Real Madrid: Championship or Bust?
The Spanish giants Real Madrid have gone through a staggering amount of money in search of reclaiming the crown of La Liga from FC Barcelona.
Barcelona has been the class of Spain for the last couple of years and Real Madrid can’t seem to shake them.
Last season, Real Madrid paid enormous transfer fees, totaling over 200 million Euros. Kaka from AC Milan and Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United accounted for most of those fees.
Real Madrid will obviously be searching for more transfer targets as they have already attempted to lure Maicon away from the reigning European Champions, Inter Milan.
Following Inter Milan winning the European Cup, Real quickly signed "The Special One,” Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese coach is attempting to become the first coach to win the Champions League with three different teams. Many consider him the greatest manager in the world as he has won with Chelsea and Inter Milan. He will now try to win one for the club that has won the European Cup the most, Real Madrid.
Real Madrid has all the talent in the world, and now has the best coach in the world, and anything short of reclaiming the title as champions of Europe will be considered a failure. There is no reason why the team should not overstep Barcelona and regain their status as the best team in Spain, and perhaps the world.
Mourinho has not wasted any time in trying to put together the team he feels would be best for him to lead to glory this coming season. He has attempted to buy his former protégés from Inter Milan, including Maicon and Walter Samuel, among others. The club may also try to land Steven Gerrard from Liverpool.
The bottom line is that the club has simply tried to buy their way back into winning the championships. Out of all of the money they have shelled out in acquiring new stars, they should have been more successful last season. Many may be rooting against Real Madrid in hopes of trying to prove that you can’t buy success.
There may be more to that this year though. Not only has the club brought in some of the world’s most talented stars, but now it has a world-class coach to go along with them.
Some questions will be how "The Special One” will be able to mould players, such as Kaka and Ronaldo, to play the way he wants them to. Mourinho is the world’s best defensive mastermind and Inter’s defence last season was a fine example of the chemistry Mourinho can create with his tactics.
When you have a coach like this, you should probably listen to what he says. His success speaks for itself and he has proven season after season how good he is. Real Madrid’s defence may prove to be a lot stronger this year and credit would have to go to the bench boss. Indeed, the club is likely to look a lot different this coming season.
Mourinho claimed when he signed on to coach the Spanish giants that his coaching career would not be complete if he never got a chance to coach Real Madrid. His dream will now come true and it will have to mean success for the club.
The club must show that its shopping spree will pay off and that the club can build a dynasty over the next few years. You can bet that their offseason plans are not done and Mourinho will get the right players for his system. The players will have to adopt his system and be on the same page as their manager if they are to restore its glory.
One thing is for sure, if the club does not win the Champions League in the next couple of years, their check books may not prove to be as valuable as they thought.
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