Real Madrid Vs Racing Santander | La Liga Preview, Podcast & Live Streams
Friday, 20 November 09, 09:56 AM · Comments (95)
Nothing but a win.
I usually don't like international breaks but this one has been thrilling! France Vs Ireland, Algeria Vs Egypt and Portugal's quest to qualify for the World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo have been all thrilling, emotional and amazing. My team is Italy and they only played a few friendlies so my attention was instead on how our Madridistas were performing.
I'm not going to talk about these games, because La Liga is back but If you want my take on the France game, listen to what I had to say on this week's podcast which can be found below.
In this round of La Liga, Real Madrid take on Racing Santander at home and Barcelona face Atletico Bilbao at the San Mames. These are the last two games before EL Clasico so it would be interesting to see If both teams will be thinking about that encounter and lose focus (they still have a Champions League clash each) or will completely concentrate on their current games.
Santander first...
The Verdiblancos are one of the teams that I consider dangerous and surprising but their form this season has been terrible. They sit 17th on the table and have only won ONE game. They do, however, have a decent away record but it is worth to note that they are not generally motivated and their performance during the game is quite inconsistent. They tend to score in the last 15 minutes of the game so we have to keep that in mind.
Club President Francisco Pernia sacked their coach Mandia and hired Real Madrid's former director Miguel Angel Portugal a couple of days ago. This could either make or break the team, but I think they'll not be largely affected by such a major change.
Santander have a few good players including Tchite who is in form after scoring and helping his team beat Salamanca in Copa Del Rey. They also have dangerous wingers in Oscar Serrano, Munitis and Luis Garcia who all have pace and are talented with the ball.
Their weakest point could be their defense. They have conceded 19 goals so far making them the third most scored upon team in La Liga. The weird thing though is they have some good names at the back. One to mention in particular is Henrique (on-loan from Barca), also Nasif Morris (who played for Huelva), Moraton, and Torrejon (whose name sounds like a computer virus!).
Their midfield consists of Arana, Lacen, Colsa and Serrano. There is also the inconsistent Luis Garcia who played for Liverpool and Atletico Madrid and Moral who happens to be a former Castilla player.
Don't ask me about who will start because they have a new coach and I haven't been following them but I'm confident that their two most dangerous men Munitis and Tchite will feature upfront. They can form a good partnership so Pepe and the boys will have to mark them very well.
Now Los Blancos come!
Real are coming off a harsh exist from Copa Del Rey and hectic matches played by their international players so many would expect an average performance from Pellegrini's men. Add to that the injuries to Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Lass and Guti (yes he received a knock from Higuain plus he is still being punished) and there is also Ramos who is serving his suspension.
The two injures that could complicate things for us are Lass' and Ramos' as they are key players in their respective positions and not having them will impose a great tactical change in our lineup.
With that in mind, Pellegrini will have to move Arbeloa back to the right-back position which means either Marcelo or Drenthe will feature on the left. In the center we might see Pepe and Garay or Albiol depending on the later's fitness following his knee injury with Spain. Another possibility is Metzelder whom I could see starting even though many people think it is unlikely.
In midfield, we should see Alonso and Diarra the first performing his role as our creative mind and the second replacing Lass. I have my doubts over Diarra as to how effectivey he can handle Santander's fast midfielders but when it comes to solidity and not pace, Diarra will surely win. My only hope is that Gago doesn't start because in all honesty I don't have faith in him anymore.
If Pellegrini wants Marcelo on the wing he will obviously use Drenthe in the back, but I think he might move Marcelo to the left-back position and start with Van der vaart or Granero instead. I wouldn't mind if either started because they both deserve more chances especially Rafael who tried as hard as he can against Alcorcon.
With three midfielders we should also see another yet attacking-minded midfielder in Kaka. He has been playing better than before and I'm sure he will continue to do so, and against a pathetico Santander side he shouldn't have any problems compared to the strong defensive sides he used to face in Serie A.
Upfront, we should see Benzema who was benched against Ireland and Higuain who only played one game for Argentina so they are both fresh...... and YES, Pellegrini could also use Raul and it isn't something that I will rule out, but I would love to see those two continue upfront.
If Raul starts that's fine, the most important thing that the team plays well collectively and we win convincingly.
On the podcast I predicted a 3-1 win for Real with Ruud scoring twice but since he is out (I had recorded the podcast before the squad list was published) I'm going to say Benzema will :)
I'm very excited about Ronaldo's return and I hope we'll see him against Zurich. The Clasico will be played on the 29th at 19:00 CET so he still has nine days and a few hours to get ready!
Don't forget to listen to the podcast below. I host Kevin and Corey and we talk about Henry, Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo and Santander. I apologize for my crappy hosting skills (hey I'm improving) and the sound quality.
As always, you can subscribe to the podcast using this feedburner link, or you can either download this episode or listen to it below.
Related Links
- Pellegrini's pre-match comments
- Di Stefano made his debut against Racing
- Statistics: why Real Madrid are the best team in Spain
- Some statistics on Santander
Hala Madrid!
Like this blog? Help spread the word: 
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DynastyofRealMadrid said:i agree the media is stupid to compare us to barca and imitate their style. but...
alright sound good Adam Bader 
95 Madridistas have commented on "Real Madrid Vs Racing Santander | La Liga Preview, Podcast & Live Streams" · Add yours
I think kaka will score one.....
lately he has found his footing.........!!!
I dont have faith in M. diarra.................!!
Reply to Shre7:
funny enough we had a segment in the podcast in which I had mentioned Kaka needs to score but the sound was so terrible had to edit it out. hope to have the sound issue solved next podcast.
I'd like to see Ruud substitute. Liverpool, Arsenal and several other good teams are interested in him. He wants to play at the world cup and he can only do so if he makes his minutes. Team him up with Benzema/Hiquain (anything but Raul). He sounds really confident in his last interviews; he said he felt good enough to be in the starting eleven. For a modest person like him that says a lot, either our current starting eleven aren’t good enough or they are good but he thinks he’s better. Not sure what his reasoning is but he thinks he should be in the starting eleven.
The performance of France was an utter disgrace. I feel sorry for Ireland.
Trailing Barcelona by just one point a match ahead of El Clasico, things are not looking all too bad for Los Blancos and this weekend’s encounter against Racing will be an opportunity to showcase the kind of play that won Madridista hearts against Getafe, Milan, and Atletico Madrid.
Ahead of next week’s Champions League match and El Clasico, Pellegrini will be looking to have his men turn the corner and hit their operatic high notes; it will take nothing short of a five-star performance for the Bernabeu to chant ‘Ole’.
Along with Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence, Guti, Lass and Van Nistelrooy are all out with injuries. After being excluded from the squad for four consecutive matches, the Spaniard has proven himself to Pellegrini, but has come down with a knock in training; the Frenchman picked up a minor injury in his time with the national team; and the Dutchman picked up an injury after colliding with Higuain in training.
Despite a knee injury scare in the closing minutes of the Austria-Spain match, Raul Albiol has been included in the squad list, but it is unlikely that he should start the match and Ezequiel Garay will likely face his former team in the centre of defence. Sergio Ramos is also unavailable for the match, serving out a red-card suspension picked up in the Madrid derby.
Probable Starting XI (4-2-2-2): Casillas – Arbeloa, Pepe, Garay, Marcelo – Diarra, Gago – Granero, Kaka – Higuain, Benzema
In Miguel Angel Portugal’s first squad list, the notable absences are Crespo and Manuel Arana, the latter who was a starter under Juan Carlos Mandia. The new coach will have but one training session to decide his starting eleven and could field some interesting surprises with the hope of catching Manuel Pellegrini off-guard.
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Tono – Pinillos, Henrique, Torrejon, Cristian – Munitis, Colsa, Lacen, Serrano – Tchite, Luis Garcia
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Real Madrid – Kaka
Racing Santander – Munitis
PREDICTION:
RM 3-1 RS.
This would be a decent lineup:
---------------Cassilas---------------------
Arbeloa-----Pepe------Garay-------Marcelo--
------------Alonso--------Diarra------------
--Higuain-----------------------------VDV----
------------------Kaka-----------------------
-----------------Benzema---------------------
About Ronaldo, i think we should have atleast put him in bench just for psycological advantage.
OFFICIAL Lineup:
------Casillas------
Arbeloa___Pepe___Garay___Marcelo
________Xabi_____Gago
___Higuain_____________Kaka
_______Raul_____Benzema
Reply to Cyrus C. Malek:
Nice to see you post here Cyrus.
Reply to Madridista09:
WHERE IS GRANERO!? Why would Pellegrini play Gago instead of El PIrata?
If he doesn't get at least 30 minutes in this game, i'll be extremely pissed. Good to see Higuain on the wing though, even though I wanted to see VDV instead of Raul.
Reply to Bond:
Thing about Ronaldo on the bench would be, fans would expect him to get some minutes and you have to understand that he hasn't fully recovered yet. Keeping him off the list is very much the right descision IMO.
Latest reports claim that Raul will start today.
Lets see how it goes; it'll either be his ressurection(against lol-Racing) or more proof that he him starting only handicaps our team.
Reply to Denzel:
Agreed, but Ruud is unfortunately injuried and so won't play tonight
Interesting..AS says Higuain and Benzema will start today with Granero and Kaka probably on the wings and Gago and Alonso in the double-pivot whereas Marca says that Pellegrini will field an attacking trident with Higuain, Raul and Benzema all playing and Kaka supporting them. And then the Gago-Alonso midfield. I'd like to see the first one way more but I guess it's alright if Raul starts one game out of 5.
even goal goes for the attacking trident so i think that is the one they will line up with. it is alright if raul plays but to field gago instead of m diarra that was a huge mistake as he doesnt do anything than just giving away cheap free kicks in our own half and the fact that marcelo will start, he will certainly need some help from the midfield and who will help him if lass is not there md would but i am pretty sure gago wouldnt. what do you think? give me your views
Reply to Cyrus C. Malek:
Are you the one from goal.com?? Or his fake profile??
Reply to RealBlanco:
Sorry,I just realised its the same preview that is on Goal.com
Turns out Raul won't be starting according to Marca as Pellegrini changed his mind at the last moments.
Hala Pellegrini!
He's doing what a few men were ever able to do.
Fashalona trip to the San Mames is very very hard and they are missing many key players,we should put the three points in our pockets and we'll be the first over Fashalona by 2 points and then after el CLasico 5 points hopefully
?i'm hearing these rumors alot lately
I predict 2-0 win goals from the Benz and El Pipita,and i hope VDV play
P.S:is it true that Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure have H1N1
P.P.S:is that really Cyrus C.Malek
Reply to Madrid4Life:
OH YEAH! EL PIRATA'S PLAYING
I bet Pellegrini read my comment and decided to start Granero instead of Gago. On the Raul thing, Pellegrini's got major balls.
Well Marca has heralded the return of Raul to the starting line up with a roaring "Raul Titular", as if that was what everyone was demanding.
It's all well having Raul as titular, but it means that at least 2 other players will be squeezed out of position.
Against the likes of Racing, that shouldn't matter too much, but it would be good if Pellegrini could finally start getting a settled side.
Doesn't look likely to happen though.
Reply to Caracoleo:
Check again mate, Marca decided to go with AS and say Raul's on the bench
Looks like they had a last minute change of heart! Raul back to the subs bench, then. Granero and Drenthe into the side.
The whole shennanigans about whether Raul plays or not is at times the only thing the press seem interested in.
If Pellegerini wanted to mix things up a bit, tonight would have been a good chance to try out Van Der Vaart.
if the as lineup is correct, do you guys think marcelo or drenthe is left back? hala madrid! hala pelle! vamos vamos vamos!
Reply to ludwig Hasbauer:
Marcelo's playing as a winger so the answer's Drenthe.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
I mentioned it before, not only Real directors read the blog but also Pellegrini.
I, president of the United States, would like to declare that I also read this fine blog.
Reply to Adambader:
I sense your sarcasm; but I really feel he does lol.
Confirmed lineup:
Casillas, Arbeloa, Pepe, Garay, Drenthe, Granero, Xabi Alonso, Marcelo, Kaka, Benzema and Higuain.
What do you guys think of it?
I think its brilliant.
Reply to Kevin:
lol........!!!
Reply to Barack Obama:
lol.....
Reply to Barack Obama:
Make an account then you bastard
Reply to Shre7:
obama and hasbauer read this block--adam you can be really proud!
Reply to ludwig Hasbauer:
God bless America
Real Madrid vs Racing Santander stream links LINK and LINK and LINK
www.rojadirecta.com
I have 3-1 for Real Madrid! hala madrid! and best of luck Ronaldo!
wat time is match startin IST??
It has already begun mate!
GOLAZO HIGUAIN!!!!
There's only one El Pipita.
what is wrong with Indian sports channels !! All football leagues from europe live(even Scottish,dutch) but no La Liga,No international friendlies not even wc qualifiers,but stupid u-17 ,beach soccer cups,Asian league man wtf!
I really wasted my 60k on 42" LCD..
Please give me LA-LiGa Real Madrid,Perez u listening..
Adam please Inform this to Real Madrid management if u can...
I'm not sure playing a lowly team like Racing a week b4 El-Clasico is right for us. I'm scared!
This is not a big team!
I don't know why but benzema seems to have a bad standing with referees..santander seems to be a bad team this year, but I think the first half was pretty good..
I like the first half. Seems like their was alot of pressure on Alonso without lassana in the defensive mid but I think this is how he likes it eh?
The quality of Graneros passing aren't good enough for Benzema it seems; Kaka however set him up pretty well on a couple of occassions.
We kinda let go of our man 2 man marking after the goal; which is only rational being that we can't waste too much energy before the CL and classico.
I'll be happy with 2-0 unless Pellegrini starts getting creative and puts *Cough* raul in >_
Reply to Madrid4Life:
Funny because his passing seems to be good enough for our other players. Benzema has yet to put in an awe-inspiring performance.
Reply to Ryan McManus:
taht's why I'm saying we need a Villa or Torres to put in the goals!
Yeah, I mean I realize Benzema is young and has potential, but I think he needs to do better. I don't if a new player is three years old, if we spend 40m on them I will expect a lot. Frankly, it's a travesty that we spent twice as much on him as we did on Lass, given that Lass has been at least twice as important. And what the fuck is it with the refs awarding goals and then taking it back?
offside ,he he poor bald boy!
OH man it was going to be just as i predicted 2-0 Benz and Higuain
This game is getting duller by the moment. Still 1-0? wtf????
Come on. Higuain has to finish that.
Our defence sucks like a whore! Barca must be warming up! We just make it open at the back. That is why we need another coach! Pelle doesn't know defending.
Come on. We need to make the subs! wake up Pelle!
Adam can you put a player in your blog to watch Real Madrid matches directly? that would be awesome
If it stays 1-0, I'll want to see Pelle go after clasico! Our attack can't score goals against a relegation zone side, and our defence is a bitch! Now why wud I keep such a coach, if I have better options?
it is apparent!!!mr raul came on and since then we r shit
uckkkkk....!!! 1-0 by Real Madrid!
we are leaders now! hala madrid!
Reply to Ryan McManus:
This is a very short term view you are taking. And that has been a big problem at Madrid for several years; short term solutions.
A few years ago we were in a battle with AC Milan to sign a young 17 year old from Brazil called Pato. They won, because they were prepared to put 27 million Euros on the table - an amount that MAdrid directors baulked at. The result was they signed one of the best strikers in the world, worth a lot more now than what they paid for him.
Benzema should be doing a little better - but that doesn't mean he is a disaster or should be dropped. He is a quality player, and we need to learn to show a little faith. Otherwise we simply do not deserve to have the best footballing talent in the world.
Another heart attack second half. This match was a clone of the Athletico one minus the bad luck scoring and the red card.
Our attack was sedated as soon as Raul came in.
Everyone of our players on their half of the pitch was marked by 2 Racing players except Raul who impressivly stopped going to the midfield "that much" anymore.
Pellegrini still needs to learn how to fucking substitute (mind my french).
Imo it should have been
M,Diarra for Benz
VDV for Granero
then
Kaka for Raul.. once we secured the game with a couple of goals.
only a goal against such a side disgusting madrid....higuin should hv scored anoder...n thnk god 4 tat canceled goal...it'll be test of character 4 dis madrid team against barca n i hope they pass this one....
Real Madrid vs Racing is wwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY different than Real Madrid vs Barcelona
Reply to Ryan McManus:
I was talking about his linking with the attack; which I think Granero struggles in alot.
Reply to Caracoleo:
Obviously we show faith in him now that hes has been purchased... but I still don't think that he has warranted 40m. I mean, I don't think Pato is worth anymore than 27m, so it could be that some fans are just fixated on having young, expensive strikers. I'm just saying I wouldn't be willing to splash out forty million euros just for long-term returns on my investment. I have no problem with spending ten or twenty million on an unknown prospect, but I think Real Madrid might have been fooled by the hype surrounding Benzema.
Reply to Madrid4Life:
Actually, I think we had our share of chances on attack even after Raul entered and it was our defense that started to falter. I'm not sure how much of that you can blame on Raul though.
Not a great performance, it has to be said. I really worry about our defence. It seems any team can have 3 or 4 really good chances against by simply sliding a pass through, or a diagonal pass over the top that always catches out our full backs.
Up front Kaka is the only one who is making any moves, and I fear he is burning himself out. He is playing really well, very dynamic, making lots of runs from deep.
I still think Van Der Vaart needs to be given more opportunity in this side. He needs to rotate with Kaka, but it seems not every player is allowed to rotate here.
Reply to Caracoleo:
agreed wid ua abt vdv to be given more time...this guy has proved himself this season...i would really want vdv given a starting position 4 nxt 2 games vdv,kaka n cr9 can form an awesm trio...
Reply to Ryan McManus:
Foold by the hype surrounding Benzema? A guy who roughly played 10 games this season?
Thats a really horrible way to analyze a player who already showed his quality this season against Ac Milan the strongest we've played so far.
Its pretty funny how "GOD FORBID" we judge Raul after 4 years of his despicable contribution yet this young lad Benzema should face the electric chair already.
Reply to Caracoleo:
agreed!
don't forget that it was a international break before the match..the last couple of seasons we lost those games..benzema shouldhave got at least 4 penalties this season, and everybody here would say he's the best..hala benzema!!
Well to be honest i was really disappointed wit todays game espeacially the 2nd half! And we were suppose to drawthat match for wat its worth. As for elclassico im jus happy we gonna hav cr9 back! Cos witout him i really dont see us beating barca!
Farca is drawing at san mames hope it remains that way or athletic steal a win......
and not to forget barca's make or break match against inter, a draw or defeat there might just end farca's CL ambitions early.....
and then after all that pressure will come grand daddy of all games..... the el classico........
and the pressure will be on farceonla to win.......
with kaka & CR9 we just might nick it......!!!
drenthe man of the match!.... we got away with it there goal was onside! lol but who cares 3 points in the bag ! thats all that counts right now
is that los glacatico still making hes shity comments on here!
the score doesnt show anything...madrid should have got way more goals and racing shouldv had 1 goal to! but oh well
Reply to ludwig Hasbauer:
that backheel for hes goal that was ofside was AMAZING! shame it didnt count! viva benzema
barca just scored! HOW GAY
BARCA are drawing! come on BILBAOOOOO
Its official we no.1 again. Big morale b oost for elclassico and puts mo pressure on barca now. Good job bilbao
Reply to anthony wallace:
BARCA mind was somewhere else haha inter
Reply to W335Y09:
Hey Adam, plz don't ban me.
I'm just a passionate Real Madrid fan! It's just that I cannot come to terms with how low we have gotten since the days of the 9th UCL! 
I feel bad for Real Madrid like any true supporter. We are no longer feared in Europe. 
El-clasico is scary!
Reply to Madrid4Life:
Aside from your gloriously hyperbolic style of writing, your post lacks merit. I'm not saying that Benzema doesn't have quality, but I'm questioning whether his hype led him to be overpriced in the same way that Aguero would be. This isn't the electric chair. I think he is doing well enough to be one of our starters in the striker position, but he could simply do much more. Like I said, I don't believe in spending 40m on the long term. Only the elite strikers of the world warrant that price, and I don't think Benzema is there yet. You guys realize that, not only did we spend 40m on him, but we also benched last year's top scorer who is also a player with long-term potential? I don't see what he adds to our team at this point. Sure, we needed another striker given Raul and van Nistelrooy's age, but why not just give Negredo a chance? Why overpay for a hyped foreign player when you have an ex-Castilla player on the cheap? Then maybe we could have worried about buying another winger instead of just buying another Galactico on Perez' whim? I don't see Benzema as a player who can work with our current striker setup. He's an overall good striker, but he simply cannot fulfill the target man role that we lack and is slightly redundant when playing alongside Higuain. We never have anybody who can just sit in the box and shrug off defenders and score off crosses. That's what Negredo could have done. Don't get me wrong, I know the damage is already done, so I'll have to eventually support him, but even if Benzema becomes a world class player, we will have to change our attacking scheme to accomodate him. I'm also convinced that Higuain's lack of minutes at the beginning of the season is negatively affecting his play. Blame it on Raul if you like. I'm convinced the only reason you guys support him so much is because he is a young, expensive star signing and because he will supplant Raul. Also, he doesn't show the amount of club devotion that I like to see in professionals.
You're cool.
messi is injurd AND MIGHT miss the classico WHICH i think its a shame bcuz i want him to play againts madrid
What I would have liked to seen this summer is either not selling Robben or buying Mata and keeping Negredo instead of buying Benzema. Then we could have bought a legitimate left back. Arbeloa is a good squad player but he's really only a short-term solution. I have yet to be convinced by the defensive performances of our previous choices, Drenthe and Marcelo, although I must say that they have done well on offense. I guess that might not really be the players, though, because Ramos has been also not up to his usual standards, but the fact that we play narrow defense which allows the opposition to send balls in from wide areas. We can't afford to do so with no natural wingers in our squad, and with a double pivot, it really should not be necessary to stick that many defenders in the middle.
Nope, if you read what I wrote, you would know I was suggesting we start Higuain and Negredo, with assistance from Raul and van Nistelrooy.
Reply to Ryan McManus:
Your judgement is seriously flawed. Why are you after that 40m? RM paid Lyon 40m to buy him, so what? Benzema won't be a superman because of the 40m tag. He will play his game, and for god's sake, please give him time.
Benzema is way complete forward than Higuain or Negredo. What options were available to us then? Who would you have brought? You are very short shighted. We brought Negredo first, and when we got Benzema, we allowed Negredo to go to a top side and develop there. Negredo is ours and will be returning home. But if we didn't buy Benzema then, ManU or some other would have bought him and they wud pay him the same amount. With RVN ageing and suffering from injuries, we needed someone like him (who is strong, can hold ball,and decent inside or outside the box) and someone who has proven himself in a top club of europe.
Stop viewing things from canal.
Every players have bad times. You can't put a youngester in a completely different scenario, in the biggest stage of the world and wish to see magics from him the next day. It will take time. He has off-pitch problems as well (like language problem) which are affecting his performance. He is still young and learning. If we give him time and faith, he will grow as one of the best and the most complete forwards in the world, better than Higuain, Negredo or even Pato.
The mistake he did was he chose us over ManU, if he had been with SAF, we would be paying him some 100m, four years later.
And Ryan, you tend to defend Raul after each game, you are happy to give minutes to a player whom we all know will only decline(as a player) after each game, why can't you put some faith in Benzema? It's your problem that you can't see what Benz adds to our team (I guess, your biasness is not allowing u), but I surely can and I'm happy that our coach can, as well.
So far Los Blancos have had a good November. We've defeated all the teams we faced in the leaguue. Drawing Milan at the san siro could be termed a sore point though. Yeah some may say we lost outta the King's cup but then we did not lose it in this month. We lost it when we were decimated 4-0. so far so good. A win against zurich would see us through to our jinx i.e. round of 16. And then we have the job of protecting our position in the league, courtesy El Classico. Hope we round of the month of November with a 100 % record.
Reply to Bond:
Why thank you. I'm not after it, but I think it would have been used in different investments. So that's a lot of money, a sum that would be the world record transfer fee ten years ago. Well I'm saying you have to be a superman to deserve that much money. The problem with you Madrid fans is that you have no concept of finance because the club is so damn rich. You think that just because Real Madrid CAN splash out 40m for a hyped and yet unproven player, we SHOULD. Madridistas are spoiled as always. Who would I have bought? Well, we had Negredo. Once again, thank you, I really appreciate your compliments. Well why did we buy Benzema if we had Negredo? Just to say we had spent another exorbitant sum on a player, not because we needed him. Well, where are we when Negredo returns? Three relatively young strikers who all want to be regular starters. Ha, I don't think that anybody else wanted to buy him. Lyon said he was not for sale, but conveniently when they heard high-spending Madrid was interested, the French press reported that he was a target of Man U. Please don't believe everything you read in some silly tabloid. Yeah, we needed someone like that alright, but I would argue that Negredo is a much better choice for that role. Benzema sure has some attributes of a target man, but we needed someone akin to Ibrahimovic. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Swede. We already have enough offensive power outside the box; we needed a big man to do the finishing and messy work. Benzema is not that kind of player. Also, I really don't consider the French League that highly in respect to other top European leagues. A canal? That's an interesting one. Sure, but I'm not saying Benzema has been bad. Sure, but that's why you don't just throw in 40m for a "youngster". This brings me to another point. Most of your ideas of developing youth include poaching the already proven youth of other clubs for expensive signings. That isn't really what it's about.
Reply to Ryan McManus:
Developing youth should be about raising players from the academy finding hitherto unknown talents and buying them. Heck, maybe even try to make a profit off them. I know for Madridistas this is a strange notion, but believe me that it works. I really wish I shared your conviction that he will become one of the world's best. I'm just saying that at his current rate of progress, I don't see that happening. Bah! Perez isn't going to buy a new Galactico on a whim and just let the coach bench him. I actually think Pellegrini has less of a choice regarding how much Benzema plays than Raul. You can demonize me all you want for asking that people respect Raul, but that doesn't mean that I am just clamoring for him to play in every game. In fact, I really hope he doesn't make an appearance in El Clasico until the second half. Like I have said before, you all just treat 40m if it's chump change. I'm sorry but you have to have some expectations of a player who commands that sort of fee. Also the noun form is just bias. FYI.
Reply to Ryan McManus:
"Developing youth should be about raising players from the academy finding hitherto unknown talents and buying them" -- Beautifully put. Now that's a philosophy quite extinct @ Madrid.
"I know for Madridistas this is a strange notion" --- Simple yet a powerful truth.
All we care is for instant results. The team has been assembled, game kicks off we expect our team to score 4-5 goals every game. Trust me, we would not settle for a scoreline less than 6-2 @Camp Nou in our favour. Why is pellegrini receiving so much flak despite us being at the top of the league and doing well in the UCL? Because we chased a treble which the Catalans accomplished last season. I really suspect if ever the madridistas ever know of a word called patience and its meaning! heck, we are 13 yrs ahead of Barcelona and still quite a long way in UCL in terms of titles. If we keep changing the coach, the players, the staff we would never achieve what we set out to achieve. For most part of the time, the players will still be finding their feet in the team and in the league. That could hit their performances too. But what pans out is at the end of the season, when the player would have come to terms with the league and its demands and would be ready to script his own story, he'd be sold. A new guy would be brought in and the cycle continues! A perfect example that comes to my mind is Huntelaar. Bought in Jan, then comes the rigging stigma at the end of Feb. And in march there is a talk of Perez taking over and players future totally insecure. Now how would a player perform if he is not sure on his place in the club? I hope some day this crap philosophy that is in place now is done away with. There has to be some steadiness in the system, else we head to nowhere!
Reply to Ryan McManus:
Okay, first of all, let me clarify I am not after splashing money on anyone.
For a moment, lets forget about Benzema . When the season began, everything was changed. And this change was made with an ambition to win everything we can. So we needed players on whom we could depend on every department. With Robben, Huntaelaar, Snijder, VDV all in transfer zone, our offence basically included Kaka, Ronaldo, Alvaro, RVN, Higuain and Raul.(Things would be totally different if we hadnt sold some of them, but let's not talk about them here.). As you said, if we needed a player just to finish things inside box, we would have kept Huntaelaar. But, we needed two genuine fast, moboile strikers for Pelle's style of play. Both Raul and RVN were two away from their primes so the only options available to us were Higuain and Alvaro. However, Higuain was too inconsistant and Alvaro too inexperienced. Alvaro would perfectly fit into our side if in-form Raul or RVN were playing alongside him. Having already spent so much of money, we could not risk the project. So we definately needed another reliable striker. After weighing up all the options, two name came forward: Villa and Benzema. Many things have been said about why we chose Benzema over Villa, anyway we couldnt/didnt buy Villa. (Personally, I would prefer Villa over Benzema.).
Not believeing in media on everything is one thing and not believeing in media on anything is another thing. You are very ignorant if don't believe ManU approached to sign him (esp when Benzema himself has confessed it). 35m is very high price but Lyon would definately not sell him for 15m, esp in that transfer market. Thus, we paid it, we brought Benzema.
When he came, we still needed to reduce players. Furthermore, with Higuain and Benzema, Alvaro would obviously get less minutes. So we sold him to Sevilla with buy back clause. When Alvaro comes back, we will have out options, it wont be a problem to fit all of these three in a squad.
Reply to Ryan McManus:
What you said is one way of developing youth, probably the best way. But yes, you can still buy a young player and develop him into a world class player and sell him to make profit if you want. It's not that strange notion. After Ramos, Eto, Pato, and now lets do it with Benzema.
It's too easy to talk about these issues here, now. But let's not forget the time, the circumstances under which we built this squad.
We definately needed another striker and I am happy we got Benzema. I repeat, I would have prefered Villa to Benzema. But believe me, "disaster" has not been done by bringing Benzema. We all should help him, full heartedly, reach that elite level of footballer.
Comment of the day:
"Real Madrid don't even need to be playing good football to top Barca in the standings. Once they do start playing good football Barca will be left 10 points behind.."
This is so true ^_^ Hala Madrid & Congrats everyone on being 1st in the league. Hope it becomes our motivation play better throughout the rest of the season.
only wanted to mention ow darn good arbeloa is! I think he's a superb signing if you see how much he cost! now lets beat zürich, and then we can go to camp nou and play like real madrid! we have no pressure, if we tie we are first, so barca is in BIG troble..hala madrid!
Reply to galacticos:
Write something that makes sense and you won't be banned. Last chance.
Reply to Adambader:
Great result for us last night, it's weird we are not all that good but still manage to be first. Barcelona isn't half the team it was last year though.
And Adam. Your wish/prediction has come true. Messi is injured. I'm actually really sad, bad day for football. Also I want both teams to be top and fit so there can be no excuses if we lose/win.
Reply to Adambader:
Man, I do talk some sense, don't I?