Strikers Are In Fashion This Season
By: Corey | May 20th, 2009Florentino Perez is in the running for the presidents seat next term, which means Real is linked with a whole host of ridiculous transfer coups, none of which realistically will come to fruition. Not that most Madrid fans really want to see Kaka, Ronaldo, Aguero and Ribery all in the same team, as it would be horribly unbalanced to say the least. But there has been some talk in the papers recently on more realistic striker signings, with the expected release of Javier Saviola (thank god) and Raul’s automatic starting role coming to an end.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
- The Zlatan. While it might seem like a bid for Zlatan Ibrahimovic is as unrealistic as say Kaka or Ronaldo, I tend to disagree. An excellent article on whether this move is really a good thing, based on Zlatan’s pros and cons, can be found here from Soccer Lens. To summarize, Ibra is a great player, but he 1. will cost an arm and a leg, possibly Higuain, which I veto 100%. He makes 9 million a year right now, so he would probably want a raise on that to move, and I dont know if thats gonna happen. 2. His commitment to the badge is questionable, and his attitude down right sucks most of the time. He is egotistical and daft to say the least, although some of his quotes are down right humorous.
Zlatan (Answer to criticism from John Carew that Zlatan’s moves are pointless.) – “What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”
Zlatan – “First I went left, he did too. Then I went right, and he did too. Then I went left again, and he went to buy a hot dog.”
Have to admire his confidence though, and he has to know what he is saying is hilarious in a self mocking kind of way. I dont want to sell our prized assets to get him though. Sneijder or Van der Vaart fine, but never think of trading Higuain or Robben in!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
- Alvaro Negredo is another option that personally I would like to see. But it comes with a hitch of sorts. From Negredo’s own mouth:
“They are three great teams, but my first option is Madrid,” said Negredo, who nevertheless is less eager to go back to his home-town club if it means he will spend most of his time on the bench.
“If I’m going to be the fifth striker at Madrid, the option of returning will be ruled out. I have to think long and hard because my future depends on this. What I want to do now is to play, to have minutes.”
“If I’m going to go to Liverpool and they make another signing, on top of Fernando Torres and the current strikers they have, it’s perhaps not best for me to go there,” Negredo said on Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.
“The possibility that Villa is going to leave could make Valencia the best destination for me, but it’s clear that if Madrid sell players then my first option is them.”
His major concern with returning to the Bernabeu is that he will not be a first or even second choice striker. Which is kind of a tough demand when moving to Real Madrid, but being fourth choice at his age, and with other big teams as suitors, really does not make much sense. He would essentially be third or even fourth choice at Liverpool as well depending on their tactical alignment, and the only way I could see him going to Valencia is if Real or Barca bought Villa.
The precedent has been set by Roberto Soldado. Negredo knows all to well what happened to his friend, so he wont want to make the same mistake of course. But I think he would be a great addition to our frontline for next year, as he would work well with Higuain and could give us more of a presence in the box, something Huntelaar would benefit from as he would not be the sole target of crosses. Negredo has, unlike most before him, a proven track record in La Liga beyond one season on loan, so doubts about his quality are unfounded, but whether or not he can dislodge the mercurial Higuain, or the goal scoring prowess of Huntelaar for a regular berth remains to be seen. I would love to see him try though!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
- Karim Benzema is officially off the auctioning block this summer. Thats because he said so, and so Lyon can breath easy. That is if they can retain their title, or even qualify for the Champions League next season. If that does not happen, expect to see his name pop up more often. I love Benzema, I think that he has the most potential out of any striker in the world. The price tag would be high, and the article would not be complete like Ibrahimovic, but he would give you something more, a dedication to the club that is something all fans want to see. Ibra is essentially a mercenary, Benzema is a fan of the club. You cant put a price on that.
A bid for him seems most likely to occur next summer though, and the best way to do that is to get the transaction done before the World Cup. His value will only rise after South Africa, so it seems logical to get it done before hand. If I am still around when that happens, I will be giddy like a school girl.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
- David Villa is a man of discerning tastes. I dont mean he likes only certain kinds of wine, but when he speaks of a move away from Valencia, he speaks in tongues it seems. “My future does not exist”, or “I call Florentino everyday (chuckles” are just some of the interesting ways he goes about speaking of a move away from Valencia. I dont blame him though. He wants to stay focused on the end of the season and get Valencia in to the Champions League. If that happens, he is less likely to need to leave Valencia. But it is all out of his hands to be honest. Valencia are broke, insolvent, dirt poor whatever, they dont have enough money to be in existence in the near future, so that has to rectified.
I am sure that the Valencia board is hard at work in finding more loans and accruing more debt, but thats not going to solve the issue long term. A high priced fire sale would give them some capital to shift around, and while it seemed so likely last summer, it seems even more likely this summer. But you would have to ask Cesar about that. The Villa move is a possibility, but I think its 50/50. There is still some sour grapes over the top-notch negotiating tactics of Ramon Calderon and Pedja Mijatovic.
Basically what Real is looking at is a cash outlay upwards of 20 million euros this year. But it could be much higher, like 50 million. Where is this money going to come from? You would have to ask our next president, who ever that may be. But considering our own high debt level, such great expenditures seem a little extreme. Your thoughts?
Category: Team News
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
Great post Corey…
Of all the players you mentioned, Ibra is the one I don’t want in our team; Negredo has the “cantera” curse, so he might be used as a bargaining chip to get Villa to come to the bernabeu..
About raul’s automatic role coming to an end, I’ll believe it when I see it; I was talking with a friend of mine last week (HUGE Madrid fan), and we agreed that the only way that can happen is if Raul realizes that he’s more a liability than an asset to the team…
Sadly to say, I’d sell Ruud too; he’s 33, coming from a very serious injury, so I think it’s the time to thank him for all the precious goals he’s given us….
If Ruud leaves, and Raul’s role is reduced, that would leave us with Higuain and Huntelaar, a pretty good 1-2 punch, but we’d be needing some depth at the position, that’s why I like Negredo being that option…
HALA MADRID, hopefully my rant made sense
Posted from
United States
-
Hala Madrid, boys! Sorry for disappearing for the last few months, but I’ve sadly left London to return to Canada, as my contract ended and I couldn’t find anything else. Thanks for holding down the fort, Corey, you’re doing an amazing job.
Just to comment on the striker situation, I think we could also add Carlos Tevez to the list. He’s clearly not settled at Man U, and I think there’s a strong possibility he will leave. If Madrid are willing to meet the valuation, he’d be an easy pickup.
We’ve seen from Man U and Barca that we need at least 3 or 4 top-notch attackers to make it through all the competitions. Unfortunately, I don’t think Ruud/Huntelaar/Higuain are quite on the same level as Eto’o/Henry/Messi or Rooney/Berbatov/Tevez (not to mention that Ronaldo plays up front sometimes too).
I’m on the fence about adding a mercenary like Ibra to the mix. There’s no question he’s talented, but I’d have concerns about his commitment. Then again, he would be a major upgrade on the front line.
To me, the best option would be either Villa or Benzema. Both seem very remote possibilities though, so I’m rather underwhelmed at the prospect we might actually field a decent strike force to match Barca next year.
Posted from
Canada -
Firstly I am going to ignore EVERYTHING I read in the Spanish press about signings and managers till there is ink on a contract, and really keep my fingers crossed that whoever gets in ( bit of a foregone conclusion, but there you go) will look for BALANCE not high profile strikers, but creative mids wingers and above all DEFENCE, we need a Vidic. We´ll see next week that for CL strong physical defence is key. Anybody know about Garay, apparently he´s hardly featured for Racing this season which doesn´t inspire a lot of confidence.
How many of you have noticed we´ve shipped 11 goals (or 12?) since Pepe´s absence. He covered for Sergio Ramos so well, when he was attacking, and now all opposing attacks are coming from his side.Posted from
Spain -
Hi guys…
Firstly, I hope to see Raul become a bench player next season (and see Iker become captain) to clear up room for the new strike force for which I believe Higuain deserves to become a fixture. Raul should be made to play in the Copa Del Rey (and merely as a sub in La Liga or CL games) where he has openly expressed his wish to win it again. As for the other striker, it brings me to…
My Second point, where I will now openly express that I’m not Huntelaar fan. He can’t dribble and doesn’t even hold the ball up well because of his poor ball control when he gets the ball for build up play. RVN was at least mediocre on those 2 fronts. I agree that RVN is old and coming off injury, which means that even if we sell him, I’m not sure he’s of much value. My vote goes to selling Huntelaar and making Raul and RVN as the 4th and 5th striker options. They can choose to retire after the 2010 season where we should honor them for their great contributions (especially Raul, who deserves a place in the RM organization – in turn, his ‘7′ jersey should be given to Higuain whom I believe is his rightful heir).
I’m totally in favor of bringing Negredo back and using him as the first option off the bench. He can be an automatic starter for Copa games and for matches before CL games where we will need to rest our first choice strikers.
I’m also totally against Ibrahimovic coming to Madrid, his price, salary and his ego are not comensurate to his talent.
Rumors are now swirling that Florentino is closing in on David Villa in line with his bid to ‘Hispanize’ the team. I would definitely love to see him in white alongside Higuain. Those 2 are good for probably at least 50 goals between them (even more if they’re getting service from the likes of Kaka and/or Ribery).
My great dream however for Madrid’s ‘9′ shirt is Karim Benzema… maybe we’ll have to wait for the season after if no one wins the sweepstakes for him this summer…
Posted from
Singapore -
Agreed labomba – we need a really great centre back to complement and cover for Pepe – is Garay that man I wonder? Probably not at this stage in his career. Metzelder? he seems like a slow player to me, not someone who can rush out to the wing to cover for one of our attacking full backs. I wish we were touting a big name defender to come to the squad rather than all these strikers – Chellini, Raul Abiol, Agger are all names that would be on my list
Posted from
United States -
I agree with La Bomba’s position about needing to beef up the defense.
I’m not as worried with the Centerback position however (where Sergio Ramos can be shifted to pair up with Pepe) as the Left Back position. Heinze is just rubbish and needs to go. Marcelo I think has proven to us that he’s better off as a winger rather than a left back. I can’t think of any really good Left Backs out there right now though. Zhirkov? Lahm? Clichy? Evra? Maxwell? Promote Miguel Torres (whom I think should become a ‘utility defender’ to fill in at RM and LB when the need comes due to suspension or injury)?
Right Back: Salgado should retire (they say he’s going to the middle east for one last fat paycheck… that’s ok too). Who should we bring in? Maicon? Keep Sergio Ramos at RB and buy a new Center Back?
I’m optimistic with Garay as I believe he’s just had an injury-plagued season, but I still remember how he torched us agianst Racing when we had Capello coaching against them. Perhaps we should have a thread on good centerbacks currently in the market…
Posted from
Singapore -
My predictions on the strikers.
I think Benzema will go to manU in the next transfer window.
Eto to Chelsea.
Villa to Barca.
Ibrah or Tevez to Real Madrid.
Kun to Man City.Personally i think we should sign villa if we are going to sign a sttriker, but actually strikers shouldn’t be our biggest priority, we need a centre back, a left back and a winger more than a striker.
Posted from
United States -
PS – I cant stand Ibrahimovic – he’s such an arogant prick
Posted from
United States -
Steve: Welcome back. Feel free to start posting again!
Glad to see there is a great discussion about these players. The way I see it, Villa is the ready made solution to get goals. Problem is there is no way Ruud will be sold, and Raul will still have an important part to play in the team. So 5 strikers for two, maybe three roles if you use Higuain on the right (I like him there to be honest, reminds me of Mijatovic or Savio or even Anelka a bit, way back when). Raul and Ruud are obviously older, but their experience is invaluable, and its not a daft thing to say, but both are in just as good of shape as Higuain and Huntelaar. It seems that Juande, or another coach, will have some tough choices to make. But as of now, all four to me, are unmovable.
So another striker being brought in, even if he was as good or better then the current crop, is simply going to have to be patient. Raul is certainly going to drop to the bench more often then not, which is fine, but Ruud I believe will be just fine to start still, and with Higuain an option on the right, I think we may be able to accomidate five strikers, but the odds on favorite to be upset about that is Huntelaar. But at a big club this is normal. I would like to see a little more rotation of the squad next season though, which ever coach we have at the helm.
Also, I am going to do a big post on the ins and outs this summer for the whole squad, but I can work on one about possible coaching changes and the pool of center backs we have to choose from. Feels good to be blogging about Real again, keep up the good comments everyone!
Posted from
United States -
Negredo is the only one on my list because he’s the complete opposite of Zlatan in terms of attitude and work-rate.
Posted from
United States -
James, I agree, and he also feels the shirt, not like the other options…
Posted from
United States -
I think it all depends on Ruud and Villa. If Villa can be purchased, use Negredo to help get him because Negredo is willing to go to Valencia. If Valencia can make it financially, it depends if Ruud will recover. If Ruud proves that he has 2 good years left in him we could make it with the 4 strikers we have, if not I’d bring in Negredo. I like the Negredo purchase the most but Villa is better. If Ruud recovers Negredo will be the 5th striker, (4th if Higuain is made into a right winger) and he wont go for that. I guess we have to wait and see. Worry about a center back, left back, and winger first and then see what to do with the forwards.
Posted from
United States -
I would like to see Negredo being given a chance. I really think that he is a quality player and from what ive seen when i watch Almeria play, he really holds up the ball well and imo does that better than Hunterlaar. On the CB issue i think we should look at bringing in Albion from valencia. Im sure all the presidential participants will reveal there potential signings this week, so we just have to wait until then.
Posted from
Germany -
I meant Albiol of valencia. Sorry for the typing error.
Posted from
Germany -
Does anyone think Robben needs to go?… He is way too fragile…
Posted from
United States -
I think we play better when Robben is injured. He makes good runs, but his lay-offs are not very good and he runs so deep that the defense are left out to dry. For every 2 goals he helps creates, 3 are scored for lack of tracking back. He has loads of talent, but hes not a team player. He would fetch a hefty price on the transfer market. I would rather see Granero on the right, but that is just my opinion.
Posted from
United States -
Yeah, I agree, Robben has to go, I’ve been saying all season long that his decision making is really poor, he tries to dribble his way to the goal, instead of relying on his speed to leave def in the dust with a clever give and go, is just that simple, he’s not smart enough to take advantage of his blazing speed…
that’s all for me, take care
Posted from
United States -
robben is just like a slightly upgraded version of drenthe with better ball control and dribbling. he doesn’t set up others,has a poor shot and is really too selfish. whats the use of ripping up the defense if all you are gonna do is shoot weakly at the keeper instead of passing to a teammate who is free?????? and the icing on top of the shit-cake is the fact that he is either addicted to the treatment table or desperately crushing on the nurse.why else would he keep rushing back there ??
i am sure we can find someone stupid enough to pay what we did for him.both the oil wells would do it(moratti is oil too).so sell him,van der faart and the rest of the garbage(ofcourse,getting what mijatobitch paid for them would be impossible).buy a new cb and lb(chiellini and lahm or canella). also ribery and silva. bring negredo and granero back. and we are set. ribery,silva,granero and lass in the middle. negredo and higuain upfront(villa would be too good to be true). two great fullbacks(if sergio ramos can get his mojo back,that is). and a master tactician. theoretically,that is better than what the cules have.
Posted from
India
Comments are closed
Home 
