http://www.goal.com/en/news/1713/liverpool/2009/01/09/1052579/rafael-benitez-sensationally-blasts-sir-alex-ferguson–mancheste

Go Rafa, Go!

Hector torres contributed greatly before he started getting injjured time after time and casillas is not the only castilla player playing for the NT de la red does you’re right on on everything else though
Ajax is prolly the only ones who have a better academy than madrid but we need to give more importance to our youths

Nobody doubts the Madrid cantera’s talent but rather the way it has been utilized ever since the Galacticos era. Here’s several quick points:

1) First, lets looks at the generational (age) gaps between uncontested cantera starters at both clubs.

RM- Guti (32), Raul (31), and Iker (27)
Barca- Puyol (30), Xavi (28), Valdes (26), Iniesta (24), Messi (21)

These are guys who are unquestioned starters on each team. See where RM suffered a drop off in Cantera starters being integrated to the team during the Galacticos? Cantera players have come and gone in both teams but these are the guys that really end up making a difference. The Spanish National Team has 3 Masia grads as unquestioned starters, and another (Cesc) as a first choice sub vs a single Castilla guy as a starter (Casillas), maybe 1 more as a 2nd or 3rd choice sub if Negredo gets called up again.

2) Castilla has had probably more talent in recent years than Barca with the possible exception of the Juvenil Pique-Cesc-Messi teams that steamrolled everybody in sight. The problem is that they haven’t integrated them into the team or have let them go. Over those years, Castilla has produced guys like Alvaro Arbeloa, Esteban Cambiasso, Luis Garcia, Negredo, Granero, de la Red, and , my favorite, Samuel Eto. All quality players who RM could have used at one point or another. How many of those guys have seriously contributed to RM thus far? De la Red will hopefully recover from his stroke and Granero MIGHT be recalled next year but before this year, the Cantera treatment from Pedjha and company was pitiful. Now it appears that Juande is making amends by bringing back Parejo, begin to integrate Palanca and Bueno, and maybe recall Granero but that wont erase those 5-8 years of incompetence and lost talent.

3) To attempt to answer Andres’ question about the difference is playing time and level of contribution. Bojan although currently struggling scored 10 goals last year at 18 and has 4 so far this year. Soldado was pretty much ignored and fled to Getafe with bitter feelings while Bueno has only scored that 1 Copa goal with the first team. Pique (21) is a significant contributor who sometimes starts and puts in plenty of minutes due to injury and yellow cards. He’s the 3rd choice at centerback behind Puyol and Marquez. Busquets (20) has started numerous times, and has done so well so as to merit consideration as an unquestioned starter. Jeffren and Pedrito have gotten their share of playing time in pre-season and meaningless minutes during real games.

On the other hand, Soldado was treated like dirt and left, Torres has contributed only occasionally and even then pretty erratically since Capello left, Palanca has made two appearences but is apparently already the next Robben, Bueno has scored a single goal so far and appeared only a couple of times, and Javi Garcia may as well be gone with the Lass signing and hasn’t looked good all year. Of those, de la Red would get my vote as the only significant contributor but unfortunately he’ll probably miss the season.

Hopefully all of this will change when Pedja is shown the door and Juande revamps the Castilla treatment from the first team.

The only players on madrid that actually play regularly and are in the youth system are guti, raul, casillas, javi For Barca: Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Puyol, Valdez, Bojan, Busquets.