 Beckham has not won a trophy during his time at Real |
Florentino Perez was like an indulgent parent finally admitting he had spoilt his children when he announced his resignation as Real Madrid president on Monday. "I don't regret bringing the best players in the world to this club," he said.
"But perhaps I wasn't able to make them understand the importance of their responsibilities. Maybe I educated them badly."
Perez had been responsible for the "Galactico" policy of signing the world's best attacking players during his six-year tenure at the Bernebeu.
Yet it was the behaviour of these superstars that ultimately led to his downfall.
Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane had looked tired and lacklustre as Real were beaten by Arsenal and Real Mallorca inside a week. And the build-up to the Mallorca match had been tarnished by an embarrassing public spat between Ronaldo and Raul.
It took one of the side's youngest players, central defender Sergio Ramos, to tell the superstars how they should be behaving.
"Unity makes you stronger - it would be different if relations between players were warmer," he said.
Perez's policy had been hugely successful in the first few years of his reign.
He was elected president in 2000 on the back of a promise to bring Luis Figo to Madrid from Barcelona.
Perez was true to his word, landing the Portuguese winger for �37m and Madrid duly won their first league title in four years.
Zinedine Zidane then joined the club for �47m, which is still a world record, in the summer of 2001 and Ronaldo for �33m in 2002.
Real clinched the Champions League in 2002 and their 29th league title in 2003.
Matt Williams, who follows Spanish football for BBC Radio Five Live and has met Perez several times, says: "This was the point when Perez appeared to be able to sweep all other clubs before him.
"He could outbid for any player and he could persuade Figo to join from Real's deadliest rivals.
"When players were at their prime in tournaments, like Ronaldo at the 2002 World Cup, he had no problem in signing them.
"His 'Zidanes and Pavons' policy - which basically meant buying the best attacking players in the world and getting your youth team to do the boring things like defend and tackle - looked like turning Real Madrid back into the side of the 50s and 60s that had sat on top of the world."
But success then dried up and Real have not won a trophy since 2003.
"Sadly people will point to David Beckham's arrival in the summer of 2003 as the cause of the downturn," Williams says.
"But that doesn't accurately tell the story. For, as Beckham walked into the Bernebeu, Vicente del Bosque, the manager who had delivered glory in the league and in Europe, was shown the back door.
"There then followed five managers in the space of three seasons.
"Their profligacy with managers is at the root of Real's problems - rather than a policy of buying big players."
Real, who are 1-0 down to Arsenal after the first leg of their Champions League tie and trail Barcelona by 10 points in La Liga, now look destined for a third successive season without a trophy.
Yet Perez's Galactico policy has been an astounding success in commercial terms.
Real were unveiled as the richest club in the world, with an annual income of �186m, earlier this month.
Their income has doubled in the past five years and 40% of the club's revenue now comes from commercial dealings.
They even sell more shirts than Manchester United.
Perhaps it is little surprise that Perez was re-elected as president last year with 90% of the votes of the club's shareholders.
Yet, ultimately, it is results on the field that define a club's success.
This is why Perez has felt the need to step down less than halfway through his second term. And it is the reason we are not likely to see the Galactico policy at Real Madrid again.
MMIX
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