Real Madrid need a PSG-style revolution- analysis

Under the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Christophe Galtier, Paris Saint-Germain were a team star-studded with the best players in the world that just couldn’t sing from the same hymn sheet and reach the pinnacle of club football; winning the UEFA Champions League.

Former Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique was appointed in July 2023, inheriting a team that had just lost Leo Messi and boasted a side with the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar Jr, Marco Verratti and Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Spaniard spent the next three years or so building a super team, turfing out superstars of PSG teams of old and replacing them with young, dynamic talent that worked as a team, not as individuals.

This type of drastic culture change is desperately needed at Real Madrid. Once again in a period where they are signing Galácticos, with a squad of world class talent like the aforementioned Mbappé, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Thibaut Courtois to name just a handful of them.

But as we enter the later stage of the season, Barcelona sit top of La Liga by 11 points and Madrid were dumped out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals at the hands of German champions Bayern Munich. For the second season in a row, Los Blancos are going to go trophyless.

This uncharacteristic lack of silverware is the bedrock of the rapidly rising toxicity at the club. The polarising figure of Club President Florentino Pérez only exacerbates this problem, a problem that has reached a nasty peak this week.

Reports across multiple Spanish outlets, mainly from the controversial Marca, paint a nasty picture of the scenario at the club. From player spats in the dressing room, the most recent example going down between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Fede Valverde, to multiple members of the squad (potentially up to six) not on speaking terms to head coach Álvaro Arbeloa, the crisis at Real Madrid is clearly well documented.

When Xabi Alonso was sacked in January, many were quick to judge the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder, suggesting he’s out of his depth at a top club and that his man management skills were sub-par to get key players to perform. Clearly, the 44-year-old was merely a scapegoat in the Spanish capital, and the problems at the club ran a lot deeper than just whoever is in the dugout.

It was clear that Arbeloa was never to be a long-term solution for the club, but reports suggest his replacement this summer could be the ever-controversial José Mourinho. The legendary head coach had a successful three-year stint with the club, including a record-breaking La Liga title win, achieving the feat of the most games won in a La Liga season, winning 32 games and becoming the champions with the most away wins (16).

Like all his tenures at any club in his decorated career, his time was not without its controversy. He fell out with multiple top-class players, including the likes of club legends like Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Karim Benzema, bizarrely comparing the Frenchman to a cat, implying the future Balon D’Or winner was lazy.  

His fierce approach to management is unfortunately, the last thing Real Madrid at the moment. It wouldn’t be hard to suggest that Madrid don’t need a deeply tactical manager, but instead just need a figure to command respect of that dressing room who can let their natural talent and creativity generate success on the pitch. Yet, you can’t help but feel adding Mourinho to this Real Madrid side would be like adding Mentos to a litre bottle of Coke.

PSG needed a culture shock, and got it. The brand of football was revolutionised, the win-now signings were ditched and an almost unstoppable cohesive engine was created; an engine that is on the verge of being the first side to retain the Champions League since Real Madrid in 2018.

Real Madrid need a culture shock, but it seems highly unlikely they’ll get it. It is the nature of Los Merengues to continue to sign superstars with big egos- at least, it will be as long as Pérez is President. His premiership in one of the most demanding jobs in football doesn’t end until 2028, and even then, it’s unsure whether he’ll step aside, despite the fact he’ll be 81 at that point.

It will take a lot more than Pérez leaving to create good change at the Bernabéu, but it does feel like the sooner the better for the European giants if they want to return to being a title-challenging side.

Thumbial image credit: لا روسا via Wikimedia Commons.