Can Real Madrid buy its way back to glory?

The summer transfer period is just a few weeks old and already Real Madrid has forked over more money in transfer fees than most clubs could ever dream of spending. After a disappointing 2008-2009 domestically and in Europe for Los Blancos, the decision was made to tear it down and start fresh in Madrid. The organization was forced to watch their biggest rival, Barcelona, complete the Treble this season, winning La Liga by a comfortable nine point margin, taking home the Copa Del Rey, and conquering the Champions League with a fantastic 2-0 defeat of Manchester United. As if it weren’t bad enough, Madrid was unceremoniously bounced from the Champions League 5-0 on aggregate by English side Liverpool.

A slow start in La Liga this season cost manager Bernd Schuster his job, and the embarrassing Champions League exit coupled with a late season 6-2 loss to rival Barcelona cost club President Ramon Calderon his position. New club President Florentino Perez and manager Manuel Pellegrini have been tasked with regaining Madrid’s elite status among Europe’s clubs. Perez wasted no time making Madrid’s intentions clear. Monday the team paid AC Milan $92.05 million for midfielder Kaka and then broke the bank on Thursday, paying Manchester United $131 million for midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo. Now the question is will $223 million spent on two of the world’s elite footballers make a difference?

Recent history is full of examples of money not being enough to buy your way to the top. Championships aren’t won and lost simply by throwing the best players out on the field and letting them do their thing. Winning means having the right chemistry on the pitch among players and the right manager on the bench guiding the team. Keeping that in mind, here are some reasons way the fans in Madrid should approach next season with caution.

Being a coach isn’t as easy as setting a lineup and telling your players to go out and win. Coaches need to manage their team on and off the field, during training and games, and devise a winning strategy. Aside from these essentials, coaches these days need to be very adept at managing talent and dealing with egos. Teams can be loaded with talent and go nowhere while teams with mediocre players can have magical seasons.

England’s Chelsea FC is a perfect example. The Blues began the 2008-2009 season under the guidance of Luiz Felipe Scolari. After a hot start the Blues began to struggle, leading to Scolari’s firing in January 2009. Chelsea’s Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, reached out to Russian National Team manager Guus Hiddink. Hiddink took over in February and led Chelsea to a fabulous finish. Chelsea lost only one game under Hiddink's guidance. He brought them within a breath of the Champions League final, and brought the FA Cup home to Stamford Bridge. The team added no players, and in fact lost at least one key defender to injury, yet Hiddink was much more successful leading the same players than Scolari.

So the question becomes, can Pellegrini take the Madrid roster and mold its players into a cohesive unit capable of winning consistently and performing at their best? In acquiring Ronaldo and Kaka, there is no doubt that Madrid has perhaps the two greatest footballers in the world suiting up for its team. The challenge the team will face will be keeping both of these massively talented players happy. Football is played with only one ball at a time and Madrid is going to need to find a way to move its offense effectively through both players. Just this past season, Ronaldo was seen pouting on the pitch when things weren’t going his way with Manchester United. It is no secret that Ronaldo is a bit of a ball hog, how will Kaka feel if the ball isn’t coming his way? We already know Ronaldo won’t be happy if he isn’t seeing the ball.

 Lastly, will Madrid have enough money left to address its biggest stumbling block, defense? Putting it politely, the Madrid defense was comparable to a sieve last season. The team gave up 52 goals in 38 La Liga games, in comparison to 35 and 39 from Barcelona and Sevilla (1^st and 3^rd in La Liga). In just 6 Champions League games, the Madrid defense allowed 10 goals. While Madrid’s midfield was also a weak spot on the team with its inability to transition the flow of Madrid’s game from defense to attack, Ronaldo and Kaka are not defenders and won’t greatly increase the team’s ability to prevent opponents from scoring. For Madrid’s sake, one can only hope there is money left in the war chest to acquire a top notch defender to help keep opponents in check.

One thing is clear, Florentino Perez’ return to Real Madrid as President is sparking extreme changes in the club. Perez has manufactured these kind of outstanding transfers before, notably David Beckham from Man U in 2003 and Ruud Van Nistelrooy from Man U in 2006, resulting in mediocre success. Only time will tell if the arrivals of Kaka and Ronaldo will mark a return to the glory days, or if it will just be an exercise in foolish investing.