Madrid: Carlos Queiroz, sacked as Real Madrid coach on Monday, paid for decisions that had been made before his arrival, according to Real midfielder Luis Figo. “The coach did everything possible to win with what he was given by the club,” the Portuguese international told a Spanish sports daily on Tuesday.

Figo said decisions to organise an exhausting but money-spinning pre-season tour of Asia and offload several key players, plus Real’s failure to strengthen the defence had made Queiroz’s job especially difficult.

“He did everything he could and did it with the utmost professionalism and commitment,” Figo said. Real president Florentino Perez accused Queiroz of lacking sufficient authority as coach and has replaced him with former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho. Real ended a humiliating season with a record run of five straight league defeats.

Queiroz, who warned Real that the squad was dangerously thin when he took over as coach in June, said he thought his dismissal had been unjustified.

“I’m disappointed with the decision that they have taken,” he said. “I believe that it was unjust but I have to accept it.

“All I can say is that serving Real Madrid has been an honour for me and I want to wish the club all the best in the future.”

Queiroz’s predecessor Vicente del Bosque, who was discarded after leading Real to two league titles and two European Cups during his three and a half years at the helm, said he saw similarities between his departure from the club and that of Queiroz.

“It didn’t surprise me,” he told Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Tuesday. “They did the same with me but the only difference was that we had just won the league and were still celebrating the title.

“They were unjust, aggressive and insensitive and I’m not just talking about the decision not to renew my contract. The squad was thin then and it is even thinner now.”

Del Bosque said that Camacho, who played alongside him at Real, was the ideal person to take charge but warned that he would not have an easy job.

“Camacho now has a difficult task as the club expects a lot of him and he can’t afford to fail but he is the best coach the club could appoint,” he said.

Unlike Queiroz, Camacho will have the benefit of a more balanced squad when he takes charge.

Last week Perez signed the first defender of his four-year presidency by recruiting Argentine centre-back Walter Samuel from AS Roma for 25 million euros ($30.19 million).

Perez confirmed on Monday that he will be standing in this year’s presidential election which is likely to take place on July 11.

Camacho ‘back home’

Camacho, meanwhile, felt he was returning home after signing a two-year contract on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old said he aimed to return Real to its rightful place as the world’s top side.

“I feel as though I’m back at home,” he told a news conference at the Bernabeu. “This is where I came as a boy and now I return as a man.

“I come here with enormous enthusiasm and my aim is to put Real Madrid back where it has always been and where it always should be and that is as number one.”

The former Spain coach, who has been in charge of Benfica for the past season and a half, said restoring a winning mentality in the club’s players would be his main priority. (Reuters)