Los Galacticos' prospects dim Perez's emphasis on superstars could doom Real Madrid http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writers/gabriele_marcotti/11/12/marcotti.insider/index.html Curious to hear what the Madridistas think about this article. he makes some valid points, and I am sure some of you were screaming for Defense over the summer (and will be come January), but he also has bit of a doomsday view of the situaion after only one poor performance.
The problem is not defense only. I do not think Real madrid has enough players to last the season. Most of the top European teams(Chelsea, AC Milan, etc)have enough talents to fill a B team and be competiative. Real Madrid has mega stars, but the bench is not so good. Quieriz used the "Galactico" stars too much. Even they remianed healthy, they might run out of gas by March or April. Against Balboa, he made one sub even after going 3-0 earler on. He should give Portillo more PT. He would be an effective sub, but he is not ready now. Against Juventus last season, he showed his lack of experience. Real Madrid needed to sign more players bench players who can step up!!!
It's a strange situation. Perez essentially does not sign bench players because they don't perform at the level of the Galacticos and he feels that the Cantera is good enough. But isn't the reason why these guys are bench players because they are not Galacticos? You can't realistically expect a Macca to be a Figo. So you really can't have unrealistic expectations. Solari is an exception, he would be on almost every starting XI in the world except us and possibly Milan. The bench is for guys who can be effective on the pitch and soften the loss of the first-team players. The current bench, with players from the cantera, are really not yet at that level. So the squad players essentially form a middle level between the Cantera and the first team. There's no denying that a Flavio or a macca bring more ability and experience than a Nunez or a Borja, especially in pressure situations. Of course the only way that the cantera will grow is through providing exposure but we aren't even doing that... Portillo being a prime example. Also, I don't think that teh way forward is to get rid of 7 squad members and expect 7 cantera players to step into the breach. In a best case scenario we can hope for 1 or 2 a year. This year, we have Portillo, Nunez, Borja, Minambres, raul Bravo, Reuben and more all expected to suddenly become able bench substitutes for the first team. It won't happen. At the same time, the cantera is a bit of a lottery and you just can't rely on it as a matter of policy. Since the Quinta del Buetre (pardon my spanish spelling), the only really world-class to emerge from the Cantera are raul and Casillas. Guti is not at the same level, and who knows if pavon, bravo etc, will ever become world class players. Perez must also realise that the Pavon and Zidane philosophy must be applied in both offence and defence. A Zidane must mean a world class player, not just offensive players. And a Pavon must mean a talented player from the cantera (like Portillo), and not just defenders. To me, a Nesta or a maldini will always fit into the Zidanee category more than a Michael Owen, the latest namewe are linked with.
Marcotti goes through this pitch everytime RM loses like this. A lot of what he said is true, but he overdid it a bit. The Helguera - Pavon combination is not that bad, and Raul Bravo has performed reasonably well. But the bench is too thin and inexperienced. I do have hope, through. Perez might be stubborn, but he is not dumb. He didn´t get his fortune by not adjusting when he needed to. I hope he trades in his two diminsional Zidane-Pavon policy for a more complete Zidane-Pavon-Milito plan.
Spot on - I agree with you 100%. Perez has done a great job stacking the offense with world class players, but has neglected defense and gotten rid of too many capable substitutes. To be fair, he obviously did not expect the Makalele situation, and if he were still present Helguera would be a regular starter in central defense alongside Pavon, Raul Bravo would be the back up central defender, and the squad would not be quite as thin. I think there can be no question the team needs to buy a holding midfielder or backup defender in the transfer period, for insurance reasons - with a straight knockout phase immediately following the group stage of the champion's league, Real Madrid is just a couple of injuries or suspensions in defense from getting knocked out embarassingly early. Time for Perez to step up.
Wow, alot of sensible and realistic posts I'm seeing here. Not your typical ["who we gonna buy next? I want Ballack and Michael Owen"] dialogue. The editorial did make some key points but it fails to actually underline any of the issues with the existing starting '11'. There arn't many, but IMO there are some serious tweaks needed in the 'superhero team'. Like I noticed that Zidane is playing a little too far back, and often times it seems that the midfield is playing as 5 and not the supposed 3? Weird. Anyways yea, given Perez's reputation I think it wouldn't be outrageous to consider Puyol as a future player for the 'men in white'.
Much of this was forseen in the Real Madrid version of FourFourTwo some months ago ... the over-obsession with Galacticos, the desperation to get rid of players who are still useful (Morientes, Flavio, McManaman, etc), the effect this has on non-superstars (it mentioned Morientes and Makelele and the possibility of difficult negotiations with Salgado), the refusal to buy a defender, and the blind faith in youth-teamers who are not really good enough. All of which - led by the president, Perez - could lead to them achieving less than expected.
I think it is neccesary during the winter transfer period and in the summer for Madrid to focus on a central defender, such as a Mexes or Lucio and depth, guys that are good enough for Madrid, but will not be stars, such as Boumsong from Auxerre. Not every player Perez signs has to be a superstar. ALthough I agree that defenders such as Nesta qualify as superstars. I am just going to throw this out there. if Rio Ferdinand gets a drugs ban from the English FA would that apply in Spain or just England?