Blond Angel under no illusions about Real job

MADRID, July 9, 2007 (AFP) - Real Madrid's new coach Bernd Schuster said Monday he was under no illusions as to the task ahead of him, namely winning trophies by playing a strictly 'beautiful game.'

The man nicknamed the Blond Angel has been given clear orders by president Ramon Calderon to inject the style that was in short supply under short-lived Italian predecessor Fabio Capello.

If Capello was effective when it came to ending a four-year trophy drought and weeding out top names past their peak, such as Ronaldo, many saw his brief tenure as a willingness to win ugly.

That's not enough for Real - whose recent unsuccessful strategies involved going Brazilian from the top down three years ago under Wanderley Luxemburgo - and Schuster said on day one he knows it.

"I know here the club will demand the maximum (in terms of cups) along with football which will win over the fans," said the 47-year-old former Barcelona, Real and Atletico Madrid star who spent the bulk of his playing career in Spain.

With former club Barca intent on regaining the title Real snatched from them on the final day of the season, Schuster said he was not worried about the Catalan challenge and was at ease with the challenges facing a man who has yet to land a top honour as a coach.

"I'm not worried. The squad we will have this year I can have total confidence in from day one. We all know it won't be easy (but) for me nothing difficult exists," said Schuster.

Noting his ten years experience of coaching in Germany, Spain and the unlikely surroundings of Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, Schuster said: "Every day I like it more. I think it's something I have within me."

With Barca having broken the bank to land Thierry Henry and add to a fearsome frontline, Schuster now has to indulge in some teambuilding of his own.

So far only compatriot Christoph Metzelder is in the bag, the defender arriving Sunday to complete a move from Borussia Dortmund.

AC Milan's Brazilian jewel Kaka remains the man Real covet, but Schuster said that might remain a pipedream.

"He's a big dream. I dont know if it can be realised," the German stated.

Schuster paid a neat backhand of a compliment to Capello for ending the club's four-year wait for a trophy.

"It creates tension and nerves when a big club goes a couple of years without winning a title, so I think this title will calm down the club and the players," he forecast.

Schuster, who will reportedly be on around four million euros (5.4 million dollars) a season in the Bernabeu hotseat, offered the hint of a more relaxed style at Real than under the man he succeeds, saying he was less about tactics and theory than assigning the right roles to the right players.

"This is the most important thing for me, more than playing systems," Schuster explained.

By way of example he pointed to Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, the former Barcelona star whom Real would also love to plunder and who is rather a latter day version of his own 1980s image.

"He's learned a lot off Arsene Wenger in England," Schuster noted, implicitly acknowledging that he would hope to bring Fabregas on board.

Spanish media are awash with suggestions that Real could offer Arsenal their Brazilian Robinho, enjoying a purple patch at the Copa America, in an exchange deal.

Schuster arrives at Real having had to pay Getafe a reported 480,000 euros to rescind his contract with the modest club that he has turned into a solid top flight side in the past two seasons.

"Yes, I have had to pay the clause. The important thing is it has been paid and I don't have to worry about it any more," Schuster said.

Although the detals of his new contract remain hazy, the German said that "these things have been settled" while sporting director Pedja Mijatovic said simply: "He is going to be with us for the next three years."