Due to the sheer amount of quality players at the club, new Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez regularly faces a selection problem as he prepares his team for that week's La Liga fixtures.
And Benitez, just a few short weeks into the 2015-16 La Liga season, has already had enough of reporters questioning those decisions.
Asked about his selection process Friday, Benitez recounted a well-known Spanish story called "The Father, the Son, and the Donkey" to reporters who had gathered for a news conference ahead of Madrid's next game against Real Betis:
You see a man walking down a road with his son and leading along a donkey. Do you know that story? No? Well, they're leading a donkey down the road and then they pass someone. The person walks past and mutters, 'Those two are so stupid. What are they doing walking when they've got a donkey? Why don't they ride the donkey?'
The father hears this and thinks, 'He’s right.' So he jumps onto the donkey and they continue on their journey, with the son walking alongside the donkey and the father on top. Then they pass somebody else, who says: 'What a disgrace. Look at that father sat on that the donkey and his poor son having to walk.'
The father hears this and says, 'You know what? He's right. I'm going to let my son ride the donkey and I'll get off.' They pass another walker who pipes up: 'Buff, look at that kid riding a donkey and his father who is old having to walk. Doesn't the child have any shame?' So the father says, 'Right, we'll both mount the donkey and ride together.'
Another person passes by and says, 'Look at the poor old donkey, having to carry both of them.'
The conclusion is that it doesn't matter where I field the players, there will always be someone, somewhere who disagrees.
