Hassan Chamas

Over the course of Real Madrid’s history, there may have been better ,tactical coaches, more charismatic managers, but none was more effective than the Salamanca-born Vicente del Bosque.

Albeit having an imposing look (del Bosque is remembered by his trademark moustache, and his constant glaring face), del Bosque was actually a calm and peaceful coach, who knew exactly how to handle the team of superstars and inflated egos that was handed to him by the former Real Madrid supremo Florentino Perez. Even though he had no say in the players that were bought in by the Merengues, he got along extremely well with all of them, and he made it into the football record books in the process by winning two La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues during his tenure at the Bernabeu from 1999 until 2003.

This seems then the perfect Cinderella story: Coach is happy, players are happy, club is winning titles… Why is it then that nobody heard from del Bosque for two years?

As most of you know by now, Real Madrid is one of the biggest clubs in world football. It does not content itself with playing good football, but by excelling. They are constantly looking to change things, and to try new players and coaches. Simply, Florentino Perez considered that the squad needed to be shaken up. But, why change a winning formula?

After the signature of superstar David Beckham a day after the club had secured its 29^th domestic league title, the Spanish media started labeling Real Madrid as a team Los Galacticos, a team that included the world’s elite football talent, such as Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Raul, Zinedine Zidane, and the arriving Beckham. Perez must have thought that a superstar team must have a superstar coach, and del Bosque was not perceived as one by the Madrid president.

Soon after, reports of a rift inside Real Madrid erupted to the surface, with Florentino Perez on one side, and coach Vicente del Bosque and a few of his loyal players, such as Fernando Morientes, Ivan Campo, Steve McManaman, Claude Makelele, and then-club captain Fernando Hierro on the other. Sadly, none of these players still plies his trade at the capital’s team, with Hierro being told to “search for another club”, bypassing his stature of team captain and all his years of service and loyalty to his club. This culminated in the sacking of del Bosque and the sale or release of his “legion” of players.

Now, with the age of the Galacticos having begun, experts around the world predicted that this Real Madrid team was on the verge of great achievements. How ironic is it that the club didn’t manage to win a single title during the proclaimed “Superstar” era. It had to take presidential elections, a change of the team’s mentality, and the arrival of a great coach in the form of Fabio Capello to put the team back on track. The Italian managed to snatch the league title out of Barcelona’s hands in the last encounters of last season. Capello was of course, sacked.

After his stint as Real Madrid coach, del Bosque stayed home for a couple of years, until he was called up to coach Turkish side Besiktas. His arrival was accompanied by much fanfare and speculation. However, he failed to win any silverware in his first season and was eventually shown the door. Turkish clubs having even less patience than Spanish ones.

Since then, del Bosque has been offered numerous positions, most notably as coach of the Mexican national team, but has turned them all down. He was even a serious candidate for the position of coach at Real Madrid again after the sacking of Fabio Capello, until Bernd Schuster won the job.

However, del Bosque’s fortunes have turned upwards since: With national team coach Luis Aragones set to step down after this summer’s European championship, del Bosque was chosen by the Spanish FA to be the next man to guide La Seleccion.

It is no secret that every coach likes certain players: Just like Luis Aragones likes Atletico Madrid players, del Bosque is, understandably, very found of Real Madrid. The question is then, with him in command after Euro 2008, could he bring back a certain superstar from national team “exile”?

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