Real Madrid Castilla: 2010-11: What's Happening In Segunda B

As I had promised, the Real Madrid Castilla post, I wasn't in favor of doing the post because Corey at Real Madrid Offside had already made an elaborate post on the Castilla and I wouldn't be able to match it, but it's been a long time since that post came around and there have been changes made in the Castilla too, hence this post, I'll just cover the transfer movements and give the final team.

• In:

Goalkeepers: Jesus Fernandez (Numancia), Issac Becerra (Espanyol B)
Defenders: Pablo Gil (Albacete), Raul Goni (Zaragoza)
Midfielders: Mandi (Ponferradina)
Strikers: Joselu (Celta Vigo) (*Joselu was signed last season but was immediately loaned back to Celta)

Rodrigo Moreno

• Out:

Goalkeepers: Filipe Ramos (Deportivo La Coruna)
Defenders: Gary (Germinal Beerschot), Marcos Alonso (Bolton), Opare (Standard Liege), Cordero (Xerez)
Midfielders: Pedro Mosquera (Getafe), Tebar (Girona), Rodrigo (Benfica, on loan to Bolton), Miquel Palanca (Elche)
Forwards: Adam Szalai (Mainz), Javier Acuna (Recreativo Huelva), Samuel Alonso Saiz (Sevilla Atletico)

Tomas Mejias

• Promotion To Real Madrid Castilla

Goalkeepers: Tomas Mejias
Defenders: Casado, Daniel Carvajal
Midfielders: Alex Fernandez, Antonio Martinez, Denis Tcherichev, Victor Merchan
Forwards: Alvaro Morata

• Promotion To The First Team

Antonio Adan and Mateos have made the jump from the Castilla to first team, none of these can play for the Castilla in the season.


No Promotion, But Change In Group

The Spanish FA made some classification changes in the Segunda B division and because of that Real Madrid Castilla is classified in Group 1 opposed to Group 2 last season. Allejandro Menedez's team could only manage a mere eighth position and fell way short of the promotion play-off zone in Group-2, maybe this time they can get better results. These are the teams who the Castilla will be facing this season:

Celta B, Montaneros, Getafe B, Guadalajara, Leganes, Deportivo B, Lugo, Rayo B, Universidad, Conquense, Pontevedra, RSD Alcala, Vecindario, Coruxo, Atletico B, Cacereno, Cerro Reyes, Extremadura UD and CD Badajoz .

Squad List

These are the following players who will be with the Real Madrid Castilla this season:

Goalkeepers: Tomas Mejias, Jesus Fernandez & Issac Becerra.

Tomas Mejias (GK) was supposed to be the starter for the Real Madrid Castilla this season, but his 4 month lay-off means that is certainly not hapenning, Jesus Fernandez will be the first choice in his absence.


Defenders: Nacho, Luis Hernandez, Juanan, Velayos, Casado, Pablo Gil, Carvajal & Raul Goni

Last year Allejandro Menendez played a back line of Nacho, Mateos, Gary and Marcos Alonso, only Nacho is the one who survives, Nacho is considered one of the top talents of the academy, he did train with the first team in the pre-season too.

In the Coruxo game, Menendez lined up Luis Hernandez, Jorge Casado, Nacho and Juanan, but with the late arrival of Raul Goni (21) who has experience of the Primera division too, I expect the defense line to change.


Midfielders: Mandi, Raul Ruiz, Victor Merchan, Fran Rico (C), Denis, Juanfran, Juan Carlos, Pablo Sarabia, Alex Fernandez, Javi Hernandez and Zamora

Fran Rico has been made the captain of the Castilla, is one of the most brilliant players in the team, injuries have plagued his career so far. Alex Fernandez is the one who looks likely to start more games this season, he's a brilliant playmaker and also travelled with the first team to USA.

Mandi has been bought to replace the former Castilla captain—Pedro Mosquera, however Menendez didn't start Mandi in the first game against Coruxo which the Castilla won 3-2. Menendez's midfield consisted of Alex Fernandez, Juan Carlos, Juanfran and Fran Rico.

The surprise of the first game was, Pablo Sarabia coming from the bench, Juan Carlos was given the nod in the first game, although I believe Juan Carlos and Pablo Sarabia will be rotated and will share playing time, both of them can start simultaneously when Juanfran gets called by the first team.


Forwards: Cristian, Joselu, Ruben Ramos and Alvaro Morata

 I really like Joselu, he started the pre-season with the Castilla very brightly even scored a lot of goals and he will defenitely be a starter for the Castilla.

With the adavent of Alvaro Morata in the Castilla, the top scorer of the Castilla—Cristian was benched by Allejandro Menendez. Not too sure who'll start more often, we'll have to see what happens.


I don't trust Allejandro Menendez much, but I do hope they make it to the Segunda division this season.Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid Cantera Update: Daniel Opare & Pedro Mosquera Bid Farewell

It's been a very long time since I last posted a Cantera Update, these should be frequent this time around. It's really tough to give a decent build-up to such kind of posts, from the next time around, it'll be straight to the news.

News that is pretty old, which I won't cover in this segment is that the Real Madrid Juvenil A lost the finals of the Copa del Ray against Athletic Bilbao's U-19 team, The Juvenil A were chasing the treble after winning the European competition and the league.


» Pedro Mosquera Signs For Getafe

22 year old Pedro Mosquera has officially signed for Getafe, the Real Madrid Castilla captain Mosquera debuted for the Real Madrid first team at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez in a 4-2 victory over Getafe last season. The details of the transfer haven't yet been released and only Getafe's official site has confirmation of the transfer. Mosquera will be presented at Getafe on 13 July.

It's not official but the reason of the deal might be the signing of Pedro Leon. In an interview published on both AS & Marca according to the Getafe manager—Michel, the signing of €7 million man (more like €10 million but Getafe owe €3 million to Real Madrid due to Roberto Soldado's signing with Valencia)—Pedro Leon has been completed by Real Madrid pending the decision of Jose Mourinho. Nowhere has it been written that Pedro Mosquera is part of the Pedro Leon deal, I'm just connecting the dots.

Source: Getafe CF Official Site (Mosquera's presentation announcement), AS (Michel's interview regarding Pedro Leon), Marca (Michel's interview regarding Pedro Leon)

» Daniel Opare Signs For Standard Liege

One of the most versatile players of the academy—Daniel Opare(19) has left the Castilla to sign for Standard Liege in Belgium. According to Castilla's coach—Allejandro Menendez, Opare was a great talent but just couldn't settle here in Spain. Opare debuted for the Ghanaian national team at the age of 17.

Source: Standard Liege Official Site (French)

» Daniel Carvajal Offered Promotion & New Contract

Daniel Carvajal, another pearl of the academy has signed a contract till 2014 with the club. Daniel Carvajal is a tremendous right-back and was an important part of the double winning Juvenil A. He has also featured with the La Rojita (U-16, U-17) and will feature with the U-19 team in the summer as well. After his brilliant performances with the Juvenil A last season, Carvajal has been promoted to the Real Madrid Castilla, and might feature in the first team training sessions and on the bench next season.

Source: Defensa Central

» Jesus Fernandez Signs For The Castilla

Real Madrid Castilla are strengthening their squad before the new season, and in the process, they have signed 20 year old goalkeeper—Jesus Fernandez from Numancia. I couldn't find any information on Jesus Fernandez, or about how good he is. We'll have to wait for the pre-season friendlies to see what actually he can do.

Source: Defensa Central

More on the wonderful academy of Real Madrid next week (hopefully)! Hala Madrid!