What’s Real Madrid’s secret?

Theonas said:
We really could't have been what Real Madrid are. We have never been able to attract the caliber of players they can. We were the best team in the world and yet our best player wanted to go for them when they had a period where they couldn't get past the last 16 of the CL and were getting bullied by Barcelona domestically. In the same year, they signed the previous Balon d'Or winner from the multi CL winning team at the time AC Milan in Kaka. Before him, they took Figo from Barcelona and Zidane from Juventus. The current best English talent only wanted to join them and the guy tipped to be the next best thing in world football had his eyes set up on them and only them and will be joining this summer.

When have we or, in fact, any other club, had that pull? We always had a strong pull on the British and maybe Northern European players. But when it comes to the Balon d'Or category of talent, at their peak, we have never been in that market. Maybe Barcelona and when it was at its peak, the big Serie A clubs could attract those players but certainly not England or Germany.
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Well, one could say that United missed a trick there as Madrid only became looked at like this Mecca for players post the first Galactico era. Which, in turn, became possible by them throwing obscene amounts of money at players.

They had not won a single CL for 30+ years before that and there is a reason for that.

If flipping Man City can atttact some of the best players in the world and have been for 10+ years, imagine what United could have done if they were able to spend their money on players rather than on leveraging their buyout.

I am talking about the period from 15-20 years ago. Now Madrid have establishes themselves as this haven for players and it is too late now.
 
It's all a bout the money.
Players are mercenaries.
Real are only set to get richer and will generate even more revenue from the stadium expansion, more hospitality suites etc.
Their new sponsorship deal with HP is said to be in the region of €70m a season pushing total revenue for next season to a projected €1bn+
In the report it says that the predictions are based on increased revenue as the stadium expansion continues.
There's a lesson there for other teams, and all those against United moving and getting a much bigger stadium need to think again.

https://www.managingmadrid.com/2024/2/7/24063616/inside-real-madrids-2023-24-budget
 
SteveCoppellFan said:
Using a poker analogy, they tend to win most coin flips.

Don't get me wrong, they have bottle and can ride out bad situations and come back to win, but damn, opposition tend to crap the bed when they get great chances vrs them.
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Not really.

I mean, it is not just about which percentage of coin flips they win. In this case it is also about how many coin flips they have.

Real Madrid have played 12 CLs semifinals in the last 14 seasons. Sure, there is the cold bloodedness in the finals, but that level of consistency to reach the last rounds of the competition cannot merely be explained with a coin flip analogy.

And if we are to analyze coin flips we have to do the same with the semifinals they lost too, and frankly, the great public do not watch that many games. It is just us fans who do that.

We as humans are good with stories but not so good with numbers. That explains for instance how so many clients get their decision to travel in an airplane based on whether there was news of plane crashes in recent times instead of looking at the statistics. In this case something similar happens, but a broader perspective is needed.
 
One of the things that bugs me about Madrid's CL dominance is that it rewards an awful fanbase with so much success.
 
Matt Varnish said:
It's all a bout the money.
Players are mercenaries.
Real are only set to get richer and will generate even more revenue from the stadium expansion, more hospitality suites etc.
Their new sponsorship deal with HP is said to be in the region of €70m a season pushing total revenue for next season to a projected €1bn+
In the report it says that the predictions are based on increased revenue as the stadium expansion continues.
There's a lesson there for other teams, and all those against United moving and getting a much bigger stadium need to think again.

https://www.managingmadrid.com/2024/2/7/24063616/inside-real-madrids-2023-24-budget
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Money is a factor not the only one, our net spend and wages have been up there with the whole of Europe and look where we are.

They have a superior way of running the club.
 
frostbite said:
Yes, they understand that the assets of the club are the players, not the manager. Nobody will pay for a ticket to watch the manager, we watch the players. Nobody at Real cares about having a manager for "a very long time".

Sack them early, sack them often. Del Bosque won them two La Ligas and two CL titles in 4 years, and he was sacked. On the other hand, half of our fans want the owners to keep the guy who finished 8th because next year he may finish 12th, and then he will magically transform into Sir Alex Ferguson who also happened to finish 12th half a century ago. Do you want to miss the New SAF?

Man Utd has not been trying to build a team, they have been trying to find the New Messiah.

Different focus, different expectations, different culture. That's why they win so much.
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Bolded bit is a really good point about United in the last 10 years.

Completely baffled me after the cup final how so many people decided ETH deserved another season based on one good performance and completely ignored the previous 10 months of terrible performances. Just a completely different mindset.
 
2mufc0 said:
Money is a factor not the only one, our net spend and wages have been up there with the whole of Europe and look where we are.

They have a superior way of running the club.
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Money is the biggest factor, if you can afford to pay the transfer fees and the wages, you will naturally attract the best players.
The other draw is historical, Real and Barca are undoubtedly the biggest draws in European football, no other clubs can match that.

You can't honestly consider that Mbappe would come to United (or any other Prem club) even if they could afford the fee and wages.
I agree how the club is run, is definitely a factor, but even considering how the club was run under Fergie, do you think Messi would have come here ?
Ronaldo couldn't wait to go and play for Real, even after he had won an ECL with us.
 
Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world, and most supported in the traditional footballing world. They have a choice of the best players and can do deals at reasonable value as they have their pick.

Their success is compounding by their continued success as it's a unique club at the top of the tree.
 
  • They are ruthless with players and managers.
  • They spend insane money, but are willing to bin a 100M player for not performing well at the drop of a hat and take the loss.
  • They are the biggest club and have their pick of talents - and they perform in a way that cements that position.
  • Managers are given very little time and room to prove themselves.
  • They are much better than the majority of the squads they play against domestically and can afford to take the foot off the gas a little.
  • They have the political influence and nous to ensure that their players are in the best position possible to win individual awards.

When they win the CL, they have exceptional man managers at the helm - Zidane and Carlo are both prime examples of that. What they have shown is that managers who can get the most out of huge egos with immense talent and get them to play for the team is crucial for success. Plenty of really good tactician out there, but to win this competition you need exceptional man managers who can keep players focused through it all.

Matt Varnish said:
You can't honestly consider that Mbappe would come to United (or any other Prem club) even if they could afford the fee and wages.
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If we were the ones winning 6 CL titles in a decade and had the political and marketing nous to push our players into balon d'or contention on a yearly basis - of course he would.
 
Not buying all this optimism.

We all know what happens after an era of relative success.

 
They are roothless and we are not! They would never allow a manager that had our worse season in the last 30 years to stay or be nice and romantic about players not good enough.
 
Their secret?
No club in the world gets the same amount of:

State support + Control of the media in their own contry + Financial power + Political power

combined, at the same time.

That's all there is to it.
 
predator said:
I used to agree with what you are saying however City do seem to keep their best players. Aguero through his peak, Silva, Dias, KDB. Even Rodri, probably the best CDM in the world, (born in Madrid) yet still plays for City.
Where the feck is/was Madrid or Barca's interest?
Historically if Madrid or Barca wanted the best players from the PL, they got them. City manage to fend them off. Some may say its because City players have multiple salaries or maybe that the likes of KDB and Silva dreamed of carrying on Paul Dickovs legacy in the famous blue shirt.
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I am not arguing that we or another English clubs can't keep their players. That's a different topic you seem to be responding to. My post(s) were more about when a player is of a certain level, a level where he is spoken about as a top 2-3 player in the world and tipped to win the Balon d'Or, that's your Zidane, Rivaldo, R9, Ronaldinho, Cristiano, Suarez, Mbappé, etc... these guys have always seen Serie A or La Liga as the place to go ahead of the PL. None of the City players you mention have or had that status. The closest players we had in the PL to that status were Bale and Hazard in the past decade. It's a very small group of players I am talking about but to me, they are the biggest difference makers in the game.
 
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GatoLoco said:
Not buying all this optimism.

We all know what happens after an era of relative success.

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Given the Real Madrid squad next season and developments of other "top teams", Carlo could well get a 6th next season.
 
Red Star One said:
good point, also Haaland deal and his contract were arguably as embroiled in corruption as Neymar’s.
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Not to mention that he’s using them by all accounts as a stepping stone like Cristiano or Mbappé did before they eventually go to Real. The PL can attract the best managers. They are usually older and have different priorities. But the football style and local culture has never been considered as the place to go to to win the CL or Balon d’Or.
Hound Dog said:
Well, one could say that United missed a trick there as Madrid only became looked at like this Mecca for players post the first Galactico era. Which, in turn, became possible by them throwing obscene amounts of money at players.

They had not won a single CL for 30+ years before that and there is a reason for that.

If flipping Man City can atttact some of the best players in the world and have been for 10+ years, imagine what United could have done if they were able to spend their money on players rather than on leveraging their buyout.

I am talking about the period from 15-20 years ago. Now Madrid have establishes themselves as this haven for players and it is too late now.
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I am not sure about it being a question of strategy or marketing. As before Real established themselves like that, you still had the Ronaldos and Maradonas and Zidanes and Romarios etc not considering the PL. The best players in the world that come overwhelmingly from South American and Latin countries feel closer culturally and in terms of lifestyle and playing style to La Liga and Serie A. The PL has always been more insultaed which is ironically a big reason for its charm to its followers like myself. Real stole a march on the Italian clubs but not the PL clubs as the latter were never in the conversation for the best players in the world. As I wrote before, you can't really name a single player who arrived to the English game being already considered the best in the world or thereabout. That cannot be a coincidence.
 
They are ruthless, just like everyone who is remotely successful.

UTD would pay summer camp for Eden Hazard to get fit or they would make golf course on Carington for Bale. They are just blip in Real history.
 
Sport psychology wise, I think a big part of it is the biggest moments don’t seem as big to many of their players because they’ve been there before. Hence why other teams seem to crap the bed in a tight situation in a final and they don’t.
 
Laurencio said:
If we were the ones winning 6 CL titles in a decade and had the political and marketing nous to push our players into balon d'or contention on a yearly basis - of course he would.
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You knew that was bollocks before you wrote it, even when we had players with Balon D'Or qualities ( Best & Law) we couldn't attract the top players.
After that our best chance of Balon D'or winners were Beckham, Giggs and Scholes
Liverpool have won 6 CLtitles, can you say they attraced Bolon D'Or quality players?

As for marketing nous, have you ever been to OT on a matchday ?

Don't kid yourself, it's money and style.
Where would you rather play your away midweek football, Leeds or Barcelona ?
 
Big Ben Foster said:
How is it an awful fanbase?
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Based on most of the metrics football fans are judged by. They're hardly passionate (see the scenes at full-time yesterday - it looked like Dortmund were the winners). They don't travel in great numbers. Lot of them are transfer muppets and spoilt brats (white hankies). Many seem happy to ditch the CL, the tournament that defines the club, for the Super League.
 
From a fan pov;

We see a player be inconsistent and want to upgrade, even if they did great stuff for us.

You guys manage to win a game or score and are upping mediocre players as needing more time and being good actually.
 
RG77 said:
From a fan pov;

We see a player be inconsistent and want to upgrade, even if they did great stuff for us.

You guys manage to win a game or score and are upping mediocre players as needing more time and being good actually.
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Give this man a banana for saing exactly how it is, you see it in the match threads and player performance threads, so called fans accepting mediocrity.
There are very few of us n here willing to stick our heads above the parapet and say how it is, too many accept lack lustre performances, including the manager
 
Mentality and handling pressure are underrated at the top of the game. How many times have teams nearly knocked Madrid out, only for Neuer to drop a clanger, KDB to miss a sitter, or the team to lose focus at the last moment? Or for Madrid to shift gears, believing they’ll pull something out of the hat! Happens over and over for it to be just a mere coincidence.

In another sport, it’s why Djokovic can struggle for three hours against Musetti, then deliver a bagel in the final set. Or why Griekspoor can lead Zverev 4-1 in the fifth, but suddenly when it's time to close it out, the racquet feels heavier, balls fly out, and drop shots hit the net.
 
Fans high standards definitely contributes.

Foreign concept to some clubs.
 
With all the other advantages that RM have, i don't think taking either approach of constantly sacking managers quickly or sometimes giving them another 1-2 seasons to see if they improve has mattered that much in terms of being some sort of secret weapon compared to the other huge clubs. They proved this themselves during the '90s, and particularly the '00s. With the cumulative advantages that have built up (or were innate, like geography) discussed here, they're always going to be there or thereabouts, especially since the superclub era really kicked in over the past 15 years.

I see their increased recent success as a tediously inevitable product of the decline in club football's competitive variety.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
But they don't try to. They generally build through top young players and supplement with veterans occasionally.
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JB08 said:
They have spent an average of £51m per season on transfers in the past 4 years. So I disagree.
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Godfather said:
That's one of the reasons yes. Although one of the least important ones when it comes to Madrid the last couple of years.

Good scouting and high standards.
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Global appeal still means they can snap up the worlds best talent for minimal sums. Hendrick and Vincius cost £60 and £30m respectively too, the latter being cheap in comparison but you can bet the worlds elite clubs were also in the queue to get him. Ferland Mendy cost north of £35mill, Jude was extortionate... I mean of course their scouting is great, but to insinuate its better than everyone else i just don't agree with. Any top youth player in the world will have a host of clubs after them, and Madrid for years have been able to cherry pick the best of them.
 
Top players and a more fluid identity is probably better for the CL than a rigid playstyle and specialist players.
 
iammemphis said:
Hendrick and Vincius cost £60 and £30m respectively too, the latter being cheap in comparison but you can bet the worlds elite clubs were also in the queue to get him.
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Vinicius Jr. was very expensive at the time. Him and Rodrygo are the 3rd and 4th most expensive transfers out of the Brasileirao and had practically no experience, they were huge gambles.
 
Iker Quesadillas said:
Top players and a more fluid identity is probably better for the CL than a rigid playstyle and specialist players.
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There will never be a greater strategy or tactical idea greater than "Talent go brrrr"
 
I don’t get how they stay within FFP with the wages their players earn. That wage bill plus the signing in bonuses and transfer fees must exceed what they earn in revenue you’d think. They’ve got like 8/9 players on over 250k a week, plus the transfer and signing on fees to bring those players in. Now they’re giving Mbappe over 100mil signing on fee plus his wages which certainly won’t be under 250k a week. Or am I underestimating how much they actually bring in?
 
Iker Quesadillas said:
Top players and a more fluid identity is probably better for the CL than a rigid playstyle and specialist players.
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I don't think it's as simple as that. Real Madrid had arguably even better players in the '00s and yet they went a significant period without winning a knockout tie. But I agree that it does work better in the CL, hence Real's comparatively inferior record in the league when a more solid foundation is more likely to win consistently.
 
iammemphis said:
Global appeal still means they can snap up the worlds best talent for minimal sums. Hendrick and Vincius cost £60 and £30m respectively too, the latter being cheap in comparison but you can bet the worlds elite clubs were also in the queue to get him. Ferland Mendy cost north of £35mill, Jude was extortionate... I mean of course their scouting is great, but to insinuate its better than everyone else i just don't agree with. Any top youth player in the world will have a host of clubs after them, and Madrid for years have been able to cherry pick the best of them.
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But my point is many other clubs want to see these players "go to a bigger club and succeed first" (seriously just look at our own transfer business and fan sentiment over young players from obscure clubs).

Madrid don't give a feck, they trust their own platform to develop the player anyways and integrate into the club culture so they'd rather pay a "high" fee for a teenager that might be unproven then wait until that youngster is now playing for Benfica/Dortmund etc. and the price tag rises to 80m+.
 
Diego_Milito said:
Their secret?
No club in the world gets the same amount of:

State support + Control of the media in their own contry + Financial power + Political power

combined, at the same time.

That's all there is to it.
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Great, conspiracy theory time.
 
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