Spain's sports media gave a guarded welcome to new Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo on Friday, highlighting the Brazilian's stellar record but bemoaning the merry-go-round of new faces at the club.
Real named former Brazil manager Luxemburgo, who has just led Santos to the Brazilian title, as their third coach of the season on Thursday in a bid to reverse a slump in their fortunes.
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Luxemburgo's surprise arrival ends the three-month tenure of Mariano Garcia Remon who in turn replaced former Spanish national coach Jose Antonio Camacho after just four months in the job.
"Luxemburgo, yet another whim," sighed Mundo Deportivo in a banner headline.
"Today is a bad day for a 'madridista' [Real fan] like me: with every day that passes this Real Madrid becomes less recognisable to me," moaned one of AS's columnists.
Real have accumulated a roster of star players unrivalled in club football that includes Brazilians Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos as well as Zinedine Zidane, Raul, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Michael Owen.
But despite the line-up of "galacticos", as they are called half-in-jest these days, the club ended last season without a major trophy for the first time in five years.
They have been disappointing so far this season too, slipping to five defeats in the league and stuttering into the knockout stages of the Champions League.
It's a poor show from the most successful club in the history of European football, with 29 domestic league titles in addition to a record nine European Cups -- but there was a small sense of optimism Luxemburgo could recover the Real spark.
"I understand that many madridistas feel disoriented as if they had lost their compass in the middle of the desert," wrote AS columnist Tomas Roncero.
"But I have a good feeling about this. Luxemburgo will know how to motivate the troupe of galacticos who have lost their way."
As for Luxemburgo himself, who recently told reporters in Brazil "I'm a star", he looked set to make an equally confident start in his new job.
Marca described the dapper Brazilian getting emotional as he strolled through the cavernous Bernabeu on Thursday, and quoted him as declaring: "I am going to triumph in this stadium."
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