Spain

Schuster: Calderon Had Money To Sign Ronaldo, But Not Villa Or Fabregas

The former Blancos boss has spoken for the very first time about his tumultuous final few months in the Bernabeu hot-seat.

Apr 14, 2009 2:51:23 AM

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster ponders updating his résumé as his job at the Bernabéu now hangs on a thread after the humiliating exit in the Copa del Rey to Real Unión (Marca)

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Bernd Schuster was dismissed as the coach of Real Madrid in early December following a 4-3 defeat at home to Sevilla and just a week before the pivotal El Clasico blockbuster with Barcelona.

Many believe that the German’s now infamous ‘it’s impossible to win at Barcelona’ quote to the press was the catalyst for his departure, but Schuster himself insisted that was not the reason.

“A few days before [the press conference], we had a gathering with the players and I said to them that they were the only ones capable of beating Barcelona,” he told Marca in a two-part interview.

“As a team, we knew we had the quality to play in these matches. The intent of what I said in the press conference was to remove the pressure on us. Besides, I said it was very difficult to beat Barcelona… not impossible.

“But soon, the press started to say that I didn’t want to be there or that I didn’t want to go there. I knew the situation we were in this season and with all the injuries that we had and not being given the signings that I wanted, we had to go there quietly.”

Speaking of signings, the focus immediately shifted to the club’s flop in the summer transfer market when then-president Ramon Calderon failed to recruit any of his intended targets due to his obsessive pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I asked for three or four players in case we failed to sign Cristiano. I understand that the club invested a lot to try to sign this lad, but they made it clear to me that if he arrived, it would be very difficult to sign even one more player,” explained Schuster.

“But Cristiano was not a player that the team needed. He was just someone the club wanted. I knew that he alone would not be able to solve our other problems because he cannot defend or play as a wing-back. What’s surprising is that in the end, no one came. And I got none of the players that I asked for.

“He [Calderon] told me that we had the money to sign Ronaldo, but not for the other players like David Villa, Cesc Fabregas or Dani Alves.

“What’s even stranger is that we had a meeting in April at the Bernabeu to discuss making new signings as soon as possible but as time went by, nothing happened and everything that we had talked about became worthless.”

KS Leong, Goal.com