Who am I? I am Real Madrid and I am on an insane spending spree; football has gone crazy with an insane spending spree. In a time of global crisis, with most people fearing for their financial security; Real Madrid have gambled but with a $250 million stake that could bankrupt them. This is paper money availed to them courtesy of Spanish banks like Santander Group. Florentino Perez is tight with the banks and can begin his dream team build-up. The last Galactico era ended in failure, they bought players at the peak of their game and the only way they could go is down; although a fading Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo is better than 99% of the players out there. The first era won European Cups but never dominated as much as their price-tags suggested. It all stemmed from a lack of respect for Claude Makelele. He was paid $25,000 a week while the big stars raked in nearly $200,000 a week. When Zidane was asked who the most important player was, he always said Makelele. When you have a team with superstars, you need the hard workers because talented stars like to stand with hands on hips. So it makes you wonder how Real will cope with all these new players they are signing; their Dutch contingent looks set to leave as well as one or worse still both of the Diarras. Real play with 7 attackers; one holding player and two center-backs and the rest are attackers and this will always leave then vulnerable to the counter-attack. Of course the whole point of this charade is to make us forget that Barcelona won the European Cup. If Real can’t win trophies, then they’ll buy trophy players. Even if Real wins nothing with this gamble it will pay off in marketing and sponsorship and this is the problem. Football used to be a millionaire’s game but the price of success kept rising and now it is a billionaire’s game. The fact is that there are no players to buy out there; I am quite conversant with football but I am hearing names coming out of the blue for $45m. Players are on such bloated contracts that it costs ridiculous money to buy them. I remember Ian Wright going to Arsenal for $5m and thinking the game had gone crazy little did I know that it was just the tip of the iceberg. In a way Real Madrid’s thinking is perverse but correct; in a recession football becomes more popular than ever because it is the cheapest form of entertainment to watch. Arsenal rose to prominence during the 1930 during the great depression; at a time when the economy and society was breaking, crowds of 100,000 – 150,000 regularly attended games. So Real Madrid will get higher TV audiences; they look at ratings more than gates attendance. The question is; can money buy success? The answer is sometimes yes, but not always; look at Roman Abramovich, he won the Premier League but his main prize of the European cup has eluded him. The AC Milan team of the late 80’s to 90’s was similar in its approach with the “Flying Dutchmen” who blended steel and skill; but you see Real having a soft core. Italian football is pragmatic but Spanish football frustrates me; to see the two worst defences dominate a league to such an extent is wrong. I once watched a documentary about the Real-Barca rivalry and a man said “It’s not about defence, any team that scores 100 goals in the league will win the championship, you can check the stats.” That man was Tixi Begirestain the man behind Barcelona’s success; the likes of Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola can handle the game day while he handles all the rest. This is a battle that Real is facing on two fronts; one with the Catalan Giants Barca and another with “Angleterra” or England to you and me. The only threat to the global dominance of Real comes from England and Man U in particular; Barca are a regional team with global support but Real are a global team with global support. So next time I tune into La Liga I want to see they have bought a decent defender, and drop the deadwood that is Raul and Guti. Soon marketing domination will not be enough but the puzzle of how to fit Kaka, Benzema, Ronaldo, Raul, and make them click is another issue. Contact:ramaisibo@hotmail.com
