Preseason Starts With Some Grab Ass?

i think this year real madrid will take champions league.they are better than first galactico,because they are all young and much more ambitious than first galactico

would it be best to sell him ? is he likely to resent being a bit part player ?

well, i can't see higuain fitting in the 4-3-3 as he is not best upfront alone. 4-4-2 accommodates both higuain and benzema. This does not mean that we can't alternate between the two formations according to the players availability and opposition. I do believe that some of the dutch players do offer good backup, like VDV for kaka, and shneider, well, to any position in midfld. It would be selling players and then getting others instead of them for depth. Stability is essential to win. Barca bought keita, alvez and pique to strengthen their team, and they won a treble through that. Why did that happens, because they addressed the vital problems in the squad, which we started doing by buying a world class winger and attacking midflder, but we still lack the left back and central midflder (left back much more important).

This is my personal opinion, and i hope whoever we get, to shine and win us some silverware !

Ronaldo has always been a hard worker. He was the first one to practice at ManU and spent hours after practice his free kicks. That being said he's still an arrogant prick.

Very life of Brian........... (this is from Marca so large pinch of salt guys) Liverpool haven´t responded to Madrid´s offer of 27 for Xabi so they´ve now put in a revised offer of.....24 ?!

Labomba beat me to the sneijder news ahh lol anyways well said brother

Bassam pellegrini said he likes to play with 4 4 2 but he also said that he will switch formations If the situation requires it

And word from the board is that as many as 4 news faces will join , 2 midfielders a fullbak and a goalie due to felipe ramos 's injury
And I read a pellegrini interview on realmadrid.com he seems to want just that
He also says that sneijder might be very useful to the squad which is good news cuz I think I speak for most madridistas when I say that we want to be with us next season

And did you guys know that CR9 is always the first one to show up in training , that kinda surprised me

I agree with most of the above posters, circle of life and all that. Buitre had to move over to let Raúl play and now it´s Raúl´s turn. Enough comments have been made by Valdano and Pellegrini to that effect. He has a contract for life, but must now take a secondary role. We know that he´s poisoned the dressing room many times in the past and apparently put the dampners on Villa´s arrival last season.Pellegrini has said he wants to keep Sneijder which I agree with, granted he had a bad season last year due to injury and divorce but we know what he´s capable of and competition between top class players can only be a good thing for the club.

cesar i love raul and am grateful for what he has done for real over the years but we need 2 move on. you claim that he can play on any team in europe?! please name me one club where raul wuld start? man u, pool, barca, inter? lol. rooney, torres, eto and ibra are better than raul at this stage of his career. i dnt feel he should be discarded but he should face reality and shuld be a bench player. bassan i agree with u . . silva would be a better option than ribery but valencia appear not to want to sell to real. yes ribery is expensive but we can negotiate a better price. i wuld rather spend the mney and win the champs league then not spend the mney and fail to win the champs league.

muhammad, typical old perez thinking... just forgetting about the left back position or actually believing that marcelo can actually cover that position. its no use to have ana amazing attack if out defense has a week link, the left back position. arbeloa is good, but should be acquired soon so he can get used to the LB position before start of the season.

As for ribery, does anyone think getting silva would be a better idea? not that ribery isn't amazing, he is one of the best in his position, but silva might just edge him out for the following reasons. First he is spanish. Second of all, silva is a better passer than ribery, third he is more disciplined and maybe has a smaller ego. He might also cost less than ribery. I am actually against buying another winger unless it is silva or granero. And to be realistic, get over it people, pelligrini is going to play 4-4-2! he said it in his first press conference and he has been playing it with villareal for a long time. It's going to be the same formation as that of del bosque.

As for people asking for backup, well why do you want to pay 80 mill for a player to add depth, when the squad is already filled with talented players. Lets not forget that when we won the league, it was because of players like shneider that stared. Lets not write them off for having a bad season that started with a 4 month injury.

Finally, i do hope raul does take a secondary role at the club, but certainly too early for him to start coaching. I think raul off the bench would be amazing, as he will go in with his usual enthusiasm and drive, and that will take the opponents by surprise. Higuain should stay. Keep RVN (best option to keep) or sell him and promote bueno (im a big fan of this kid).

4-4-2

iker
ramos-pepe-albiol-new left back (not heinze plzzzzzzzzz)
Diarra- god knows who
Ronaldo- kaka
higauin-benzema

lets get a left back then a central midflder before thinking of adding a winger! Plus, perez said we will have 6 signings, so, no room for another winger...

In other news As.com says that ribery has threaten bayern that if they don't let him go this summer that he will use article 17 aka the webster clause next summer
So bayern might be forced to sell to us this summer because they know we have 55 mil ready

Realrock and muhammad your posts are spot on

Yea you gents are right about Raul he will certainly not roll over and give up his spot whoever takes it will have to earn it who else here thinks that raul is gonna have a helluva season ?
I think we will see a lot of players step up their game next season due to the high competition within the squad

Cesar me excluding raul out of my line up has more to do with hope than anything else lol

corey i c u want raul to still play a role in the team.i disagree. he would not make the starting team of any of the top teams in europe let alone their benches!! can u name me one of the top teams where raul would start?!!i think we should integrate him on the bench or get him involved on a coaching level.as for my push for ribery- when coming up against the english teams in the champs league they will play defensively and we will need gamebreakers to break them down. ribery is the perfect weapon. with him and cr96 on the wings and kaka in the midfield we have the weapons to defeat any team in europe. as for lb- marcelo or drenthe can fill this role or we can get abaloa from liverpool at a good price.

i think all the strikers except raul and higuain are going to be sold. including rvn. and that i am not sure is a good idea. van gol may be 34 but he is one of the guys that will score given half a chance.9 out of 10 times. and we need that sort of player in case we need to break down a team with the parked bus style of play or whatever other scenarios may be there. a big penalty box cf should always be in the squad.

and apart from the first XI,there have to quality backup players.its a long long season. and to fight on all fronts and win on even one,there have to be players on the bench who are good enough to ensure that we can win in case the stars are injured or tired. particularly in this season with the extra number of midweek games that are gonna be played,its a neccessity.what use would be making a blitzkrieg of start only to fizzle out like the original blitz ??

and yeah,in all the chatter about places,we are forgetting raul entirely. i think this season will be raul's swansong. if we win the cl,then definitely.if not,then maybe one more season. but its not gonna be that he will just roll over and give up his place.i hope not. but he is gonna have a reduced role. him and higuain alternating as supersub and starter.or told to take second row seats by slowly easing out.but i hope the hierro situation is not repeated. that was atrocious.

Cesar, that's a valid point, and I'm worried about the potential dressing room unrest that may be caused by all this heavy activity in the transfer market. surely valdano/pellegrini have had a word with raul in regards to his role this season, and only after that have gone after benzema.

does anyone see negredo staying? i've heard from reports that valdano rates him at 18m euros, so obviously they rate his talent pretty highly. I really really hope he stays, he offers an aerial presence that we otherwise lack, could be useful against smaller defenses.

I think losing Higuain would be a serious mistake. And as for Ribery, acquiring him would be adding much needed depth in the roster. More options. Although the new signings are probably not going to be on the bench which means Benzema bumping Higuain onto said bench?

4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 the same in this case, just depends where you count Kaka, as one of the midfielders or one of the forwards

think Pellegrini could play it if he's happy with the two DMs

while you might like the idea of playing 4-3-3, try to be realistic, pellegrini is not going to play like that. also, what you describe is a 4-2-3-1, which i personally like, but is not realistic either. assuming you want kaka, ribery and cr9 for the "3" behind the lone striker, that would mean we currently have 3 or 4 strikers too much. even if huntelaar leaves, as well as negredo (which would be a shame), AND raul and van nistelrooy accept to play only during cup games, this would still mean that either benzema or higuain wont get to play as much as they should

Muhammad I'm with you buddy , I would be delighted if ribery joined , I was criticized for supporting that Idea as well mostly from sambit ,
It seems like they haven't learned anything from last season when a couple of our key players got seriously injured nd the back ups weren't good enough to step up to the plate

Anyways hoeness says that we're still interested in ribery and butragueno is confident that we might get him so we may get our wish

That sounds more like a 4-2-3-1. It would work but I think its overkill. We need a LB first. I can see us doing just as well with a 4-4-2 double pivot like the Del Bosque days and be 80 million less in debt. I guess it's all about your personal preference... well I guess Pelligrini's personal preference is what really matters.

Muhammad, agree, think 4-3-3 is best and with Ribery would be awesome

maybe next season

i was critisized for pushing for ribery to join us but i wuld like to clarify my view- real should play 4-3-3. .back 4, 2 holding mdfielders and an attacking mf. then 2 wingers and striker. we can use the 2 diarras and gago as the dfm whilst kaka wil b the attacking mf. with cr96 on the ond wing and benzem as the forward who wil be on the other wing? robben? i dnt think he is gud enough and not a true team player. higuaing is not a true winger and wil back up benzema. we need ribery to fil this role . . if he ends up at barca we are screwed. . no doubt about it. .we are trying to be the best in europe and we need ribery to complete our objective.

Despite Valdano surprising us by announcing his ideal two forwards would be Benzema and Negredo, it looks like his on his way out, probably to the PL. The papers are rumouring 20 k which is, after all, the same as Huntelaar. Another canterano bites the dust

Good for Velayos. I though the official site was pulling a fast one and counting Negredo as a Castilla player still.

I think Palanca and one of Felipe Ramos/Adan have the best chance of staying with the first team this season, although Velayos will have a shot if Salgado is moved on and Torres is used at left back.

loosing Higuain would be a huge mistake. he has been a critical member of the squad, and should not be sold for any reason. i see him working very well with our new additions (not to mention, i bought a new jersey with Higuain on the back. just for anyone who cares, the new jersey looks a lot cooler in person than in the pictures)

Corey the 6 castilla player to join the first team during preseason is Velayos. Hopefully they impress the coach and get called up once in a while to join the first team and maybe get some playing time. Im actually hoping Palanca stays with the first team as a backup winger.

Reposting this under a more recent and relevant thread
Do you guys know the salaries of these players? As much as it pains me to say it, I think Higuaín will end up being the one to go as I believe he´s the lower earner. Hunterlaar (far more limited player imo) has refused Stuttgart as they won´t match his salary. Madrid have to cut costs and recoup some cash so they will end up having a massive carboot sale come end of Aug at this rate, and other big clubs are probably hanging out for a bargain.
Have you seen the faces on the Dutch contingent? How is this gonna be for team unity when half of them getting measured up for their suits don´t know where they´ll be wearing them??!!
Posted from Spain