Liverpool FC Forum

by **RUSHIE#9** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:58 pm

As i sit writing this Liverpool are 2-0 down to feckin' Charlton but to cheer me up being a massive Barcelona fan (on the side of course

) i have been checking up on Real Madrid away to Zaragoza in the Copa Del Rey (spanish FA cup) on sky and get a load of this scoreline

Real Zaragoza 6 - Real Madrid 1 and not yet finished.

This has had me thinking - you can hear the gears cranking from Cheshire to southern Lancashire!

- are el Galacticos the most expensive flops in the past ten years of football. They have spent money that would make Abramovich pause for a couple of seconds before signing the cheques; I believe it at a guess to be in the region of 150-200 million pounds building the most star studded squad in european footballing history and what have they got to show for it in the last 3 years? I'll tell you what NOTHING, ZILCH, NOWT, NADA, FECK ALL, thats what.

RONALDO £30m approx.
ZIDANE £42m
BECKHAM £25m approx.
ROBINHO £21m approx.
GRAVESEN £2.5m

BAPTISTA £13.8m
OWEN £8m (included only as they've spent money on him)
CASSANO £?m (Possibly 19m)
WOODGATE £13.5m
SERGIO RAMOS £18m
-------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL £192.8M APPROXIMATELY*

*Based on valuations from SkySports and other sources.

I have to say that for the best part of £200million to go three and what may possibly be four seasons without a trophy isn't a good return for your money.
Now being a Barca fan i'm really enjoying their demise at the moment but looking at it from a purely footballing point of view do any of you out there actually think it is possible to be a successful team with so many star players with big ego's to be massaged. This raises another dimension to the equation, since Vincente del Bosque left (the last manager to win a trophy at Madrid) they have had FIVE coaches, thats in only 3 1/2 seasons. With this kind of turnover in coaches is it really possible to nurture a successful team?
It may seem like a pointless question looking at whats happened over the last few years but what has been considered as the real problem over the past few years - the defence - they have started to address with the signings of Woodgate and Sergio Ramos; not exactly the massive world-class superstars that we've known Real to sign but players believed to be the ones to fix the problem. So does this mean there has been a rethink of policy at the bernabeu and should the rest of europe start to look over their shoulders or are we still likely to see one of the most expensive teams in history continue to under perform until a stable managment team is installed that is capable of massaging all of those egos?

I'd just like to see what opinions everyone on here has over this and whether anyone can think of other expensive teams performing so badly on a consistant basis (apart from Newcastle :laugh:

). Beside it'll hopefullt take your minds off of a poor Liverpool performance against a team we should be spanking. :veryangry

by **The Manhattan Project** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:25 am

They played absolutely :censored:

this evening.

Zaragoza were all over them.

Also, weirdly, Zaragoza seem to have the deepest goalnets I have ever seen. They are huge.

Real Madrid's problem is their love of buying loads of forwards and midfielders, because they look good on advertising boards and commercials. Not enough emphasis is placed on buying strong defenders, because they are not as glamourous as midfielders and attackers.

The "Galacticos" policy is backfiring because while many of those guys have world famous names, they are beyond their best. Madrid also have a lack of patience. It often takes a while for a TEAM to gel. You can't fire the manager after a few losses and a draw.

I think the biggest problem is that the chairman/president dictates who they buy and who they play. They had a perfectly capable manager with Del Bosque but fired him. Serves them right.

Barca for La Liga!!!!

by **Sabre** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:33 am

I'll remember this cup game always, I must download the game since it was at the same time of Liverpool's game.

Has LFC ever known such a shame? I think not, right??

by **RUSHIE#9** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:35 am

The Manhattan Project wrote:Barca for La Liga!!!!

You certainly know how to get onto my good side.

by **El Nino_#9** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 5:27 pm

RUSHIE#9 wrote:CASSANO £?m (Possibly 19m)

i thought cassano went for free?

by **stmichael** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 5:31 pm

arsenal-madrid in two weeks. not exactly gonna be a defensive classic is it? :laugh:

infact i might put money on there being over 10 goals in total over the two legs.

by **RUSHIE#9** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:22 pm

passmeistro_#14 wrote:
RUSHIE#9 wrote:CASSANO £?m (Possibly 19m)

i thought cassano went for free?

Possibly you are correct PASSMEISTRO; i couldn't find any mention anywhere on t'internet of how much he cost, all i could find was undisclosed fee but i sort of remembered something being mentioned about 9 or 19 million and seeing as how real spend money like a drunken sailor i plumped for 19 million TBH.

by **RUSHIE#9** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:24 pm

stmichael wrote:arsenal-madrid in two weeks. not exactly gonna be a defensive classic is it?

infact i might put money on there being over 10 goals in total over the two legs.

I'd laugh me ass off if you did 'cos it'd probably turn out being a boring 0-0 draw in each leg and goin' down :wwww

to pens.

by **Erica** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:50 pm

Sabre wrote:

I'll remember this cup game always, I must download the game since it was at the same time of Liverpool's game.

Has LFC ever known such a shame? I think not, right??

What a day yesterday! I have just come back with my father from our trip to Zaragoza. Yesterday was my 21st. birthday and a week ago my father asked me what I wanted for my birthday. As soon as we got rid of Barcelona in the quarter finals, I knew what I wanted: going to Zaragoza with him to see the game against Real Madrid. It was one of the best days I have ever had. I will never forget February 8th 2006. In the morning I met some of my school mates from Zaragoza, and in the evening I did not stop shouting all match. I went crazy, and today I have no voice.
Thank you Sabre for that nice picture of those two cracks: The guy in the left scored 4 goals and the guy in the right gave three assists. But this is not a novelty. They have been doing it in the last two months.

by **Sabre** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:36 pm

Remind me inviting you to Anoeta next time Real Madrid comes then, a 4:1 score will do :laugh:

by **Big Niall** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:41 pm

When Madrid refused to give Makele the money that the glamour boys were on and let him go and bought celebrity Beckham I realised that they are no longer about good footballers but famous stars. I knew they were fukked at that moment and was hoping we'd draw them last year so we could knock them out.

Wonder what Di Stefano (possibly worlds greatest player ever) thinks about it.

by **Sabre** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:02 pm

When Madrid refused to give Makele the money that the glamour boys were on and let him go and bought celebrity Beckham I realised that they are no longer about good footballers but famous stars. I knew they were fukked at that moment and was hoping we'd draw them last year so we could knock them out.

In all fairness Beckham had never an easy task to win my respect. He came from Manure, to one of my archenemies. But he indeed earnt my respect there. Right now, he's the fav of Madrid's crowd (last 4-5 matches), He's been playing with back ache before that, and he has done pretty well other seasons. Meaning, that he's one of the few Madridist whose attitude has been decent in that so called team. In fact other english players attitude such as McManaman and Owen also won the respect of the Spanish crowd due to their proffesionalism. That talks well about english football.

But I think there are two big clans in that dressroom, the Brazilians, and the untouchable locals like Raul, and the atmosphere is not good. The new unknown trainer, Lopez Caro, has made them a team again (despite the accident against Zaragoza that might happen because Spanish clubs are good) by making them training more, and making them correct some bad attitudes in the pitch (for instance now they celebrate the goals together, not the Brazilians making some circus numbers and the Spaniards walking away).

But you are quite right about the analysis you make of Real Madrid, it's only that I don't think Beckham has been the worst of the lot...

Wonder what Di Stefano (possibly worlds greatest player ever) thinks about it.

He barely scaped death some weeks ago, fortunately he recovered.

I'm too young to have seen him live, but he indeed has won my respect in videos. When it comes to football, the good old man is a bit obsolete. He usually says some true but perhaps too simple statements like "They must run more" when he talks about nowadays Real Madrid.

by **RUSHIE#9** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:19 pm

Sabre matey maybe you can help me out with a question i've got. A couple of years back I seem to remember reading something in a book stating that Barca had initially signed or agreed to sign Di Stefano but they were blocked from completing the move by either the spanish FA or the goverment or both so that Real Madrid could sign him; now is this true or is it something i haven't read properly. I'd be greatful if you or anyone else on here could let me know as it's bugging the bollox off of me :veryangry

as I can't remember what book I read it in. Cheers in advance!

by **Sabre** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:11 pm

Sabre matey maybe you can help me out with a question i've got. A couple of years back I seem to remember reading something in a book stating that Barca had initially signed or agreed to sign Di Stefano but they were blocked from completing the move by either the spanish FA or the goverment or both so that Real Madrid could sign him; now is this true or is it something i haven't read properly. I'd be greatful if you or anyone else on here could let me know as it's bugging the bollox off of me as I can't remember what book I read it in. Cheers in advance!

I had to look a little bit in some internet biographies, because I wasn't sure on that one Rushie 9. Well, I think that if a thread called Real Madrid is created, and as much as I hate it, football merits must be ackknowledged, so this is my recognition to that player.

The photo says it all, really. He managed to rise all that top european clubs cups himself, where as some so called top teams like ChelsKi or Manure or Arsenal, doesn't sum up 3 cups by themselves. IMHO, history counts, and that's why Liverpool es the TOP 1, and this is why I despise the London press when they talk about the top 3, leaving Liverpool out of it.

Back to your question, I've read in a faithful source (serious biography) that apparently Alfredo Di Estefano played for the COlombian "Millonarios" (Millionaires) and that both Bar$a and Mandril wanted him badly.

Apparently the signing ups worked a different way that days, and the president of Millonarios decided a Salomonic answer, Di Estefano would play one year in Barcelona, and one year with Real Madrid. Barcelona refused to accept this, and proposed an agreement to Madrid, they'd retire from the bid if they were paid a money in compensation for the trips, etc. Madrid accepted.

About if the Spanish regime had anything to do, I must say that that biography is written by one Madridist. In Spain there's some tradition of callin Real Madrid "El equipo del Gobierno" (The government team" and this title was earned in Franco times. They always deny it, of course, so it's not surprising that that doesn't appear in a white biography. I'll give it a deeper search and I'll tell you if there's an alternative version.

by **RUSHIE#9** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:07 pm

Cheers for that Sabre. I've had a look around a few websites suggested by google but have so far found no impartial versions of the transfer of Di Stefano but i've just discovered a small paragraph on the "WIKIPEDIA" encyclopaedia website that reads as follows:

Born to a family of Italian immigrants, Di Stéfano's career started with River Plate in Argentina, in 1943. He won six league titles in the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia (playing for the Millonarios in Bogota) before moving to Real in 1953. Their rivals FC Barcelona believed they had secured his services, the Spanish government then proposed a Salomonic solution which was rejected by Barcelona, allowing Real Madrid to secure his services.

This sounds to be along the lines of what I originally read in the book previously mentioned.

Again cheers for looking into this Sabre. :bowdown

LFC-NEWKIT'S VERY OWN GUILLEM BALAGUE! :;):

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