The Real Deal
Saturday, 04 July 09, 06:48 AM · Comments(3)
by Joel Abraham
A couple of months ago, Alex Ferguson said that he wouldn't sell Real Madrid a virus. £80m pounds later, Florentino Perez has sent out a message: Real Madrid always get what they want.
A new era of Galacticos is upon us after an unprecedented spending spree that doesn't look like stopping any time soon. After a being left trailing in Barca's wake last season, Los Merengues mean business, and have the financial muscle to put themselves back on top of world football. This summer's dealings beggar belief, and are the sort of antics you'd expect of someone playing Football Manager who's just discovered the data editor and have subsequently edited billions into their transfer budget.
Perez has emphatically put Ferguson in his place. First he signs United's best player, then he signs the man they were going to replace him with, and now the other guy Ferguson wants says 'it's Madrid or nothing'. Make no mistake about it, United have been left to feed on the scraps of the Real banquet. While Perez gorges on the finest players on the planet, Ferguson is filling the titantic, Ronaldo-shaped hole in his team with Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen.
"See you at the Bernabeu"
When Real Madrid go to war, nobody is safe. As big a club as United are, no team can match Real for history, prestige and reputation. By signing Kaka and Ronaldo, Perez told the rest of the world: this is the place to be. Benzema stated one of his reasons for joining was his excitement at being part of a project that involves all the best players in the world. If Real Madrid want you, it means you're one of the best. And nobody turns them down.
On a side note, there seems likely to be a Dutch fire sale, with Huntelaar, van Nistelrooy, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben and Drenthe all surplus to requirements. This highlights the flip side of playing for Real - you don't have long to prove yourself, and the long list of big names who got lost in the shuffle is proof.
Real will probably topple Barca this year, and who isn't looking forward to watching Kaka and Ronaldo play together? Even if it doesn't work, the pair of them will still make bucketloads of cash for Real. Either way, Real look set to launch a serious assault on the footballing world this season.
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Freddy said:Interesting to revisit this after 4 of 6 matches. Liverpool clearly are struggl...
Freddy said:Also never bet on a match involving your own side. Too messy!
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3 Comments · Add yours
Whooping good article. Real Madrid are far ahead of all other teams in Europe. Hala Madrid!
So far everything is speculation, what i mean is we can only specualate how things will work in Madrid, bringing in too many stars in 1 season might proof to be fatal, the team needs to gel and they need a manager who can actaully put their respective ego in place, can Pelligrini achieve this? only time will tell, i believe they should have made Mourinho their first signing, he has the capability of making them champs and he has actually won things so the players cant get too cocky, his knowledge of many languages would come in handy too.
I still think Barca will be the main team next season.
Anywayz time will tell, maybe im wrong and Real go on to win everything.
At the moment i would still take Messi/Eto'o/Henry over Ronaldo/Kaka/Benzema as the former partnership are tried, tested and worth somewhere in the region of 100 goals. Barca conquered the footballing world in much the same way that chelsea did when mourinho was there (bar the champs league); they had a team with a solid structure and a solid spine within which great players could flourish. Xavi and Iniesta were not bought as world class players for huge sums of money, they developed into such players over 6 years of being in the same side.
Although it is clear that money is needed for success in football, that does not mean that money=success. I really think that throwing bags and bags of money at players is not enough. Real madrid to me are an inflated version of manchester city at the moment. Their squad is far too top heavy, and without some serious balance in their team, they may struggle to win anything next year. If they don't get off to a flier, they are screwed.