whites in the 21st century.