Spoiled Brats
Real Madrid are an embarrassment, as is Man Utd's decision-making.
By Patric Ridge
Real Madrid enjoyed a magnificent 2023-24 campaign.
Not only did they reclaim the title in LaLiga, cruising to that trophy with the minimum of fuss, but they also won the Champions League, extending their record in that competition — they have now been crowned European champions on 15 occasions.
To make the feat even more impressive, Carlo Ancelotti was operating without a top-class centre-forward following Karim Benzema’s departure to Saudi Arabia. But the Italian played Jude Bellingham as a box-crashing number 10, and found a way to get Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo operating as a hugely effective strike partnership, with support coming from former Stoke City and Newcastle United forward Joselu.
Kylian Mbappe’s arrival has not heralded the instant continuation of success that was expected, with Barcelona’s 4-0 Clasico triumph this past weekend a blow to Madrid’s ego.
But there can be no doubting that Los Blancos were well worthy of celebrating at last night’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris, where awards for the best team and best coach, and — of course — the best player, of last season, were dished out.
The issue is, nobody from Madrid was there to receive any of those awards. Because the club, as a whole, had thrown their toys out of the pram.
Many expected Vinicius, fresh from his starring roles in both domestic and European success, to win the main prize on offer — the Ballon d’Or. His triumph would see Madrid match Barcelona when it came to the number of Ballons d’Or won, on 12. It would continue the trend of LaLiga players dominating the award, and it would be the Brazilian’s crowning moment.
But the issue is, Vinicius didn’t deserve that award. And neither, for all his brilliance, did Bellingham or anybody else from Madrid.
Rodri, an integral part of Manchester City’s fourth straight Premier League title win and Spain’s all-conquering Euro 2024 campaign, deserved the Ballon d’Or. And by Monday afternoon, reports emerged that Madrid had caught wind that Rodri would, in fact, win it.
In response, they boycotted the ceremony. Not one player, coach or club official was in attendance. It meant there was nobody there to receive the award for Team of the Year, and Ancelotti was unable to collect his Johan Cruyff Trophy for the best men’s coach.
Vinicius came second in the voting, Bellingham second and Dani Carvajal fourth. Mbappe was sixth, albeit for his efforts in a Paris Saint-Germain shirt last season.
There was so much for Madrid to celebrate, had they just shown a bit of humility. Fair enough — if there’s any club in world football that doesn’t need to be humble, it’s Madrid. But every now and then, some grace and decorum would be nice.
It shouldn’t take away from Rodri’s triumph. He has been the best player in the world for the past 18 months, and for a defensive midfielder to clinch the Ballon d’Or is a feat in and of itself — albeit Rodri is much more than just a defensive midfielder, of course.
However, Madrid’s behaviour naturally has overshadowed Rodri’s success.
Vinicius’ time may come, and he is brilliant when he’s at his dazzling best, but perhaps he should have shown more consistency in a Brazil shirt at the Copa America if he really wanted to claim to be the world’s best player. Instead, apart from turning it on against Paraguay in the group stage, he flitted in and out of matches and got himself suspended for the quarter-final against Uruguay, which the Selecao lost on penalties.
There are lessons here for Vinicius, and everyone else at Madrid, to learn. Whether they do learn, is up for debate.
The other big news on Monday was that, finally, and at least five months too late, Manchester United have sacked Erik ten Hag.
It should have happened at the end of last season, but the INEOS decision-makers failed to make the right decision.
Instead of sacking Ten Hag after the FA Cup final, which unfairly to the Dutchman, had been leaked as the plan ahead of that match against Manchester City in May, INEOS seemingly panicked when United pulled off an unexpected victory.
It would have been easy to sack the head coach who had just been soundly beaten by the noisy neighbours, as was anticipated. But the optics became poorer when he won.
Not that INEOS have been particularly concerned by poor optics, mind you. They were quick to cut over 200 jobs in the summer, after all, while pumping £200million into players that Ten Hag wanted. Oh, and then there was the decision to move the women’s team into portable changing rooms, so the men could take their facilities while Carrington undergoes a much-needed refurb.
Back to Wembley, where Ten Hag was bullish in his post-match interviews, possibly because he still expected to be sacked regardless, as he should have been. He might have won a second trophy in as many seasons, but he had led United to their lowest Premier League points tally; the football was muddled and the man-management left plenty to be desired.
The United job has simply always felt too big for Ten Hag, whose self-confidence too often comes across as arrogant. Sure, the chaos that engulfs that club, and has engulfed it now for over a decade, would make it difficult for any manager, but Ten Hag just wasn’t good enough.
INEOS had to save face, though. Those leaks to the press before the FA Cup final were damaging, and the only way to really prove they backed Ten Hag was to offer him a contract extension. It was a Catch-22. And it was also abundantly clear that the extension was nothing more than a face-saving exercise, for United to try and cling on to the facade that they had a plan.
Well, five months later, Ten Hag is gone. A run of one win in eight games proved too much for INEOS to take. He should have gone after the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last month, but like in the summer, INEOS dallied.
United fans thought INEOS’ arrival heralded a brand new era for the club. But so far, they are hardly pulling up any trees. Even their approach and eventual appointment of Dan Ashworth — whose stock has fallen from his Brighton days — was botched.
Ruben Amorim, the Sporting CP boss, is reportedly their number one target. But surely he would have been a priority option in the summer, and probably would have been easier to get out of the Portuguese club at that time… Another question for INEOS to answer, on what is a growing list of black marks against their leadership.