I wrote this sometime back but thought i would want to share this witha ll of you :)
Steve Mcmanaman called it “Disneyfication of the Club”, Media declared it as “Money doesn’t buy cups” and rivals said “the club should be about the passion for the world’s most beautiful game and not about running a business”. These were few of the lines that described the first Galactico era at Real Madrid which started with the signing of Luis Figo in 2000 till the signing of Beckham in 2007. Why would anyone say such words for a club which had the best players in the world at that time? That’s because if you are not successful the big name players really doesn’t matter. But why would they call it an unsuccessful era when the Blancos won three La Liga title and one Champions League title during the course of six seasons. That’s because the output of a motive which doesn’t meet the expectation is always a failure and this time Madrid themselves portrayed such a bright prospect as a club which actually brought them down.
They were successful only till the season of 2002-03 which saw the controversial sacking of one of the most successful and charismatic Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque. After which the downfall of the Galacticos began as Perez started to forget the real essence of a football club. The essence being club is best if they play beautiful football not if they do good business. So let’s point out few of the drawbacks of the first Galactico era:
Sacking of Del Bosque
A coach is as important as all the players in the club or if I can say the players are as good as the coach is. But when you go against the King you ought to come under fire even if you are right that’s what happened with Del Bosque. Reason for sacking of the coach is said to be differences in views of Del Bosque and some of his players and El Senor Perez.
Team is made of not only Strikers and Midfielders but also defenders
Perez was never interested in talented defenders and always overlooked them as he didn’t think that defenders were worth high wages. Despite Makelele being one of the most sought after defensive midfielder in the world and a key member of the team he was allowed to leave because he was refused a raise to his relatively low salary. And that led to self destruction of Madrid and foundation of world class Chelsea side where the Frenchmen joined. Wálter Samuel, Thomas Gravesen, Cicinho, Carlos Diogo, and Pablo García is the list of flopped defensive players signed during the time of Galactico era.
Buying based on Market Value not the playing value
It is said Madrid didn’t sign Ronaldinho but decided to sign Beckham as the Brazilian was declared ‘ugly’ by Perez. And now if you make a comparison between the impact that Ronaldinho had at Nou Camp and that of Beckham at Bernabeu would surely make the Madridistas feel sorry for themselves. So at the latter stage of first Galactico era for Perez the Real Madrid club was no more about football but about earning money and more money.
2009 again marked the return of Florentino Perez at the helm of Real Madrid football club hence the declaration of the beginning of second era of Galactico. But after the setback of first Galactico era, why would a Madridista believe that this time again its not going to be another debacle? Why wouldn’t it would be just another exploitation of money? Why again it wouldn’t be just stars in the locker room but no star team on the field? Few of the reason that just might point towards a slight ray of hope for the people of Madrid to believe in such a wonderful club are as follows:
The Special one
Having stars at the club is not that important but how you manage those stars so that they don’t get lost in the big bad world is what makes the difference. For this very reason this time Madrid has ‘The Special one’ Jose Mourinho who is not only world class coach but also a great tactician and also a believer. He has taken the lesser known club like FC Porto and also the club like Internazionale which had lost its way to European glory when no one believed that they could go such a long way. Other than that he knows how to get things done at his club in his own special way may be by being blunt or by being sarcastic. That’s what a group of star want a person who believes in them and a fighter who shall always protect them.
Blend of Experience customers and young talent
One of the major drawbacks of first Galactico team was that most of the players had already reached their peaks when they joined Madrid and scope of growth was too less even though they were best in their discipline. But this time there seems to be a perfect balance between the youth and the experienced players. This Blancos team has player has players like Di Maria, Ozil, Canales, Granero, Benzema, Khedira, Higuain, Marcelo who have huge scope of growth, then there are players like Kaka, Ronaldo, Diarra, Pepe and Ramos who have learnt the traits of the game but still have long way to go and there are set of players like Casillas, Carvalho and Casillas who are best in their position and carry huge amount of experience along with them.
Player as a human not only as a resource
This season the club seems to be backing each and every player in their own special way which gives a sense of self belief in every player.
· With Higuain seemed to be out for the season after the back surgery the fans backed him and some hard work of the club physio the Argentinean is back in no time.
· Critics were hovering over Benzema like vultures during his bad form but with the support of his team mates and Mourinho the Frenchmen fought back like a warrior and is on fire these days
· A professional player along with his home league he participates in two three other competitions and hence fatigue takes a toll on them. But the rotation policy of Mourinho has been just bang on that each and every player is ever ready to play.
· This season the Brazilian maestro Kaka has been more in newspapers than on the green turf thanks to his horrific knee injury. All through these times whenever there has been rumors of him leaving the club the club management has always put its foot down saying he is here to stay.
Correct transfer decisions
One nightmare that always terrorizes everyone at Bernabeu is, what in the world was the club management thinking when they let African player of the year Samuel Eto’o leave. And the horror doesn’t end there after he was released from his contract when Madrid actually owned 50% of his contract, his new home turned out to be Nou Camp. And playing every time he played for the Catalans against the Blancos he has proven himself as deciding factor of the clash. But this time the Bernabeu management have got their head straight and made some right decisions in the transfer market which included:
· Buying back Esteban ‘The Pirate’ Granero from Getafe for whom he was influential in the 2008 season.
· Buying world class midfielders Di Maria and Ozil for a total sum of 40M Euros when they alone bought Beckham for 30M Euros from the Red Devils in the first galactic era. And I can easily sat the impact Di Maria and Ozil have had on the team is much more than what Beckham ever had at Bernabeu.
· After a long time Madrid has invested in world class defenders like Ricky Carvalho and Raul Albiol who have proven to be great asset for the team.
So if we include all these points and if Mourinho is able to mould the team as a single unit he just might bring back the power to dream back to the Bernabeu. The results might not come in one season but if the power to believe in themselves and to dream gets embedded in the heart and soul of the players and the fans this team can prove to do wonders as they always have. I believe every step and every action that Madrid takes this year should all be based on one powerful quote by Hotellier Conrad Hilton:
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