The Aftermath of “That Move”

By: Corey | September 2nd, 2008

So there was a great debate on the Robinho move in the past 12 hours of me throwing a hastly put together post up. There was also great debate over my grammar, and my “photo-shopping” skills. I assure you, I do not own Photo Shop, nor anything other then MS Paint, which is fine with me. And my grammar, with regards to there/their/they’re has always been poor, and at this point I have simply decided instead of painstakingly checking through it all, I will write things down quickly to get it out in a timely manner. I dont have an editor, much less a budget, as this is a blog, if you didnt notice.

But Robinho, the Brazilian winger, has left Madrid for Manchester last night, albeight the blue side of the city. In a strange move for all parties concerned, it looks like Manchester City plan to make waves in the EPL this year. Here is what Ramon Calderon had to say:

“The boy was in a terrible way,” Calderon told radio station Cadena SER late Monday. “Robinho’s problem was worse than we believed. I spoke to him several times. When he spoke of his situation, he physically cried and asked to leave Spain. He was desperate.”

“It is not Madrid’s aim to sell players. We must defend the club’s interests. The reasons in this case are both humane and sporting.”

“He wasn’t bothered about going to Manchester City. His departure from Madrid wasn’t just due to sporting reasons, there is something else, which I can’t understand. You can’t keep anyone against their will at the club,” Calderon said.

“This (Monday) afternoon, Chelsea hadn’t said anything. Manchester made its bid at seven o’clock by fax. It was €34 million (US$49.3 million). And we reached €40 million (US$58 million), plus €2 million (US$2.9 million) for objectives,”.

Alright, so financially here is how it breaks down:

The transfer fee was €40 million (euro, 32 in pounds sterling) (US$58 million), plus €2 million (US$2.9 million) for objectives

Robinho agreed to a four-year contract, Robinho will reportedly earn 6 million euro ($8.7 million) a year - about three times his salary with the Spanish champions.

Which means we made 40 million euro and cut out a little over 2 million of our salary structure. At avoided a increase in wages of 4 million on one player. Financially, this deal makes sense all across the board. So Pejda, Portugal and Calderon get a +1

As for the teams ability to compete on all fronts this year, it obviously weakens the team, on paper atleast. Robinho is a good player, even a great one in flashes. What he contributed to the team last year was double digit goals and assits, plus game changing performances. So in that aspect, unless Robben can put up those kind of numbers and put on a clinic if we are down, it will be a loss.

But also look at this from a current stand point. Robinho was crying and begging to leave. Do you think keeping him would have yielded those kinds of performances? I dont think so. Robinho said that Schuster was not his father, so I dont think even with some great attempts, that Schuster could have “recovered” the player. I know Bernd wanted him still, but the influences he was under by his agent and other advisors was to great, and he would sulk until he got a move. Schuster losses a huge piece to his puzzle, so for that, Pejda, Portugal and Calderon get a -2.

His actions could also turn out to be a destabilizing force in the dressing room, a no-no for this current regime. Robinho was famously part of the Brazilian clan, but now finds himselft with only Marcelo for company. This probably upset Robinho a bit, but the dressing room should be united regardless of nationality. In 3 years with Real I never got the feeling Robinho was really part of the team, he was a jokster and friend of many of the players, but I dont think he was ever a true team member. Getting rid of a locker room cancer before it spreads is vital though, so Pejda, Portugal and Calderon get a +2.

Robinho’s situation was strange in that all seemed fine until training began. All of the sudden Robinho was unhappy at being included in a “possible” swap deal for Ronaldo. Manchester United has stated that Real Madrid only made ONE bid for Ronaldo, and it did not involve a swap. Anything other then that is heresay as far as I am concerned. A swap deal like that would have been discussed with the player, and considering the nature of that transfer saga, the press would have found out. I believe that Real considered such a deal, but the fact that it was never tabled makes me wonder what Robinho’s deal was on this.

Play speculation is rampant these days, and at club like Real, it is magnified. Calderon was to an extent, a little obsessed about getting Ronaldo early on, but he backed off considerably when Manchester United turned him down. After that, it was alot of diplomatic talk and “no, no, if he wants to come he will force it but we are done on our end”. Thats how it should be. Again, if any shading dealings took place that I dont know about then this story changes.

So the whole Ronaldo saga was more a press fixiation then anything. Robinho seems to have gotten swept up in it. He was upset with the way he was treated by Real’s management when it was hardly the case. The swap deal looks to have never gotten past the idea stage, while the contract talks he was so disappointed with were really a sham. Real offered what I believed to be 3 million a year. Robinho’s agent refused, knowing that his cut was not high enough considering it was only a 1 mill increase. He used the press to try and extort the Real board in to forking over more. Real Madrid doesnt work that way though, much like Manchester United doesnt. So thats a +1 for Calderon and co.

Chelsea’s supposive interest was pretty underwhelming. They made some less then eye-catching bids whic were not enthusiastically recieved by the Real management. They also didnt offer Robinho 6 million a year. What they did do was start selling Robinho kits on their site before a deal was even close to being done. Shaddy tactic or marketing goof? This is a professional club, shit like that shouldnt happen. Shaddy tactic, and it only further sent Robinho’s mind out the door. Chelsea under estimated Reals will to keep him, and they lost out. They now have not pulled one over on a direct rival for the Champions League this year.

Manchester City on the other hand gave him a life line. If you dont watch the EPL then I guess this move seems acceptable, whether as a sporting decision or financial one. But I watch the EPL frequently, because its on TV all the time. I have seen Manchester City play for the past 6 years, and let me tell you, its been a rollercoaster. I like some of the players they have, particularly Vincent Kompany, Daniel Sturridge and Micheal Johnson, but they are not a title-challenging team. And they wont be with Robinho either. They wont even be a Champions League challenging team. And because of that, Calderon and co get another +1 for not strengthening a direct rival.

As for the statements like “Robinho wanted to leave Real for the EPL no matter what team, this isnt a good sign” or “Real wasted the whole transfer window going after Ronaldo and then ended up loosing Robinho shows their incompetence”. For one, Robinho wanted to leave for money. If it was prestige, he would have held out for Chelsea. No offense to Man City, but prestige is not something they can offer Robinho. And I dont think its indicative of anything other then this is a business these days, and while its sad and it looses alot of its legend, football has been lost to the accountants, lawyers, agents and advisors all looking to make a buck.

As for the last minute bids on Villa, or the posturing for Santi Cazorla, it was more of a matter of a what-if rather than a must have. If Robinho had been sold three days ago, then I would have expected a player to be brought in. The fact that he was sold with a few hours to go means that there was no time to sign a replacement. A late bid for Villa was more of a price range estimate for the winter market then anything. I assure you, if Raul and Ruud are not cutting it and Valencia is underperforming as we all expect they could, Villa will be bid for again. But to say that because we didnt sign Villa or Huntelaar or Cazorla (or Ronaldo) means this window was a failure was just not true.

VdV was signed for under 15 million, that is a steal. +5 for the team. Also consider we have Garay on retainer, and it looks like that will be a great move. Based on those two moves, it was a great market. Of course the signing of Villa, which was a little mishandled, would have been seen as a huge coup, but it was not going to happen, the Valencia board were not interested in selling, even before the EUROs. If Real had focused their attention on Villa instead of Ronaldo, we may have had a better chance. So a -5 for that oversight.

Then again, Real is a very large club, and it doesnt operate with just three people. They can negotiate for more then one player at a time, so I feel like this sole focus problem is non-existant. But Villa was definately an after thought until about two weeks ago. So I say let it be, you can force a move to happen if your Real Madrid, otherwise you get criticized like no other. Oh hey, Berbatov signed for Manchester United, look at that.

In the end, if Robben plays well this year and avoids injury, we wont feel the loss as much. If Drenthe steps up then we wont even notice Robinho left. And if VdV plays close to his potential, we have ourselves a clear replacement for him, albeight in a different position. The anger with Robinho’s conduct aside, this move has strengthed the locker room, the bank account, and Real’s position as a club in Europe. NO ONE PLAYER IS GREATER THAN REAL MADRID. Robinho knows this now.

And if you were keeping score, I gave Calderon, Pedja and Portugal ended up on a +3, not to shabby.