Valladolid Preview
By: Corey | November 14th, 2008With a rash of bad news hitting the Real Madrid camp in the past week, regular service is resumed this weekend with an away game at Real Valladolid. When we talk about struggling sides, it seems that the two teams are evenly matched, with Real loosing countless games in the past three weeks and Valladolid just recently getting hammered 6-0 by Barca, Samuel Etoo with 4. It looks like its a game where one team is gonna get a massive boost from the win. Lets hope thats Real.
Real Madrid News:
Ruud is done for the season. Ruben de la Red is still resting. Canna and Metzelder are definately out for the match. Glass Boy is broken again, duh. Sergio Ramos has been struggling with a niggle, but he was given a red in the last match, so that doesnt really matter. And Pepe and Diarra are both carrying knocks, which means they will be face late fitness tests. My guess is that Diarra is out for the rest of the month from what I have read, while Pepe is dealing with some severe bruising. So we are pretty thin right now, which means call-ups from the Castilla team are not out of the question, but I think Schuster will wait to see how well we perform against Valladolid before rolling the dice, seeing as how he is under some pressure.
With that being said, we will see a couple of things that we have all been hoping would happen at some point this season. 1st. Miguel Torres may actually get the start at right back, if Schuster deems him fit enough. And if Salgado does not find favor for the match. 2nd. Rafeal Van de Vaart or Guti will be played further forward in order to support a loan striker. Now this wonth happen this weekend to start, as Raul and Higuain will start together up top. But theres a possibility of subbing one of them out for an attacking midfielder. Id like to see one of the two played behind Higuain or Raul in order to create more room in the midfield. Problem is with Diarra and De la Red out, the midfield is a little thing anyways, so until they come back, Guti, Sneijder and Gago will play with Drenthe or VdV out wide. 3rd. Bueno should get some games, which is good because he is talented. Id like to see how he does here. My guess is that he has a Soldado-esque impact on the first team, and he cements his place. Thing is, does he stay with us next year knowing that a replacement for Ruud will be signed in the winter? We have four fit strikers, and even though I think he is better then Saviola, signing another striker probably pushes him to 5th choise again. Not something he wants, so expect him to give his all. And 4th. We may see Javi Garcia in the back again, eeekk. But most likely we will see Ramos in the center at some point with Torres and Salgado now looking good again. And that may help steady the ship, because Canna has looked fatigued lately and Pepe has been all over the pitch. I will reserve my judgement on Heinze, we all know where I stand on him.
We also have some great news, in that Castilla players Chema Antón, Alberto Bueno, Kabamba, Mateos and Gary worked out with the first team. Bueno has been with the first team for a week now, and besides an injury problem for Castilla, he should stay with the first team. He is allowed 6 games before he is ineligible for Castilla remember. Chema Anton can provide cover in the center or on the left of defense, while Kabamba and Gary are strong, tall center backs that will provide cover if needed. With Canna and Ramos both training today, I dont know if they will be needed.
I like Gary, I have seem him play and I think he is pretty good. Kabamba is the first player from Standard Liege to come to us through the deal we signed with them, and I dont know much about his abilities. Mateos is a DM, but can play at the back too. He has been playing consistently for Castilla, and has kept Marcos Tebar out of the team, so he isnt that bad. He probably wont make the team either as Javi Garcia should be perferred, but its good exposure for the lads. Gary may make the bench, which would be great because he is a hot prospect.
My predicted lineup is:
————-Casillas—————
Ramos—-Canna—Heinze—Marcelo
Sneijder—-Gago—-Guti—-Drenthe
———Raul—–Higuain———–
I now know Ramos served his suspension against Irun midweek, so he should play. I dont know how Torres is doing with his muscle problem, he has been training for a little over a week, so he should be ready to go, but my guess is he gets the bench. With Pepe still not training outside, Heinze moves into the middle, with Marcelo on the left. Torres could play on the left as well.
The midfield is waifer thin again. Gago will be all alone to shield the defense, which he tries but is not the best at. But with a midfield of Guti, Sneijder and Drenthe as the remainder of the midfield, there is not much defensive help. With Diarra and De la Red out, Schuster really has no other options, although a double pivot of Gago and Javi Garcia would be interesting for an away game. Drenthe needs to impress badly, lets hope his final ball improves 110% from the past few games.
Raul hit a hat trick last game, Higuain hit four in his last game. Is that a pretty in form strike partnership? Lets hope that continues for this game, because Valladolid will be doing their best to keep it tight at the back.
Casillas: “We have been with Schuster from the very beginning and without doubt, we will continue to support him,”.
“He has brought about a change in the air (since his arrival) and everyone from the players to the club staff are behind him till the very end,”.
“The meetings were not tense at all. Just like any other meeting between a coach and the players, they were organized to determine and fix our current situation and they serve to unite the squad,”
Bernd Schuster:
Bernd Schuster said tomorrow’s match in Valladolid will surely be complicated. The coach also pointed out that he has the full support of the squad.
Valladolid are in need of points…
We realised how difficult it is to win at Zorrilla Stadium last year. We have to expect a complicated match because they put a lot of pressure in attack. They will try to steal the ball from us and counterattack.
What conclusions came out of yesterday’s meeting?
They were all very positive.
How does the squad feel?
We’ve realised we have to be more responsible. He have to improve on certain aspects of our game. It seems the Bernabéu is the place to see a vibrant match right now and we have to avoid that. We have to minimize our mistakes so as not to suffer.
You understand football very well… Do you think there’s a chance of you being dismissed if the team loses in Valladolid?
I don’t understand football as well as you think I do.
What’s happened with Raúl?
Private conversations shouldn’t be shared. I am not obliged to say what was said.
It was rumoured you weren’t with your men during half-time in the match with Irún…
That’s just one of the many things that have been fabricated by the press. I don’t think anyone could believe such a thing when thinking about it with common sense.
Do you feel persecuted?
I actually feel great. I’m calm to do my job as best as I can.
You look tired… It seems you want to leave the team…
That’s a wrong interpretation.
Do you still believe your team is favourite to win both championships?
Nothing’s changed. We are in the same situation we were in three months ago.
How do you feel after losing Van Nistelrooy?
It’s been a hard blow to us all. We didn’t expect it to be this serious, but it’s just one of those things we have to learn how to deal with in football. Nevertheless, our problem is conceding too many goals, not scoring too few. We all want him to return, but we have to move on.
Will you look for replacements?
I’m sure we will if we find a good opportunity to do so. Ruud’s injury is going to make us keep an eye on the market.
Is it good or bad for your team to face the side Barcelona plays against the previous week?
It depends. Nobody likes to concede many goals in two consecutive matches. We have to think of ourselves to win our games. Valladolid will try not to make any of the mistakes they made at Camp Nou.
Does the squad support you?
Yes. I have its full support.
Will any Castilla players travel to Valladolid? Alberto Bueno will come with us. We know him well because he’s trained with us several times. We know what he’s capable of and he helped much against Irún. He has a bright future ahead of him.
First, do not fire Schuster! Unless he finishes the season in 5th place, he does not get fired. We need long term stability. This does not mean we settle for mediocre coaching in order to stay stable, but I think Schuster has been doing fine, the team has seen some injuries and a Copa del Rey exit is not really that bad. The Juve loses were, but a third string side losing to Irun is not the end of the world, considering Ejido ran a train on Vilarreals B team and Barca struggled in their game. It is the way of the Copa del Rey.
Category: Team News
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments | Add your comment
-
for a madridista like me, I can forgive losing, but playing without the offensive flair, creative class, fantasy futbol and top quality talent MADRID is supposed to be known for is unforgivable. Robinho, let me be the first to say it out loud, we miss you.
Posted from
United States
-
Very embarrassing, we lacked balance, no possesion, no organization, just scrappy school boy football.
Posted from
United States -
Are we ever gonna get a fucking break again ? Seriously what the f is going on ?
Posted from
United States -
It was terrible to see (I watch the game from 50 till 94 min.) how the players of Real do not want to win this game!!! they have on the shirt “bwin” … it should be “born to lose”. It was very, very unpleasantly to see how the players do not want to do anything to make at least one score. It was (for every spectator) a fraud!!!
Real and you players! .. are not you ashamed of yourself?
How many do you get from “bwin” for your fraud, how many of your players put the money for own game, put the money on “Real will lose”. STOP imediatelly this kind of crime!!!Posted from
United States -
I just watched this game and I have to say that I agree that RM played like trash. It’s odd to me that they did, knowing that Schuster’s job was on the line and their season is quickly turning into a bad newspaper headline. I expected Raul to really step up, so it was all the more surprising that he was the one that missed that 1v1 with Asenjo.
There was just no direction being given by Schuster (reminds me of Rijkaard towards the end of last year, when he just seemed to put it up to the players to do their thing or, well, whatever, it didn’t matter to him) and that showed in the team’s play.
There’s no crisis in Madrid, though, unless they fire Schuster. Corey is quite right that you need continuity. Firing Schuster would end your season. I’ll go on record as saying that and you can hold it against me or laugh at me later, depending on results.
Posted from
United States -
BWIN and REAL Madrid - it is criminal story of the soccer 2008!!! Everything what happend this week (spanish cup and game ag. Valladolid) was crime!!! I agree stop it!!!
Posted from
United States -
I agree Ish, its in the clubs best interest to keep the club at an even keel, as midseason coaching changes have never brought us a dramatic turn around in the long run.
The game was pretty bad, I dont have much more to say other then that, it was bad. As where before these sort of ugly slug fests would go our way, this is no longer the case. The squad is simply no motivated right now.
Posted from
United States -
I need some drugs…anyone else? What a shitshow, Raul’s miss on that 1 v 1 was absolutely the most pitiful thing I’ve ever seen, THE GOALIE IS FUCKING HURT! GO AROUND HIM! Was he hoping for a lucky deflection or something? Yeah, you can chalk this one up to the entire team, all the way from the awful finishing and play on the attack to horrid defense and marking in front of the goal…it’s a complete meltdown hahahaha god all i can do is laugh! It’s laughable how bad we are…I mean…we’re a complete waste of money right now.
If I could strangle somebody right now, it’d be tough to decide between Pedja and Calderon.
Pedja: for being a smug little douchebag with a face only a whore could love. “Oh! I’ve assembled so much talent here (and by assembled, I mean let go of and didn’t replace) that we surely don’t need anybody else in the transfer window.” How stupid does that guy feel about now? I hope his wife wakes his ass up in the morning with a big, steaming bowl of those words (as in, we don’t need to sign anyone else) so he can take a bite. Hey Pedja, the secret is out! We’re looking into signing another striker, but that was really cunning of you to tell us we WERENT going to be looking for anyone else. You fooled me. Clearly your vision for the club is going to work great.Calderon: well there’s not a whole lot else to be said about the man other than he’s a lying piece of shit. I’ll concede some things first: He’s done a good job promoting the Real Madrid brand on a global scale and actually is a good representative of the club. However, his vision for the club is NOT taking shape. In his tenure as president, he’s promised a return to Champions League glory, beautiful attacking, eye-pleasing football, and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. So far, he’s accomplished none of the 3, and instead we got Arjen Robben. Nice job Calderon…way to follow through. If you told me you were going to hold a rope while Robben’s glass-self shimmied his way across a 1000 ft. gorge, I’d expect you to promise that you’d hold it, drop it, and then tell me you’ll get somebody better to do the job who’ll do exactly the same thing (i.e. firing Capello for Bernd). December can’t come soon enough for this asshole…
HALA MADRID ALL! I needed to let everyone know how proud I am of our team’s effort today, hope you all get a laugh or two out of my comments. The games don’t stop being played…another chance at redemption next week.
Posted from
United States -
its never good to have too many dutches and argentines on ya team they’d bring you back luck I mean no disrespect but look at their national teams
Ps - schuster staysPosted from
United States -
Lol james I thought I was mad but after your comments I realized someone else got it worse than I do , go out and have a couple of ten long islands …….it always for me lol
Posted from
United States -
It always works for me I meant
Posted from
United States -
if i had run across guti or vdv after the game i would have been behind bars for homicide right now. not manslaughter but murder 1st. they just redefined shitty. almost like a competition I AM A BIGGER PIECE OF SHIT THAN YOU.guti was absolutely pathetic. the fucking cabron.
can’t blame bernadine. at first i thought who the fuck plays javi garcia and gago in the same team and expects to win ??? then i saw that guti and vdv were in the fucking team and that much defensive cover was needed. but he could have made better substitutions. grow some damn balls , you idiotic german. why wasn’t wesley brought on earlier ?? why keep playing raul??
who gets drunk in the day ?? well all madridistas who can drink and went through that torture session of a match do. i am. and right now i am wondering if it is worth it to wake up with the monster chuchaki i am gonna have in the morning if all our players do is give us such a farce of a game.
Posted from
United States -
We played unbelievable bad. I’ve never thought that changing a coach is a good solution, but i might change my mind anytime soon.
when season start we looked bad only at the defensive line, now things are even worse. We lack of confidence not only at the backs but also everyone/everywhere on the field ..
it started when Juve won us they not only took 3points(6 overall), also our confidence and Schuster seem not to know how to fix it at all.Maybe we have to win BIG teams to regain our moral(and they are coming on December.) We need a turning point. i Think it’s our last chance. If we can’t grab it, it will be an empty season for sure.
Posted from
Thailand -
Well,if john the RM fan here is reading this and is younger than 88(means still have the sharp memory:) then he will remember I predicted months ago exactly whats happening,but lets put things straight(the way I see it):
The easiest thing is to blame the coach, May be its only me who feel its not fair,being a guy who is studying to become a coach myself,but…
I think to consider the coach responsible,you need to offer him all what he request, then you leave no excuse for him to perform well, but to mess up all the summer and blow out any opportunity to improve the team, then blame the coach thats not fair at all.
RM knew VNR is on a risk to get injured since he treated his last season injury,the coach demanded back up,didn’t get one. he didn’t want C.Ronaldo or thats what his early reaction shows(then he had to support the idea when the board got Over obsessed),and as i mentioned before here, instead of getting Di Rossi,Silva and Villa before Euro2008 of course and they would have cost less than what they were welling to pay to get Ronaldo taking in consideration selling Diara, instead they failed with ronaldo and lost Robinho. ending up buying Photo copies to what they already have.
Of course the coach made mistakes, he is more a good systematic coach than being creative,and this kind of coaches work best when they have the resources they feel they need to apply their system, he cant come up with ideas like creative Arsen winger (switching Kolo toure from being a forward to become a CB, eboue winger, Diabe AM…)not to mention Dutch second division side FC Den Bosch coach who switched RVN from CD to turn him to become the best striker in the box). So i cant expect Schuster shaking the team this way(I will not suggest cause u will think me crazy).
I am a Barcelona fan to the extreme, but lets hope RM bounce back in a way or another or else this exciting season is screwed already!Posted from
Germany -
That game was so miserable I dont even want to write anything up for it. I am gonna post Cesar’s pictures instead, will have that up before my game tonight hopefully.
Posted from
United States -
Ramzi-
Well said…I think most of us around here agree that a lot of what’s happening right now doesn’t have to do with Schuster’s coaching, but the decision to stay stagnant in the transfer market outside of the failed negotiation for CRon. If you fail to sign enough proper depth to make it through 3 competitions and endure the normal injuries that befall any club, that really falls on the people in charge of the transfers (Pedja, Calderon, and the rest of the fun-time gang up in the prez box). Appreciate the perspective from a Barca fan, your posts are always welcomed around here man (until clasico week that is!).
Posted from
United States -
I agree with James. It’s nice to have a Barca fan who is giving out level-headed comments on our situation (as opposed to other before who just come to gloat).
I agree with Ramzi too that a lot of the blame has to fall onto Mijatovic & Calderon: their stupid insistence on getting CR7, while draining all our negotiating resources: resulting in the loss of Robinho, and the embarassing failure to capture David Villa (the much needed striker help) or others who the team really needs. Now we have an unbalanced team ravaged by injuries and no helpful backups…. this is management’s fault.
However, I do feel that Schuster is also to blame. Granted that the team is imbalanced and has an overloaded injury clinic. There is however no excuse to get eliminated from the Copa Del Rey to a 3rd Division side: not with the talent of our team. Aside from this, our countless lapses in defense (same lineup last year) are also coaching issues. His admission that he is clueless on the latter is indicative of his manegerial inadequacies. Rumors are rife of talk that he is also not communicating to the players enough. Granted that management has done terribly with the signings and this would have an adverse effect on the group: but this team should not be THIS BAD despite the injuries and ‘unbalanced-ness.’
I do agree with the sentiment though that Schuster should be allowed to keep his job till the end of the season. I think that the only reason he should be fired is if we find ourselves teetering on the brink of failure to qualify for the CL next year. In the mean time, while all pray for a turnaround, I think it would be prudent not only for management to get the necessary help in the transfer market, but also to draw up a shortlist of managers who might replace Schuster by the end of the season… just in case.
Posted from
Singapore -
We are going to have bad patches - this brings about change.
I think Calderon is _not_ a good representative for the club at all - he’s a buffon who can’t keep his mouth shut. I believe he is damaging the clubs reputation and players are saying ‘no’ to Madrid as a result.Posted from
United States -
U still wining Madrista Mac? again I didn’t gloat, I just said we r favourites.
Posted from
Kuwait -
whining*
Posted from
Kuwait -
I don’t whine Barca4life.
You should take Ramzi’s comments as an example: level-headed, fair and constructive.
When you go to a Madrid fansite to talk excitedly about how you fancy your Barca’s chances while Madrid are having this crisis, that’s gloating. If you wish to do that: go to a Barca fansite.Posted from
Singapore -
We’ll be lucky if we make the Uefa Cup!
Tactically Schuster is horrid, but his style and the modivation he gives his players is a plus. His point of very on a defensive system is crap and know it’s crumbling in his face. It’s bit like how it was with Getafe. It’s much worse!!
The responsibilities of the crisis in Madrid should be on: 1/the president and the Board of Directors for their lack of accommodation during the summer. 15%
2/ Mijatovic because of his inability to detect the problems of the team last season (despite the title) and moves that concern the director. 40%
3/ Schuster, which has entered into the last month and a half with: shocking alignments, insane changes, uncertainty in the game, failure to provide a stable plan in defensive. 45% - the team is exactly the same as last year.Posted from
United States -
We have absoultly no world class player except Casillas who is horribly out of form. Higuain nor Robinho can rescue us in this crisis. We’ve been lacking players like Zidane, Seedorf, Figo, and Ronaldo. Instead we have spaicalist (Sneijder, Drenthe(too raw) , Robben(unreliable), Vd.Vaart, v.Nistelrooy and Guti) from a league with a poor defensive market, who couldn’t penitrate a world class defense (Roma, Juve). Plyers like Benzema are a must!
Posted from
United States -
Not sure I agree totally with all your points - but Benezema would be an exciting signing and good for our future
Posted from
United States -
Man U will have to pay 37 million euros to keep tevez…which brings me to think he could be one of the few contenders, i’d pic him far before benzema. Add Arshavin and Real can be on top of their game again. But unfortunately Real’s management turns everything upside down when there is a mini crisis, there is a leak that ancelloti could be at the bernabeu before we know it, id sign a couple more players and if it doesnt go well…then plan it for next season but sudden changes usually end up in a short term catastrophy.
Posted from
Spain
Read the rest of the comments
Leave a Reply
If you have not commented here before, please take a moment to peruse ourCommenting Guidelines.
Home 
