Real Madrid's "Galacticos" Will Fail

It's a marriage made in the tackiest, most sleazy Las Vegas themed chapel. Cristiano Ronaldo and Florentino Perez—two men, one philosophy. That God created the world so it could revolve around their outrageously bloated egos.

And those who still have a smattering of love for football will pray the marriage ends in tears, prayers that may well be answered. There's no doubting Ronaldo's match-winning genius or the lengths to which Perez will go to steal the biggest names in world football.

But there are huge doubts about whether the Galactico system is anything more than a discredited ideology that's way past its bribe-by date.

Perez got lucky first time around with Zidane, Figo, and Ronaldo. When he tried to replace that axis with the likes of David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Robinho, he failed miserably. Hence his resignation. His mistakes were so glaring you questioned whether he was a football man at all.

Or just a show man...

He sacked twice Champions League winning coach Vicente del Bosque because he failed to win a third one. Carlos Queiroz replaced him and was ordered to sell Claude Makelele after he asked for parity with the highest-earners.

And this is what Perez had to say about the best defensive midfield player in the world at that time, "We will not miss Makelele. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and 90 per cent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways."

When given the choice between Beckham or Ronaldinho he opted for the face that could sell a thousand shirts. As one of Perez's bag-carriers said, "Ronaldinho is so ugly he'd sink you as a brand. Between him and Beckham, I'd go for Beckham a hundred times."

Yeah, me too...Unlike Herbert Chapman or Rinus Michels, Perez didn't fashion a revolutionary style of football from the talent at his disposal. He simply amassed a huge overdraft and seduced the best players available into his travelling circus. Traditional skills like management, defending, bonding, trust and patience were disposed of.

The six coaches he went through had no say in transfers and his Galacticos had no say in opting out of any games or punishing global tours. Audi, Coca-Cola and Adidas, the sponsors now funding the current cash-fest, will demand the same of Kaka, Ronaldo & company and it will drain the life out of them.

Cut through the hype and Ronaldo has joined a club with no defence, a new manager who was moderately successful at Villarreal but is now a dictator's puppet, an entire squad not knowing whether they're being sold on or not and "superstars" thrown together on marketing grounds.

In the business end of last season Real were thrashed 6-2 by Barcelona and 4-0 by Liverpool because their defence was already on the bus home after conceding one goal. Perez's solution to close the gap on the most brilliant Barcelona team ever??

Easy, buy Kaka and Ronaldo and go for Villa, Silva and Alonso. Spot the defender...? We're beginning to see a pattern emerging and it's also interesting to note when last elected president in 2000, Perez inherited a Champions League-winning side and built his all-conquering "Galacticos" over a three-year period.

He essentially, bought one "Galactico" every year, this time around, he purchased two in one week. Does this mean he promises to overtake Barcelona in one season. Can you see it? Me neither...

What I can see though, on the final game of next season are the white hankies being waved as the latest Perez Globetrotters walk off the Bernabeu pitch with their tails between their legs having comfortably lost La Liga to Barcelona.

The same Barcelona who, the following week, will take on an English side in the Champions League Final—In the Bernabeu which is hosting it, no less.

On the day of that match, Perez will be in hiding from the world and its debt-collectors and "CR7" will be sulking on a Californian beach, falling into the arms of the next dim-witted "A-list celebrity" red carpet tearaway; his agent saying all is not well with his head.

Even I cannot doubt his ability on the pitch, but as a personality, I, personally, don't like him. It's not his odd dive that leaves a distasteful after numbness in my mouth, it's the larger than life ego.

Perhaps that's the kind of outcome one experiences having heard two of the biggest football clubs in the world exchanging 80 million for your services while you're shopping on the exclusive Rodeo Drive in the U.S on vacation with several friends whom you've paid for to come with you to party with the stars in Hollywood, or maybe I'm just of the old traditional school of thought that a footballer is a footballer and nothing more.

And that leads me to this L.A romance fiasco. On one side, you've got a self-worshipping, outrageous, egotistical diva who loves nothing more than cameras fluttering about her and their name all over as many newspapers, magazines and booklets as possible on any given day - On the other side, you've got Paris Hilton. A match made in heaven.

In Barcelona, the state of the team’s affairs is equally crucial. Coming off one of the most (if not the most) historic seasons in La Liga history, one would be hard pressed to say how Barcelona can improve.

I've heard many people say the power balance has shifted from the Premiership to Spain thanks to Real Madrid signing the star of the English league and the star of the Italian Serie A.

I beg to differ.

One players presence or absence does not make a whole league. In England, there is one group with the authority to speak with television on all of the Premiership clubs behalves. In Spain, this policy of operation is not shared with their English counterparts. Each club must negotiate individually for T.V deals.

Because of this better organisation, the Premiership is available to a wider audience and in turn more revenue. All this adds up to more cash being spread out among the English clubs.

The top four have been the top four for years, but with big money circling around, it allows other clubs, the Aston Villas, the Evertons, the Tottenhams and soon to be Manchester Cities of this world to make a claim and keep things competitive (even though City don't need the money).

If Athletico Madrid win the Spanish title next season will you be at all shocked? Of course you would. My point is, a league doesn't rest of the performance of two clubs alone and the others must improve to be more competitive with the top two in order for La Liga to steal the Premierships crown.

It remains to be seen how this second generation of Galacticos will play together but I feel the egos of so many decisive players will become too large for the team to succeed as a unit.