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'No complaints' Del Bosque denies crisis at Real Madrid
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque denied that his star-studded team is in the midst of a crisis after its dismal start to the league season. Del Bosque insisted that there is nothing wrong even though the titlist has gained just one point from its first three matches and currently languishes in 18th place. Madrid's 3-1 defeat by newly promoted Real Betis Saturday followed on from a 1-0 defeat at Valencia and a 1-1 home draw with Malaga. Its sole win since the beginning of the league season came at AS Rome in the Champions League last Tuesday, when it lacked the suspended Zinedine Zidane, signed for a world-record US$65 million from Juventus in July. Madrid, which has never been relegated, made its worst-ever starts in the 1929-30 and 1984-85 seasons when it failed to win any of its first five matches. "It's down to the simple fact that we're not getting good results. This sometimes happens in football. I have no complaints about the players or about the way the team works," Del Bosque said in an interview with Spanish daily Marca, published Monday. "I'm not overly worried after losing on Saturday just as I wasn't boasting after our win in Rome. Everyone has to be more balanced and look at the situation overall," added the coach, who since replacing the sacked John Toshack in November 1999 has won both the Champions League and the Spanish title. Del Bosque jumped to the defense of Zidane, who scored his first goal for the club on Saturday, in an interview with another newspaper As which also appeared Monday. "He is an extraordinary player who has come to a team which has a settled formation from last year. He is adapting to this style little by little," he declared. The coach said that the situation would not force him into making any sudden changes for Madrid's Champions League encounter with Lokomotiv Moscow at the Bernabeu stadium Wednesday. "I shall pick the side I had planned a week ago. The defeat by Betis will not make me change my mind," he told Marca.
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