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| Real Gone, Kids? |
| Posted on 19/11/03 at 05:31 by bluestu |
'Team of the Century' raved The London Times. 'The Harlem Globetrotters of football' near-echoed Ron Atkinson on ITV. Yet within a month of victory over Manchester United in last season's Champions League, Real Madrid almost finished the season empty-handed. Following their exit from the European Cup at the hands of Juventus it was only a late season collapse by dark horses Real Sociedad that provided Fiorentino Perez with the Liga trophy to keep in Spain's most expansive trophy cabinet. Indeed, were it not for an injury to Sociedad captain and defensive colossus Agustin Aranzabal, the Basque side would most likely have taken the points in late matches against Celta Vigo and Valencia, and Madrid would have ended up with nothing.
As this season's Champions League begins another 8 months of hyperbole next week, you can be sure that Los Merengues will feature highly in the betting and in many experts' tipping. President Fiorentino Perez' summer acquisition of David Beckham, surely the most over-hyped football transfer of all time, will have done little to dampen Real fans' enthusiasm for the coming season. The replacement of the somewhat hapless Vicente Del Bosque, longtime puppet of the Bernabeu dressing room cabal of Hierro, Raul and Carlos, by Manchester United's erstwhile coach Carlos Quieroz may also raise confidence.
Beckham and Quieroz apart, Real has had a disastrous pre-season. Already weak in defence, club captain Fernando Hierro was shown the door at the same time as Del Bosque (incredibly the day after they helped Real win the league!), and bids for various reinforcements have come to nothing. Young Argentine centre half Gabriel Milito failed a medical after terms had been agreed and joined Zaragoza instead. Negotiations with Borussia Dortmund for Germany's impressive young utility defender Christoph Metzelder came to naught, as did those with Valencia over Argentina veteran Roberto Fabian Ayala.
As recently pointed out in The Times by Europe's best football writer, Gabriele Marcotti (who else predicted both Argentina and France to fly home early from last year's World Cup?), Perez has built his house upon foundations of sand. Without Hierro, Real Madrid is left with only two central defenders in their entire squad: Ivan Helguera, a converted midfielder, and Francisco Pavon, a product of their Cantera youth system. Even at full back the only reserves are Oscar Minambres and Raul Bravo (who failed to impress last season whilst on loan at Leeds) which puts a lot of faith in the fitness of Michel Salgado and Roberto Carlos, both men in their late twenties.
Putting to one side the issue of where exactly Quieroz plays Beckham, Real are only a little better off in midfield. True, most managers wouldn't have a problem picking the foursome of Beckham, Figo, Zidane and Cambiasso week-in, week-out, but that midfield doesn't offer a lot of defensive shielding, essential for a side with two raiding full-backs. The Argentine Esteban Cambiasso wasn't even third choice for the holding role last season, and therein lies a further problem. The departure of Makelele to Chelsea and Flavio Conceicao to Dortmund leaves Real weak in the central positions. The release of other squad players like Pedro Munitis, Savio, Geremi, Albert Celades and Steve McManaman hardly helped matters. David Beckham has never played consistently in central midfield for a long spell, but this season he might have to. Come June we'll see if that οΎ£25million was a fee well spent.
Incredibly, the only recognised reserve players for any of the front 6 positions are Guti and Santiago Solari. Young striker Javier Portillo played a few matches last season, and with Fernando Morientes' departure to Monaco, he may play a lot more often this year. Consider that Real are likely to play around 60 games this season in La Liga, the Champions League, Spanish Cup and World Club Cup. Consider that all of their players are regular internationals (and that Euro 2004 in Portugal waits at the season's end). Consider that Figo and Zidane are in their thirties and that Ronaldo hasn't played a full season in 7 years and it becomes apparent that Carlos Quieroz will be issuing a fervent prayer every time one of his players requires the attention of a physiotherapist.
Despite all the hundreds of millions of Euros Fiorentino Perez has poured into his team of "Galacticos", success cannot be guaranteed in modern football unless you have a squad with strength in depth. Simultaneous injuries to Salgado, Helguera and Ronaldo, hardly an impossibility, could see Real's whole season de-railed, and with the current transfer window system bringing in outside replacements would be impossible. Come May 2004 there may not be an injured Aranzabal to help La Real to some silverware.
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