Dear Blaugrana,
You're off to a great start this season, behind only Los Blancos who have tasked The Special One with re-creating the success of the Galacticos era. So far, Mourinho has Los Merengues playing sound Football, allowing only 3 goals against in 7 league matches as well as 5 Champions League clashes. Unfortunately, you conceded 3 points at home against newly promoted Hercules, while Madrid remains undefeated.
People are attributing the shift in power to Madrid's improvement, and while that is a valid point, perhaps the board at Camp Nou haven't been making the best purchases.
Yaya Touré was shipped to Manchester City for £24 million, Mascherano was brought in for £21 million. This can be considered a straight exchange, as they are both approximately the same age, play a similar role and there was no "serious" money made on the financial transactions. However, you have become half-a-foot shorter in midfield.
The purchase of Zlatan Ibrahimović cost you €46 million plus Samuel Eto'o last season. You've now farmed him out to AC Milan who have the option to buy him outright for a fee of €24 million at the end of the season. This season, you've added the highly rated Spaniard, David Villa, for €40 million. This means that you'll have spent €62 million to replace Samuel Eto'o with David Villa. €62 million for one striker, Mr. David Villa, while giving up Samuel Eto'o for nothing.
In all competitions last season, Villa scored 28 goals in 42 matches. Ibracadabra scored 22 goals in 42 matches. Adding 5 goals per season for €62 million? Will Villa add those 5 goals when he needs to share with Lionel Messi and Pedro? Villa has never been La Liga's top scorer. Zlatan was Série A's top scorer two seasons ago.
Have a look at your attacking trident. Pedro stands at 5'6. Messi at 5'7. Villa at 5'9. That's not a whole lot of size. Zlatan offered a towering presence at 6'5. At almost a foot taller than Pedro, I think it's safe to say he offered a whole lot more in the way of intimidation and physical presence.
David Villa has been regarded as a hot commodity for years. Some lauded his World Cup performance, where he tied Golden Boot winner Thomas Mueller's 5 goals. Others who watched Spain's matches would say that he should have done better, and that he was wasteful. Mueller's haul of 5 goals came from 13 shots. Villa's came from 32. Add service from Xavi, Iniesta and Xavi Alonso to the equation, and suddenly 5 goals doesn't seem all that impressive. With Torres injured, he was expected to lead the charge for the heavy favourites, but Spain was humbled by Switzerland 1-0 in their opening match. Villa added 3 goals in group matches against Honduras and Chile, contributing only 2 more in the knockout stages, where the offensively gifted Spaniards putted forward on 1 goal victories in each match, going into extra time for the final against Holland.
Villa is THE pure striker for arguably the best club in the world?
Get the fuck out here with that bullshit.
Back to the business transactions, looking at your el Classico opponents, it's not to say that cash wasn't splashed lavishly at the Santiago Bernabeu. Ángel di Maria was purchased for an appalling €30 million plus an additional €11 million based on incentives. Added to the galactic fees paid for CR7, Kaká and, to a lesser extent, Karim Benzema as well as Xavi Alonso last season, any eventual success can almost completely be attributed to their financial clout. The sale of Arjen Robben to Munich for €25 million and Wesley Sneijder to Inter for €15 million only barely covered the purchase of Karim Benzema.
Back to the future, this season, Madrid has demonstrated greater fiscal responsibility (di Maria aside) and made what can be considered bargain buys, as key youngster Mesut Özil only cost them a "meager" €15 million. He had a revelatory World Cup and is already forging an excellent partnership with former Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. Fellow German International Sami Khedira has seamlessly slotted himeslf into Mourinho's plans and Madrid's formation, the 23 year old cost an estimated fee of €10 million. Pedro León has yet to become a mainstay, but at 23, with his €10 million price tag, he will be given time to adjust and flourish. Rafael van der Vaart was offloaded to Tottenham Hotspur for approximately €9 million.
It's not to say that your performance has been inadequate, but since La Liga is a two-horse race, the measuring stick will always be Réal Madrid. Madrid have a far tougher Champions League group, featuring AC Milan, Ajax and Auxerre, and they have yet to concede a goal while winning all three of their matches. You have dropped two points in a group with Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos. While there is no doubt you will win the group, which is all that matters, two points dropped before qualification is mathematically certain is no laughing matter.
Barcelona, while you have the best player in the world in Lionel Messi, I do believe that Xavi's fitness remains crucial to your success this season. Javier Mascherano for Yaya Touré is, in my honest opinion, bad business from a Football perspective, while David Villa for Zlatan Ibrahimović is bad business from both a Football and a fiscal perspective.
IBRACADABRA!
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