Robinho Needs Counseling

first of all I just wanted to give 9Championsleagues props, excellent points that I want to contest but I really can't especially about how Robinho wasn't to Madrid what 'Dinho was to BARCA. Though Robinho was definitely Madrid's best player, as long as Raul is there no one else can claim to be the MAN there unless you come in fresh from winning the WORLD CUP(like Zizou & Ronaldo).

john - thats actually a good point about the defensive abilities of premiership defenders - that because of the futbol culture there that prizes vertical movement, horizontal attacks yield better results. I personally agree that MAN CITY won't challenge for CHAMPIONS LEAGUE titles anytime soon but the premiership is definitely within their grasp. Honestly, I think ROBINHO will continue at MAN CITY and do extremely well but his legend will only be cemented if BRAZIL win in 2010. As much as CHAMPIONS LEAGUE glory is important the all time greats are determined by their WC performances. As Madridistas we all love ZIZOU for his great CHAMPIONS LEAGUE winning goal but he made his name at WC '98.

estoverao - I agree with most of your points, and long before the Man City transfer actually happened, I've been worried that Robinho would leave us and be revealed as(or recognized as) one of the top players in world football. One thing that I think Robinho realized, and a point I've been trying to make for years, is that a player with Robinho's style of play (or Ronaldo's, or Messi' for that matter) will enjoy more success in England, at the moment. This is due to the typical style of defense in the EPL - which could change now that CL trophies are attainable there, and a lot of young talent is opting for the EPL over La Liga or Serie A; English defenses (on the whole, not just the top four who are, for the most part, every bit as good as Spain's) might have to adapt. But my point is that part of why Cristiano Ronaldo has looked so good over the past year is that a mojority of EPL's defense can't defend a creative player with horizontal ball skills. They're used to players sprinting in vertical patterns. Look what happens, for instance, when they're faced with the likes of Fernando Torres, who was pretty good in Spain, and absolutely brilliant in England (those of you who follow this forum often are probably sick to death of me bringing this up!). My point: Robinho will almost certainly dazzle folks a lot more in Man City, especially when up against teams like Stoke, Bolton, Fulham, etc.

But to think that Manchester City will put flowing, beautiful football together in the near future - now THAT is borderline delusional. Maybe in 4, 5 years, but by that time Robinho will likely have already seen his apex come and go, in which case the Abu Dhabi group will be looking for the next big thing. I certainly could be wrong though...

By finishing a play i don't necessarily mean scoring but assisting or making the right choice, robinho has improved that side of the game, but when he arrived, he was far from finishing any play since he was more immerged in performing fancy footwork than simple small steps to create danger. Im not downplaying robinho, im not happy he left but i keep it "Real" by outweighing the pro's and con's and finally assessing he wasn't madrid's clear mesiah, by this i mean the equivalent of what ronaldinho was for barca, CR for man u or gerrard for liverpool. On the bright side, robinho is slowly progressing, he didn't skyrocket at the beginning of his career but this in my opinion is an advantage, he slowly is improving and becoming a better team player, sometimes its better to grow at a small pace than reach a star status at a young age and lose the competitive appetite. Reminds me of zinedine zidane, he exceeded at an older age.

Real now will have to take advantage of their midfielders now that robinho is out, Real is in a critical moment to sign important players soon before man city actually lures more competitive players, names like kaka, CR will only move to a club that can do well in the CL, that's the only negative aspect at the moment for man city.

First Mad Mac - granted its early and you're right its one game, my point is that everyone overlooks those type of games for MESSI(he has way more of those than people realize) but if ROBINHO(doesn't have as many of those games as people think) had a sh*tty game like that, everyone would be saying how he isn't fulfillin his potential - its just a double standard thats all.

Now the good stuff with '9ChampionsLeagues' who claimed "Ever since…he’s been “finishing” the plays unlike robinho, who impressed everyone with his straight 7 bicycle dribbles but rarely ended in the net" - C'mon man, Robinho has averaged more goals than FIGO did when he was playing for us, the only ones who scored more were Ruud & Raul(and they are strikers not wingers) since he has been there and only Guti has more assists. The whole Robinho 'not finishing' is pure Raulista propaganda to distract people from realizing that he should play for Madrid like he does for Brazil, right behind the striker where he is most effective.

I remember his first year when there was a 6 game stretch when Raul was injured and Robinho, Zidane, Guti, Roberto Carlos & Beckham(believe it or not) put on a clinic of beautiful attractive flowing 'futbol' - then Raul came back from injury and Lopez-Caro benched Robinho and the rest is the history of an undervalued, underutilized, misunderstood soccer genius. Everyone thought it couldn't get worse for Robinho and then CAPELLO arrived and boy did the 'futbol' get worse for anyone with a creative impulse. Robinho needs to play free, honestly, politics aside, Robinho is leaving Madrid because this Madrid isn't playing Madrid 'futbol'. Hopefully, MAN CITY will be his liberation, like NAPOLI was for MARADONA. I know u think Robben is a finisher, but look at his stats, once again, he hasn't scored as much as Robinho scored last year(someone who you claim is not a finisher) since 2002/3 when he was at PSV. Robben a finisher??, c'mon man, we're all MADRIDISTAS here, keep it 'REAL' - if you are counting on ROBBEN to deliver 2 LA LIGA titles in a row like ROBINHO you'll be very disappointed this season. They key players this season for us are DE LA RED, HIGUAIN, GAGO, MARCELO & VAN DE VAART. If they don't have outstanding seasons we are doomed!!!

Re: Estoverao's comment: once again, I find the comparison to be unfair. It was ONE game: against a team who played 11 men behind the ball. I'm not sure I've seen Robinho lead RM to vircotry with 11 men behind the ball either.

Like I said, let's see how the season goes: if Messi is healthy and his Barca remain awful, and Robinho is able to bring Man City to a CL spot or even to say, 5th or 6th place, then perhaps I will have to concede that Robinho is a better player. Until then, I think that we're in no position to come to that conclusion just yet.

Estoverao...i know you are a pure hardcore robinho fan so i dont expect this to go far but i live in madrid, i attened the bernabeu often and ive worked within the team and press for a couple years. I dont mean to say i exactly know what happens in the lockeroom but robben absolutely dropped 70.000 jaws in his latest performances and it was followed by the eurocup's impressive run. Robinho got injured right when robben recovered from what appeared to be another dreadful injury and all of a sudden made calderon's 35 million bid look fair enough. Ever since...he's been "finishing" the plays unlike robinho, who impressed everyone with his straight 7 bicycle dribbles but rarely ended in the net (i know you'll go apeshit for this but its simply my opinion)

You know, i know we all know that schuster rarely places them together...so why should it be a surprise he wanted to leave. I am absolutely positive robben has been schuster's main choice towards the end of the season and robinho was fit to play. The brazilian mentioned the CR deal and it makes sense, a simple decoy but smartly used. The club was naive to play with his pride but...robinho needs to prove himself and so far he's added an awful lot and seems to improve but he's not what pele described before coming to madrid. The good news is that CR continues to speak about his desire to come to madrid (even stated in the man u web page no matter how absurd it sounds, its posted for everyone to see, well, to make it clear he says its his childhood dream nevertheless he'll give it all for the red devils this season). And i dont think he'll sell out for man city since they also eat fish and chips there.

I agree Mac it's definitely Messi's team now, what did u think about the start of the Messi era? How did BARCA do with their new '10'? U mean they lost their opening game, really? Wow, so you mean when defenses aren't preoccupied with Ronaldinho & Et'o(like they were in 2006 when he used to come off the bench and work wonders) they have no problem shutting down Messi, interesting.

On the Robinho-Robben discussion: It's clear that Schuster wants them both on the team to compete interanlly for that spot on the wings. It doesn't suit their personal interest t have a guaranteed spot, but it works for Schuster - which makes sense given Robben's history of injury and Robinho's propensity to have a drop in form. It's not so much that Robben is better than Robinho or the other way around, just that last season, Robben was injures for the most part and Robinho's injury/loss of form co-incided with Robben's return from injury. This shows why Schuster wanted them to play for the same position. To compare the 2 is not fair. Perhaps with an injury-free Robben this year and Robinho's 'freedom' to Man City we might have a chance to do so and see if Madrid' decision was right.

On the Messi-Robinho discussion: I honeslty believe that Messi is a better player. Once again, I find the comparisons between Messi last year and Robinho last year to be faulty. Messi was injured for a BIG part of last season - we saw him occassionally come from the bench and that's about it. Add that to the disaser that was the Barca dressing room and it's easy to understand why he wasn't out of this world last season or in the Copa America. Robinho on the other hand was enjoying a great dressing room envionment and was only injured for 2 short periods of time. So statistically, it would be easy (but I think unfair) to compare the 2. One thing I think that should factor into the discussion in a Messi-vs-Robinho discussion is how they are off the pitch. Robinho whines when he's on the bench (even during Capello's time), was involved in that Camisinhas incident, and has a history of withdrawing his loyalty (he did that even when he was in Santos). Messi on the other hand only has his desire to play for his country in the Olympics to show for as an 'off-the-pitch' issue (if we can even consider that one): other than that, Messi who is younger that Robinho (thus more capable of fits of immaturity), has actually been an incredibly stand up professional who has shown absolute loyalty to Barca.

If you only wish to compare on-field performances, then let' all pray that Messi stays healthy this year and compare what the 2 do for their respective clubs this year. Remember that Messi has now been handed the '10' in Barca: that's his team now. Robinho will lead Man City this season: let's see who the better player is. I reckon it'd be Messi (though I hope that would still make Barca not good enough to beat us to the title!).

First 9championsleagues - "Schuster has been choosing Robben over Robinho" are u kidding me? Robinho didn't recover fast enough from injury which is why Robben got chosen over Robinho. Don't act like Robinho lost his place while he was 100% fit, that's a Madrid press myth that you've swallowed whole. Robben had 4 Goals & 4 assists last year, thats it, no really, I'm serious, thats it. Robben hasn't scored as much as Robinho did last season since 2002-3 for PSV.

Now Ramzi, who I usually agree with - "you cant say robinho outclassed messi in assists and goals last season and ignore the fact that messi spent most of the season injured" Messi's injury is canceled out because Robinho was also injured last year too, which is why he is no longer at MADRID, until he got injured he was world class for us. Notice how BARCA supported Messi throughout his injury while MADRID turned on Robinho during his injury. Interesting.

"Comparison with maradona is also not realistic, i have never seen robinho carrying the whole team on his shoulders yet," did you watch COPA AMERICA 2007 = ROBINHO - 6 Goals, 5 assists PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT for an average BRAZIL!! MESSI - 2 Goals(couldn't even score on the USA!!) 2 Assists for a great ARGENTINA team that lost in the final to ROBINHO's BRAZIL!!!

I only compared Robinho to Maradona because he is in a similar situation as Maradona was when Maradona left BARCA and oddly enough for the same reasons.

"Messi is a better talent" - as of yet I see no proof of that, they are both talented players and Robinho is way more accomplished than Messi at this point in their careers. All of Messi's highlights are from two seasons ago when he came off the bench. Last year he was mostly garbage. Can u name one memorable game Messi had for BARCA last year where he lived up to his billing? I can name several for Robinho at MADRID if you want . . .

don't get me wrong I like Messi and he is definitely one of the top 5 players in the world right now, but if its true that Robinho hasn't lived up to his promise, neither has Messi, and yet Messi can do no wrong, even when he had a way below par season last year.

PS - and to everyone who wants to change the subject away from Robinho, I'm just waiting for Corey to put up something else as well . . . lol.

Enough with Robinho

Corey, we need another blog regarding Raul's poor performances so far..., is the end near??? or is it taking more time for him to get fit???

I don't know about you guys, but I'm really worried about Raul...

Take care everybody

u make some good points estoverao! Messi is Barca best player. He can change a game at anytime. Remember the 3-3 draw when he scored a hattrick against us. He is one of the best in the world. But he to is so often injured. With regard to Man city building there team around him, we will just have to see how he fairs in the premiership which is way different to la liga. Okay next topic. Did u notice that Schuster has been calling up lots of reserve players to join training while most of our squad is away on international duty. Its been different players but dont know if anyone else noticed to see that Chema Anton and Alvaro Lopez were called on most last week. Now i know we wont see them playing for the first team this year but i think it would be good to call them up to train with the 1st team to give them that exposure and also gives them confidence that there hard work will be noted. I wonder if this was the plan to avoid our promising youngsters on leaving the club to seek 1st team primera action else where

Man city will grow to become a top team but what the question is how long will it take. Its a difficult moment to snatch players easily, im sure players of the status of kaka, fernando torres, fabregas etc are fully committed to the colors of their jerseys, for which im inclined to believe man city will sign new young talent and some overhyped star. Another clear future prediction is that they'll collapse the transfer market, it seems as the trend will permeate all around in order to keep up with the rest. Only clubs history and aura may lure those exceptional ones as opposed to the newbe millionares.

Now about Robinho once again. we already agreed upon that Real M went in the wrong direction mentioning the brazlilian as an exchange card for CR, but robinho also is a little pretentious and ahead of reality. Perhaps the CR saga is the "official excuse" why he left but the truth is quite bold, Schuster has been choosing Robben over Robinho. The brazilian wants to become the best player in the world and he doesnt seem to reach the status at the bernabeu. Now...who's fault is it? Could it be Schuster for not placing Robben and Robinho together? Are we to question the german's tactics? Or simply could the case be that robinho is failing to overflash robben and therefore prefers to become the new mesiah of a smaller club but which will obviously soak the lockerroom with new talents soon.

The way i see it, Real Madrid has equally lost and won in this transaction. Obviously the club needs more players and they are in no position to allow players to leave without new signings (note we still need to observe van der vaart, his performance could easily lead us to forget all this) and on the other hand, the club has pocketed a very good price for a player who hasnt clearly met the expectations, lets clear that out, robinho is important for the team, he's decided many matches but he's not who us fans hoped he'd become.

Through out many discussions many point out how important robinho was, and RVN but if we are some what more fair about the team's overall performance, its clear that in some matches:

Casillas clearly saved the team
RVN is a sure bet
Raul elevated his numbers to 12 goals after a few bad years
Higuain has scored in almost every match he plays and has an impressive aim
Pepe has turned out to prove 30 million was well spent
Guti will always be the man who changes the match in the 60th minute
and robben has been marvelous

etc etc etc

in the end, all players have added their share.

donovan I agree, but please at least admit that NAPOLI did not have the talent at their disposal that BARCELONA had, however they built their team around MARADONA. MANCHESTER CITY surely does not have the team MADRID has, but like NAPOLI they will rally around ROBINHO. Both MARADONA and ROBINHO have personalities which require them to be at the center of things, not just filling a marginal role for a well oiled 'futbol' machine which is how they were each treated by BARCELONA & MADRID respectively. I think ROBINHO's ultimate redemption will come about at WORLD CUP 2010 where he will cement his place in soccer history, just like MARADONA did at WC '86. On a side note, since becoming a starter for BARCELONA what has MESSI won there? Why is he being considered the best player in the world for his performance last year when he wasn't that good and was even outscored and out assisted by ROBINHO in LA LIGA? Did he help BARCA win something last year that I missed? That's another reason I feel ROBINHO left, BARCA and the corresponding BARCA press have been behind MESSI 100% even though he hasn't really been that good as a starter for BARCELONA. MADRID & the MADRID press have never backed ROBINHO in the same way. ROBINHO had a much better year than MESSI last year, but you wouldn't know it based on worldwide soccer press coverage. That will change at MANCHESTER CITY. OK, enough about ROBINHO, as far as FLORENTINO PEREZ coming back, it's too little too late - CALDERON has already f*cked the team over and reduced them to a pedestrian hardworking defensive bunch as MADRID's free flowing soccer impulse remains suppressed. Hopefully VDV, GAGO, DE LA RED & MARCELO(the last Brazilian standing) live up to their potential - they are MADRID's only hope until the winter break.

okay enough about Robinho! Did u hear the rumour that Florentino Perez is planning on running for president again? Anyone has any thoughts about it?

With Robinho now at Man City, a mid table team and now with all the money to spend i still dont believe they would be able to challenge the top in the premiership or even the world. Robinho would need other world class players around him and has to compete and at least win trophies to become the best in the world.

I wouldn't call Napoli a small club although they had there difficulties with having gone bankrupt in 2004. But in the late 60s and early 70s they were challenging for the league and was always finishing in the top 5 at least. They only started declining in 1983 but a year later Maradona arrived and as u say the rest is history. Now i know Maradona was a legend but Napoli surely wasn't a one man team. Maradona needed his teammates to become the player that became a legend. Let me just say if Napoli was just a mid table team and not challenging or winning titles then would Maradona have been known as the best player ever? Other star players in that Napoli squad should also be mentioned like Ciro Ferrara, Salvatore Bagni and a few that i wont mention. My point basically is that Napoli was not a mid table team like Man City is. Napoli was an italian force back then and even when Maradona was banned for taking cocaine did Napoli still manage to win the supercopa italiana.

Surely, lightning doesn't strike twice. And even more surely, Robinho is not Maradona! Interesting comparison though.

Yo corey, let me get just one in for NAKA & 9ChampionsLeagues. When Maradona left BARCELONA in '84 after 3 years with our Catalan rivals during which he did well but not what everyone expected of him after being so good for BOCA JUNIORS, there was all this talk at the time of him 'not really fulfilling his potential'. Sound familiar, well it gets better, MARADONA complained about being undervalued and was attacked for being a 'pesetero' after leaving BARCA for Napoli in the Serie A. People claimed going to such a small team like Napoli was a 'circumstantial mistake', he would never become the best player in the world there. It just so happened that yeah Napoli was still average(he didn't have a billionaire backing his move) but MARADONA was worshipped there and he helped them win a title or two and then two years later at WORLD CUP '86 a legend was born. Hmmm . . . if I'm not mistaken WORLD CUP 2010 is only two years away, so now the rest is up to ROBINHO. Judging by the way he put BRAZIL on his back and won COPA AMERICA 2007, I wouldn't be surprised if MANCHESTER CITY joins the ranks of NAPOLI in being a smaller club with the best player of the world playing for them. If MARADONA had done the "professional" thing and stay unhappy and undervalued at BARCA we all would have missed out on some really great futbol. I would suggest the same is true for unhappy and undervalued Robinho at REAL MADRID, and even though I'm a MADRIDISTA I know he, like MARADONA was stifled at our big club while other more pedestrian players are allowed to thrive. Sometimes unpredictable soccer genius can be as problematic for management off the pitch as it is for defenders on the pitch.

Ramzi and Nakan have artictulated this issue well, and I think between there two view points that should be the end of the debate. Nice job everyone, this is why I became a blogger.

I've said before (in my blog) that Madrid made a massive mistake in thinking / considering or allowing the notion that CRon was a sub for Robinho. They should have instead try a Florentino Perez-esque ploy to market RM as the place where the football wizards play. Thus they should have renewed his contract. That was a mistake by Calderon and Mijatovic: it was stupid and it was wrong.

Robinho's first and biggest mistake was his embarrasingly childish attitude. CRon wanted to come to Madrid. He confessed it openly many times to the press. BUT he respected the will of the club and his contract by not raising hell for not getting his transfer. Yes, Robinho is right to have pride, but he must also have Professionalism and Maturity - and his behavior leading up to his transfer showed that he has hardly an ounce of it.

Robinho's 'circumstantial mistake' was to go to Man City. Sure, it was his only way out: but it was a way out that exposed him as a pesetero. How can he say he wants to be the best in the world playing for Man City? At this time? (I seriously doubt their ability to lure Kaka, Cesc, Torres, CRon, etc. as they are saying). He's now the best paid player in the world in a mid-table club: he can't expect to have the credibility to say that he came coz this was the place that allowed him to grow to become the best.... not at this time.

Madrid was a great chance for him to grow to become the best: Big Club, Champions League Football and surrounded by many of the world's best players. Some of us believed it could happen (part of me really did): so we lament the loss but with understandable anger for reasons mentioned above. We are also right to worry and be upset because now, it is clear that we are left with an unbalanced team.

As for Robinho, if he truly wants to be the best player in the world, he must do a few more things beyond perfecting his stepover-pedalada, working on his consistency or polishing up on his goal scoring skills: Robinho must learn that even in these times. the club will and must always be bigger than the player, that he must respect his team mates... that he must be a mature professional.

Robinho did have a reason to be upset, using him as an exchange card to buy CR was stupid and not well planned. Real should have been careful about the matter understanding that it wasnt 100% positive CR could make it here this season. The brazilian hasnt met the expectations yet since after all pele labeled him as "brazil's future golden child" and true, he's on top of the chart but in a very bold untalanted brazilian status quo (compared to other eras) he's improving but he hasnt fully flapped his wings yet, so its not a dire loss. Real desperatly attempted impossible bids the last couple hours before the clock struck midnight...the outcome was obvious...but its not that terrible. Real have been gaining intertia on the winning spree without robinho's presence, that is ever since robben recovered from his last injury. The interia is pointing to positive numbers but the club is in for a headache if the dutchman gets injured. Lets see how shuster places van der vaart now.

Robinho as a mercenary is a joke, but I can understand the hurt. Everyone on here criticizing Robinho sound like that guy who gets dumped for cheating on his girlfriend but gets upset anyway and says "F*ck U B*tch" in an attempt to vent and heal his wounded pride, knowing in the back of his mind that he truly has no one else to blame but himself. Thats the way it is MADRIDISTAS, don't get all emotional now and start whining about mercenary this or traitor that when your favorite players are still at MADRID. Some people are also upset because in Robinho's absence the lack of world class talent at MADRID is exposed to all. If CALDERON & MIJATOVIC had renewed his contract last season like they promised, then Robinho wouldn't have even thought of leaving. When they kept going back on their word several times and then only seemed interested after the C.Ron deal fell through, is ROBINHO supposed to think they have his best interests at heart? Basically most madridistas are pissed because Robinho is smart enough to not get screwed by the club. Robinho said it best in his 'press conference' "The club has its pride, but I have my pride too."

Matt, John is right. Madrid did loose something in this deal, they lost a very talented player on his day, he brought us the depth out wide we needed. We dont have that anymore, because while Robben is very good, he is injury prone. Thats why all of us are upset. Also as Cesar pointed out, alot of the things people list as faults of Real could have been avoided, but it seems to me Robinho was angling for a move to Chelsea all along only to sign for Man City. That just tells me he had no honor in wearing the shirt, which is one of the main things we Real fans demand from our players. Mercenaries are not appreciated here.

But you can always come back, we take all kinds of commentators here, a debate is why I do this job, so it was nice to here another view point even if i disagree. But when your dealing with a pro-Madrid crowd and are out numbered, you dont endear yourself with snide remarks and pointing out we people are stupid. But your opinion is always valued, as john said.

Those are actually some good points, matt.

I think most of us feel it could have a fairly significant impact on our CL chances, simply because Arjen Robben (a fantastic player that we robbed from Chelsea - guilty) is very, very delicate. He spent more than half of last season out with injuries, and was injured again this summer during the Euros. Without Robinho, at the left wing we only have Royston Drenthe - who has great potential, but is extremely young, largely untested, purchased as a left fullback and has not impressed when called upon. Now add the fact that we don't have a SINGLE natural right winger, and we've got major problems with width. With Robinho, we could play Robben on the right and spread things out. Now? Watch the replays of last Sunday's match against Depor.

I hope you actually do visit again - everyone's opinions are welcome, even if others disagree with them - but at least a facade of politeness would be appreciated. Otherwise we all get cranky. Thanks for contributing.

**meant La Liga, obviously.

wow..I am a neutral fan (and only occasionally get to watch La for Liga, sadly) and even I think that this argument is hilarious. The Matt character asking people to shut up because Robinho leaving doesnt affect Madrid?!! Just coz Madrid are too deep to get really affected in terms of quality, that doesnt mean that Robinho was a better person for leaving! Wierd logic. Something smells of Man Utd here...**sniff, sniff**

grow up? do you realize how whiny you all sound. this will be the last post i make in here but how bout actually reading it and not acting like 12 year olds.

it's one guy, in the grand scheme of things it's a drop in the ocean. does it hurt real madrid outside of MAYBE and that's a big maybe outside of this week? no. does it stop real madrid from signing big name guys who will help the team as much as if not more than robinho 95% of the time? no. does it hurt the locker room as it pertains to the upcoming season? no. does it hurt your chances of winning the la liga and/or the champions league this year? if it does it's VERY slight...probably no. so has it really made any difference to real madrid? no, it's one guy and you made a bunch of cash on him, painted him as crazy which he may well be, and kept everyone in the locker room happy maybe happier than they were before. honestly. look past it for once. the team on the field will be fine, the club will be fine. any complaining about it really does seem petty. lay off of the one dude that spurned you.

The other thing with the spanish media (I'm refering to AS, Marca, Sport, Mundo Deportivo) is that they sell hope every summer, that's their job. That's why we see and read all those rumors regarding departures and arrivals of players. I think the moment the news came out that Real were including Robinho in a deal for Cristiano, he (Robinho) should've talked to Calderon and Pedja to sort thins out. I think he held on to that to make it appear as if Real didn't want him anymore, because all along he was eyeing a move to Chelsea...

take care everybody, and matt, grow up man....

corey, you're doing a great job

Corey - you raise a great point that I really wish others would realize regarding media sources. Unfortunately much of the english-speaking media relies upon very poor second-hand knowledge and basic online translation services. In many cases this information is misleading, inaccurate and often simply wrong.

Keep doing the great job that you're doing -

Thank you for gracing us with your douchebaggery matt. You've really wasted a lot of your time arguing with people who are just going to laugh at your argument. Robinho is a bitch, no matter what team he plays for...that's the whole point.

What cracks me up is that this guy has gone out of his way to visit a Real Madrid forum, and is criticizing people for sharing their opinions on REAL MADRID news. But that's the reason this forum exists, and if that bothers you, matt, I suggest YOU get over it.

Coming to a Real Madrid fan site and suggesting Real Madrid fans 'shut up'... seriously!

Matt, what are your credible sources of news on La Liga then? Goal.com? Any of the British press??? Come on, everything has a tilt to it, the fact is that alot of the day to day stuff that went on with Robinho, including the Olympic snub, were either missed by many of the media outlets, or ignored. Was it Real's fault that they didnt release him for a tournament they dont have to given he is over 23 and FIFA/UEFA/IOC had no policy/procedure for this tournamnet and call-ups? Hardly.

I dont turn a blind eye to Real's faults, I was ashamed of the few things Real did do regaurding the Ronaldo saga, which is one of the reasons I wrote so little on it. But am I a fan if I dont stand up for my team and take the cheap shots punters like you dish out daily?

Madrid should've could've renew his contract earlier. And we don't steal Van der Vaart. His former club was stupid enough to include such clause in his contract that allow us to buy him cheaply. However if you follow this blog, you'll see that Madrid has been chasing him for a while, not just looking to take advantage of cheap but good player anywhere.

what's wrong with you matt? we're not talking about real as a club never done anything wrong or whatever. see, if barry goes to Liverpool to further his career, it's fine. sounds logical enough.
But whoever leaves REAL MADRID for MAN CITY? And it's so clear, he first ask for more money which we're willing to give. And when there's interest from Chelsea who offers more money, he jumps at it and stupidly saying he has achieved everything, wanted to play for Chelsea, not wanted by Madrid.
If Madrid did offer Robinho to Man U for Ronaldo, he have the right to be mad. But that's not the case. Madrid may (as usual) screwed up their business but when suddenly Man City comes with even more money, and he jumps for it, then don't you ever ranting bout not being wanted and everything. Either shut up or just say they offer more money.

ok buddy your club can do no wrong and marca as a viable source of news when its a mouthpiece for your club is a joke. whatever.

I hardly thing getting rid of Perez signings will help anything, the president of the club doesnt have direct influence over all players. But it is interesting to see how Calderon eliminated so many of them.

As for Matt. Its hardly childish to be upset when one of the teams best players leaves in such a strange deal. The problem I see with to many fans out there, especially the EPL-centric universe that is the US, is that no one really has there facts straight when they look at this situation. If you were to read Marca, AS, Sport etc. since June, you would probably see a different picture of the situation. But you dont, which is fine, but please keep the slurs to a minimum, your opinion is valued only if it 1. makes sense and 2. is not degrating.

Corey, I posted thrice :) Excuse me !

Matt, We're not pissed because the money hungry Wh**e left. but because of his reason. Calderon was going to his salary increase. But the c**t's head got turned by Chelscum's money. He then tried to cover ass with ridiculous reasons like "not feeling wanted".

And, how self-conceited you must be to convene a press conference hours before the kick-off of the new season. It's robinho-I-left-for-money who needs to grow up.

I agree with John's comment / indictment of Wagner Ribiero = Greedy Money-Grubbing Bastard. I hope what John said comes true: that this will make clubs wary and choose not to sign players managed by this piece of scum.

Re: estoverao's comment: I don't think it's a Brazilian thing. I think it's a Florentino Perez thing. Let me note that all the major signings in the Perez era are gone: Robinho, Becks, Baptista, Ronaldo, Cassano, Cicinho, etc. Marcelo is a Calderon signing who hasn't caused any problems, I doubt his place in the club is in danger. The only major signing in the Perez hera who is left as far as I can remember is Sergio Ramos: who is about to sign a 10 year 'lifetime' contract.

honestly you real madrid fans need to shut up. you;ve won 3 champs leagues in the past decade alone...you poach, pinch, and unsettle players if not the most then amongst the most of any other massive club in europe...and one guy leaves. ONE that you didn't want to go and you're all acting like sniveling, petulant little bitches. again get over it...act like your team has class and follow suit. 3 champs leagues in a decade...stole van der vaart for half of what he's worth, de la red bossing it, and garay also? you're acting like millionares whining over someone taking a dollar from them. grow the fuck up.

Robinho definitely needs counseling, except I think the proper term for it these days is FINANCIAL ADVISOR!!!! He is now the highest paid player in the world!!! I don't want to feed into another conspiracy but since CALDERON got there Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Cicinho, Baptista, Emerson and now Robinho have all left the club . . . hmmm . . . what do they all have in common?? YO MARCELO, watch your back homie!!!

Gotta say, I really don't give a shit, suck it up. He wanted out of Real, and he got out.

I second the other James! What a douchebag Robinho has turned out to be.

Here's the statement, gleaned from Goal.com.

“Firstly, I want to thank the understanding of the president, (sporting director) Mijatovic and José Ángel Sánchez, who were always correct in defending the interests of Real Madrid,” the agent read out on EFE Radio.

“What had happened is just something part of football and in this case, I felt undervalued by the club wanting to sign Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We accept the criticism and we understand the anger from the fans of Real Madrid. I also want to thank everyone who supported me and understood everything from the beginning.”

Once again, these are supposably Robinho's words, delivered by Wagner Ribiero, his agent. I'm just personally suspect that this is Ribiero-crafted self preservation.

get over it and move on, couple of days it will be history. like david beckam journey to L.A galaxy

Any Robinho responses? Something specific or in direct response to any of the statements above?

I especially enjoy the rebukI especially enjoy the rebukes from Santos higher ups, who no doubt want to ensure that Madrid continue to look for young talent at their club, and that Madrid money keeps supporting their program. Everyone has an agenda.

Robinho, if you can believe, did send a somewhat reconciliatory message to Madrid, thanking the men up top for their understanding, personaly acknowledging and understanding the fans' hatred, etc. Of course, this came through his agent, Wagner Ribiero, and was most likely in HIS own best interest. You can bet that after watching his actions, not a lot of clubs will want to associate with players that he represents. My anger continues to be directed more at that man than Robinho himself.

get the fuck over it.

The truth hurts!