The Failings Of Pedja Mijatovic

Spanish Inquisition: The Failings Of Pedja Mijatovic
With Pedja Mijatovic seemingly on borrowed time at Real Madrid, Goal.com looks at an era which has had plenty of misgivings...

The life of a sports director today must be tough, at least Pedja Mijatovic would probably have you believe so. The Montenegrin mastermind has grown so used to spinning webs of deceit and intrigue during his three years at Real Madrid, that one is not entirely sure if what comes out of his mouth these days is fact or fiction. Along with the equally mischievous Ramon Calderon, the former player has been the brains behind goings-on at the Bernabeu since 2006, and has been responsible for much of the madness at the club, and also much of the mystery.

However, rarely has Mijatovic has to face up to the troubles at Madrid, nor the many misgivings that have gone on in his era. Now though, with Calderon gone and a new regime beginning to take shape, the slick, styled former striker looks as though he could soon be out the door, and with him, perhaps Real Madrid will recover some its magic, and lose some of the madness.

The Regime Lives On

What is for sure, is that even with Mijatovic and Calderon gone, their regime will live on for a long time at Real Madrid, and will be remembered for even longer. For all their sins and failings, it will not be forgotten that they won two La Liga titles, and at times, played some dazzling football which left the rest of Spain standing in admiration. The problem though, is that they did not do this enough, and with the Galatico era just gone, they contrived to destroy everything that Real Madrid fans held dear.

At the forefront of that destruction, was of course the very nature of the Galaticos at the club, who, with the arrival of Calderon and Mijatovic, found themselves out in the cold. Sure, some might have come and gone, such as David Beckham, but on the whole, the pair went about constructing a squad that they believed would be about egos no more, but about team-work and substance. The problem was, they were sending out mixed messages all the time; on one hand, they were promising Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, and on the other, they were delivering Emerson and Mahamadou Diarra.

Make no mistake about it, Diarra and Emerson are quality players, or perhaps in the case of the latter, was a quality player, but there was soon becoming an abundance of Diarras and Emersons in Madrid. For each Arjen Robben and Beckham that was coming in, there was a Jose Reyes, a Gonzalo Higuain, a Fernando Gago and a Marcelo, and this exposed the short comings of Mijatovic no end.

It became clear that the sports director, who was believed to have made most of the signings in the Calderon era, was not in touch with the coach or the needs of the team. One only needs to look back to last summer when Real Madrid were simply crying out for a winger or two and instead, Mijatovic and Calderon ended up with Rafael van der Vaart, who has been nothing more than a bench player this season. Coupled with that was the fact that Madrid inexcusably let Robinho go, who was not only one of their lowest paid players, but could also have been key this season on the wings.

Injury Excuse?

In fact, last summer and the Bernd Schuster reign as a whole, were perhaps the most revealing times of the control and power that Mijatovic harnessed, simply because by the end of his time in charge, the German appeared to be well and truly fed up with him. During the eternal pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, Schuster complained that he was always the last to know of any transfer dealings, and then with the season begun, declared that he looked to his bench, and could not see any strikers on it.

Sure, Real Madrid have been unlucky with injuries this season, and no-one is to blame for that, but the lack of replacements, along with the amount of injury-prone players bought in by Mijatovic, is staggering. Robben, Pepe, Gabriel Heinze are just a few of those who have class, but usually find themselves on the treatment table, meaning players such as Miguel Palanca come in the Camp Nou in the biggest game of the season for Madrid.

When a coach at arguably the biggest club in Spain does not even have a strong bench to call on, then it is clear that something is clearly wrong. One of the problems appears to be that much like the Galatico era, when stars were signed without thoughts of their positions or ability to play in the side, Mijatovic has bought in a mishmash of players, some of whom have been successful, some of whom haven’t. Worryingly though, very few of them have been stars, and it is telling that even in this day, Real Madrid are still relying on Raul to grab them goals up front, with a disappointed and expensive Klaas-Jan Huntelaar sitting on the bench.

Coaching Cohesion

Of course, along with the players, there has been the coaching troubles and the obvious impatience at the top of the chain, coupled with the fact that Mijatovic does not seem to be able to get on with the bosses. It is thought that Schuster left because he felt undermined by the sports director, even though Calderon reportedly wanted the German to stay, and just recently Mijatovic is believed to have been fuming with the signing of Julien Faubert from West Ham, a player who he decreed as not good enough to play for the club.

Whilst the Frenchman might not be Real Madrid quality on first viewing, his signing is ultimately the product of a fruitless summer on the part of Mijatovic. His failure to bring in a winger last summer and this winter meant that Juande Ramos’ hand was forced, and his desperate desire for a wide player was no secret. The fact that 'Pedja' is reported to have had no part in the move for Faubert is surely a telling sign that his time at the club is nearly up.

And surely it will be for the best if he does go, for only then can Real Madrid start to build again, and turn the club from nearly a laughing stock, which it has become under Mijatovic, to something to be proud of again. With a sports director who has knowledge of the game, and is willing to co-operate with the coach fully, Madrid should be a major force in Europe, because no doubt they have the money and reputation to attract top talent. Up until now the blame has always been laid at the feet of the coach, but it is surely time for Mijatovic to face the music finally, and with him gone, maybe Real Madrid will yet again master Spain.