The relationship between the Real Madrid coach, Bernd Schuster, and sporting director Pedrag Mijatovic is at an all-time low and an inability to find common ground over transfer targets will harm the club's La Liga and Champions League aspirations.
Robinho's shock move to Manchester City on the last day of the transfer window merely added to the rift between Schuster, who wanted to keep the Brazilian striker, and Mijatovic, who urged Madrid president Ramon Calderon to let the Brazilian go.
And then you have Raul's injury problems, which further highlights Schuster's striker shortage at the Bernabeu. Raul played all through pre-season but was completely out of shape against Deportivo, so he's been doing individual training sessions - another individual pre-season - to get him in to condition.
The problem is, Schuster saw this problem coming; he's been saying all along that Real Madrid need another striker and he's been asking Mijatovic to buy him one. After it became clear that Cristiano Ronaldo was staying at Manchester United, he wanted David Villa, and the Valencia striker very nearly signed for Madrid on deadline day, but it was not to be. The Madrid coach feels let down by his sporting director who also failed to sign Schuster's other targets, players like Daniel Alves and De Rossi from Roma.
Things have got so bad that Schuster feels there are elements within the Madrid hierarchy who are plotting against him. He's even asked Calderon if there is someone who wants him out - and the German is suggesting that someone might be Mijatovic.
You only have to look at the constant mixed messages that are coming out of the Bernabeu, and have been all summer. Schuster talks about signing one player, while Mijatovic talks about another: Ajax's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, for example, a player whose style Schuster has confessed doesn't suit his side - yet Mijatovic is happy to go around talking up.
It didn't help matters that Mijatovic went on holiday on the last day of the transfer window and ever since then the President, Mijatovic and Schuster are contradicting each other in front of the press on an almost daily basis, with the coach speaking openly of a need for signings and with the rest suggesting that there will be no transfer activity at Real Madrid in January.
Needless to say, speculation is rife and the the club's decision to keep the press in the dark over injuries has not helped the situation. It's very simple, when you starve the media of information, then people will start to speculate, and that is always more damaging than the truth. Take the recent injury to Raul, that has now led to a rumour that the veteran striker is about to announce his retirement. That is not true of course, and is only a rumour at the moment, but it is easy to see how these things start when the club is constantly putting out mixed messages.
What is clear is that there are divisions within the internal relationships at the club: between the manager and his sporting director, and as the relationship deteriorates, it could do serious damage to Real's hopes of retaining the La Liga title this season.
