[Archived] End Of Manc Dominance?

[T4E]

Let's just take a moment to admire the probable Real starting XI:

Casillas

Ramos / Pepe / Heinze / Marcelo

Ronaldo / Sneijder / M. Diarra / Robben

Kaka

Raul

And then you have the likes of Lassana Diarra, Van Der Vaart, Huntelaar, Nistelrooy, Higuain, Drenthe, Guti and Gago on the bench.

Real have far and away the best squad in world footbal now IMO. A new centre back to replace Cannavaro is all they need to have complete balance in their squad.

I'm pretty sure Lassana Diarra will be playing before his namesake next season.

They need a defence. I'm a big Sergio Ramos fan, but I wouldn't sign the others if I was looking to build a dynasty. Having lost Cannavaro I'll be very interested to see who they can find to bolster their defence.

Looking at the above, Barca are still better.

[tcj_jones]

On reflection, I suppose it is virtually impossible to beat a midfield trio of Iniesta, Xavi and Messi and the defence of Barca is pretty solid these days.

Maybe I got overly excited, but just look at that quality and depth in midfield! You can't blame me!

[Hughesy]

Madrid need a better defence to beat Barca and the rest of Europe.

The £80m will only make United stronger - That + £6m for Campbell.

They can now afford to sign a top striker (Like Villa or Aguero), Valencia & Benzema all without spending a penny!

[joey_big_nose]

Kleberson

Djemba-Djemba

Forlan

Berbatov (Arguably)

Nani

David Bellion

Liam Miller

Juan Veron

None of those have been succesful at United.

Hmm. Veron is the only one of that lot who cose "loads". Forlan - fair enough, didn't work out for them - but still he cost under seven million and they sold him for a few I think to Virrareal?

Djemba-Djemba was @#/? but cheap. Ditto Miller. Klberson was actually quite decent but suffered from being surrounded by excellent players who could do what he did better.

Berbatov could turn out to be a flop, but I am not sure - I'll wait another season to see. Nani could improve now he will get some actual playing time.

Much as I despise him, whichever way you look at it though Ferguson is as good as anyone in the transfer market. Who is better in English football? He has mixed genuine superstars with some more "left field" signings (Park, Carrick, Vidic) and it has worked.

[DanLad]

Madrid need a better defence to beat Barca and the rest of Europe.

The £80m will only make United stronger - That + £6m for Campbell.

They can now afford to sign a top striker (Like Villa or Aguero), Valencia & Benzema all without spending a penny!

Villa would score a hatful over here.

[BRFC1995]

Let's just take a moment to admire the probable Real starting XI:

Casillas

Ramos / Pepe / Heinze / Marcelo

Ronaldo / Sneijder / M. Diarra / Robben

Kaka

Raul

And then you have the likes of Lassana Diarra, Van Der Vaart, Huntelaar, Nistelrooy, Higuain, Drenthe, Guti and Gago on the bench.

Real have far and away the best squad in world footbal now IMO. A new centre back to replace Cannavaro is all they need to have complete balance in their squad.

if newspapers are to be believed then robben won't be there next season..........pretty sure rauls days as a striker are over, sure hes been in midfield this season and along with guti are seen as too important to ever drop and lassanna diarra has been an absolute revalation since he signed.......and heinze if the newspapers are to be believed is offski...............can't possibly see how they could sign ribery and keep everyone happy but it does seem they are favorites for villa so i'd say something like this is probably most likely with the greatest bench in the history of football

.............................cassillas(£0)................................

ramos(£23m)............pepe(£25m)..NEW CD...............marcelo(£6m)

.................raul(£0).....L.Diarra(£20m)....Guti(£0)........................

.................ronaldo(£80m)...................kaka(£59m)...............

..................................Villa(£38m???)..........................................

[tcj_jones]

Haha, fair enough. That team is still pretty unbelievable.

We'll have to wait and see what the relative position of the top four clubs is like come August, but suddenly the playing field looks remarkably more even.

Upon Liverpool closing the gap at the top end of the table, United have weakened considerably. Ronaldo and Tevez are both gone, Giggs and Scholes are on their way out, Nani looks to have been a rather expensive flop and Berbatov has, so far, failed to shine. Chelsea have changed management and given indications that they are, once more, prepared to spend big this close season. Meanwhile, Arsenal have witnessed the return to fitness of what is actually a very strong squad and there has barely been a whiff of player unrest or players wanting out, as opposed to previous seasons. In fact, numerous Arsenal players have recently expressed their desire for the squad to remain intact and some have sought to sign new deals.

I can see struggling next season unless they strengthen considerably. The likes of Antonio Valencia will not be enough.

[Hughesy]

Valencia have admitted they have a bid in for Villa from a non-spanish team, however they have also conceded that Madrid have been in discussions since Tuesday with them too and that Villa has set his heart on the move.

Looks like Madrid may be splashing out another £40m very soon.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

An amazing amount of money! especially in this climate - and being in spain, they are worse hit than us with the credit crunch. Where is the money coming from??

Good deal for utd.

They are still ( by quite a way) the richest club in the world & unlike united dont have the amount debt to repay.

Furthermore, Madrid sell as many if not more replica shirts/merchandise as United. A finincial expert on sky expects Real to make over 100 million in the first 12 months from the two deals.

Taken from BBC's website

The television money, both overseas and at home, is crucial to Real's surge in income in recent years.

Since 1997 Spanish clubs have sold their own rights individually.

Real Madrid signed its latest deal in 2006 - for a reported record 1.1bn euros - with Spanish film and TV company Mediapro for seven seasons of broadcast rights.

That works out at a huge 150m euros a year.

"Spanish television rights have increased significantly in the past three years, and would no doubt play an important role in these large Real Madrid transfers," says James Pickles, editor of industry journal TV Sports Markets.

Big name sponsors

But overseas merchandising, domestic and TV rights, and matchday earnings are not Real's only income streams.

It also has a number of high profile sponsorship partners - Bwin.com, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Audi, and Spanish beer brand Mahou.

An image rights deal with Adidas alone in early 2007 garnered them 762m euros.

[tcj_jones]

Picking the Real side next season is going to be like playing fantasy football, the front six anyway.

Anybody want to speculate as to how Real will line up next season, especially if they sign Villa?

Ordinarily, I'd go:

L. Diarra / Gago

Ronaldo / Sneijder / Kaka

Raul

But then they have to somehow accommodate for Villa and Robben.

Maybe:

L. Diarra

Ronaldo / Sneijder / Kaka

Raul / Villa

with Robben available on the bench?

[thenodrog]

And to be fair to Barca, they had no Marquez, Abidal, Alaves, Milito, Hleb and Henry at 70% fit.

I think that whilst the old RFW is the best man manager and motivator in the game tactically he leaves much to be desired. No doubt having the most talent and best squad available he does not normally need to bother. At the very top though he is frequently found wanting. We saw it v Barca and for those that were there we saw it when Hughes played Roberts up top, Emo in midfield and RSC on the right against Evra. MU mananged a draw through work rate, effort and sheer persistence but they never did a thing to counter Sparky's suprise tactic. It cost em 2 points which could easily have been 3.

[The Prof.]

Picking the Real side next season is going to be like playing fantasy football, the front six anyway.

Anybody want to speculate as to how Real will line up next season, especially if they sign Villa?

Ordinarily, I'd go:

L. Diarra / Gago

Ronaldo / Sneijder / Kaka

Raul

But then they have to somehow accommodate for Villa and Robben.

Maybe:

L. Diarra

Ronaldo / Sneijder / Kaka

Raul / Villa

with Robben available on the bench?

Vidic at C/H!

Mancs are worried about that more than Ronaldo.

But even given the usual £30m Fergie mistake £150,000,000 or so should mean they could buy a few more cups yet - unless the other Mancs or Chelsea star looking more serious than they do now.

[thenodrog]

Vidic at C/H!

Mancs are worried about that more than Ronaldo.

But even given the usual £30m Fergie mistake £150,000,000 or so should mean they could buy a few more cups yet - unless the other Mancs or Chelsea star looking more serious than they do now.

Anybody wants Vidic needs to take Rio in the same deal. Vidic is average without him alongside.

[Hughesy]

Vidic is the better defender of the two.

[G Somerset Rover]

Vidic is the better defender of the two.

Agreed.

However throw a fired up Torres his way and he played like a cross between Darren Peackock and Christian Dailly!! I still can't work out Vidic's performance that day. He looked unflappable and flawless until that then.

On a sidenote I still think that Barca will finish above Madrid next season. It's going to take some time for the new look Galactico's to gel.

[LeftWinger]

However throw a fired up Torres his way and he played like a cross between Darren Peackock and Christian Dailly!! I still can's work out Vidic's performance that day. He looked unflappable and flawless until that then.

Did you see him against Obafemi Martins at St.James' Park? He struggled badly against him - and could have been sent off quite easily. He seems to struggle against real pace.

[G Somerset Rover]

Did you see him against Obafemi Martins at St.James' Park? He struggled badly against him - and could have been sent off quite easily. He seems to struggle against real pace.

I forgot that one LeftWinger and you've nailed it there with the pace comment. I guess what I was trying to say however was that in the whole he has been flawless at United - always producing strong, consistent performances. I still think he's the better defender out of him and Rio. Rio is occasionally prone to..well.."Ferdinand brother" moments.

Martin's would be a cracking player for us if we could get him within budget (post RSC sale obviously). However as well as the price being a major obstacle he's not the typical Allardyce front man.

[T4E]

Anybody wants Vidic needs to take Rio in the same deal. Vidic is average without him alongside.

I would have said that the other way round Gord.

[philipl]

So is it true Utd are funding twelve months of interest charges by flogging off Christina?

[gumboots]

So is it true Utd are funding twelve months of interest charges by flogging off Christina?

Well, you're the accountant so you tell us!

[blue phil]

Don't encourage him , Gumboots - we'll have another million or so posts to endure

[Blue blood]

Think Ferdinand and Vidic really do compliment each other well, and that together they are much better then the sum of their parts (which admittedly isn't bad.) Either without the other is not as effective, and once again shows RFW nous in putting together a team.

Regardless of whether it is Vidic, or someone else, I think Real need a couple of top quality defenders to make this the most formidable team around. Attacking talent wise it is scary - how well/quickly they gel is another thing - but it doesn't strike me as a defend from the front type of team. Put it this way, in a game when it's back to the wall time there's not too many of their front line I'd want. Having one or two passengers defensively is one thing, 3 or more is another. If Real are going to get this team being successful their defence is going to have to work very hard and be of a very high quality to compensate for all their solely attacking players.

Oh and Martins seems to miss far too many chances for my liking, although his pace is excellent.

[Amo]

Think Ferdinand and Vidic really do compliment each other well

I haven't heard much flattery between them, to be honest.

[CrazyIvan]

I haven't heard much flattery between them, to be honest.

'He's here all week...'

[philipl]

Martin Samuels on the sale