The hot topic of the moment (at least in the football world): Real Madrid and their Galacticos Project Segundo(c) (I think that means Second Galacticos Project). I know everybody has been hanging out for my expert, in-depth, left-field analysis, so here it is.
I'd first like to point out that the last Galacticos project was a footballing, if not economic, failure. Sure, they sold a lot of jerseys to people in Asia. It was alright for the first two seasons. After 2003, the year after they signed Ronaldo, they didn't win anything for three years. And they had Zidane.
The reason for this failure, a reason which looks like being repeated, was the lack the defensive players being signed. This looks like being repeated, with the signings of Kaka and Cronaldo, and the about-to-be-signed rumours of David Villa, Silva, and pretty much anyone who likes to run forward. But no defensive players.
Another contributing factor, which will definitely be repeated this time around, is the titanic clashing of mega egos. This players are all established stars, who each own more trophies than the whole of the Liverpool team combined. It's simple really. Everybody knows that the goal scorers get the glory (and the pay rise). Who's going to pass the ball when they all think that they can score from where they are? And who's going to tell the big star that, instead of belting it from 40m out and missing by double that distance, that maybe they should have passed to the guy who was closer?
A third reason for potential failure, which also occurred last time, was, and still is: how do their arch-rivals Barca do it? They have stars. But not on the scale that Real Madrid propose to have. Every successful team has foot soldiers. Players that get the job done with minimal flair, with little ego, and maximal efficiency, who are willing to sit on the bench if need be. Good teams have good foot soldiers. Real, seemingly pressing for a team made out of 23 stars, will not have these uncomplaining, hard-working players that teams like Barca have. These big-name players actually sulk when put on the bench, ala Cronaldo. I also believe that the footballing philosophy of Barca is also important. The signings they make are in tandem with their style of play. Real just seem content with getting the perceived top players without considering whether they fit their style of football, or whether they really need another person in that position.
I believe that this rash and exorbitant amount of spending will only have an inflationary pressure on the transfer market. Real don't even negotiate. I don't know why, but they just don't. Their transfers all seem to be made in some haste, like the transfer window's closing tomorrow. It seems as though they approach the team that has the player they want, offer an amount of money that no sane club could possibly refuse, and get their player in two days. Why thought? It begs the question of where they get their money from. It's not scary how much money clubs buy players for. What's scary is the fact that they have faith in their ability to make that money back,
with a surplus, so they can pay wages and whatnot, and actually still make a massive profit each year.
Good luck to them. If they can pull it off, it should be good football to watch. If, as I suspect it will, dissolve into a haze of in-fighting and massive bust-ups, it'll still be entertaining, in a different way.
And on to the Essay That I Wrote in a Night(c).
Success! Contrary to what I had expected, my essay did not take 18 hours or so to complete. So instead of working up til 1 on Thursday night/Friday morning, waking up at 6 the next day/that day and handing it in at 4, I stayed up til two, woke up at 6 and handed it in at 1. Quality was down a bit, but shouldn't be as bad as what my tutor expects it to be. Which, I guess, is all one can hope for when one writes a 2000-word essay in one night.
Word of the day: Real Madrid
