Galácticos: A Spanish term used to describe expensive, world-famous Real Madrid football players.
But are Galácticos really a team you would want competing for World titles?
Yes they are the most expensive players in the world of football, but how can a team be managed with several star players all used to being the go-to player on a team.
November 29th, 2010 showed a team of Galácticos who were completely tortured by a Barcelona side who showed great heart and the will to win the famous El Clásico.
2009 was the year of a new era of Real Madrid Galácticos. With the mega purchases of Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso by newly appointed president Florntino Perez, the core setting of the next class of Galácticos had arrived.
The 2009-2010 campaign was a season to forget for Real Madrid as Manuel Pellegrini's men finished the season trophy-less in a year where high expectations were running wild for this new era. Not even a Copa del Rey triumph could be achieved by the high paid Madrid starting eleven.
But it was only the first year. We should give them time to mesh with each other. Let them find that rhythm we all expected these Galácticos had when they were bought from the likes of AC Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool and Lyon. Right?
Seems like Barcelona has shown that having a team of superstars can be a little difficult if you are trying to win every club trophy for the club you represent.
With the El Clásico final whistle blown, Barcelona pulled off a 5-0 victory over their La Liga competition. This is Barcas 5th consecutive El Clásico victory over Real Madrid and they showed absolutely no mercy towards these great "Galácticos". Even with new manager Jose Mourinho taking over at the start of the season, Madrid could not find the back of the net in this Barca goal-fest. New Galácticos such as Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, and Sami Khedira could not even make a difference for their star side.
It is however, only the first half of the season and there is still plenty of football to be played by these two teams. We cannot count out Madrid just yet in winning the treble at the end of the season and it is possible for this team, or any team for that matter, to turn it around and finish strong.
Looking at these Galácticos, we see what seems to be a strong and well rounded team. Players such as Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso to name a few. With Higuain becoming an up and coming star, the latter squad members have all been purchased by Madrid, each for an excessive amount of money. Again, does having the ability to buy whichever player you want for your squad automatically put you as a front runner for a treble at the end of the season? If you ask me, building a team into a championship team feels much better and more satisfying than trying to buy your trophies with the best of the best.
When we look at this years Madrid squad, we see a number of go-to players that expect the ball at their feet at the drop of a hat. Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Xabi Alonso were all the core players on their past teams. On AC Milan, when Kaká received the ball, he made good things happen. As did Ronaldo on Manchester United and Xabi on Liverpool. All three were the link holding each squads midfield together. When you take top class players like these and throw them on the field with each other, there will be mixed signals played around by each. Although we have not seen Kaká this season as of yet, it might be the best thing for this new "Galácticos" squad as it takes away another go-to player, leaving more ball time for Ronaldo and Xabi.
Real Madrid and Barcelona recently played La Liga's first 2010-2011 edition of the El Clásico. As we all know, Barcelona easily handled Madrid 5-0. Here is my dilemma. Shouldn't a team with major high-quality players be able to at least put 1 or 2 goals past this Barcelona team? Yes, Barcelona is one of the best teams in the world right now having one of the best players in the world on their squad, Lionel Messi. They are a team very difficult to beat at the moment and have probably the highest potential to lift the UEFA Champions League trophy. But seriously, Jose, you have Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria on your squad. You are telling me, with an attacking force like that, you could not manage a single goal against your derby opponents? It was predicted to be a massive goal fest for this years El Clásico, but we all never expected the goal fest to come from one team!
It just seems Madrid cannot have a squad who can quickly mesh together when new players arrive. And we have all seen the quick changes Madrid has made over the years when they bring in 5 new players and get rid of 6. We saw it with Madrid's 2003-2004 squad and now we are seeing it with their 2010-2011 squad. When you look at a team like Barcelona, you see a team that has a good core of players, players who know each other and also do not have the term "Galácticos" anywhere near the squad list.
Barcas biggest signing this summer was David Villa and he has fit nicely in the fold over at the Camp Nou. But when you really look at Barcelona's squad list, the majority of the Spanish players were part of Spain's World Cup 2010 winning squad (Valdez, Pique, Puyol, Hernández, Villa, Iniesta, Busquets and Pedro). With most of those players being in the starting 11, how could the chemistry go wrong?
So I ask this question again; Are Galácticos really a team you would want competing for World titles?
After that 5-0 win for Barcelona at El Clásico, I think I would like a team I can build into a championship team rather than having a headache of players who can't fit their own heads through a door and also a headache of debt owed by my club.
Cheers,
JC
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