football rant... subject: real madrid
ok... for once, i shall use my tiny little space here to rant about football... it's been a long time coming, but i've been wanting to tear into real madrid's questionable(bordering on stupid and senseless) policy when it comes to signing players for quite a while. seriously. even roman abramovich is made to look like a middle class workman when compared to the usually over luxurious spending exploits of florentino perez, president of real and the one who makes all the decisions. and while chelsea's overwhelmingly disgusting wealth makes a united fan like me cringe, one cannot help but acknowledge the astute signings that jose mourinho makes for the londoners. while one can complain that chelsea has spent excessively, there is no doubt that most of their purchases are quality and effective transfers. in madrid, on the other hand, it's a different story. within the past year or so, the bernabeau has seen the arrival of michael owen, thomas gravesen, julio baptista, jonathan woodgate, robinho, sergio ramos, pablo garcia, carlos diogo and more the more recent arrivals in the forms of brazil wing back cicinho and italian starlet striker antonio cassano. what a repetoire of names. football stars from all over the europe and south america. surely real are going places?
if only that were the reality. real lie in 5th place in the spanish primera liga, 11 points off league leaders and current holders barcelona. when it comes to common sense, real madrid seemingly have none of it. zero. zilch. obviously when it has been said over and over again that david beckham should be played on the right, something must be seriously wrong with the mental states of the managers at real when they insist on playing a world class right sided midfielder in the center of the park when they have thomas gravesen, danish ace, holding midfielder and playmaker all rolled into one, who can do the job so much more effectively. instead, poor gravesen has to warm the bench while beckham struggles in central midfield. oh, but real's true strength lies in their attacking prowess, their ability to score one more whenever the opponent scores, some might say. but honestly, signing so many strikers to fill two forward berths is utter stupidity. most elite clubs usually have 2 men for every position, real have ronaldo, raul, robinho, baptista and now cassano. some might argue that baptista is a midfielder, but he was signed more for his exploits as a robust and physical striker rather than as midfield general. for a club whose defence is leakier than the wreckage of the titanic, the question why real doesn't chase world class defenders is baffling. if you have a major problem with defenders, the natural response would be to sign better ones, wouldn't it?
whilst one may argue that real bought woodgate, ramos and cicinho, there is little wisdom in letting go of a world class centre half in walter samuel. sure, he made mistakes, but an experienced defender like samuel should not have problems picking himself up, especially after being given a season to adapt to spanish football. in woodgate, they have a signed a walking casualty and in ramos, a talented but as yet unproven and very inexperienced defender more known for his marauding exploits at right back. yet real has to sign in this winter transfer period cassano, a highly rated but troublemaking itallian striker, and cicinho, a wing back. whilst cassano may have been bought at a real bargain price, he won't make real's defensive problems go away. obviously oblivious to the saga of michael owen, he'll be left on the bench if he fails to oust ronaldo or raul once they both return to fitness, and with his reputation of being a troublemaker, it can only mean even more trouble within the political infighting of the real madrid dressing room. cicinho, whilst being a defender, is a right wing back. unless he's really good in defending, i don't see the logic in buying another right sided defender when the club already has salgado and ramos with the big question mark of central defence hanging over their heads. the current pairing is a recipe for disaster, with the rookie ramos partnering ivan helguera, another misplaced player who has somehow found his way into the heart of los merengues's defence from playing a defensive midfield role.
whilst the galactico policy saw the greats of football in the likes of zinedine zidane, luis figo and ronaldo grace the santiago bernabeau, players who could've added the much needed steel at the madrid outfit like makelele and patrick vieira have slipped through their hands, defensive midfielders who are, at the moment, both the heart and engines of chelsea and juventus respectively. both teams that are currently runaway league leaders in the english and italian leagues. spurned by perez for not performing *glamorous* enough roles. i rest my case.
unless he stops playing his fantasy game of football manager and starts making the right buys, real madrid don't have a glimmer of hope of further success in the league in the near future with perez at the helm. their defensive frailities combined with their ineffective style of play have proven all too costly. that 5 million pounds for cassano is probably better off being used to fed homeless people who actually need that money out there. not a bunch of overpaid football prima donnas who could have the football world at their mercy, now consigned to complete underachievement for the moment.
if only that were the reality. real lie in 5th place in the spanish primera liga, 11 points off league leaders and current holders barcelona. when it comes to common sense, real madrid seemingly have none of it. zero. zilch. obviously when it has been said over and over again that david beckham should be played on the right, something must be seriously wrong with the mental states of the managers at real when they insist on playing a world class right sided midfielder in the center of the park when they have thomas gravesen, danish ace, holding midfielder and playmaker all rolled into one, who can do the job so much more effectively. instead, poor gravesen has to warm the bench while beckham struggles in central midfield. oh, but real's true strength lies in their attacking prowess, their ability to score one more whenever the opponent scores, some might say. but honestly, signing so many strikers to fill two forward berths is utter stupidity. most elite clubs usually have 2 men for every position, real have ronaldo, raul, robinho, baptista and now cassano. some might argue that baptista is a midfielder, but he was signed more for his exploits as a robust and physical striker rather than as midfield general. for a club whose defence is leakier than the wreckage of the titanic, the question why real doesn't chase world class defenders is baffling. if you have a major problem with defenders, the natural response would be to sign better ones, wouldn't it?
whilst one may argue that real bought woodgate, ramos and cicinho, there is little wisdom in letting go of a world class centre half in walter samuel. sure, he made mistakes, but an experienced defender like samuel should not have problems picking himself up, especially after being given a season to adapt to spanish football. in woodgate, they have a signed a walking casualty and in ramos, a talented but as yet unproven and very inexperienced defender more known for his marauding exploits at right back. yet real has to sign in this winter transfer period cassano, a highly rated but troublemaking itallian striker, and cicinho, a wing back. whilst cassano may have been bought at a real bargain price, he won't make real's defensive problems go away. obviously oblivious to the saga of michael owen, he'll be left on the bench if he fails to oust ronaldo or raul once they both return to fitness, and with his reputation of being a troublemaker, it can only mean even more trouble within the political infighting of the real madrid dressing room. cicinho, whilst being a defender, is a right wing back. unless he's really good in defending, i don't see the logic in buying another right sided defender when the club already has salgado and ramos with the big question mark of central defence hanging over their heads. the current pairing is a recipe for disaster, with the rookie ramos partnering ivan helguera, another misplaced player who has somehow found his way into the heart of los merengues's defence from playing a defensive midfield role.
whilst the galactico policy saw the greats of football in the likes of zinedine zidane, luis figo and ronaldo grace the santiago bernabeau, players who could've added the much needed steel at the madrid outfit like makelele and patrick vieira have slipped through their hands, defensive midfielders who are, at the moment, both the heart and engines of chelsea and juventus respectively. both teams that are currently runaway league leaders in the english and italian leagues. spurned by perez for not performing *glamorous* enough roles. i rest my case.
unless he stops playing his fantasy game of football manager and starts making the right buys, real madrid don't have a glimmer of hope of further success in the league in the near future with perez at the helm. their defensive frailities combined with their ineffective style of play have proven all too costly. that 5 million pounds for cassano is probably better off being used to fed homeless people who actually need that money out there. not a bunch of overpaid football prima donnas who could have the football world at their mercy, now consigned to complete underachievement for the moment.
greg last trudged in on 1/07/2006 01:40:00 am
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