The Raulismo emerges in the campaign. The Raulismo against the Florentinismo. The socios know little about Enrique Riquelme, because not even a two-week media marathon is enough to cover it all. However, someone who knows everything about him is Raúl González, a footballer who embodied the characteristics that defined, or perhaps defined, Real Madrid: ambition, victory, and discretion. Raúl coexisted with Florentino Pérez, but they never connected. The lack of harmony was mutual, highlighted by two almost incognito departures, as a player and recently as the Castilla coach, where he spent six years waiting for a door that never opened. For FP, Raúl was not ZZ. For Riquelme, he is a joker.
If the candidate wins the elections next Sunday, Raúl will be the sporting director of Madrid, not the coach. When he bid farewell to the socios, leaving the bench of the reserve team, he stated his intention to continue his coaching career outside the club to possibly return in the future. However, he did not do so, despite having some offers, including one from Schalke, where he played after leaving Bernabéu, which was in the German second division. This lack of a necessary contrast has hindered his progression in the top coaching market, not only at his beloved club. The day after, he played it safe.
Now, at 48, he commits to Riquelme, who has just emerged in the Madrid scene. This move symbolizes for the first time the distance he always had with Florentino. The move carries a hint of revenge, of unfinished business.
Castilla, the failed card
His six years at the helm of Castilla, a record for a reserve team coach, were only justified as a backdoor to the first team. Florentino opened it for Zinedine Zidane or Santiago Solari, but never considered Raúl. The team's final deterioration in the last days of Carlo Ancelotti and the choice of Xabi Alonso hastened his decision to step down, after winning a Youth League, the youth Champions League, but failing to secure promotion to the second division in two playoff attempts. The defeat against Eldense was the biggest disappointment.
Riquelme is right in saying that Raúl has the club in his mind. Therefore, the sporting director role is not beyond his capabilities. A supporter of the youth academy, his arrival would reactivate a part of the club seemingly disconnected from the first team, despite the recent signings made under Álvaro Arbeloa, especially Thiago Pitarch. Previously, Xabi Alonso gave prominence to Gonzalo, a player developed by Raúl in Castilla, whom he helped transition from the wing to the box.
Raúl's work did not achieve the promotion goal, similar to predecessors like Zidane, but players under his guidance who had to leave the club spoke highly of their former coach.
Real Madrid's academy has the resources, with a sports city in Valdebebas unparalleled in Spain and almost in Europe, but lacks the necessary attention from the club's top management. Currently led by Manu Fernández, son of a historic club manager, with Raúl, this focus would undoubtedly change. However, a sporting director role entails more, such as international market knowledge and the ability to structure a working team.
While awaiting Riquelme's potential signings in the upcoming campaign days, Raúl's appointment is significant due to the emotional bond with the socios that remains unbroken despite his departure, and because it highlights a gap in Florentino's management, with sporting directors of limited impact, almost symbolic.
"The 740 matches, the 16 seasons at Madrid, or the over 300 goals" mentioned by Riquelme to praise his signing are not what matters most to the socios. It's how he achieved all that. It's Raulismo against Florentinismo.