i just heard Beckham is headed to where else....... Real Madrid. while i'm kinda surprised he left Man U (especially before their tour here later this summer), i'm not in any way surprised it was Real ponying up the money. $41 mil!!! but who does he replace, that's my question. also, it's seems that Real would be better off spending their cash on a solid defender or two rather than on another offensive threat (like the even need one).
All of this soccer talk is inconsequential. Because I am going to win the lottery and by Leeds. So I will keep Kewell, Paul Robinson, Lee Bowyer, etc. And of course sign the heir to Maradonna - Marcus Benson.
$41 mil is less than Barca offered, but he wouldn't go there; no Champion's League football. Personally, I'm glad he didn't (I love Barcelona, the city and the club), and I think he'll have a marginal impact at Real.
I can't believe he's going to team up with Ronaldo of all people. From an English and a German fan's perspective, I can't stand Ronaldo.
Maybe center midfield. Becks has always wanted to play there, but I don't think he's the prototype in the middle.
Next to Zidane? Weakest. Midfield. Defensively. Ever. 'Course you don't need a defense when you have the ball all the time...
there are rumours of Figo going Inter real will play 5 across, although Beckham will certainly be less effective playing inside of Figo. if ManU can now land Ronaldinho and Kewell and maybe another youngish defender they will be set, but apparently the Gunner are going strong for Kewell and Barca are after Ronaldinho if they don't land 2-3 young about to be superstars, ManU will have some serious egg on their faces.
Haven't u heared that the best defense is attaque...or something like that!They don't need defenders if they have players to keep the ball all game long! That being said I hate Real and their policy of buying star players every year.Can't they just get players out of their youth squads?!U can't tell me Guti,Portillo or even Raul aren't good!By buying a star every year they're heading strait into a wall,both financialy and footballisticaly(?!). ALA
well it may hurt them "footballisticaly," but certainly not financially. they were just named the richest club in the world, with revenues over $300 million for the year. that nearly puts the yankees to shame . . . that being said, i agree with you that i don't like them buying all the players, just like i don't like the yankees doing it either. I am thinking that barring some sort of further shuffling by Real of its players, which is probable, one of their stars may be sitting on the bench come next season, just like Rivaldo this past year at A.C. Milan. I also think it would be a mistake to let Figo go, as he is an amazing ball controller, and far superior to Beckham in controlling the flow of the game.
A Jovi sighting... Isn't keeley an Arsenal fan? I might be wrong... Anyway, Bayern Munich will definitely win the Champions League next season. As long as Real does not improve their defense, they will not win it all.
Real might have a revenue of over $300 but they also have a debt that is twice as big! The problem with different Europeen leagues is that they don't all have the same fiscal system,thus the Spanish league lets Real,Barcelona etc... continue to "buy" players.Whereas in France for example, a comission has been created to punish teams(move them to a lower division) with large debts.The most recent example is Monaco who just barely saved it's neck. Un fortunatly this kind of thing doesn't seem to be applied to popular clubs as too many political issues are involved. ALA
yeah i agree with you, and know exactly what you are talking about. it is the same way in greece, which i follow closely. there, one of their top teams, PAOK, which was in the uefa cup this past season is facing relegation all the way to its amateur division (4th Division) due to its finances. having said all this though, despite not having restriction on team finances in Spain, Real is not about to go belly-up anytime soon and can cover its massive debt easily at this point.
As far as I know, Real was bailed out because, and only because, the city bought their training facilities for an enormous amount.