'No more Galacticos'
Last updated: 6th May 2008
Ramos: unsung hero
You don't just need the artistes, you need the hard workers.
Graham Hunter
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The Revista panel are agreed that Real Madrid's La Liga success is down to the fact that they have purposefully stepped away from the 'Galacticos' era.
Real are currently celebrating back-to-back title wins after clinching the championship by beating Osasuna 2-1 at the weekend and many have attributed their success to the 'family atmosphere' that has been established at the club.
Real were known in the past for buying huge stars such as Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo and David Beckham but struggled to win trophies with those players and Revista's Guillem Balague pointed out that those sorts of stars are no longer regarded as the key to success.
He said: "The idea for Real is to get new players - but not Cristiano Ronaldo kind of players.
"What Raul told Roman Calderon in the middle of all the madness of this week's celebrations was 'don't change things, don't destroy this team'.
"There will be new players coming in, they need a striker such as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar or David Villa - and they will be looking at players like Alexander Hleb - middle-class players if you like, who will make the squad much better."
Unsung
Of course, there are still big stars at the club in the likes of Robinho, Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Graham Hunter was eager to sing the praises of some of Real's lesser-known talents.
He insists that the likes of Mahamadou Diarra and Sergio Ramos have underpinned Real's title triumph with their hard-working, unselfish attitude.
Hunter said: "I don't want people like Ramos and Diarra to go unsung.
"There are many ways to transform yourself from the 'circus' of the Galacticos era - as Raul called it - to the hard-working nitty-gritty team.
"This team has taken six points of Atletico Madrid, six points off Villarreal and they're about to take six points off Barcelona. You don't just need the artistes, you need the hard workers.
"Diarra and Ramos put their bodies on the line every single week and in some ways Ramos is the leader of this squad.
"Like Casillas, he does everything for the team. His attitude is: 'myself second and the club first'."
