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Los Merengues may still be in the top four, but their recent performances have led to claims of a crisis and Saturday's reverse against Real Valladolid has increased the pressure.

Successive defeats in the Champions League by Juventus, allied with an embarrassing Copa del Rey exit at the hands of third tier Real Unión has opened up the cracks that flimsy league wins had papered over.

Now reports are emanating from the Bernabéu about Schuster's coaching style and claims that he has very little communication with the players will not have gone unnoticed by the board, according to Barça-biased daily Sport.

The Catalan publication claims that its reporters have been told that the players are unsettled by the German's apparent inability to produce any new ideas to change the way the team plays.

Man management is also said to be a problem and the fact that he does not name the team until very late also causes unrest among those competing for the same place.

Madrid's directors are expected to meet this week to discuss Schuster's future, with many Madrid-based papers suggesting during the week that losing to Valladolid would see him sacked.

President Ramón Calderón may want to not be rushed into pushing another coach out after learning to be patient when Fabio Capello was on the brink, only to then turn things around and win the club's first title for four seasons.

On the pitch, things are not going well with both Rafael Van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder both arguing with Raúl after the Madrid captain asserted his authority to take a free-kick late in the game in midweek against Real Unión.

The Dutch duo are the team's alloted set piece takers, but Raúl was infuriated by the display and wanted to be the hero, but his decision has caused a rift.

Whether changes will be made by the board or whether they will demand that Schuster makes changes to the team remains to be seen, but the current coach is now discovering the same problems as all those that have succeeded Vicente del Bosque.