Juan Ramón López Caro He had a brief stint in the Real Madrid first team and in an interview with The Coaches Voice he reviewed that stage. He led the Whites in 33 games at the end of the 2005-06 season.
Coaching the first team
“I had just finished a game with Castilla when a person from the club approached me to tell me that they had dismissed Luxembourg and that I was the one chosen to lead the team. I had to get on the plane urgently and fly to Madrid. That's when I started to think about what would come next. It's not that I was afraid of taking over Real Madrid, but I was aware of all that that entailed. On and off the field. He couldn't miss an opportunity like that. Coaching Real Madrid, if it arrives, happens only once in a lifetime. It is difficult for that train to return ”.
His time at Real Madrid
“I think we did a good job in a team with special circumstances. People who were already in their final phase of football. And although we did not get the results we wanted, we did achieve the fundamental: the commitment of all the players and what is more important, their total dedication. It was his high degree of commitment that surprised me the most about the dressing room, because I had not seen him in many moments in the previous years. In a very short time, we had to face tremendously complicated situations, but always as a group ”.
The resignation of Florentino Pérez
“The most difficult day of all came the following Monday, after losing in the League to Mallorca at home at the end of February 2006. I was at a ceremony for the Real Madrid Foundation in Segovia jail, in a talk with the prisoners. There I was surprised by a call from Florentino Pérez to tell me that he was resigning as president. He didn't have to call me, but he wanted to do it before it became known in the media. I tried by all means to convince him that we needed him. But he was very clear about it. He was very clear that it was time to go, and the truth is that everything was complicated. My confidence was absolute with Florentino Pérez, and, without that bond, it is true that it was complicated. In some moments I got to feel, somehow, alone ”.
Zidane's last months as a footballer
“In the last months of the season, Zidane's decision to retire was known. He communicated this to me in a chat with him. In those moments you come to think you think that maybe you can make him see the opposite, to keep playing. More than anything because Zidane was a starter and was still a player of the highest level, as could also be seen later in the 2006 World Cup. However, it would have been in vain, because he is an intelligent, humble person, and above all, a very sincere person with the group and the club. He retired even with a one-year contract to go, that says a lot about him ”.
His farewell
“My last press conference at Real Madrid was to say goodbye. There are people who were surprised – and still are surprised – that he apologized at that press conference, but I believed that he should. Each one is as he is and with my hand on my heart I said it like that because my role was to have won a title for Real Madrid. I couldn't get it and that's why I held myself responsible for the frustration of the Madrid fans, who I understand were very annoyed at the time. And somehow I wanted them to know that I was too. I felt that way, and so I asked for forgiveness. Could I have done something different? Have you made another decision to have a degree? I honestly don't waste time looking back. In life when you make a decision, everything will depend on whether it works or not. But who knows the result in advance? How can you know if what I have done is correct or not correct? “