According to a damning report, Antonio Conte didn’t go to Real Madrid because a player blocked his arrival through a statement.
It was often said that Real Madrid had a prima-donna complex in many of their players and Antonio Conte was needed for the team. Right after Cristiano Ronaldo left Los Blancos, Zidane followed suit and the club was in complete shambles. Florentino Perez had many different options but he wanted to bring a tough manager to deal with the players.
This man was clearly Antonio Conte. The Italian manager who didn’t accept any drama from the players and always put discipline above stardom. At that time, Real Madrid was also trying to bring Mauricio Pochettino. However, the Argentine manager was otherwise occupied at Tottenham Hotspur.
The plan was to bring Conte in order to take the squad back to winning trophies without Cristiano Ronaldo. But there was one of Real Madrid’s biggest stars who opposed this decision, he knew of Conte’s tough approach.
Sergio Ramos blocks Conte’s arrival.
As Real Madrid’s captain, it was evident that Sergio Ramos had some weight on the team’s decisions. Just any manager wasn’t a good choice to coach this group of players who already won everything there is to win. With all the options in the air, Conte didn’t have a club at the time and he was a strong option. However, Sergio Ramos famously told AS what he really thinks about ‘tough managers’.
“Respect is earned, it’s not imposed. It doesn’t matter who’s name you throw at me. We’ve already won everything with managers whose names you already know. In the end, the dressing room’s management is more important than any manager’s tactical knowledge.”
With this statement, Florentino decided against Conte’s arrival and he brought Santiago Solari. We all know what happened after that. It is clear that Los Blancos are not used to tough managers and respond better with softer ones.
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