Published 1/14/2007 8:39:08 AM by Staff from socceramerica.com

 David Beckham's departure from Real Madrid came in the wake of President Ramon Calderon's decision to shake up the struggling team.  Calderon met on Monday with first-year Italian coach Fabio Capello and sports director Predrag Mijatovic after Real lost three of its last four league games.

''The coach has told me that it seems as though we need a radical change,'' Calderon told radio station Cadena Ser on Friday.

That change included ending talks with David Beckham on a two-year contract extension. Beckham was one of four stars left out of Real's team for its Spanish Cup game against Real Betis. The others were Ronaldo, himself rumored to be headed to MLS, Antonio Cassano and Michel Salgado.

''The coach has shown that he believes some of the players of the old guard are surplus to requirements. Among those were Beckham,'' Calderon added. '' I have told Capello I have absolute confidence in him.''

Real Madrid has spent more than $125 million on new years this season with Argentines Fernando Gago and striker Gonzalo Higuain and Brazilian Marcelo arriving this winter. Gago and Higuain could be in action this weekend when Madrid faces high-flying Real Zaragoza.

The only good news for Madrid is that it's only five points behind leader Sevilla and three behind defending champion Barcelona, which has 35. Both Sevilla and Barca failed to win last weekend.  ''We have adopted a number of key measures that we seek to implement in a timely fashion as, for example, training behind closed doors to recover complete concentration at all times,'' Capello said. ''We have been truly lucky in the table because the top teams have not won, so we are not lagging that far behind.''

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