The Grapevine 12/27

Happy 6 month anniversary for me! Thats right, I have been writing here for 6 months now, although I had been a reader a commentor for a year prior to that. It just goes to show, a down-and-out youth from the inner city with nothing but luck on his side and a heart full of courage can do anything he puts his mind to…like write for the offside. In all seriousness, I thoroughly enjoy writing about Real Madrid, its my club.

The transfer window opens up in a few days, so you would assume their would be a flurry of outlandish rumors for me to report. Well not so fast, we actually do not have to much from all the football rags. Here we go:

- Roma want Arjen Robben. Becuase “contract rebel” Mancini will probably need to be replaced. Now why would we go and strengthen our direct rival in the Champions League? Think Marca, think.

- Ronald Koeman seems like he wants to be a pretty unliked man in Valencia now. He wants to force Hugo Viana back from Osasuna, but Viana doesnt want to come back, he and his family have settled in Pamplona. Or, no one wants to deal with Koeman. This has nothing to do with Real, but its fun to watch, since Real has been embroiled in this kind of non-sense for the past 3 years. Also, Koeman wants Nicola Zigic sold too. He has lost it at this point.

- Next up for Koeman, he wants to sell off Manuel Fernandes. BOOYAH again to the dude who said I was wrong about Koeman hating Fernandes. This is applicable because he would be a welcomed buy for the central midfielder, a more long term player then say Tiago or Albelda, although he is far more offensive minded then Albelda and Tiago. He will want to be in the Portugal squad for this summers EURO, so if he is not gonna play under Koeman he will want to move, and I dont blame him. Get out of Valencia as fast as you can!

- Pepe isnt jealous that he makes half of what Fabio makes. “Fabio and I talk a lot. We both come from the same school. He has a culture characteristic of Italy and I also had an Italian trainer from whom I learned much: Gigi del Neri.”

“He liked to work with the central defenders and I have spoken a lot with Fabio about him.”

I dont even know what to say to that, maybe a Who Cares? or a Pff whatever

- Roberto Soldado will only consider a permanent move, but seeing as how Real have rejected an 8 million bid from Benfica already, the poor lad is gonna sit on the bench for the remainder of the season. To bad too, because he has the talent and a different type of game that would suit the Spain squad well. He does not want to go out on loan, but if I was him I would go somewhere to win a EURO squad place, because its unfortunate, but Schuster just doesnt rate him, unlike me.

- Speaking of EURO places, Raul and Luis Aragones had a little talk:

“I’m fully fit and will go to the Euros,” reportedly said the Real Madrid captain.

Aragones responded, “Well, you know better than me, but I’m glad that you’re in form.”

“I’ll surely be there,” continued Raul.

Aragones, changing the subject, concluded, “I see that you’re confident… we’ll see.”

Haha, we will see. Yeah right, if Raul plays this well all year he has to go to the EURO, it woul be stupid not to take him.

- Pepe had these comments recently:

After the game, rather than rejoice at the result, Schuster congratulated us for the spirit that we’d shown, which motivates us a lot,” revealed the young stopper.

“We all know that we need to keep on going and to concentrate. To do otherwise would be to throw all of our effort away.

“New Year hopes? I hope not to have any injuries, and for my family and girlfriend to be well. In football, we want to win all three titles and feel that we can do so. We need to go step by step, but we can do it.

“I hope to be a reference for children who are just starting out in the game, and to make history at Real Madrid.”

I criticized Pepe’s transfer fee, and I stand by that criticism, it was to much. But judging by the performances he has put in since returning from injury and his general attitude, I really like this guy, he has his head on straight and he seems to genuinely want to succeed at Madrid. Great, because we need that. Between him, Sergio Ramos, Torres, Marcelo and Drenthe we have a strong defensive core for the future although I wouldnt mind seeing another young defender added, which would be a logical conclusion for this summer since Cannavaro, despite being excellent these season and being offered a contract extension, to my knowledge, looks to be set to move back to Naploi, and I can not blame him. One day I want to retire at my first internet blog site, even though its not defunct.

Also, forgot to put this up:

GUTI’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGE
“I want to wish all Madridistas all the happiness in the world these days. I hope all of our dreams come true and that we can continue sharing them next year. I’ve spent many Christmasses here and they have all been special. It is always special to be a part of such a great Club. I wish Real Madrid are very successful in the new year. Merry Christmas!”

I hope all my dreams come true too Guti, gee thanks!

Thats all for today unfortunately, there just has not been much going on since all signs are there wont be any comings or goings this winter according to the management team. Fair enough.

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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