Monday Morning Grapevine
By: Corey | May 19th, 2008The season is officially over now, with a 5-2 win over Levante yesterday at the Bernabeu. It was an interesting game, Schuster opting not to play any of the underutilized elements of the squad. A strange decision, but we were treated to some flowing, free scoring football none the less. I do not want to do a complete game recap because well, lets just say they are a pain in the ass and I have other stuff I want to write about.
So all of you out there waiting for my end of the season review and my player ratings posts, they will be coming this week, one on Wednesday and one on Friday/Saturday if all goes to plan.
Here is the match highlights, a video I found of the Cibeles celebration from a few weeks back and the trophy presentation to El Capitan:
What a year it was, another league title always sits well with me, and I am very pleased with this years team. But as is the speed of football, we must not look to next season already, and here are some of the transfer bits for the summer.
- First off, Ezeqiual Garay is said to be set to sign for Real Madrid when the transfer window opens. His strange turn from being persued since arriving in Spain by Real to signing for Barca to now looking to have come to terms with Real. A 7.5 million euro fee is sais to have been agreed, which could turn into 8 million. There is also the rumor of Garay being loaned back to Santander next season if the deal does go through, based on Reals center back situation
next year with Metz and Canna’s situations still up in the air.
First off, I dont buy the fee. I can see Garay signing for us, but the fee has been cut in half since March? It was 15 million when he was going to sign with Barca, so how is it less now? Its no secret the Barca have pretty muched dropped their interest in Garay, as Pep Guardiola wants Gerard Pique back at Barcelona. Its also no secret that Pedja has shopped around Metzelder already, as his constant injury problems have become annoying and his lack of pace may see him shipped out for a few million euros.
So is Garay really going to sign for us? I still remain skeptical, what do you think?
- The press is making alot out of Real’s chase of Cristiano Ronaldo. Now I dont work for Real so I do not know what goes on and what the strategy here is, but considering his price tag, Ferguson only selling players when he thinks they have nothing more to offer him (he does not think that of Ronaldo), and Schuster/Calderon’s sentiments that this transfer is nearly impossible at this time, I concur.
So I will not report on this, because I know it will go on all summer long, but I cant say if it will happen or not. Its the same every summer, one EPL player is in this transfer circus with some big European team, Patrick Viera, David Beckham, Ruud and Henry all ring a bell. Its going to get annoying fast, so as of now, I dont care until September 1st when the window is shut.
- The press still thinks Mamadou Diarra is for sale, as they report AC Milan will make a bid for the player. Becuas he wants to play in that crowded midfield that doesnt have the CL to play in???
- No news as of yet on Dani Aquino’s signing. Likewise nothing official from Real about the return of De la Red and Javi Garcia either. I guess the offseason has slowed down a bit more than in the past.
- Manuel Vargas is supposed to be a Real target. I was not aware, but its being reported he will choose Fiorentina over Real as he wants to stay in Italy with a title contender. HA yes, brilliant idea, stay with a title contender instead of a title winner. Im not saying that to be cocky, but for me, this guy is one of those players who plays well for small clubs but struggle at bigger clubs. I dont see him as being any better than Marcelo, and certainly not better than Heinze. So whats the reason for going after him? Pedja is getting greedy, or the press/his agent is making things up.
- Martin Caceres, Uruguayan defender of Vilarreal, has been sounded out by Pedja. Looks like he wants to come play for Real, but Vilarreal are in no need to sell as they finished in second place this year and with a few defenders either growing old or leaving, he is set to step into the first tema after a year on loan at Huelva along with Cesar Arzo who returns from Murcia.
I like the kid, he is a good player, rugged like Heinze, but I doubt Vilarreal will want to sell. They want De la Red in return, and for that I say no thank you, we can find someone else.
- Robinho insists he is staying with Real. Why would he leave?
- EDIT I forgot to throw in this video of next years kits. I love the blue one, its great, I am going to buy it as soon as it goes on sale! Enjoy:
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Tags: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ezeqiual Garay, Game Recap, Grapevine, Martin Caceres, Real Madird Castilla, Team NewsSubscribe
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Last I read about the fee for garay was 10 million euros, rising to 11 based on results, goals etc. Unless you’ve seen a site where the transfer was quoted in Pounds Sterling, I’m not sure where the 7.5 million comes from.
On Diarra, Calderón said today that both he and Robinho are not for sale.
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It was pounds Gonz, my bad. Still, 10 million is a 5 million dollar drop from the fee reported at a time when Barcelona were close to closing the deal with him. Why the sudden price drop?
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I’m not buying the Diarra rumors anymore. Not only is it obvious that his teammates are rallying around him and he seems happy at Madrid, but why would Real Madrid put a player they plan on selling in their promotional photos for the 2008-2009 season kit? I highly doubt he’s going anywhere.
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I put the new kits video up, everyone enjoy the kick ass away jersey!
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Corey, the price drop was because Real paid it in cash and also because with the Real deal Racing at least has the hope to keep him for next year when they’ll be in UEFA. Barca is most likely selling Rafa Marquez which would leave them short in the middle and would need his services immediately. Real on the other hand is stocked, but wants to secure the talent early. Now if Metzelder leaves, which may happen, depending on how much Real can get for him, then Garay will most likely come to Real as of next year. Barca offered 18M on a payment plan. Thats the skinny as I’ve read it on a few sights, and has been confirmed by Calderon and Real execs. Good dealings by Real, let’s hope Calderon/Mijatovic keep up the good work. I think it’s fair to say that these guys are doing a good job after the great success of this year.
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why the hell is it black and not purple in the new kits?
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Its a royal blue Haran.
Garays transfer is official, he will spend the next season on loan at Santander as we will hold on to Cannavaro for one more year. We are also still pursuing Martin Caceres to be brought in immediately as a auxiliary 4th defender or in case Metzelder decides to leave.
Also, Vilarreal strengthened themselves already with the signings of Edmilson, Llorente and possibly Mane from Almeria. They are also considering approaching Sol Campbell from Portsmouth, so the question is, are they legitimate title contenders next year?
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I would think Sol Campbell’s impact will be minimum if he comes to Spain. Llorente will be a quality edition to complement Rossi and Nihat, but apparently will be offloading Tomasson, who I thought was their secret weapon as cherry picker. If Villareal focus more on developing their midfield around Senna, I think they’ll be extremely dangerous. As it is, they tend to lose control of the game at the midfield, and in effect can’t organize their attacks. I’d love to see them do well in the Champion’s League, where they’ll be somewhat of a darkhorse, albeit a bright yellow one.
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REAL HAS DONE GREAT WITH GARAY BUT I HOPE MADRID KEEPS DIARRA’S GRIT FOR LONG HE IS STRONG AND SURE TO WIN U THE ELCLASICO.
DELA RED HAS BEEN SUPERB AT GETAFE AND DESERVES TO PALY HOPE HIS CALL UP FOR SPAIN MEANS SOME THING.HOPE HE REPLACES BAPTISTA AND BALBOA
DAVID VILLA SHOULD COME IN PLACE OF SOLDADO AND HOPE SAVIOLA STAYS HE IS A GOOD PLAYER WHO WILL KEEP QUIET ON THE BENCH
ROBINHO MUST STAY MADRID SHOULD ASK WHY ARSENAL,CHEALSEA WANT HIM?HE IS CLASS OR ELSE 3 SEASONS ON THE ROAD THEY WILL BID 50 MILLION FOR HIM TO BRING HIM BACK TO THE BERNABAUPosted from
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Alright guys, with the Champions League final tonight, I know I’ve got a horse in the race, but I’m having trouble deciding which one.
Originally, my thought was that if Man U took the championship and Ronaldo had a great night, his indication that he would be making up his mind after tonight surely meant that he would feel as if he’s accomplished everything he could with the Red Devils and would be ready to move on to newer and bigger challenges, like maybe winning the Champion’s with a second consecutive team, and maybe even more so with the team he dreamed of playing for as a child. (That’s just an assumption, but being portuguese and after hearing the way he,his mother and father, speak about Real in the press, I think its fair to say that they have great admiration for the team history and the shirt).
Another school of thought though, is that if Man U does win the championship and Ronaldo has a good outing, he will become ever more unattainable, truly becoming a galactico, and that the chances of luring him over to los Blancos will become next to nil. These people claim that if he proves he is the best player in the world hands down, that the demand for him will skyrocket and it will become a clusterf-ck of different teams agendas trying to persuade the world’s best to play for them, and at that point, all of Real’s posturing will simply be lost in the mix.
Any truth to this scenario? I am not so sure. I don’t think anyone has a realistic chance of luring Ronaldo with the exception of Real Madrid, and they all know this. Man U doesn’t sell players, they don’t have to. The only way this trade is happening is if Ronaldo says he is leaving, because Sir Alex sure isn’t letting him go. And Ronaldo is only leaving for the one team he wants to play for…Real. It happened with Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane, Beckham. It does happen. At the end of the day, if a player wants to leave there is not much a team can do. Now whether those are examples of what Real should be aspiring to in a post-galactico era? Well, that’s another story.
In the meantime, who to root for tonight? It’s going to be a hell of a game. Man U or Chelsea. I’m pretty sure that the latter of the two scenarios is in Real’s best interest, but I’m open to hearing a different side to the story. Any thoughts before the game?
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I meant the former for the two scenarios. Anyway, any thoughts?
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Why cannot Real Madrid scout, find, nurture and make Ronaldos and Zidane rather than just buying finished products and using them…this is by far the worst big team in that sense…just because you guys have money does not mean that you don’t need to have a youth system in place.. look at Ajax, Lyon, United, Arsenal, Barca!..I think that is what football is about and Real in my opinion fail miserably
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I disagree Mat, we have an excellent youth system, and are nurturing to grandeur many young talents like Gago, Higuain, Marcelo, Torres, Sergio Ramos, even Robinho came as a young relatively inexperience player. That does not mean that if you can bring in the perfect piece to the puzzle you shouldn’t do it. Sorry to ruin your Anti-Madridista dream, but that is not the case. The top clubs in the world (Milan, Barca, Man U, Chelsea and Real) do both, nuture young talents and bring in the services of stars. Ajax, Lyon play in second tier leagues, these teams are well aware that their business is nuturing young talent which will later be sold, just like Boca, River Plate, Santos, Mexican Teams, etc.. This is the way the industry works. As for Arsenal, they are first tier, but are in desperate trouble, with Flamini leaving, Hleb on his way out, and a very distressed Cesc starting to have doubts about the legitimacy of his team. Cesc could be a target for many teams next year, not because teams like Real fail to nurture youth players, but because if they could have Cesc on their squad why wouldn’t they.
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Now, back to the topic at hand for Real fans, please. What is our stance on the champions league final?
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Yeah, Mat, where’ve you been? Do the names Casillas, Guti, Raul, Torres and Soldado mean anything to you? not to mention De la Red, Granero, Javi Garcia, Negredo. Or Del Bosque, Butragueno, Rafa Benitez, Aragones… You’re right, Madrid’s youth system is severly broken. Okay.
But yeah, I have to root for ManUtd today on principle alone. I hate Chelsea, hate their style of play, you know the rap. However, if United come out and play the way they did against Barcelona in the Semi-finals, and Chelsea as they did against Liverpool - than go Chelsea.
I think if United lose, Ronaldo will certainly remain in red, so our prospects for him increase if they take the CL. And yes, that will lever his price even higher, which is already way too high, and I hate to say it, but Madrid can cover it.
All that said, I still don’t want him. And I still don’t think he’ll have the same impact in Spain. Torres went from a good player to a Super Star when he went to England, what happens to players like Henry and Owen when they come to Spain? The defenses here, and the level of competition are simply superior in La Liga, don’t let the make up of this year’s CL fool you.
On another note, Phil Ball picked Casillas, Ramos, Guti and Raul as the best in their positions this year (that’s three of our youth players to your one, Mat). Pretty exciting!
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Well elmero, I cant stand either team and even though i could care less as to who won, I think it is better if Man U did. That is all.
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You may be very right John about Ronaldo and the impact he may have, or not have, in La Liga. I saw today that Real is really going hard after Hleb to strengthen the right wing. Could be a much less expensive option. Although I still think it would be awesome to have that fleet footed pretty boy scoring goals for Los Blancos. We’ll see, enjoy the CL final guys!
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Im glad Manchester United won, they deserved it more then Chelsea.
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At least the two English sides managed to make a good game of it. I was laughing maniacally when Ronaldo missed the free kick, just because. But yeah, United did well to earn the crown, it’d be hard to argue that they weren’t worthy of it.
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I still don’t see why we can’t settle for Balboa on the right to spread out the play, and then slot in Robben or Guti occasionally. Yes, having a talent like Ronaldo would be nice, but do we need him?
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Schuster has little trust in unproven players, which shows that he is 1. a coward with player selections and 2. under immense pressure to win so he takes few chances. A player like Balboa could be a cult hero for Real, but with a coach who is unwilling to take chances on players and the use of Sergio Ramos as a ‘Roberto Carlos’ like role on the right side. I see Balboa moving this summer to find some playing time, which I think he will at Santander or Almeria.
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