Rafa Benitez believes Real Madrid need ‘consistency’ if they are to challenge the hegemony of Barcelona and Florentino Perez talks too much.
Benitez referred to comments made by his Madrid assistant, Fabio Pecchia, who alluded to the level of control President Perez attempts to exert, and suggested Perez’s whims were detrimental to the club.
“[Pecchia said] there is a permanent presence of [Perez]. He's around, he's talking with players, he's talking with the Press,” Benitez agreed, the Daily Mirror reports, in an appearance on BT Sport.
“He's always around, it's not easy for a manager, especially coming from England, to see the chairman talking with players or talking with the press every single day.
“When you talk about consistency it is the key word because to win the League you have to be consistent.
“You have to fight against Barcelona and Barcelona has a style of football, a model of football and then Real Madrid is changing managers every year so you have to start again.
“That is the reason why Real Madrid has won one League title in the last seven, Atletico Madrid one and Barcelona five. Barcelona now has been in six Cup finals in the last eight years.
“They've won more than double the trophies of Real Madrid in the time that the chairman is there, so I think it is because they are consistent and that is the key to win the League title.”
Benitez was asked directly about Perez and if he is acting in the best interest of the club.
“He did a great job in terms of business. Real Madrid needed to improve the business part of the club and he did really well,” Benitez noted.
“In football the problem is that Barcelona is still winning and winning, so he's changing because he's trying to find solutions but still Barcelona is winning more every year. That is the big problem for Real Madrid now.
“I'm frustrated a little bit because I was sacked. As someone who for 20 years worked at Real Madrid as a player and a coach to go there and see the players who you could see were really competitive, good professionals.
“To see that you couldn't control things in the way that you would like to do it and then improve the team as a team is a little bit frustrating, yes.”
