Real Madrid News
Real Madrid presidential election polling update: Perez leading, but not without a scare
The live updates from Real Madrid’s presidential election polling continue to roll in, and the initial trends are not surprising in any sense.
Florentino Perez, who has widely been seen as the clear favourite to win, is leading the polls and is well placed to continue as the club’s president for another term.
His victory, however, comes with a massive black mark attached as it does not appear to be nearly as convincing as one would have expected.
Defeat in victory?
As the votes continue to pour in, the image of the final picture slowly grows increasingly clear. The turnout for the election is decent and it turns out that the race is tighter than many expected.
MARCA reveals that the election trends show Perez to have 61% of the votes and Enrique Riquelme to have 39% of the votes, and while the numbers are constantly fluctuating, they may well stabilise only in the 65% and 35% range.
For Florentino Perez, who has been the president of the club for close to two decades now, winning by a 65-35 ratio is virtually a defeat, and the alarm bells must ring.
A call for change?
Perez will indeed continue as the club’s president for one more term as matters stand, and this will likely be his final term in the position. Riquelme’s vote-share, however, now makes him a favourite to take office in the future.
For Perez and Co., the numbers should come as an absolute shock and a statement from the Real Madrid members that they are looking for a regime change. Any candidate vetted as Perez’s successor in the future will have to build off these rocky foundations.
Riquelme, meanwhile, will not be disappointed with the numbers as they show that he has created a real impact and mentality change in the members. He could well be a future president of the club.
Kylian Mbappe’s blistering start to the season has already hit its first bump, with the Real Madrid forward’s missed penalty against Real Betis exposing an area of his game that has historically been less reliable.
Mbappe had given Madrid fans plenty of reasons for optimism in the opening weeks.
He scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad before finding the net again against Malaga, making it four goals across his first three matches of the season.
The performance against Betis, though, was a different story.
Mbappe struggled to make the same impact and then missed an injury-time penalty, with Alvaro Valles making the save as Madrid eventually suffered a 0-1 defeat.
Mbappe’s penalty numbers make uncomfortable reading
Mbappe’s latest miss adds to a record that is far from elite when compared with some of Real Madrid’s previous specialists.
Including the Betis penalty, Mbappe has now missed 16 of the 81 penalties he has taken during his career, excluding shoot-outs. That represents a failure rate of 19.7%.
His numbers with Real Madrid are even less convincing, having converted 19 of 24 penalties for the club, meaning his miss rate stands at 20.8%, effectively one missed penalty in every five attempts.
Mbappe’s record compared with Madrid legends
The comparison with Real Madrid’s previous penalty takers provides better context.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed only 13 of his 92 penalties, giving him a miss rate of 14.1%. Sergio Ramos was considerably more dependable, missing just one of his 23 attempts, which is a rate of 4.3%.
All three sets of figures exclude penalty shoot-outs, making the comparison more relevant to normal match situations.
Mbappe therefore has work to do if he is to reach the level of reliability expected from a team’s primary penalty taker.
Sure, his overall goalscoring numbers remain outstanding, but penalties are an important part of that production.
Mourinho should keep faith with Mbappe
Meanwhile, there is little reason for Jose Mourinho or the Real Madrid dressing room to lose confidence in Mbappe because of one miss on matchday four.
His opening performances, particularly the hat-trick against Real Sociedad, provide ample evidence of his quality, and the greater concern may be psychological rather than tactical.
Mbappe’s confidence from the spot will be worth watching, especially because of what he is chasing this season.
The Ballon d’Or, Pichichi and Golden Boot are all among his ambitions, and penalties offer a valuable route towards the goals required for those prizes.
