5 Real Madrid Players of Last 10 Years Who Never Won over the Fans

Real Madrid is a tough crowd. The Santiago Bernabeu has even whistled Cristiano Ronaldo, who is arguably the greatest player in the club's history.

But while Ronaldo will go down as a legend in the Blancos records, when all is said and done, there are plenty of players who will just be bad memories for the supporters.

Gareth Bale is doing his utmost not to be one of those, to turn things around in the Spanish capital, including giving an interview in Spanish recently, but these five players all failed to make an impact.

Based on a combination of expectation, longevity—or lack thereof—and frustration, here are five Real Madrid players of the last 10 years who never won over the fans.

Fabio Coentrao

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After signing for Real Madrid from Benfica for €30 million in 2011, everybody expected big things from Fabio Coentrao.

However, with the brilliant Marcelo as his competition at left-back, he's never been able to fully establish a regular place in the fist team.

The most amount of league appearances he has made in a single season for Real is 20.

Between injuries and vying with Marcelo for his spot, Coentrao's Madrid career has been underwhelming, and he has been loaned to AS Monaco this season.

Often selected as the more defensive option by Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, the coaches saw the plus side to him, but often the supporters didn't.

To his credit, he earned his place in the side for the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals in 2014, but in the end, it was the introduction of Marcelo that really swung the games in Real Madrid's favour.

Robinho

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Real Madrid spent €24 million on Brazilian forward Robinho from Santos in 2005 and handed him the No. 10 shirt.

The forward started off mainly as a substitute, but he eventually played himself into Fabio Capello's favoured starting line-up in 2006-07.

It took a long time and effort to bring him to the club, with Madrid and Florentino Perez haggling with the Brazilian side for two months before getting him.

And according to Marca, they claimed he was going to be the new Pele.

With that as a yardstick, it was always going to be tough for the player to fully convince. 

Furthermore, he left because Madrid were trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, who went on to be the player that Robinho never could be.

Heading to Manchester City, Robinho did not leave Madrid as a failure, but he never managed to get the whole of the Santiago Bernabeu behind him.

Michael Owen

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When Michael Owen's move to Real Madrid from Liverpool happened in 2004, for £8 million, many thought this was his path to true stardom.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, that never happened. The Bernabeu was left underwhelmed.

Owen never fitted into Spanish life, failing to get himself a house until there were only three months left of his debut season.

Both he and his wife struggled with being in Spain, as he explained in a Telegraph column:

"

Madrid did plenty to help us, but they put us in a businessmen’s hotel for five months; we had a lovely room, but it was not conducive to playing happy families. Restaurants in Spain do not open until late at night and we could not have our kid staying up to midnight every night. It is just not right when they are two years old. We were putting her down at 7pm, lights off at 7.30, me and my wife would put the one English TV channel on mute while the little one went to sleep. We would lie there in the pitch black until we dropped off to sleep. It was pretty tough. It was difficult to enjoy.

"

He notched 13 goals in 36 games for the club, which is a reasonable record given many of those were substitute appearances, but that was it. He left for Newcastle United ahead of the following season.

It was short but not particularly sweet for Owen at Real Madrid.

Gonzalo Higuain

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This is probably the most controversial entry on the list. But Gonzalo Higuain failed in the highest-pressure moments at the Santiago Bernabeu, and for that reason the fans were never totally won over.

Combine that with his battle with Florentino Perez favourite Karim Benzema, and it was always going to be difficult for him to be loved.

The Argentinian forward was quite successful at Real Madrid, but that only plays a small part in the popularity stakes.

Coming from River Plate in the 2006-07 season's winter transfer window, it took him a while to adjust.

Eventually, in 2008-09 he began to fire, but despite his goals, any misses were pounced upon as reasons he shouldn't be in the side.

In 2013, he gave up the fight and decided to sign for Napoli.

Kaka

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Real Madrid made Kaka one of their Galactico signings in June 2009, shelling out €68.5 million for the Brazilian midfielder.

His signing generated a lot of excitement among Real Madrid fans, but that was soon dampened by injuries, subpar performances and other players, including Mesut Ozil, outshining him.

A knee injury and operation kept him out for an eight-month period, and after that, there was a string of small problems, which kept him from getting a regular run of games.

His form was up and down, with Madrid fans expecting more for the player they were so impressed with at AC Milan.

While Kaka was not awful at Madrid, he never came close to winning over the supporters.

They were expecting a Ballon d'Or winner; they got a classy substitute for German playmaker Ozil.