Comments on: Liveblog: Almeria v Real Madrid

By: Evo

Evo — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:51:46 +0000

I think you have a point on a couple of things you said – I think we _would_ be screwed if Robben were injured, because we lack players that can play down the sides (Drenthe?). I think this is a screw up by the president and sporting director beccsue they put all their eggs in one basket to sign a single player.
Since Robinho has gone to City he’s played so much better than he did for us – just goes to show how this kind of player needs to be happy to play (also interestingly he has played as a striker for city so far rather than the winger we desperately need). Fundamentally there was no way we could keep Robinho, he was determined to leave and given his relatively poor performances for Madrid over the years clearly he was never happy with his place in the team. I think we were lucky to get good money out of it.

So I’m sad to see the back of an exciting player, but also glad because both parties needed to move on. I will follow his career with interest despite my regret and distaste for the way he left.

James is also correct though – overall I really dont think he has been that great for Madrid except for some wow moments – especially when you look at how much better he has been in a team where he is the ‘main man’. In this respect Robben is a more direct and faster winger. Don’t get me wrong Robinho is quality and probably could challenge Robben for the starting spot, but most significantly we will miss Robinho because we have few wide options, not because Robinho was really that able to bring a significantly new dimension to the starting squad – at least when played out there on the wing.
Out of curiosity I would have liked to see Robinho play as a second striker for Madrid, but now that will never happen.

Ronaldinho : My opinion: (which may not be welcome) Ronaldinho should have been sold or disciplined from Barca even though he still had more to offer as a player. Someone who doesn’t train with the rest of the squad and doesn’t turn up should be sorted out. Team spirit is alway more important than individuals. This year Barca is way stronger than last, simply because the work ethic has returned – not because the squad is any better.

BTW: Raul is just getting older and slower now – he still works as hard as he ever did and does more work off the ball that even most Madrid fans credit him for. Unlike Ronaldinho, his attitude is an example to the rest of the team. I know I’m biased because he’s my hero, but he is the spirt of Real Madrid, even if his body can’t quite cash the cheques he’s writing anymore.

By: Barca4life

Barca4life — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:26:18 +0000

9 champion leagues, most of the time he was in the starting lineup, and only when he was coming back from injury did he not start.
Doesn’t matter anyway, there is no denying that Robinho won u games last year.
Tell me, just tell me. What are Real gonna do if robben gets injured, which he often does. U can put higuain there, but that means RVN and Raul will have to play up front. Raul is really inconsistent these days, and RVN also gets injured. U guys really need Higuain up front, not on the wing.

By: Barca4life

Barca4life — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:22:15 +0000

James, don’t try to spin the issue by mentioning Barca* and Ronaldinho. Im talking about Robinho, we can discuss ronaldinho later.
Quit living in the past. I know how much titles u have, but I’m more concerned with the present. I just can’t see Madrid winnning the league this year.
Robinho singlehandedly won u games last season, the games against mallorca. zaragoza, and olympiacos are just quick examples I came up with.
Like I said, quit living in the past and get to the bottom line, which is that Robinho was a key player last year in so many games and u got rid of him because of stupidity.
U even admit that Robinho could have won u this game, so if ur dropping points already because Robinho isn’t here, arent u already paying?
If u aren’t paying right now, u will be if Robben gets a serious injury. Who will play on the left if both Robben and Robinho are absent? Higuain, probably, but he is more of a striker than a winger.
BTW, Ronaldinho was our best player 3 seasons ago, and even 2 seasons ago, he was. But last year, what did he do? Popped up with a couple freekucks in one game, provided rare, rare moments of magic. But thats it, did not do much for us. He did not win us games. Robinho however, did win u games and was more important for ur side than Ronaldinho was for us(last year). Don’t even try to argue that Ronaldinho was our best, 2nd best, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, or even 7th best last year.

By: 9 champion leagues

9 champion leagues — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:46:45 +0000

I love it how some will rub the robinho case in when he wasn’t even in the starting eleven for the love of god!

By: James

James — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:17:18 +0000

Robinho was our best player? Since when? He may have been the flashiest player on the Madrid side, but as any Real fan will tell you, his performance was extremely spotty and unreliable. There’s no denying Robinho has loads of footballing ability, and the style to go with it. It’s his heart, mental focus, and intensity which have always been in question. Let’s be honest: there were nights where it seemed Robinho could take over a game on his own, but there were just as many matches where the Brazilian took the night off. He’s no Kaka, CRon, or even Ronaldinho. Robinho hasn’t even come close to establishing himself on that level! He might have a nice rating on FIFA video games, but he’s not the kind of player you can build a team around. He plays pretty football, but he doesn’t play all out. He’s extremely selfish, always looking to shoot even if it’s from 35-40 yards out and there are options closer to the box. You saying we’ll be punished for letting Robinho go is similar to saying Barca will be punished for letting Ronaldinho go. Was Ronaldinho the best player on Barca? This is arguable, but so is your assertion that Robinho was our best or even 2nd best player. In my opinion, he wasn’t either of the two, and why? Probably for the same reason why you’d say Ronnie wasn’t the best player on your side. There are other players on Barca (or Madrid) who want it more and bring it every time they’re on the pitch.

You might argue that Robinho’s leaving resulted in a lack of creativity in the attacking midfield, but even so, we have plenty of players who we can feed to ball to in midfield. Robben, Van Der Vaart, Guti, Sneidjer…I don’t think the problem is a lack of creating mids. If Robinho was a striker or a true winger, I might agree that we’re “paying”, but he played nearly the same role Robben plays now. I just don’t see how we’re “paying” for it by not having the crybaby in there. The problems of this team are with the fullbacks and the lack of a wide player and striking options, of which Robinho is none (He was never a striker here in any form, he played the center of the pitch behind Ruud and usually Raul.). We’ve got plenty of creativity, but you can’t throw all of it out there in the middle part of the pitch.

Andres, I wholeheartedly agree that Calderon is an idiot, and that Robinho COULD have won a game like this for us. All things considered though, it COULD have been just another one of Robinho’s games where he just goes through the motions. To me, the guy who wins you games like this is Ruud Van Nistelrooy, much like he did against Atletico where he just “steals” a goal.

And yes, sorry Barca4Life, we still have 31 La Liga crowns and 9 champions league titles. So no matter what the table says right now…you’ll always be chasing us. Go hump one of your Copa del Rey trophies and be happy you chose Barca for life.

By: Barca4life

Barca4life — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:26:48 +0000

Andres, Indeed thats true. I’ve always said that Real will pay for getting rid of their best, if not second best player.

By: Andres

Andres — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:37:54 +0000

robinho is the dude that used to win this sort of games for us , I MISS ROBI calderon is an idiot

By: realrock

realrock — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:40:40 +0000

i missed the match as i was watching the F1 grand prix at interlagos. and it seems by the sound of the match that it was indeed a better thing to do. gave excitement a new name. last lap. hamilton in 6th place , massa in 1st and winning the title and on the final straight timo glock slows down to let hamilton pass into 5th and win the title. fucking awesome.

a gago-diarra double pivot is good for attacking if the third player is on form because gago can shoulder some of the attacking duties. remember the destruction of valencia at the mestalla last season. that had gago nd diarra playing in the middle.

By: Julien.G

Julien.G — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:15:12 +0000

Sneijder played poor most of the match, he wouldn’t have changed much, maybe Schuster should have played Drenthe and align more of a defensive mentality and hoped to spark something on the counter. The Guti substitution could have proved useful on a good counter also. There wasn’t much Schuster could have done. I may have kept on Pipita.

I’m concerned at how we have been lacking a bit of creativity lately. This game also lacked a more ruthless reference point in Ruud. It must be said that Robben has been annoying me lately. All our problems have been from the Heart of the midfield. This year we don’t really have a reference point for creativity, last year it was Guti more or less, he played all the defense splitting through balls amd was our creative engine, but Guti hasn’t feature much at all this year. I suppose Vd.Vaart was purchased to take the mantel of creativity, imagination and vision but he hasn’t really shown up ar all so far.

Im also a bit concenred about our midfields defensive play but thats another story.

By: 9 champion leagues

9 champion leagues — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:11:04 +0000

Horrible match…but what can we expect when Schuster chooses to place diarra and gago together, they are both defensive midfielders, there should be one in front of the defensive line unless you are capello. Real lacked quality passes to obtain enough occasions, it just didnt look good, robben didnt have his best day but at least i can spot schuster’s mistake, which is a relief, now the question is if he’ll rectify..? Higuain has a better finish than Raul but that is if the argentinian recieves enough quality passes, if it isnt the case…then Raul will work harder in order for the ball to get where it needs to be. In my opinion Schuster should have subbed guti for gago or diarra, not sneieder.