Just heard the news about Ronaldo, hilarious stuff! Does Real Madrid know their weakness is their defense and mid-field? Guess not! This is great news for Barca fans. 
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2008-09 Football Thread - The Second Half
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You're setting yourself up for a fall here I confidently predict a resounding 7-0 win for Real in the next El Clásico, with a hat-trick apiece for Messrs Kaka and Ronaldo (plus a Messi own goal).Just heard the news about Ronaldo, hilarious stuff! Does Real Madrid know their weakness is their defense and mid-field? Guess not! This is great news for Barca fans.
Apparently Ronaldo celebrated his impending transfer by hooking up with Paris Hilton last night. If I were Real I would insist he takes a full medical as soon as possible.
There's probably a joke in there somewhere about Ronaldo being famous for going down easily, but I would never suggest such a tasteless thing.
Just heard the news about Ronaldo, hilarious stuff! Does Real Madrid know their weakness is their defense and mid-field? Guess not! This is great news for Barca fans.
Like I told earlier: Real is sending nine players away. So far they've got Kaka and Ronaldo. This is just a beginning and they're likely to get many new players - also defenders.
Apparently Ronaldo celebrated his impending transfer by hooking up with Paris Hilton last night. If I were Real I would insist he takes a full medical as soon as possible.
Haha true that.
Ah, so they're no where near done wasting money yet. Good to hear
wins have always followed money. with a few exceptions, rare and far apart.
the real question is not if this sort of free-spending will bring wins. it will.
and i have no problems with that.
the question is where is the money coming from, and is it really there in the first place.
there should be a limit on how much debt a club can rack up and still going on a spending splurges.
Liga's teams have accumulated Billions in debt, and Real alone has several hundred millions which is allowed to continue for political and social reasons. they will never be allowed to fail.
I think that Man United can well afford to lose Ronaldo. Squad depth is what makes them so competitive over the course of a campaign, and the loss of a single player (even Ronaldo) does not put a serious dent in next season's ambitions. Ferguson still has a world class squad. Plus, with the money coming in from the sale he has at least the financial ability to buy any player on the planet as a replacement.
I think Man City will be hard put to make big buys with United and Real on the market and ready to spend, regardless of the purse. Given the choice, almost any player would go to the club playing Champions League football.
Kaka plus Ronaldo...Real is making an expensive gamble but could prove to be a dazzlingly exciting side if everything goes according to plan. It will be interesting to see how Ronaldo responds on the pitch. Last season he looked half-interested at times.
But where the heck is the money coming from?
I think Man City will be hard put to make big buys with United and Real on the market and ready to spend, regardless of the purse. Given the choice, almost any player would go to the club playing Champions League football.
Kaka plus Ronaldo...Real is making an expensive gamble but could prove to be a dazzlingly exciting side if everything goes according to plan. It will be interesting to see how Ronaldo responds on the pitch. Last season he looked half-interested at times.
But where the heck is the money coming from?
All those comments posted since my first comments about Real Madrid buying those REALLY expensive players in the transfer market still confirms my opinion that Real Madrid is trying to "buy" a championship a la New York Yankees.
I'm not sure if that is going to quite work given the vastly better-run team that is FC Barcelona, a team that is run like the Boston Red Sox (both the Red Sox and Barça are willing to spend money but both teams have truly superior coaching).
I'm not sure if that is going to quite work given the vastly better-run team that is FC Barcelona, a team that is run like the Boston Red Sox (both the Red Sox and Barça are willing to spend money but both teams have truly superior coaching).
I don't want to turn the whole thread into a metaphorical digression, but I would argue that Boston has also been trying to buy championships for some time now - they've just failed in all but one attempt.
Besides, you could level the same accusation against the top teams in any of the top leagues, given the amount of money they spend. It's no longer good enough to be a well-run club - you also have to be a very rich one.
I notice that FIFA's Windbag-in-Chief and occasional Anglophobe Sepp Blatherer doesn't have a problem with the Kaka and Ronaldo transfers. It shows that football is in rude health, no less!
If it had been Man Utd or Chelsea spending in excess of £130m in a week for two players he'd be apoplectic.
If it had been Man Utd or Chelsea spending in excess of £130m in a week for two players he'd be apoplectic.
And so it continues... word is that David Villa is Real Madrid's latest acquisition, a snip at a mere £34million.
Indeed. I think our emphasis is backwards. We lavish praise on the Ronaldos and Kakas of the footballing, world, but I think the Ferdinands and Beckenbuers are the players that really win silverware over the course of a long season. Players that can be relied upon to stop the opposition from scoring, and make a few offensive contributions here and there.
A top defender tirelessly putting in a shift over the course of a game doesn't have the same glamour or excitement of an injury time winner. That's why when people talk of all-time greats they tend to focus on strikers or creative, attacking midfielders like Pele, Maradona and Zinadine Zidane, not defenders like Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore or Justin Whittle although their contribution is just as important.
A lot of pundits point to all the 1-0 wins United ground out on the way to the title - games that other teams like Liverpool tended to draw 1-1. Those games were won not because Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez or Berbatov knocked in goals for fun, but because Ferdinand and Vidic (and an assortment of decent outside backs) prevented any from going in. Plus, they are often the ones who start attacks or counterattacks with a crucial tackle or clever pass.
Probably the funniest thing of last season - Nemanja Vidic looking odds-on favourite for the player of the year at the time, being absolutely terrorised by Torres at Old Trafford and left looking broken.
If Real have any sense though, they'll take him to the Bernabeu as well
Probably the funniest thing of last season - Nemanja Vidic looking odds-on favourite for the player of the year at the time, being absolutely terrorised by Torres at Old Trafford and left looking broken.
If Real have any sense though, they'll take him to the Bernabeu as well
He was brilliant last year but did seem to come up small in the biggest matches (Liverpool, CL final). Still I'd take him before any other center back in the world at the moment.
There have been rumors about Vidic's wife's discontent with the Manchester climate which might force a transfer to warmer Spain climes, but Vidic himself stated that he's committed to Man Utd.
All sorts of interesting rumors about how SAF will spend the Ronaldo money. Samuel Eto'o came up yesterday; now there's a wild rumor about a £40 million offer to Liverpool for Fernando Torres? Wonder if that one's just a wind-up for Rafa.
Much as I like Torres I'd rather have Benzema or Villa, but Lyon doesn't seem keen to sell Benzema this year and Valencia seems to want €50 for Villa now.
I've not been the biggest believer in Eto'o but admit he would be an excellent addition.
Probably too good a defender for Real. If it's dodgy defenders they're after though, for a bit more than the price of Ronaldo they could just buy Newcastle United and use theirs.
By the way has anyone heard the Michael Owen latest? Apparently, his 'advisors' have put together a glossy brochure showcasing his talents and finest performances (lots of photos from his time at Liverpool and with England then, I reckon), and said document has been sent to a number of Premier League clubs in the hope someone will take him on in the summer.
Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Everton and West Ham are four of the clubs said to be on the list.
Probably the funniest thing of last season - Nemanja Vidic looking odds-on favourite for the player of the year at the time, being absolutely terrorised by Torres at Old Trafford and left looking broken.
As a Liverpool supporter, I wholeheartedly agree. That was right up there with killing Chelsea's streak at the bridge. But, it still must be said that Vidic played a major role in winning the title for United. Despite his late implosion, for most of the season he was huge.
A lot of top players appear to be preferring Spain over England at the moment...it will be interesting to see who United, Man City, and Chelsea are able to entice over during a summer when Real have already made the headline moves, and other big players like Ribery have said they don't want to go to England.
Speaking of that, A lot of people are still arguing about just how much United will be affected by the loss of Ronaldo. Some people seem convinced that United's spell of dominance in England is over now. I say rubbish. They still have Rooney and Berbatovup front for starters (I think Tevez is gone). They could use another impact player in the midfield (and have 80 million laying around to get one), but with United's depth I still think they are in a strong position.
P.S. I hope we can hold on to Alsonso and Mascherano.
How many Accrington Stanleys can you buy for the price of the Greasy-Haired One?
He's clearly past it, and should come to the MLS.
What, and miss all the rain and the cold Wednesday night game at Burnley in late November? They don't know what they're missing!
It's simple they fear the Clarets.What, and miss all the rain and the cold Wednesday night game at Burnley in late November? They don't know what they're missing!
Wednesday is an exciting day (for those of us in Englandshire and Scotland at least), as at 10am the fixtures for the 2009/10 season are released. The BBC has an interesting (well, I thought so anyway) piece on the complexities that go into sorting out which of the 91 other clubs yours gets to play on any given weekend. Looks complicated.
Probably the funniest thing of last season - Nemanja Vidic looking odds-on favourite for the player of the year at the time, being absolutely terrorised by Torres at Old Trafford and left looking broken.
If Real have any sense though, they'll take him to the Bernabeu as well
So one bad game and your not able to be player of the year? Hmmmm.
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