Lord of the Galácticos - Florentino Perez Thread

Trent was a pre-Xabi Bosman, Mastantuono was pushed by Solari and Calafat (Xabi called him). The rest were deferred transfers that we needed 2+ seasons ago.

 

Club suggested bringing back Paz, but Xabi asked for Franco instead. Xabi gave Franco a lot of minutes as well until the injury.

 

And I didn't disagree on Huijsen and Carreras. We needed a CB since 2022/23 and a LB since Mendy has the physical integrity of a wet noodle and Fran Garcia turned out to be a lemon.

As for Franco, he was already actively pursued by Solari and Calafat from early 2025 (1, 2). Xabi definitely gave his OK and convinced the player but he was not a "direct request" from Xabi.

 

I can't call for the president's head after two trophyless seasons, when he presided over our most successful period ever. But seeing him double down on certain things yesterday really worries me as a fan.

It may be a case of him being surrounded by people who created an environment of toxic positivity, where legitimate criticism gets painted as anti-Madrid. And if you mix in the "nostalgia" as @boeder put it, and think past achievements exonerate you from criticism - it's a dangerous mindset.

It's disappointing to see Florentino conflate the fans booing with media campaigns led by anti-madridistas. Fans are not happy with what they see on the pitch, and they can do basic math with the evidence they're shown. It doesn't take a campaign to be ran against us.

Flo has always been a Machiavellian boss working in the shadows saying "tranquillo" with a smirk... But when he gets on the mic he just sounds like a mumbling kid. He has once again proven that he is completely out of touch with how the fans perceive this sport, and what matters to them. Just like he's proven it before, with the Superleague debacle and his appearance on Chiringuito.

I hope he manages to secure a few good signings this summer, and that we manage to win some trophies next year, because he deserves to have his final years as president to end in some success. For better or worse...

 

Only in the way that past achievements should exonorate you from criticism.

I was with you on the ballon d'or debacle, if you recall.

 

Yes

Telling socios and fans to STFU because "we won LaLiga two years ago" is just wrapping present failures in faded nostalgia.

It's a 2 horse race. If you're not winning, you're in last place.

The 2023/24 match threads are done and locked.

If "but we won it two years ago" is now the benchmark, let's stop competing and close shop. We should then stop screaming "A por la..16..17..18" at every general assembly and admit the standards have been watered down.

That's the burden and the price of calling yourself the biggest and most successful club on the planet. You don't get to dine on past glories while serving mediocrity in the present.

2 or even 3 trophyless seasons can be tolerated when there's an actual sporting project in place, a coherent strategy and direction, accountability, visible attempts to fix problems or address deficiencies, and a dressing room that isn’t collapsing into factions, egos, and public embarrassments. Not when you're praying Mourinho pulls another 2011 out of his ass.

 

Those 7 league titles in 20+ years is just terrible. And we all know it wasn't just because of Negreira.

La Liga is basically just us and Barca every year. So winning less than half the time is objectively under achieving.

 

The club gave up on the league in December on multiple occasions ,it happened under Zidane,Mourinho,Lopategue etc it wasn't the refs fault

90% of the times we had an opportunity to capitalize on Barcelona or Atletico mistakes we flopped...even before these games we kind of knew that we will flop it's just who we are....domestically we are a disaster

Back to back leagues only once in 35 years

 

Barca - 12, RM - 7, Valencia - 2 and Atleti - 2 in Florentino's 23 years as RM president.

 

I know. We could chalk off those once in a while outliers.

But seeing the gulf with Barca domestically is disappointing.

Edit: doesn't Barca have 14?

 

This should have been the decade for RM to win few more La Ligas given Barca's FFP issues, but they have won 3 of the last 4 now.

 

The league and CDR should be our top priority every year.

I don't expect RM to win the UCL every year nor do I want them to. If we don't win that damn cup again in the next 5 years, its all good as long as we dominate domestically and don't go crashing from Albacete or 14 points behind Barcelona with 3 games to spare.

That's just me..

 

Which makes it worse.

Most of us here has noticed in games where Barca dropped points, and Madrid has a chance to extend/ close the gap, the team usually plays lethargic. Which results to loses/draws at the worst possible times. Which is very annoying.

 

3 Calderon seasons - 2 for RM and 1 for Barca. So 13 for Barca, 9 for RM since 2000.

 

We could include this season me thinks.

 

No, those games were "stolen".

 

🚨 JUST IN: The interview with Florentino Perez tonight will TURN the world upside down. @elchiringuitotv pic.twitter.com/nuPEYQz2AQ

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) May 13, 2026

 

If Perez was trying to say "hey, I won't all these trophies for the club, give me rope here to fix this" - he did a very poor job.
The thing is, he can't fix this without opening the check book.
we have so many injury prune players that needs to be replaced and that can't be counted upon for a whole season, we literally need 80% of the defensive unit replaced.
I think we're good in midfield, but in offense, well, we're going to play with Vinnie and Mbappe, and 2 years of data shown it's not working, so with all this, I think Perez is just deferring all decisions for one more year, on how to keep between V/M, and buying defensive players and even on the coach.

 

Oh that is my point and I agree wholeheartedly.

The thing is Florentino knows what he is.. these people on this forum who are always critical of others while doing the same thing and never owning it? Not so much

 

First 5 minutes of this Chiringuito interview sounding like the same slop from yesterday