Schuster hasn´t lost Real´s dressing room says captain Raul

Real Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez insists all the club's players are 100 percent behind under-fire manager Bernd Schuster amid media reports that the German coach has lost the respect of the dressing room.

Schuster watched on as double champions Real lost 1-0 at Valladolid on Saturday night to increase the pressure on his job but he still has the backing of the players.

“It is a lie to say that we are not behind the coach,” said Raul. “Of course we are all with him. There is no problem there.”

It was only Real's second league defeat of the season – hardly reason to press the panic button – but they trail foes Barcelona by five points after Pep Guardiola's team beat Recreativo Huelva 2-0 on Sunday.

The Valladolid reverse followed two Champions League losses to Juventus and the Kings Cup exit to unknowns Real Union prompted the initial calls for Schuster's head.

“This is a bad run of results but we have the quality. We have to be united,” insisted Raul. “We have to stay together and dig in. We realise we have a problem and we are all working hard to solve it.”

Schuster, who has a frosty relationship with the press, had to deal with a barrage of questions after the Valladolid game but insisted he was not overly concerned by the hype surrounding his future.

“I am calm. We are working towards what we want to do and I am focused on my job,” said Schuster. “It is a difficult time at the moment but we had a similar situation last season.”

Last season the last 16 Champions League defeat to AS Roma in March saw Schuster come in for criticism but he shrugged it off and guided Real to the title in his maiden season with Barcelona having to do the guard of honour to salute the champions.

It was a poor campaign from Barcelona and their improvement this season has heaped pressure on Schuster and Real. The double champions' main problem is the amount of goals they are conceding with seven leaked in their last three matches.

With Pepe out injured and Sergio Ramos, who has openly criticised Schuster this season for his tactics, looking out of sorts, the backline has looked fragile.

At the other end Real are faring better but injuries to Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arjen Robben have left Real short in attack and the club are reportedly keen to sign Russia's Euro 2008 star Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St. Petersburg to bolster the forward line.

Confidence is low but Brazilian defender Marcelo is convinced this is just a phase Real will come out of.

“We have always put a lot of heart and soul into our matches, but against Valladolid we weren't able to win,” explained Marcelo. “Real Madrid has more titles than any other club for a reason. This situation is just temporary.”