The number of players that Chelsea has given away at a loss to the club is obscene. It is only Roman's money that is keeping them afloat. For any other club it would be the death knell.
" For 19 Premiership clubs, £100m equates to almost six years of TV money - a lifeline in the modern game on an annual basis. Any other club who haemorrhaged a similar sum would be, at best, looking to sack their entire board, or at worst, liquidated. To fritter away £100 million really is something else. If it wasn't so grotesque it would be admirable in its audacity. "
Read on for the grim perspective >>
The same thing happens in the USA with baseball with no restrictions on the salary cap. The NY Yankees spend money obscenely on players. Alex Rodriguez has cost them $250 million dollars for his contract and since he came in the Yankees have not won a World Series. That is why there is so much to cheer when smaller clubs like the Florida Marlins and the Arizona Diamonbacks win the World Series over the Yankees. And that Chelsea is soon going to find out the same through its revolving door policy for players. If Mourniho does not win, look for that same revolving door.
[i]Money buys talent, but TEAMS win championships.[/i]
This is true. Remind me who won the last two PL Championships again?
Can someone tell me how much money was made by Man U when van Nistelrooy left? Or when Alan Shearer retired?
Disclaimer: I am a Florida Marlin fan. Yes, there are some of us fringe people :)
The Marlins won the WS in 1997 beating the Indians (one of the best WS) and then again 2003 beating NYY. It was great seeing Josh Beckett shut down the big guns. Remember Soriano's swing and a miss. The man struck out what 12 times at bat? But it was a great team effort and also a sense of deja vu. The year after both wins, was the Marlins firesale. Joe Girardi is doing a fantastic job with the fish.
The lesson here...
Money buys talent, but TEAMS win championships.
Why haven't the Yankees (my favorite baseball team, btw) won? Well, all the talent they had in the late 90's (O'Neill, Williams, Jeter, Posada, Brosius, etc) formed a TEAM, much like the acclaimed idiots of Boston a couple of years ago. Now, they have talent but not a true TEAM. A-Rod is a talent, but he ultimately cannot inspire a TEAM around himself like Jeter can. Sometimes it's not about talent, it's about attitude and grit and competition. See 1997 Marlins, 2001 Diamondbacks, 2003? Marlins.