Super Copa: Real Madrid-FC Barcelona: First Leg Preview

The Super Copa is very close at hand. League winners—Barcelona, will be facing current Copa Del Rey champions—Real Madrid, in a two-legged tie of the Spanish Super Cup. So far, both teams have completed rather contrasting pre-season tours/friendlies; with Real Madrid winning all seven of the matches as opposed to Barca's 3 wins out of six. The Catalans looked far from impressive during said pre-season friendlies, with most of their first team players, either out injured, or resting from the Copa America.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, had a perfect pre-season, and Mourinho's men looked all but ready to start off the new season. Playing time was properly distributed among the whole team that was called up for the pre-season tour, barring the injured Nuri Sahin, and a lot of goals were scored. Real Madrid scored 27 goals in 7 games, while conceding 5. Not bad.

However, the pre-season forms of both teams don't say too much of what to expect from both teams as the season commences, because as stated earlier, Barcelona were with most of their first team players, and Real Madrid didn't face the toughest of opponents during their voyage. So whatever game plan Mourinho has going into these games should be independent of what form the Catalans were in, during pre-season.

Without further ado, let's look at the starting lineup I think will be used come Sunday. Let me preface this by saying that I do not expect us to go all out in this game. I say this because, one of the many things we achieved last season was a good defensive structure against Barca. One that they found difficult to break down no matter how many passes they strung together. So I expect us to maintain that structure, but what has to change is the way we handle the ball when we are in possession.

The Champions league Semi-final 1st leg from last season was a typical example of what we should not do (when in possession) this time around. Last season we depended on kicking the ball up to the forwards without linking up play from the midfield. Needless to say it failed woefully.

What I expect this time around are build ups. Pep Guarliola's men press aggressively, so build ups must be quick, and direct. It's easier said than done, but we should at least try. But as always, don't expect us to win the possession battle. Enough said, now to the starting 11:

GK: Iker Casillas: I don't think I need to explain why I've chosen him. First choice goal keeper, captain, and best keeper in the world; these things speak for themselves.

RB: Alvaro Arbeloa: If recent reports, have been anything to go by, then Sergio Ramos will probably miss the first leg of this tie. In his absence, we have an able-bodied back up in Alvaro Arbeloa. The Spaniard is tactically astute, and has a very high concentration level on the pitch. Mourinho never shied away from singing his praises, and they were well deserved too. One of his drawbacks, however, is his reluctance to attack and we can be rest assured he won't be attacking a lot against Barcelona.

CBs: Pepe & Ricardo Carvalho: I think Pepe is going to be playing at centre back this time around, mostly because with Sergio out, we would have to throw Raul Albiol into the fray. Seeing as Albiol doesn't have the full confidence of the coach, Pepe will have to play in defense. His obvious partner would be Carvalho. The 33 year old centre back, is sure to start this game.

LB: Marcelo: The Brazilian full-back has matured (football-wise) a lot over the past one or two years. He went from the player most Madridistas didn't want to have on their team in the big games, to one of the most important players for team. He could easily be rated the best attacking left back in the world, now, and with good reason too. He scored our last goal against Barca, in the Camp Nou, and while it wasn't enough to see us through o the final of the Champions league, that goal must have given him some confidence, on an individual level, at least. He still has the tendency to lose concentration every now and them, but whatever he lacks defensively, he makes up for, going forward. A definite start for him. 

DMs: Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso: The best player on our team is Ronaldo, but our most important player, is Xabi Alonso, without a doubt. Barring some weird happenings, Alosno is sure to start this game. His calmness on the ball, coupled with his pin point passing, are enough to seal a spot for him in the starting 11, come Sunday. In fact, how well we play, will depend (to a certain extent) on how well the Spaniard plays.

Sami Khedira is going to be a lot more involved in our attacks this season. Judging from our pre-season friendlies, he's going to be playing higher up the pitch than Xabi Alonso, which means, he'd be more involved in goals; scoring, and assisting. I see him starting on Sunday, especially with Lass out of the team, and Nuri Sahin still injured. He will play a huge role in how well we pressure Barcelona high up the pitch. 

RW/DM: Fabio Coentrao: The big question is: Who will start, Di Maria, or Coentrao? In my opinion, Coentrao will be starting this game. Why? Because with the Portuguese, we kill two birds with one stone. Seeing as he can play in the middle and on the wings, he could slot into the middle and form a trivote with Sami and Alonso when we defend, switch to the wings, to provide some width when we defend. On paper, it's a brilliant idea, but whether it can be properly executed, is an answer that can only be made available to us, on the field. If this happens, then it's safe to say, Fabio Coentrao will be a very important part of this team, come Sunday; even more important that Alonso. His work ethic will be tested, and his tactical discipline too. Will he be caught out of position often? Can he keep up with the constant movements of the Pep Guardiola's men? It's a tough task, but the 30 million price tag would be a steal, if he can pull this off. 

CAM/CM: Mesut Ozil: I expect the German to start this match ahead of Kaka, for the obvious fact that he's currently the better of the two. He has had a strong pre-season, and thanks to the German National team coach, Joachim Loew, he was rested during the week, while most of his teammates were on international duty. He links up well with the attackers, and is very comfortable on the ball. I do not see why he shouldn't start this game.

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo: The highest goal scorer in one season in la liga's entire history, looks set to start this game. Ronaldo had a good pre-season, scoring 7 goals in 7 games. He has continued with his scoring form from last season, and would probably be the first name on the team sheet, going into this game. 

ST: Karim Benzema: To be honest, I do not think Benzema should start against Barcelona. Yes he has been in good form as of late, but his style of play might not suit the game we would have to play against Barcelona. With him, we need a lot of possession; something we won't have too much of against Barca.

But how do you reward somebody who has worked so hard to make the starting 11 this season, and has done so well during the pre-season friendlies, so much that he is the the highest goal scorer with 8 goals in 7 games? You reward him by trusting him in games that count. His first real test this season will come in the form of a home match against Barcelona. I Hope he passes in flying colours, because if he does well, the whole team does well.

It could be argued that playing him will be a mistake, but (in my honest opinion) it is a mistake that must be made. I think he should start on Sunday, at least.

________________


Well that's it folks. This is the lineup that I think will work against Barcelona, but as cliched as this may sound, it is still the truth; "Nothing is for sure in football". I expect a cautious game from us regardless of who starts for Barca, because let's face, this is not a matter of "will power", it's about what has to be done. Like I said, we've established one thing against Barca, and that's our defense, so we cannot just throw all that away because we look like favorites after a more "impressive" run of pre-season friendlies. That's a misleading theory, to say the least. We must take one step at a time, if we're going to eventually supersede Barcelona.

Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid-Barcelona: El Clasico (1/4): Points Worth Noting

Pepe to Messi: "Are you crazy?"

Last night Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid brought an end to the winning streak of Pep Gaurdiola's Borecelona....err....Barcelona in El Clasico as well as their streak away from home.

Jose Mourinho's men fought hard, were the better team, created the better chances despite being "outpassed" and "outpossessed," earned themselves a draw with 10 men on the field. It didn't help that the referee was, as usual against them. This draw as stated by Marca's headline, "feels like a win".

There are always many match reviews available on the internet of such games and it's always better to do something different, so that's why I have decided to discuss point by point the things that happened in the match which were worth discussing.


Barcelona's Football is as Negative as it Can Get

Barcelona had 76% possession of the ball according to ESPN Soccernet, and as far as I remember the commentator repeatedly reminding how Barcelona had completed more than twice the number of passes than Real Madrid while having an orgasm. The bias of Mediapro's commentator didn't enable him to watch the match properly as he was praising Barcelona for playing square balls and back passes while lined up at the half-line unable to create anything worthwhile except for a good showing for number of passes completed.


Keeping possession while attacking is 'good attacking football', but keeping possession for the sake of not giving it to the opposition should be considered as a negative tactic, just like taking the ball to the flag or rolling in defense is, people need to get rid of their bias towards FC Barcelona.


The Trivote Worked Wonders/Pepe is Amazing in Midfield

Bassam of Real Madrid Offside and I have had a discussion about using the trivote many time, we had Granero as our choice with Khedira and Xabi Alonso, but after Granero was suspended both of us had agreed on Pepe as the third man in the trivote over Lass; Lass got injured we got our wish, and it turns out what we wanted was the right thing all along. We wanted Real Madrid to close down spaces, press high up the field and not give time to Barcelona's midfielders time to pick out passes that can open up defenses. Pepe did just that; he hounded the Catalan midfielders down, won tackles in the middle of the park, and helped start many of Real Madrid's attack; hands down the best player on the field.

The trivote should be used again in the remaining Clasicos without any change or bringing in Lass, Lass just isn't the same as Pepe. Pepe's much more cleaner and disciplined than Lass.


Dani Alves & Adriano Were Kept Quiet


After watching a few Barcelona games, I had realized how important Dani Alves is for Barcelona. When going forward, Dani Alves always bombs up the field making dangerous runs, getting into good positions and getting involved in many attacking plays with quick one-two passing. Due to the compact shape of Real Madrid and breaking quickly on the counters, Dani Alves didn't venture forward in attack too much and that made it one less player to deal with while defending. Not only Alves, the left-back Adriano didn't make many attacking runs either.


 Full-Backs Can't Be Red Carded


Yes, that's right, according to the fourth-official in the game, full backs can't be red-carded. In the press-conference after the game, Jose was talking about how Alves should have been red-carded for a second bookable offense when he brought down Marcelo in the box conceding a penalty and that's when he said:

 "I asked the fourth official why there wasn't a second yellow and he told me it's because he's a full-back."

All these times, all these times when Sergio Ramos got red carded, all he had to say was, "I'm a full-back b****!" and he would have stayed on, I ask for the Spanish FA and the UEFA to apologize to Sergio Ramos for giving him red cards in La Liga, Copa del Ray and Champions League.



Neither Ozil Nor Di Maria Should Start The Next Clasico


Both Di Maria and Mesut Ozil have been immense for Real Madrid this season but none of them are suitable to start the El Clasico just yet. Di Maria has got the nerves and Ozil is not someone who can keep up the same intensity over the 90 minutes.

Last night Di Maria's touch and control deserted him many a times, the same Di Maria would have latched on to those similar balls and would have tore up the defense of some other team but he just couldn't keep the ball close to him and always ran into trouble. Di Maria just isn't ready mentally.

Ozil was brilliant when he came on last night, dribbling past defenders, passing the ball well, getting involved in the play. The problem with Ozil starting is that in order to last the 90 minutes he will stop pressing in attack and will not track back, and the success we had in shutting out Barcelona's midfield was the fact that everyone put in their defensive shifts properly, even Cristiano Ronaldo was tracking back helping in defense many times. If Ozil switches off we have a problem.

Picking someone to start out of the two is a little difficult, so I'll just go ahead and put the weirdest idea in your head about starting Benzema and Higuain along with Cristiano Ronaldo

But as far as Jose Mourinho goes, I know he'll start Ozil. Won't be a bad idea if Ozil does a complete job and puts in 60-70 minutes and then Di Maria comes on in his place as an impact substitute.

 I nearly predicted the correct line-up (The mistake I made was picking Higuain over Benzema) nearly 12 hours before the game on Twitter, let's wait and see if I predicted the correct line-up this time as well. Best of luck to the players for the remaining Clasicos! Hala Madrid!

Champions League: AC Milan - Real Madrid: San Siro Preview By Muna

As all of you can see, I have been very very irregular in updating my blog, and it's been a long time since I have written anything, but not to worry, I had talked to Munachismo a long time ago about contributing on the blog, he too unfortunately was kept busy by his school work, so even he couldn't contribute, but now he's free so he's willing to help me out, and I'm greatly thankful to him. You might see a post or two from me soon enough, but in the meantime enjoy this one from Muna.

------------------------------------

Mourinho and his men put up a very thrilling display in the first leg tie against the Italian giants. An encounter that sent the Madrid faithful home with a lot to be proud of. Well, the second leg is at hand and as usual, we’re going down to Italy.

It’s going to be a more tricky encounter considering that the players would be up against a very emotional Milan crowd and more importantly, some tactical changes would be expected from Milan coach, Massimo Allegri.

AC Milan

Here’s AC Milan’s squad list for the game: Abbiati, Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Robinho, Pato, Ibrahimovic, Amelia, Sokratis, Jankulovski, Abate, Flamini, Ronaldinho, Ambrosini, Inzaghi, Boateng.

In the first game, the Italian club began with a formation that looked like this:

--------------------Amelia-----------------
Zambrotta --- Nesta -- Bonera--- Antonini
--------Gattuso --- Pirlo --- Seedorf-------
Pato ------------- Zlatan -------- Ronaldinho


The biggest concern Milanistas had with the midfield trio of Pirlo, Gattuso, and Seedorf was their age and level of speed. Fortunately for us, their fears were made a reality because our rather young midfield outran them throughout the game.

However, I expect Allegri to make some crucial changes to this line up. I’d expect one of the three central midfielders to be replaced with Kevin Prince Boateng ( probably Seedorf) and Robinho to make the cut; he would probably replace Ronaldinho or Pato. Pato is the most likely one to be replaced because his form as of late has disconcerting. Besides, he was marked out of the game by the Madrid defense in the first game.

Thiago Silva will also make the cut after missing the first leg of tie because of an injury. He might give our attackers a run for their money.

Then again, there’s also the issue of motivation. AC Milan came out of a very disappointing loss against Juventus during the weekend and there are two things that could result from that. The first one is that they could lose some confidence in themselves which would lead to sloppy football on their part come Wednesday.

The second one is the direct opposite to the first. They could be more motivated than ever and want to give it to us hard, just to prove a point.

Quite frankly, I think the second one is the case because from what Massimo Allegri has been saying to the press, I can tell he’s pretty confident. Here’s one of his most recent quotes:

"We made too many mistakes in the Bernabeu, and they scored lucky goals."

Yes, they made many mistakes, but blaming luck for the goals we scored is laughable. I think this guy is a good coach, but if he comes out with the same tactical set up he had in Spain, hoping for luck to change sides, then he's in for a very unpleasant surprise.

Real Madrid

Squad list for the game tomorrow : Casillas, Dudek, Adan, Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Albiol, Marcelo, Mateos, Carvalho, Khedira, Alonso, Ozil, Diarra, Canales, Granero, Pedro Leon, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kaka, Gago, and Garay are still injured; with Gago being the closest to full recovery and Lass was left out for "coaching decisions." If I were to take a wild guess, I’d say Mourinho is punishing him for his comments during in France during the last international break. For those of you who don’t know what he said, here’s a quote from him:

“I seem to play one in every two games. I want more minutes, and if I am unhappy, then I will draw my own conclusions. I’m not willing to be a spectator. I want to play.”

Well, if this is what he really said, then he cannot say he did not see this coming.

Last time against Milan, Mourinho set up the team like this:

----------------Casillas-------------------
Arbeloa --- Pepe -- Carvalho --- Marcelo
---------Khedira-----Alonso--------------
------------------Ozil---------------------
Di Maria--------------------------Ronaldo
-----------------Higuain-------------------

Two defensive midfielders with Khedira playing a more attacking role than Alonso. By my judgement, Arbeloa had a relatively poor game, considering that every other person was on fire. Sergio Ramos would most likely start tomorrow, but I must say, Sergio’s form has been disheartening recently. I was not impressed at all with his performance during the weekend against Hercules. We can only hope for his form to improve.

I don’t expect too many changes, but rumors have it that Mourinho might be playing the formation he used against Auxerre, which is playing three defensive midfielders with two wingers and a striker.

This would mean Ozil would have to make way for one of M. Diarra or Estaban Granero. This approach would be a more defensive one than our previous games but I won’t complain a lot since this is an away match against one of the big boys in Europe.

But if that formation is not adopted, then expect to see the same players we’ve been seeing for some games now.

I hope I’ve done a decent job here. It’s definitely not one of the best previews you’ve seen, but I think it’s good enough to keep the blog rolling. Hopefully, this would be the first of many other posts from me. I’m predicting a 2-1 win for Madrid. Finally, we can only wish the players a safe journey back from Italy and a good game to embellish it. Hala Madrid!

Muna.

Real Madrid-Ajax: 2-0: Take a Bow Mesut Ozil

Midfield Maestro

After being booed by the fans for the uninteresting and unimpressive style of football against Osasuna at the weekend, Real Madrid set off in their quest for "La Decima," facing four time champions—Ajax.

The jeering by the fans seemed to have worked as the style of football presented to the fans at the Bernabeu certainly improved against Ajax, the speed of play isn't "Real Madrid" yet but the defense has been super solid.

Sergio Ramos had picked up a knock just before the game and Alvaro Arbeloa had to step in, Jose Mourinho, dropped Karim Benzema and gave the start to Angel Di Maria, Mourinho started the match with a 4-5-1: Casillas, Arbeloa, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Di Maria, Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and Higuain.

Martin Jol's Ajax were missing their captain—Luis Suarez and central defender—Jan Vertonghen through suspension, they too lined up a 4-5-1 with El Hamdaoui the lone man upfront: Stekelenburg, Van der Weil, Alderweireld, Ooijer, Anita, Enoh, Emanuelson, De Jong, De Zeeuw, Sulejmani and El Hamdaoui.

The pattern of the game was set in the starting minutes of the game, Real Madrid dominated the game, took a lot of long shots and wasted a lot of chances. Despite the horrid finishing there were a lot of positives for Real Madrid in the game.

Goooool del Pipita!

Goals:

1-0: Anita (OG): 31': The first goal was scrambled in from a corner kick taken by Xabi Alonso, the goal was first given to Gonzalo Higuain, but after a few replays the goal was called an own goal by Ajax defender Anita.

2-0: Higuain: 74': The second goal was a result of some brilliant play between Ozil and Di Maria, Ozil was set free in the box by a pass from Di Maria, Ozil set himself up well, took a good shot only to be denied by the brilliant Stekelenburg, but the ball came back to Ozil, who this time played the ball across the goal for the waiting Gonzalo Higuain, who taps the ball in.


Match Notes:

• Despite Angel Di Maria showing flashes of brilliance in the game, he had troubles getting past defenders. He also lacks a passing brain, taking a shot whenever he saw the slightest of opportunity instead of passing it to his teammates in better positions.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has something wrong in his head, he was very selfish and very wasteful, he too like Di Maria took unnecessary shots. Plus it wasn't his day, he missed a simple tap in after Higuain played the ball back to him.
• Gonzalo Higuain is an odd creature, when he hasn't scored his first of the season (or for 3-4 games in a row) he looks dull, sulks and moans a lot, but when he does get his goal, he starts looking amazing and sharp and there is a glow on his face, if you haven't noticed. Such was the case yesterday, he came to life after scoring Real Madrid's second.
• Mesut Ozil was once again the man of the match, brilliant performance from the German playmaker earned him a standing ovation from the crowd at the Bernabeu.
• 3 MATCHES, 3 CLEAN-SHEETS
• Ricardo Carvalho is just the person Real Madrid needed in defense.
• Needless to say, the finishing has to improve otherwise it will come back to haunt Real Madrid.
• Marcelo is amazing, was more than a handful for the stand in Ajax captain—De Zeeuw, even got him yellow carded. It was a decent showing from him at left back defensively, if he can keep this up and improve his defending, we will be looking at one of the best left backs in the world.

Quote Of The Game

"Sooner or later a few teams are going to suffer for all the chances we create." - Jose Mourinho

Highlights:

 

Statistics:

	Real Madrid	Ajax
Shots (on Goal)	35(14)	8(1)
Fouls	7	7
Corner Kicks	11	3
Offsides	3	1
Time of Possession	64%	36%
Yellow Cards	1	1
Red Cards	0	0
Saves	1	13

The trimmed version of this post can be found on my Fan vs Fan blog—Paseo Castellana.

Possibble Formation Of Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid

I ran out of ideas for more posts after completeing the Mesut Ozil post, so I asked people for ideas on the blog's Facebook page, I decided to go with the idea of one "Real Madridista" for this post, because most of them seemed to agree with his idea.

Considering the players Jose Mourinho has at his disposal at Real Madrid, it is obvious that he will make them play offensively, despite the no-brained opinion of a clown by the name of Gerard Pique.

Real Madrid will probably use a formation which is hard to explain through the conventional formations. It is much more dynamic, it keeps on changing, like the resonating structures of Benzene.

Lets not get into Resonance, Benzene or Organic Chemistry because I suck at it and I only know the basics, okay, lets talk football.

For the sake of the post, I have chosen a team of: Iker, Sergio, Carvalho, Albiol, Marcelo, Xabi, Khedira, Leon, Ozil, Cristiano and Higuain. I have kept out the players who are injured (barring Raul Albiol). This team should not be taken as the final team, it is just for the purpose of explaining and reasoning how Real Madrid will play, it might be that Arbeloa plays at left-back and Di Maria starts over Pedro Leon.

• 4-3-3

The reason I believe that Jose Mourinho will apply this formation is because this is the formation that he has applied in most of the pre-season friendlies and also the fact that he purchased two wingers.

You can see Cristiano Ronaldo on the right wing, but Cristiano won't be just on the right, his mobility is what makes the formation so versatile.

Cristiano will move from the right wing to the left, then behind the striker and will also pop up as a striker. Pedro Leon (or Di Maria) will keep on switching between the wings giving Sergio Ramos or Marcelo a chance to bomb on forward.

Ozil will take up the role of the playmaker operating behind Higuain and will also be swapping places with Crsitiano Ronaldo and Pedro Leon.

Some expected Sami Khedira to play a sweeping role in midfield tucking in just ahead of the back four running and winning balls, but that is not the case. In the pre-season friendlies, Khedira played ahead of Xabi Alonso, winning the ball forward in attack. We have all seen Sami's stamina in the World Cup and know that he'll be back helping in defense as well as attacking, the role that Pellegrini had for Lass last season (the job which Lass sucks at).

Xabi Alonso will sit deep, winning balls along with Khedira in the midfield. Xabi is probably the most important player in the team, he is the one who is supposed to distribute the ball to the attacking players, as we saw in the Bayern Munich game, when Xabi Alonso (Xabi didn't have a bad day, he was just tired) is struggling the whole attack suffers.

• 4-4-2 Diamond or 4-1-2-1-2

The diamond formation was used by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea too. Jose Mourinho might even start with this diamond formation.

Even if he doesn't, the shape of the formation will change during the game and it will be a diamond at some point in the match with Cristiano Ronaldo joining Higuain as the striker.

Ozil will take the top of the diamond and Xabi Alonso and Khedira will take turns to be the lowest point in the diamond, Pedro Leon will join on any one side of the diamond.

The width will be provided by the full backs—Marcelo and Sergio Ramos.

• 3-5-2

I was intrigued by Jose Mourinho's claim of using a 3-5-2 formation with Real Madrid when needed. At first I couldn't figure it out, I was thinking along the lines of a Higuain-Benzema partnership, and Cristiano Ronaldo on the wings, but it didn't even convince me. I thought Jose might be kidding because Cristiano doesn't like to track back, and for this formation to work, he has to!

But after a few pre-season games, it became clear that it will be a Higuain-Cristiano pairing if the 3-5-2 is applied. The photo I have used shows the formation changing into a 3-5-2 during the game, where Marcelo will take the role of the left-sided winger. If this formation is to be applied when Arbeloa is playing left-back, substitutions will be made.

I do not believe that Real Madrid will start a game with a 3-5-2 but the 3-5-2 will defenitely be a "Plan-B" against stubborn, defensive teams who just want to sit behind.


Hala Madrid!



I would like to thank my friend Mary, for helping me out in this post, I had lost confidence on this post, and she is the reason this post is published, thanks Mary. :)

Mesut Ozil's Signing Opens The Exit Door & Shortens Opportunities

Mesut Ozil—Nuevo jugador.

Real Madrid agreed a deal worth €15 million for one of the brightest attacking midfielders in the world. No doubt Ozil for €15 million is a smart bit of business, but looking at the team and the circumstances it's €15 million too much.

I have been torn in the middle ever snice I came to know about that the signing of Mesut Ozil became official, part of me wants to celebrate at the fact that Real Madrid have signed a great player who is just 21 and has a great future in front of him.

But the part of me that is winning and trumping every argument is the one that says Ozil wasn't a neccessary signing for this season. I believe this one is the rational part of me, which knows that there are already three playmakers in the team and there was no requirement of a fourth one despite Kaka being injured for 4 months.

Rafael Van Der Vaart

But now as the number of midfielders at Real Madrid has increased to a ridiculous number and the squad size has become greater than 25, it is obvious that some of the midfielder will be shown the door to make funds and reduce the squad number, and because of another play-maker coming it is only a matter of days that Rafael Van der Vaart will be shown the door.

I feel that it is unfair that Van der Vaart is the one that will be the one sold despite him being so passionate about the club and giving one solid performance after the other last season.

Van Der Vaart's quality isn't hidden from anyone, and it won't be a surprise that he would succeed with whichever club he signs, and the Real Madrid management will be seen with an egg on their face.

If selling Van der Vaart isn't a bad enough thought, the management have overlooked the fact that no one will be willing to pay €20 million or more as speculated at the start of the summer as everyone knows that Real Madrid are in a need to sell him after they inflated their squad with Mesut Ozil's signing. I expect €5-10 million less from the sale of Van der Vaart now, Real Madrid are no longer in a commanding position.

El Pirata

The other one that looks on his way out of Real Madrid is Esteban Granero, after a good start to last season, El Pirata faded away, and Jose Mourinho does not look interested in keeping the Canterano, Sevilla were reportedly interested in reuniting him with Alvaro Negredo, expect Granero to leave for €5-8 million.

And that is not the complete impact of the Mesut Ozil signing, the current young attacking midfielders in the academy (Alex Fernandez & Javi Hernandez), Dani Parejo and Sergio Canales, they will all see their opportunities of making it at Real Madrid cut viciously short.

Sergio Canales

Mesut Ozil's just 21, and the canteranos are just a few years younger than Mesut. Sergio Canales is 19, there is just no age difference between the two attacking midfielders, so it is obvious that Sergio Canales will see his chances cut short, and that is one thing no Real Madrid fan would like.

Sergio Canales has won many fans over with his performances last season and in the pre-season. It would be disappointing to see Sergio Canales on the bench, this will surely hamper his growth as a player.

The Canteranos don't even get their chances with older players at the team, it will make it even more impossible for them to break in the first team with a younger player in the team.

Real Madrid could have got Mesut Ozil for free next season but economically Mesut Ozil's signing is still a wonderful one. Mesut Ozil is one of my favorites but it's the effects like the possible exit of Van der Vaart & Granero, the reduction of the chances for the canteranos and Sergio Canales which reduce the sweetness of this transfer.

What do you think of the transfer?

Hala Madrid!

Official: Real Madrid Sign World Cup Star Mesut Ozil

Real Madrid have made it official on their website that they have signed Mesut Ozil from Werder Bremen.

According to the newspapers Real Madrid have paid €15 million for the 21 year-old playmaker. Mesut Ozil was the best play-maker in the World Cup.

Mesut was persued by FC Barcelona and Manchester United in the summer but Real Madrid beat them to the punch and have signed a player with immense skill who has a lot of years of football in him.

Ozil will undergo a medical on Wednesday.

More of my views on the Mesut Ozil transfer to follow. Hala Madrid!

Source: Real Madrid Official Site.

Mesut Ozil's Signing Might Make Dani Parejo's Return Improbabale

Mesut Ozil

If reports in AS are to be believed then Mesut Ozil will be the first signing of Real Madrid next season (2011-12), who'll join for free after seeing off the last year in his contract with Werder Bremen.

21 year old Mesut Ozil caught the eye of many big clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea with amazing performances in the World Cup. Although Mesut Ozil can't talk with any teams before January 1, 2011, in Germany it is believed that Real Madrid are the front runners in the signing of Ozil.

Mesut Ozil is a good player and would be a good addition to the club and all but what would happen to the playmaker from the academy who plays with Getafe and just turned 21 in April—Dani Parejo?

Even withouht Mesut Ozil, Real Madrid have 3 playmakers—Kaka, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Sergio Canales, and that makes it really difficult for all of the players to get enough playing time. Lets take for granted that Rafael Van Der Vaart will leave next summer and Mesut Ozil will join, it still doesn't make it any better for Parejo.

Dani Parejo

Dani Parejo's immensly taleneted and it isn't every day that Alfredo Di Stefano calls some Canterano his favorite, last season should not be used to judge Parejo's quality as Parejo was mostly travelling with Spain U-21 and missed a lot of games for Getafe. Despite being away so much Dani Parejo started 16 games and made cameos in 12, scored 6 and assisted 4.

Dani Parejo has been impressive in Getafe's pre-season so far and will be much more regular with Getafe this season. With Getafe qualifying for Europa League last season, it will be a good platform for Dani Parejo to prove his quality, and I'm pretty sure Dani Parejo will be up for the challenge.

It's not that I don't like Mesut Ozil or I doubt his quality, it's just that I would love to see more Canteranos being given the chance, Real Madrid produce a LOT of talent, and it would be nice to see them in action FOR Real Madrid not AGAINST them. I would like to see Dani Parejo come back rather than Mesut Ozil signing for the club. Hala Madrid!

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