Glory days: Well they’ll pass you by
In the era of Football globalization where the rich few are increasingly snapping up the world’s best players, this article will take a look at a couple of teams who are struggling to adapt in this new football climate.
Paris Saint-Germain
A common theme among the teams mentioned below is that the modern is not only at fault but also bad management lies at the root of the problem.
Nicolas Anelka quickly comes to mind as he was sold to Arsenal for $800 000. Two years later Arsenal turns around and sells Anelka to Real Madrid for $52 million (all figures in U.S dollars)
It wasn’t so long ago that Paris Saint-Germain featured Ronaldinho but after several dust ups with then manager Luis Fernandez he decided it was time to move on. Barcelona then came calling with 35 million dollars in hand. As evident by their current league position PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) did not spend wisely replacing him.
In 1996 PSG won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and lost in the 1997 final to a Barcelona team that featured Ronaldo and Luis Figo. It’s been a slow slide down the European mountain top since then. PSG finished 2nd in 2003/04, followed up by back to back 9th place finishes in 2004/05 and 2005/06, some assumed PSG hit rock bottom last year finished 15th but they have been proven wrong with PSG now in 18th spot and in real danger to be regulated at the end of the season.
PSG in better times facing Rapid Vienna in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final.
Last year Paul Le Guen who coached Lyon to three straight titles was bought in to right the wrongs. As Rangers fan would attest the genius tag that used to be labeled on Paul Le Guen has quickly faded. The young players bought up to the first team haven’t gelled. Pauleta at age 34 and being pushed out the door come the end of the season is still the teams top scorer.
That says enough about the young crop of players being forced into this current squad.
Benfica
On the off chance you checked the weekend results and saw Benfica lose 3-0 at home to 12th place Académica de Coimbra that scoreline would pretty much sum up Benfica’s season. Currently Benfica are in 4th spot one point behind a Champions League place and 21 points behind League Champions Porto.
Benfica use to be one of the glamor clubs of European football who behind the great Eusébio led Benfica to the European Champions Cup in 1961 and 1962 and finished runner up three more times in the 60′s as they challenged Real Madrid for European supremacy.
It was only 2006 where Benfica defeated the reigning Champions League winners Liverpool on the way to losing in the Quarter Final against Barcelona. The Spanish side then went on to win the Champions League that season.
(Forgive the cheesy Aerosmith music, the clip is also in Portuguese. Shocking an English clip was hard to find)
Since then head coach Ronald Koeman moved on to PSV before leaving for Valencia. His replacement Fernando Santos lasted all of one season and one game as he was fired after the opening day of this season after a 1-1 draw with promoted Leixoes. Former Real Madrid and Benfica coach José Antonio Camacho was bought back to manage this team however he resigned or fired, it depends on who you asked a couple of weeks ago.
Benfica lost their way when they sold Simao to Atlético Madrid in the summer. While I can’t fault Benfica for cashing in on the player his loss exposed the lack of heart that is currently being displayed on the field. Some of that is the players fault since the back four gave up way too many easy goals but a lack of vision at the top is also at fault. Firing a coach one game into the season never makes for a smooth year and with five coaches in the last four years Benfica needs solid leadership in the boardroom all the way down to the bench before their talented young players such as Óscar Cardozo, Ángel Di María and Freddy Adu will shine.
Ajax
Ajax losing out to PSV for the fourth straight season pretty much sums it up for the club that invented Total Football.
Ajax issues also start at the top with a report commissioned on the last ten years of Ajax troubles that blasted the last ten years of mismanagement from the top on down. Consistency hasn’t been a hallmark for Ajax with five coaches in the last three years. Six when you include incoming manager Marco van Basten. Then the whole Johan Cruyff saga who returned to his beloved club in an advisor’s role and left after seventeen days due to disagreements with the board on Ajax’s future direction.
The globalization of the game seems to have hurt Ajax the most out of the three teams listed. Gone are the days where Ajax could keep the core of the team together which occurred when they won the Champions League in 1994-1995.
Now players such as Rafael van der Vaart, Hedwiges Maduro, Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder, and Ryan Babel developed by Ajax, are all playing in the Dutch national team, are all play for other clubs. When you take into account Klaas-Jan Huntelaar being sold within the next year it is easy to see why Ajax has failed to qualify for the last two Champions League and failed to play in Europe entirely this season.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
All very true. Im always amazed looking back at how many great players played for parma in a short space of time. What did they do with all that money. Buffon, Cannavaro, Chiesa, Di Vaio, Fiore, Inzaghi, crespo, veron, Thuram, Stoichkov and more recently they had Bonera, gilardinho and rossi on there books. I mean how do you end up fighting relegation on a regular basis from this. Hopefull Valencia will recover from their slump or they could soon be on this list.