Are Manchester City the new Real Madrid?
The start of the football season is fast creeping up on us once again, although in all honesty you've probably been looking forward to the kick-off in August ever since the end of last season. There have of course been some major transfer coups over the summer, punctuated by some unexpected moves- most of which have involved Manchester City in some way.
I'm sure there will be one or two surprise signings or big transfers to come between now and the start of the new Premier League season on August 15th. It's not just all about the Premier League though, of course the other major player in the summer transfer window has been the egotistical establishment of Real Madrid. That's not to quell their ambition, which is clearly to consume every possible competition in their path- whatever the cost to their board and President Florentino Pérez.
Unfortunately for Pérez, the Galáctico experiment spectacularly failed to shine for the most part. Instead it was book-ended with scant success. After the initial purchases of Figo and Zidane, the club did secure La Liga in 2000-01 followed by the Champions League the next year, and La Liga again in 2002-03. The sacking of Vincente del Bosque swiftly after securing the second league title in his tenure saw a sudden downturn in Real's prospects. Whilst Figo and Zidane clearly contributed on the pitch, the four-year drought that ensued after del Bosque's departure made it clear that a great manager is more important than having only great players.
This summer Real Madrid have decided to cut out time as the middle man, with Florentino Pérez back in his third term as club President, Real' have spent nearly £190million on four players. There has been much said about how football has lost it's self-control and how the spiralling wages are affecting the game. Uefa President Michel Platini is an outspoken critic of clubs having bad finances and amassing borrowed debt. Usually this criticism has been levelled at English clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United, so it remains to be seen how damning he will be about the Galácticos mark II.
Taking a look at Manchester City this summer then, you may not find it too difficult to see some comparisons between their recent spending frenzy and that of Real Madrid. Both clubs have made their overwhelming priority to be the signing of attractive attacking players and big name players. Obviously Real Madrid have come out on top with their combined capture of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, but City's snaring of Carlos Tevez was equally daring. The best other business by Mark Hughes so far this summer was luring Gareth Barry, at least it means that Hughes isn't willing to follow the first Galáctico era by foregoing an defensive midfielder (Claude Makélélé in Real's case).
I have already made light of Adebayor's transfer, most critics seem to agree that Arsenal will be happier in the long run. Although they should invest the £25million from the deal, otherwise it becomes more of a pointless venture if the Toga's sale isn't used for the bettering of the squad. Both Real Madrid and Manchester City have neglected to concentrate so much on their defensive issues. Los Blancos have to their credit signed Raúl Albiol from financially crippled Valencia, he is more of a utility player but he can certainly defend well. At Manchester City meanwhile, there seems to be no end to the love affair with Richard Dunne.
With no real disrespect meant to the Republic of Ireland international, it does seem quite amazing that Dunne has remained a mainstay of the Manchester City first team since the club has become so financially well off. Pablo Zabaleta and Wayne Bridge have come in to bolster the defence, but Dunne's place continues to be secure enough that he is still captain of the team and has in fact won it's player of the year award in four of the last five seasons.
Nevertheless there still lies a concern that Manchester City are only one or two injuries away from having a very ordinary and makeshift back line. It doesn't stretch the imagination to wonder if Real Madrid are making mistakes that they have previously paid for, and that Manchester City are following their mentality. Football is after all a team sport, and there has been plenty of evidence over the years to support the theory that the best form of attack is defence. Manchester United and Arsenal have shown in the past how to pass the ball from defence in a devastating counter-attack move.
Manchester City are certainly on the rise, but how far their strike force will take them is difficult to predict although they certainly have plenty of cover in that area. For this season I predict a top-six position as they may usurp Aston Villa, who have only strengthened with Stewart Downing who's injured until December. Real Madrid will push Barcelona close in an effort to regain La Liga though, my fear for the Catalan team is that they have made a grave error over Samuel Eto'o. To use him as part exchange along with €4omillion to gain Ibrahimović seems like madness, regardless of how the Swede performs.
Either way the season ahead promises to be exciting in La Liga and the Premier League, and there is little doubt that both of these lavish spending clubs will have some say in how the titles are decided. Both fans just have to be wary of another 'big' club who attempted to outscore their opponents into submission namely Newcastle United, but it would take something spectacular for either to ever lose 6-1 to Leyton Orient!
I'm sure there will be one or two surprise signings or big transfers to come between now and the start of the new Premier League season on August 15th. It's not just all about the Premier League though, of course the other major player in the summer transfer window has been the egotistical establishment of Real Madrid. That's not to quell their ambition, which is clearly to consume every possible competition in their path- whatever the cost to their board and President Florentino Pérez.
Unfortunately for Pérez, the Galáctico experiment spectacularly failed to shine for the most part. Instead it was book-ended with scant success. After the initial purchases of Figo and Zidane, the club did secure La Liga in 2000-01 followed by the Champions League the next year, and La Liga again in 2002-03. The sacking of Vincente del Bosque swiftly after securing the second league title in his tenure saw a sudden downturn in Real's prospects. Whilst Figo and Zidane clearly contributed on the pitch, the four-year drought that ensued after del Bosque's departure made it clear that a great manager is more important than having only great players.
This summer Real Madrid have decided to cut out time as the middle man, with Florentino Pérez back in his third term as club President, Real' have spent nearly £190million on four players. There has been much said about how football has lost it's self-control and how the spiralling wages are affecting the game. Uefa President Michel Platini is an outspoken critic of clubs having bad finances and amassing borrowed debt. Usually this criticism has been levelled at English clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United, so it remains to be seen how damning he will be about the Galácticos mark II.
Taking a look at Manchester City this summer then, you may not find it too difficult to see some comparisons between their recent spending frenzy and that of Real Madrid. Both clubs have made their overwhelming priority to be the signing of attractive attacking players and big name players. Obviously Real Madrid have come out on top with their combined capture of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, but City's snaring of Carlos Tevez was equally daring. The best other business by Mark Hughes so far this summer was luring Gareth Barry, at least it means that Hughes isn't willing to follow the first Galáctico era by foregoing an defensive midfielder (Claude Makélélé in Real's case).
I have already made light of Adebayor's transfer, most critics seem to agree that Arsenal will be happier in the long run. Although they should invest the £25million from the deal, otherwise it becomes more of a pointless venture if the Toga's sale isn't used for the bettering of the squad. Both Real Madrid and Manchester City have neglected to concentrate so much on their defensive issues. Los Blancos have to their credit signed Raúl Albiol from financially crippled Valencia, he is more of a utility player but he can certainly defend well. At Manchester City meanwhile, there seems to be no end to the love affair with Richard Dunne.
With no real disrespect meant to the Republic of Ireland international, it does seem quite amazing that Dunne has remained a mainstay of the Manchester City first team since the club has become so financially well off. Pablo Zabaleta and Wayne Bridge have come in to bolster the defence, but Dunne's place continues to be secure enough that he is still captain of the team and has in fact won it's player of the year award in four of the last five seasons.
Nevertheless there still lies a concern that Manchester City are only one or two injuries away from having a very ordinary and makeshift back line. It doesn't stretch the imagination to wonder if Real Madrid are making mistakes that they have previously paid for, and that Manchester City are following their mentality. Football is after all a team sport, and there has been plenty of evidence over the years to support the theory that the best form of attack is defence. Manchester United and Arsenal have shown in the past how to pass the ball from defence in a devastating counter-attack move.
Manchester City are certainly on the rise, but how far their strike force will take them is difficult to predict although they certainly have plenty of cover in that area. For this season I predict a top-six position as they may usurp Aston Villa, who have only strengthened with Stewart Downing who's injured until December. Real Madrid will push Barcelona close in an effort to regain La Liga though, my fear for the Catalan team is that they have made a grave error over Samuel Eto'o. To use him as part exchange along with €4omillion to gain Ibrahimović seems like madness, regardless of how the Swede performs.
Either way the season ahead promises to be exciting in La Liga and the Premier League, and there is little doubt that both of these lavish spending clubs will have some say in how the titles are decided. Both fans just have to be wary of another 'big' club who attempted to outscore their opponents into submission namely Newcastle United, but it would take something spectacular for either to ever lose 6-1 to Leyton Orient!
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