14-19 July: Team building in Algarve, Portugal
21-31 July: Training in Irdning, Austria
2 August: friendly match against Hamburg SV (Emirates Cup)
3 August: friendly match against Arsenal (Emirates Cup)
7 August: friendly match against Independiente Santa Fe, in Bogota, Colombia
12 August: friendly match against Eintracht Frankfurt, in Germany
Spanish Supercup against Valencia, 2 matches
27 August: the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy against Sporting Lisbon

Here is some of the highlighted adventures the Real squad will be on this summer:

Team camp in Portugal and training in Austria
On 14 July the squad will regroup for five days of family fun in Portugal’s Algarve. This experience to promote and boost personal relationships will then be followed by the first stage of training.

Real Madrid will spend a few days in the Algarve before the preseason. Real Madrid have come up with a programme designed to promote the idea of their players and their families spending more time together. They will all meet at a touristic resort in the Algarve (Portugal) called Vale do Lobo. This pioneering programme will no doubt be imitated by other clubs in the future.

Established in 1962, Vale do Lobo was the first tourist resort in the Algarve. Up until then, the famous Portuguese area basically lived on agriculture and fishing, but this changed to tourism as soon as the resort was finished and another five were built. Vale do Lobo has improved throughout the years, becoming one of the best resorts in the country thanks to its golf courses, football pitches, swimming pools, beaches and services. It will be the perfect place for the squad and their families to spend the final days in their summer holidays.

Real Madrid will arrive on 14 July and the entire resort will be available only to them.

Vale do Lobo provides its residents with a unique experience thanks to the beaches that surround it, the countless sports activites they can do, its international cuisine restaurants and a wide variety of services. The players and their families will be able to relax while playing golf on either of the resort’s two 18-hole courses prior to travelling to Irdning (Austria) once again for the toughest part of the preseason.

Golf, tennins, football… Real Madrid will be able to use the resort’s top-notch sports facilitiers to start preparing themselves for the hard season that is to come. They will return to Madrid on 19 July and leave for Irdning on the 21st.

For five years running, Real Madrid will return to Irdning, Austria for the most strenuous part of the preseason; ten days (21-31 July) of a strict training regimen during which the internationals will progressively return from vacation after being eliminated from the Euro. Only those who make the final or are participating in the Olympics will miss the beautiful Austrian scenery.

Emirates Cup:
After 11 straight days of training, the team will fly straight to London for the Emirates Cup organized by Arsenal. This year’s participants also include Juventus, and Hamburg.

Real Madrid’s participation in the Emirates Cup is creating a huge buzz, so much so that no tickets remain for their much anticipated match against Arsenal.

The preseason tournament scheduled for August 2nd and 3rd will pit Real Madrid against Hamburg and Arsenal. Teams receive three points per victory, one per draw, and one per goal scored.

The Whites will be back in the Spanish capital on 4 and 5 August, but the following day are booked on a flight to Colombia to play Independiente Santa Fe on 7 August in Bogota. The team will return home until 10 August, when they again leave Madrid for Germany.

Columbia Trip:
On 7 August Real Madrid will visit Colombia for their preseason friendly against Independiente Santa Fe. Pedja Mijatovic and Javier Lozano spoke to the Colombian press about the upcoming match.

Pedja Mijatovic:
“The match against Santa Fe is very important for us because we’ll be in the middle of our preseason. We expect all our core players to be there, starting with goalkeeper Iker Casillas. I do have to reiterate, however, that there are negotiations underway with some players, and those that can leave the team around that date will not travel.”

Javier Lozano:
Visiting Latin America through Colombia is an honor and a pleasure for two reasons: first, because Real Madrid competes in Spain but has global presence, and second, because Colombia holds us in high regard and are very fond of us.”

“Real Madrid isn’t coming as a tourist. Madrid always has its prestige, image, and respect for the world on the line. The match will be played on 7 August and the first official match back in Spain is on 14 August. This will, therefore, be a good test.”

“Bernd Schuster will treat the match in Bogota as an official match. Santa Fe are representing Colombia and we hold them in the highest regard and admiration.”

German Friendly and Spanish Super Cup:
Before the Spanish Super Cup, Madrid are scheduled to visit Eintracht Frankfurt on 12 August at the Commerzbank-Arena in what will be a rematch of the fifth European Cup title won by the Madridistas (Puskas, Gento, Santamaría, Alfredo Di Stéfano). During the last two weeks leading up to the start of La Liga, the Whites have a tie against Valencia for the first title of the season.

Santiago Bernabeu Trophy:
The final test of the preseason is none other than the Santiago Bernabéu Trophy played at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 27 August. This year’s tribute to the great Real Madrid President will be played against Sporting Club Portugal, who just celebrated their centenary last season.

It looks like an exciting preseason. The Algarve is a hot spot for just about all football teams, but Real get their players the best of the best, judging by those pictures. That golf course looks incredible, makes my mouth water. Irding will follow normal precedure of the past few years, with Schuster picking out some easy friendlies for the boys to get back into match shape with. The Emirates Cup is a big deal, because its a great spot to try out your youngsters. I can remember seeing the great young players of Arsenal, Valencia and PSG last season, and will look forwad to this years tournament.

The trip to Columbia and Germany are symbollic if nothing more, but will be fun to watch. The main thing is the Super Cup and Santiago Bernabeu trophy, which I want us to win. It will set the tone for the season ahead, which will be a big one. Until those days comes, I will keep everyone up to date with whats going on with with Castilla team next week, if I can sift through all the Spanish articles I have. One thing is for certain, Nieto is off the Almeria, in the same type of deal all our youth players have. He joins Callejon and Adrian as the most recent departures to La Liga from the academy. Goodluck Nieto!

My RSS Feed was over-active yesterday with news linking Robinho to Chelsea. Of course I dismissed it as the usual offseason trasnfer gossip, and that the Chelsea rumors had appeared before but they never came to anything. But when I loaded up my Firefox last night I saw the headline Robinho Close to Chelsea on soccernet and I immediately looked at the story. What I read was astonishingly arrogant and self fullfilling comments from Robinho’s agent, who might just have as big an ego as Robinho does.

Robinho’s agent, Ribiero Wagner, claimed that Robinho was upset in being a make weight for any possible Cristiano Ronaldo deal. Because of this so-called slap in the face, Robinho’s agent was shopping his client around to the club who will pay him the most. And this is because “Robinho is as good if not better then Ronaldo”. Hmmm, okay. Arrogance, check. Self image problems, check. Over Inflated Ego, check. Lack of Common Sense when reading the papers, check. Greed, check. What a fantastic story then!

Here is the problem Robinho. Real have not included you in any deals, because no deal has even been discussed with Manchester United. What you read in the papers (or websites) is 98% false, manufactured to get people to read it. Because the average dumb human loves the sensationalist news more then anything. Why do you think CNN, NBC, Fox News and the like are so widely viewed in the US? Because they bring sensationalist coverage of everyday events and focus on the negativity of the world in order to keep the viewer hooked. Its no different with the football world.

So while Mr. Wagner looks into getting his client a bumper pay deal from Real for a stop-and-start season from Robinho, he might as well throw in the interest and possible transfer offer from Chelsea and their obviously ‘better’ contract terms so that Real will panic and give him the amount of money he wants but really doesnt deserve yet. So while he provides a great spark for us from time to time, if we added Ronaldo then Robinho could feel free to leave. But I dont think Ronaldo will be coming our way, so Robinho should sit tight, tell his agent to keep quite and to have a good season where he is consistent for more then 3-4 months if he wants a better contract.

>
Little Less Thumb Sucking And Whining About Contracts, A Little More Hard Work

Rant finished. Your thoughts?

Phil Ball had a cracker of a comment on Spain’s win and the tournament in general:

Spain’s win has been about good technique and imagination - something that the English, for all their boasting about their over-hyped and inflated Premier League, would do well to note. You never know, this tournament might just influence people to play football again. Stranger things have happened.

That is the truth though, and I hope it lively’s up the domestic league and the continental competitions.

But in all seriousness, Spain were not playing the best football of the tournament alone, I think Holland and Croatia should share that honor, its just that Spain were able to combine the style with some functionality against Italy and Germany, some thing the other two teams lost when they were put to the test. Spain played great football, dont get me wrong, they seriously worked there group hard, but while the game against Sweeden and Greece would have ended in draws, that functionality served them well with winners. Something previous Spanish teams would not have done. The style of play has never changed for Spain, its only now the players believe in it and can fight for the cause.

So while I thoroughly enjoyed the football showcase that Spain put on to reach the finals, it was their will to win that I enjoyed more. I have been a Spain fan since the 94 World Cup, the Luis Enrique incident, so I have seen plenty of beautiful, flowing football over the years. But I have never seen the grit and determination that the Spanish players showed while playing that beautiful football, something the players and Arargonese must be complimented on. I guess leaving Raul at home was not a mistake at all, but I cant complain, he will be fresh for the new season, and Spain has a trophy once again, so all is well!

Cheers to Spain, and the hero of the national team that have made all us Spanish football fans so proud!

Lets begin the ratings from worst to best. And the dubious award for the worst Madridista at the European Championships will have to go to….drum roll please

TA DA!!!! HE IS INJURED AGAIN, YES FOLKS ARJEN ROBBEN!

Score: 4

I think it goes to show that all the Madridistas at the Euro Cup did well when Arjen Robben was our worst player. And it was mainly because he cannot keep himself healthy. The guy was injured before, during, and after the tournament. The brief appearance he did make was impressive, but that was not enough to save his tournament, as his troubled little chicken legs couldnt withstand more then a cameo sub role and a few days training.

Lets hope he can get his fitness issues straightened out before the start of the new season, because I am this close to calling him a waste of money if he is gonna be injured for half of the season. Regardless of how well he plays.

Pepe

Score: 6

An emphatic goal for his adopted country against Turkey and a strong performance against Milan Baros in the second game did his reputation no harm. Things looked good for the bald giant, but despite playing so well, Portugal coach Scolari used his third group game to let the reserves have a run out. But Pepe maintained his place, and was to be hammered by the pace and trickery of Eren Derdiyok and Johan Vonlanthen. Pepe didnt look comfortable next to Fernando Meira, who often put him in a precarious position, and Portugal went down to two Hakin Yakin goals.

In the quarter final against Germany, Pepe was stretched by the width of the Germans and looked out of sorts on set plays, allowing Germany to put two past him in 30 minutes. The third German goal was not his fault, and all in all it was a decent tournament for Pepe, but disappointing for the Portugese. Lets hope he is back to his best for Real come August.

Don Fabio

Score: N/A

So much sorrow for Fabio, who missed his last tournament with a knee injury. He cheared his woeful team on from the bench, but could do nothing about the pathetic teams Donadoni put on the field. Should not have made it out of the group stage if Mutu wasnt a wanker, Italy failed only less miserably then France on living up to their last World Cup performances.

Wesley Sneijder

Score: 8

Wesley played really well, and showed his true qualities with a goal against Italy, some probing stuff against France, and the only real stand out performance against Russia. He labored hard in the Dutch midfield, and made some really great passes for his team mates to have a pop at goal. His ability to dictate play and control the tempo of the game was a highlight that will hopefully carry over in to his league form. Still ot a maverick genius like Guti, his functional play is a welcome relief whenever that maverick genius goes off the boil though.

Ruud

Score: 7

He looked tired at times, but he really did have a good tournament as usual, with two goals, an expert Maradona to release Robben for Van Persie’s goal against the French, and the ability to still be the focal point of the Dutch attack even with Klaas and Kuyt breathing down his neck.

Ruud may have needed a vacation more than anything this summer, but considerin his inury and subsequent layoff from surgery, he should not be to beat. These are his final years as a pro, so he will be looking to finish in style, probably with a CL trophy.

Christoph Metzelder

Score: 7 (a +1 for that lumberjack beard he rocker)

So here is a guy who missed most of the season with a foot injury. Actually, this is a guy who misses most of his club season with an injury before an international tournament, and then plays out of his mind during that tournament. He didnt play out of his mind this time, but he was still very solid for Germany, compossed on the ball and good in the air. He looked weak when someone with speed ran at him, like Torres, but he often got away with it because of decent positional sense or just plain luck.

But it was nice to see him playing again, and that he was not to rusty after a long layoff. His lack of pace is a handi-cap, but he could fill in nice with Pepe I think, as long as we have Diarra or Gago in front of him to keep the direct runs away from him.

Sergio Ramos

Score: 5/9

The group stage was not kind to Ramos, who has a poor end of the season with Real, didnt play particularly well in the pre-tournament friendlies, and he was bad in the first two group games. Aragonese had a talking with him, which the press made out to be an arguement, which it wasnt, and that was that. Ramos then exploded in the knockout rounds, and was back to being one of the best, if not the best, right back in the world. He was cautious yet collected against Italy, while he absolutely ravaged the vaunted left side of Russia, forcing Zhirkov to check his runs.

He then made Lahm look ordinary (Torres made him look like a chump!) when he combined with Silva and Iniesta on the right, and he was a driving force for the whole team with his tireless running. He really never looked bad in the knock-out rounds, and I really really hope this is the Ramos we see this year because I was a little disappointed last year with him.

Iker Casillas

Score: 9

He was outstanding this tournament, and anyone who says Buffon or Cech is the best keeper in the world must look no further then this tournament to prove who trumps who. Buffon made one incredible penalty stop, but other then that he was average, conceding more then Casillas easily, while Cech had a tournament to forget. Casillas on the other hand, was outstanding.

He did not concede in the knockout rounds, he made two penalty saves against Italy and he lead by example for the whole team. He deserved to lift the trophy for Spain, and he can only get better at 27! Incredible tournament for Iker, now he must have his eyes on the Champions League.

So there it is, an fair assessment of the Madrid players in the European Championships. I for one have always thought we should have more players then that in the tournament, but circumstances permitted, it was a good one to watch none the less. Until the World Cup, no more internationa football for awhile :(. Oh well….

Senna will be responsible for marking Ballack when he goes forward. This should not be a problem because my faith in Senna is through the roof right now with his confident displays. Besides marking Ballack, he can drop deeper to keep Podolski hemmed in along with Sergio Ramos. Germany’s 4-3-2-1 system, which may be what we play as well, will allow for a major hole in their armor. And that is the left side. Podolski is a frail player, and has no defensive abilties, which means that Sergio Ramos, who had a great game against Russia, to move forward with aplomb and paired with Silva, torment Phillip Lahm. But pushing Lahm back constantly we will see Podolski dropping deeper to help, which means he wont see much of the ball.

I suggest deploying Senna, Xavi and Iniesta as the three central midfielders as usual. Xavi and Iniesta will be able to cover a good amount of ground with Senna behind them to mark Ballack, and they can do a number on Rolfes and Hitzelberger. The question lies in if Frings plays, in which case I would like to see Xabi Alonso on the field, as to allow for his long range shooting and wide array of passing to bypass Frings in the middle. With Senna pushed up to just behind the center circle, he will put immense pressure on the German midfield to push the ball wide. Which is fine, because Ramos and Capdevila will be able to win their battles with Podolski and Shwein something or other.

The next step is to place Silva on the right with Sergio Ramos to harry Lahm, and then to put Fabregas on the left to help Capdevila with this Shweiny guy and to make some plays for Torres and Silva up front. Torres will be more than a handful for the two German center backs, so with Silva cutting in on Lahm and Fabregas behind Torres, pulling one of Frings, Rolfes or Ballack back with him, we have ourselves a disarray in the German defence. The added benefit of having Fabregas play on the left is that Friedrich is a non-threat as an attacker and so we can leave him alone the whole game, and force Friedrich to attack if he is given space, putting more pressure on the German defence.

My hope is Marchena and Puyol can handle Klose between the two of themselves. He is not someone who will use pace or ball tricks to get a bead on them, but his movement and sixth sense for space will keep them occupied, and they will look to limit the amount of balls he gets in a scoring position because he is a deadly finisher. Iker will of course have plenty of crosses and free kicks to collect throughout the match, so it will be interesting to see how he does with those, that not being his strong suit. Speaking of which, Spain needs to work on defending set plays and corners in training. They have been horrible at it, and most of the goals conceded have been from set plays or crappy man marking on crosses, usually resulting in the Spanish defender not jumping with his man for the ball.

All in all, its a game that will be a huge test for Spain, but one they shouldnt shy away from. They should be confident that after putting away the Italians and then one of the best teams of the tournament, that they can win this whole thing on Sunday. Come on la Furia!

He moves to Benfica where Quique Flores can begin to use a player he had coached, albeight breifly, in the Real youth teams. He signed a 4 year contract, and although the intial fee was suppose to be 6 million euros, it should be less because Real will insert a buy-back clause in the contract. Because we all know he will do pretty well and when Schuster is no longer the coach, Real will want him back. Benfica have not had a right winger for some time now, with a few different players never really fitting in there. I expect Balboa to do some big things with Benfica, where he will show his true class and impress the Porteguese Liga.

Here is a breif retrospect of his Real days (*sob*):

So Gonzo and Mamadou made it into the picture, impressive. They look so noble and righteous in this pic, hopefully these new kits give them some more luck in the Champions League and Copa del Rey. Here are some more pictures:

I really like the blue away kit, I think it is snazzy. Its fairly close to the old school purple ones of Di Stefano’s day, and I think its important to keep that tradition. The black kits of the past few years were fine, but I think they should be European kits at best, white and black are the home kit, and a purple/blue infusion are the away. It is ‘Real’ Madrid for a reason. Enjoy!

And the highlight of the column was this little excerpt about the Italians extra man, Mr. Herbet Fandel, who was absolutely atrocious and should have been fired right there on the field for such a mockery.

But the Spanish are romantics, and prefer to indulge in beauty (or something approaching it) on the football pitch, given the relative messiness of their urban aesthetic. They would probably have imposed this philosophy before the penalty shoot-out if the appalling referee, Herbert Fandel, had possessed even the slightest notion of what constitutes a foul.

Seemingly obsessed by the notion that the Spanish are cheats, Fandel’s assumption that the blatant fouls on Villa and Silva in the first half were anything but made no sense, particularly since if he really thought as much surely he should have booked both of them.

Spain were trying to win. It was Italy who were cheating - constantly interrupting the Spanish flow; whenever a player went down, he looked up carefully to see if an attack was forming, then rolled back over again to force the Spaniards to kick the ball out of play.

It was a a very accurate assessment of the game in my opinion. The Italians offered little, but getting into the details of that is not my place, I could care less about Italian football so I am not a subject matter expert. Phil breaks down how they played, how bad the officiating was and the implications of the game and it seems silly to re-state him, but take the article as it is, a master piece if I have ever seen one.

As for some Real Madrid related news, I had a very good formation breakdown in the works that Wordpress decided not to autosave and then when I went to publish the damn thing it timed out on me. To say I was pissed is an under-statement, but I now have to try and replicate that piece that took me a few days to write. I am hoping to have it out by Thursday, but considering the Spain game is on Thursday, I may just hold off on that.

As for transfer gossip, there was the “revelation” today that Ramon Calderon will not pay 100 million for Cristiano Ronaldo! Wow, what a wise business decision Ramon, how many hours of number crunching with the boys and girls from the finance department did it take for you to figure that out? Considering our debt is somewhere around 2-300 million right now, it doesn’t seem a wise move, even though we are the richest club in the world, which is in part do to your good work. But its not rocket science to see that a. He is not better then Zidane, hence the price does not make sense and b. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Always remember that kids.

As I have said before, this Ronaldo saga will get old fast, and it already has. We still have two months before the window closes, so I dont forsee the issue being resolved unless Ronaldo says he wants to stay with ManU. Hopefully he says something concrete in the next few days so we can be done with this, because it is very tiresome. Thats all for today folks, not much goin on other then CRon, will try to have something constructive up by the end of the week. Hala Madrid!

GK:

Casillas
Dudek
Codina
Adan

Casillas will be the starter again, not that its a problem. Dudek has not left yet….but we all hope he does this summer. Codina should get the chance to start a cup match and I really hope Dudek leaves, oh I already mentioned that. Antonio Adan may very well be promoted if Dudek does leave, or he could go on loan somewhere, which would be a good move for his career. Nothing ever changes in this department.

CB:

Canna
Pepe
Metzelder
Heinze
Sergio Ramos
Garay (on loan at Santander)
Gary (Castilla)

It use to be our achilles heel, now its an area of strength. Pepe was immense for us this past season when he was healthy, while Fabio had his ’senior moments’ but he to was solid for the most part. Heinze looked a little better at left back but was a useful substitute there, likewise Sergio Ramos, while Metzelder is not a name I am familiar with??? Does he play for us? You say he spends his days in the trainers room recieving treatment for his foot? Its news to me but I will definately have to investigate this….

So with 3 true center backs and two full backs capable of covering the center, this should be enough staff on hand to get through a season. Nope, we need to sign another central defender! The signing of Garay was great, and he will only further bring quality to this position. But he will not be with us next season, as he remains on loan with Santander. So considering this will be Canna’s last season with us, and the this guy named Metzelder has injury problems, bringing in another central defender as cover and that has the potential to step in to a starting role in a year or two.

So our depth chart could use one more addition, a 21-24 year old with some CL experience and a few years of regular first team football behind him. Canidates? Well, Vincent Kompany I like, but he is injury prone to the point that Arsene Wenger does not want to pursue him. He also has not really played well since moving to Hamburg, and he may have peaked to early. Ricardo Carvalho certainly wouldnt be considered a sub and is not in the young category, but his availability is known and his abilities are much appreciated.

Marc Torrejon I have liked for some time, and with Espanyol out of European contention may come cheaply. Cesar Arzo did fairly well with Murcia just this past season, but is still pretty unexperienced. Cristian Zapata looks like he will move to a big Italian team any minute, but is still available. Per Mertesacker is a younger, less injury prone Metzelder who has played in the World Cup, Euros and CL for some time now. And with Valencia a giant mess, the under rated Raul Albiol would certainly be a coup. He would probably be the best value of the bunch, but all of these signings are just suggestions.

Regardless of signings, I expect to see Pepe and Canna starting every game, but the key question does not lie with this position primarily, its a whos-who of injuries for the defence every game, because we have had a terrible time with injuries. Its a good thing we have as many wing backs that can cover the middle otherwise we would have been shit out of luck. Gary has performed well for Castilla this past season and may be in line for a call-up in pre-season. But who knows, Schuster isnt the biggest fan of the Castilla team for some reason.

LB, RB:

Sergio Ramos
Miguel Torres
Michel Salgado
Heinze
Marcelo

As Christopher Walken famously told Will Ferrell, “I have a fever, and the only prescription is more Miguel Torres!” I know, kind of homo…and yes he did originally say ‘cowbell’. But I want to see more of Miguel Torres this season. I think he is a defensive rock, and his versatility should prove useful. Sergio Ramos has been pretty off-form during the European Championships, and although while I hope he recovers for Spain’s sake, if he does not, his place will surely be in doubt with Real.

No news as of yet on what Michel Salgado will be doing this offseason. Most likely he will continue with Real until he retires, making the occasional appearance for us and scaring us to death with his inability to defend properly. With Ramos a little out of form and always a possible slot-in at center back, we will look to Torres to improve this season. No new right back needed in the transfer window, seeing as how the last two we bought were absolute balls (looking at you Cicinho and Diogo).

At left back, Heinze is the recognized starter and rightly so. For now. He played well at the end of the season and was met with little resistance from a slow-to-improve Marcelo. Marcelo really needs to step up his game if he is to begin to challenge for a starting berth, because although his attacking capabilities are great, with our leftside of midfield incredibly offensive minded already, some defensive solidity is required.

Considering Heinze is pulled into the center alot, Marcelo will get his chance to shine, but between Heinze either playing center back or being injured (he often is), we have little cover at left back. Torres is used there occasionaly but he is not the best left back in the world. The possibility of bringing a player in seems silly, so the option is to call up a Castilla player as cover. My guess is Chema Anton, who has performed well this year and is a mirror image of Torres. He may make the pre-season trip to Innsbruck, or he may have to wait til mid-season for the call-up but I think it will happen.

DM, CM, AM:

Diarra
Gago
Guti
Sneijder
Baptista
De la Red
Javi Garcia
Granero

Its a two way struggle that ended up being a shared service, but between Diarra and Gago I thought we were well covered here. Both had ups and downs last season, but when paired together they seemed to click. It took a bit away from our attacking game, with just Sneijder and/or Guti to play creatively in the midfield. But both of these guys really stepped up their game towards the end of the season, and we will all hope for more of the same next year.

Added to the corey group was Javi Garcia. And Ruben De la Red. And Esteban Granero. Now its tough to say where each will play, because who knows what Schuster will do with them. But I subsrcibe to a simple midfield breakdown model. DM, CM, AM. And they go in that order, Garcia a bonafide DM, De la Red a hybrid CM and Granero a prototypical AM. And to think, Dani Parejo is still in the Castilla team! Ooohhh LaaLaaa, what midfield options we have this year.

Central midfield should be contested between Sneijder, De la Red and Baptista but throw Gago in their too because Schuster likes him to play with Diarra. Thats alot of competition for one spot, and that may mean a pretty solid bench. It must be noted that all of these players can play multiple roles, with Baptista and Sneijder capable of AM or CM; De la Red and Gago capable of CM or DM. Sadly, we should keep Diarra to DM, HA! The opponent will often dictate who plays well, but I forsee De la Red getting alot of playing time and Javi Garcia not so much, which is too bad but the central midfield is crowded right now, maybe selling someone wont be a bad idea. But Schuster doesnt want to loose Diarra or Baptista, so we will see how it goes.

Guti is the default AM, with Granero his backup/understudy. Sneijder can move into this role to, but he is not as much a creator as a facilitator. Considering Guti is fairly inconsistent, Granero should be given a chance to shine, and the preference that Schuster has to allowing Sergio Ramos to own the right flank means a 4 man midfield will employ 3 central players. So we have 8 players for 3 spots.

Theres always the possibility of 1. Sergio Ramos being out, which means a wide right player may be neccesary, with which case Sneijder gets the nod or 2. We play with one striker, allowing Guti to return to the striking role he came up to the first team in and which would give us more flexibility with midfield options or 3. Robinho or Robben is injured/off form, which means Sneijder would probably play on the left, with Guti centrally and two players for support. My hope is that the Gago-Diarra pairing is not used all the time, as to allow for more dynamic formations but also to not make the pairing stale and predictable so the opposition can work around it.

No potential signings recommended, although the availability of both Javi Martinez and Joao Moutinho always excites me.

LW, RW:

Robben
Robinho
Drenthe
Balboa
Jaunmi Callejon (Castilla)
Perdo Mosquera (Castilla)

4 players for 2 spots, now that seems more reasonable doesnt it? Well, no, because last year we only really played with a LW, unless we played with 1 striker, inwhich case we used a RW. The lack of playing time for both Balboa and Drenthe is worrying, and I feel that Balboa will probably be sold (sigh…) and Drenthe will be loaned somewhere. I think it is to the benefit of both if they get off the team, because Schuster does not necessarily favor wide players, he is more than comfortable with a packed midfield to settle things.

Drenthe probably has options all over the place. When he did play he shows plenty of grit and industry, but his abilities for a winger as compared to say Robben or Robinho dont match up at all. His passing isnt even that great to say he could pull a Beckham (a fairly unskilled dribbler for a winger). He has alot of pace, but he needs to pick a position in my opinion. He could play pretty much anywhere right now, I favor him as a left back, but he will need to work dilligently as a left back. I say loan him out, somewhere he will definately play all the time, and then let that coach work out his positioning errors and position.

Robinho seems like he is just all uncontent now. He has been absolute shit for Brazil this summer, and despite a less the stellar run in he wants a new contract. For more money. Of course he isnt paid like Raul or Casillas, but then again he doesnt perform like them either. With Ronaldo looking ever closer to being signed, which I could care less about, Robinho may be on the chopping block. He is not at a loss for suitors, and should command atleast 30 million euros, but I am hoping that he goes for 40. He could be thrown into the Ronaldo deal or he could go to Chelsea (yes!! Uncle Money Bags) or Milan.

While I feel like keeping Robinho for another year would be prudent, adding Ronaldo means getting rid of Robinho is acceptable. He has at times dazzled us, but has also frustrated us as well. I guess every player has their ups and downs, but these days you cant expect all players to stick with a team for their whole career, so if he does get sold it will be not without a heavy heart. But at the same time we will have Ronaldo, so its a balanced move, unless you look at the financial side of it, yikes! As I have said before, Ronaldo is not worth 90 million euros and all the hastle of dealing with Manchester United. But he would be a welcomed addition none-the-less.

ST, CF:

Raul
Ruud
Soldado
Saviola
Higuain
Bueno (Castilla)

Ruud and Raul are undeniable starters until one stops scoring. And that didnt happen last season. Even with the formidable Soldado and Saviola coming in last summer and Higuain still hanging in there, those two were the undeniable starters. And it meant pretty forgetable season for Soldado and Saviola. Soldado will surely be moving on this summer, even though he has declared he wants to stay and win a place. It just seems dumb to sit on the bench when he could be earning a spot on the national team (lets face it, Sergio Garcia is balls and Guiza only has a season or two left in him).

Saviola mean while is just crap. Yeah he scored a few times, but he was absolute rubbish when he played, sometimes goals dont mean your a good player. I cant wait for him to be sold, along with Dudek and probably Metz, just proving that while last season’s Bosman signings were a bust, they will still make us a profit. Higuain will stay on, and although he seems to turn up his game at the end of the season, he was pretty anonymous for most of the year. He needs to figure out his position as well, which looks like being a support striker like Raul. Problem is he will never push Raul out of a starting berth, so for now he will bide his time on the bench yet again. Improved finishing needs to be on his to-do-list, he should ask Ruud how he is such a predator in the box.

As for a possible addition, people talk alot about Karim Benzema. Although I am an avid Lyon fan and think he is already a great player, he will not be moving to Real this summer. He will stay with Lyon and continue to improve, I do not forsee a move for him for atleast 2 years. There is also rumblings of Klaas Huntelaar being very close to signing for us. I would welcome his signing, as he is a quality finisher and could fill in for Ruud once he retires. But thats two years away still, and with many other clubs very interested, including Juventus. With the Ronaldo signing possibly dragging on all summer, we may miss out on him and have to settle for someone else.

I also have heard rumblings of Negredo being re-purchased from Almeria and then sold on to another La Liga club. Seems silly but its how you make money, and he may even be kept if Soldado leaves and we cant find anyone else to replace him. I still have not heard anything about the Dani Aquino situation, so I dont have anything to comment on that. Of course Castilla’s leading scorer Jose Callejon was sold to Espanyol, and even though he has a buy back clause, I dont expect to see him back.

And thats it for now, as theres no coaching changes except for Julen Lopetegui taking over Castilla. It looks to be an exciting year for Real, with three trophies firmly in-sight (and the Super Copa against Valencia!). Hala Madrid!

Recently Manchester United made a move that no one expected and that no one liked in Italy. Little was made of this ‘theft’ by Manchester United in the press because it is certainly not helping their case against defaming Real Madrid. They signed Roma prospect Davide Petrucci, who I have seen play in Roma’s junior division in vidoes and was very impressive. Now he will play for MU after a measly 200,000 euro trasnaction took place because the 15 year old boy was not under contract yet. Now while I do not deny that Real Madrid has poached a few youngsters themselves, it makes you wonder how Manchester United have a leg to stand on in this Ronaldo debate.

Bruno Conti, Roma’s technical director, had this to say about the matter:

“They complain about Ronaldo and then did the same thing with David,” an absolutely seething Conti told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

“His father Stefano has disappointed me. I will not be told any more lies. As for the boy, I wish him all the best in the world.”

So while MU fans and staff complain about Real’s aledged efforts to sign Ronaldo, MU goes right ahead and does a similar type move to what Real is being accussed of, and in some cases even worse because they got a player with great potential for peanuts. Although the scale is much different between a 15 year old prospect and a 23 year super star (although he is unproven to most of the world as of yet), the principle is still the same. “Do as I say but not as I do” should certainly not be what a club like Manchester United practice if they are going to attack other clubs for being interested in their players.

As a caviate I would also like to say that I dislike how Premiership clubs are operating with regards to stealing young talent from Spain’s youth academies. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and MU are all very guilty of robbin talent from many a Spanish team, and the latest bit of news is that 3 Atletico Madrid prospects are targets for the four teams. All are u-17 players, and I doubt they have contracts as of yet, so they will be slim pickings for the EPL clubs. Develop your own talent, oh I dont know, maybe English players, seeing as how your team cant even qualify for a major tournament anymore!

I am hoping for a strong performance, as he will have a very capable partners in Xabi Alonso and Cesc, while Cazorla, who played pretty well against Sweeden, may not make the match due to a knock. Iniesta may retain his place in the narrow yet effective midfield, which will have a tough time getting by Greece’s ultra-defensive setup. Expect alot of the horizontal ball in this one, more so then in the first two games (thanks Xavi), except this time with Guiza upfront, we will have more of a pure poaching threat. Sergio Garcia can provide some creativity along with Cesc to break the Greeks down, but I only expect a 1-0 win, or even a 0-0 draw.

With that out of the way, transfer talk has died down a bit recently, but there is still some gossip to discuss. First is that Roberto Soldado will surely be leaving this summer, and the odds on favorites are Benfica with former Valencia boss Quique Flores in charge. It seems like a logical move for Soldado, but with Benfica you never know what your getting. Portugal is a fairly poor league, and he surely has suitors in Spain, so his destination remains to be seen. A transfer fee has been quoted anywhere between 4 and 8 million euros, with 8 million absurd considering he didnt score once last year. But thats how we operate. Soldado though does not wish to leave, as he says in this interview:

Roberto Soldado joined Real Madrid when he was 13-years old. Although he didn’t play as often as he would have liked last season, he is ready to do whatever it takes to earn his spot. In an interview with Marca, Soldado discusses how he’s confronting the upcoming season.

“I know how tough it is to play here, but also how nice it is to be a member of this team. It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I arrived when I was 13, and now I’m ready to do whatever it takes to stay with Real Madrid”

“Looking back on my situation, I was ready for it to be over with because I knew it would be a very difficult to change. It’s now time to take it easy and erase everything that took place so that I can start the upcoming season with fully charged batteries and earn Schuster’s confidence.”

“I know my name will appear on the transfer list and in deals for other players. However, I’m not at all worried. I have four years left on my contract and I have the final say.”

“I am only thinking about staying put, proving that I can play for Real Madrid, and proving that they were mistaken about me. It’s hard to comprehend what I’m saying after the year I had, but I have faith in myself. It’s the first thing you need to have clear in order to change the coach’s mind.”

I admire his desire to play for Real, it seems the youth players of his generation have a deep passion for the club which is great. De la Red, Torres, Soldado all have passion for their club, while Balboa and Granero have less of it but still want to play for Real. Its nice to see, because for to many years we had a team of mercenaries playing for us. But is it the right move for Soldado’s career to stay on the bench for another season?

On the subject of strikers, it looks like Real want to purchase Negredo back from Almeria. But then they want to sell him on to Espanyol or another La Liga club, not keep him. That seems pointless, they will make maybe 2-3 million off him considering they will fork out 3 million to get him back from Almeria. I dont think this will happen, but if they buy him back he will be kept in the first team. Which would be cool.

Also in the news is the interesting insight of Guti’s plans after football. He is an adapt golfer, something I did not know about, but I think its pretty cool as I am a pretty bad golfer myself but getting better everyday. Guti’s handicap is at seven right now, which is pretty good, and he recently played in a tournament, the Centro Clínico Menorca event in Ávila, with Miguel Torres and Paco Pavon. No word on where he placed, but he did say he was working towards a zero handicap and professional status. Of course he still has 3-4 years in him to play football (thank god, I grew up loving his play), and he stated that in this time he wants to win the Champions League again, along with a few more league titles.

The Ronaldo saga wont die, although its goal.com that is reporting so it must all be heresay by now, but it appears Real will offer Robinho for Ronaldo and a few buckets full of cash. Although its obvious that Robinho asking for a better contract despite a huge drop in form at the end of the year wont sit well with management, giving away one of our best players plus alot of money for this Ronaldo character just seems silly. I am unconvinced still that the price quoted is worthy of the player.

Andrea Pirlo has been reported to interest both Real and Barca. Thing is, Real has plenty of central midfield options, so this makes no sense at all. With Schuster unwilling to let go of one of Baptista or Gago, adding Pirlo would make no sense. And we have that great lad Ruben de la Red. Here is an interview from him that shows that even though he looks like a playboy, he is really a very simple man, honest and hard working, with a family and a dedication to Real Madrid and his country:

“White is my favorite color”
Realmadrid.com

Rubén De la Red is counting down the hours until his possible Euro debut against Greece, but in a chat with sports daily Publico, the footballer discussed everything unrelated to the sport.

Do you carry an iPod in your suitcase?

Yes.

What kind of music is on it?

A little bit of everything, but ‘Pignoise’ and Antonio Orozco are my favorites.

Movies or television series’?

Movies.

Which is your favorite?

‘Gladiator’. It was a movie that really set the standard.

Favorite actor and actress?

Will Smith and Jennifer Aniston.

Do you carry a laptop?

Yes, but I don’t surf the net a lot. I use it to see my wife and child on webcam.

Favorite television show?

I don’t watch a lot of TV.

‘Big Brother’ or ‘Pop Idol’?

Neither.

What drink will you celebrate the Euro with if you win?

None. I don’t drink alcohol.

What’s the most crazy thing you’re capable of if you win?

I don’t do anything crazy.

How many days go by before you have to let off steam?

Enough.

Do you travel with a PlayStation?

No, but they’ve let us use one here.

What’s your favorite game?

Football ones, especially Pro Evolution.

What team did you or do you play with?

It depends on what team my opponent uses.

Favorite city and country?

Madrid and Spain.

What city would you like to see?

Many. I’d say all of them.

What do you like most in a woman?

Personality.

What book do you have with you and which was the last you read?

I didn’t bring any. The last I read was ‘The Alchemist’.

What’s your favorite care?

Mine.

What embarrasses you?

Nothing.

Does anything scare you?

A lot.

What’s the biggest luxury you have allowed yourself to buy?

Five purses for my wife.

Have you danced the ‘Chiki-chiki’?

No, I can’t see myself dancing it.

If you hadn’t become a footballer?

I would like to finish university.

Your best friend in the football world?

Javi García. So awesome

Have you cried after losing a match?

Yes. Whoever says he hasn’t is lying.

Your favorite cologne.

‘Acqua’ by Bulgari.

Favorite color.

White.

Any superstitions?

I always walk onto the pitch with my left foot first.

Beach or mountains?

Beach.

Any pets?

Yes, a French Bulldog.

How many pairs of underway are in your suitcase?

Three or four.

Can you live without a mobile phone?

I think it’s possible.

Any defects?

Many. You can’t even begin to imagine.

Any virtues?

Football and I’m very sincere.

So he is not a very interesting person to be interviewed, and to be honest, that does not matter, because thats why I like him. I can relate to him, he does his job well and then he focuses on other things like family and his own education, not getting 50 condoms for strippers (Robinho) or any of the other ridiculous things athletes seem to get away with these days. Well thats all for now, enjoy the game tomorrow, I am considering leaving work early for it, but I doubt I will. Hala Madrid!