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.

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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!

Sergio Canales Suffering From The Esteban Granero Syndrome: Loaning Canales Out Is A Good Idea

Sergio Canales & Esteban Granero—two different players but two very similar stories, both of them won the hearts of many Madridistas in the pre-season with wonderful performances but started to fade away as the season progressed, both of them lost the support of many Madridistas and the manager but a few Madridistas remained faithful, kept asking to give them more chances.

Esteban Granero started the pre-season very well, got a wonderful response from the Bernabeu crowd in his first home game of the pre-season. He started the first few matches of the season, did well, but then when he was started to be played out of position, his performances dipped and he found himself on the bench.

Granero did not take his benching well, not in terms of his attitude but in terms of his confidence and form. Granero's confidence dropped drastically when he got benched, and whenever he did get the opportunity he tried to do too much.

By trying too much, I mean he tried to play unlike his natural game, he tried dribbling past players, took on long shots from ridiculous distances and started ignoring passes in search for glory just to prove to the manager that he is useful to the team as an individual; but he failed miserably.

Although I love Granero for his determination to get back on the starting eleven, I always criticized him for trying to achieve that by not playing his natural game, which got him in the team in the first place. This is the only place I thought Pellegrini failed—restoring Granero's confidence and telling him to keep it simple.

Jose Mourinho has certainly calmed Granero down and has got him playing like he used to; but Jose has has created a new "Granero of last season" in Sergio Canales.

Sergio Canales like Granero did very well in pre-season, everyone loved him (at least I did) because of his quality of dropping very deep to get the ball, his hunger for the ball was commendable, he used to fight very hard to get back on the ball if the team had lost the ball, play fabulous little one-twos and linked the midfield to attack very well and apart from all these qualities his ability to pick out a "Guti-esque" pass saw him find a place in every Madridista's heart as they had just lost their Pim-Pam to Besiktas.

But after the signing of Mesut Ozil, the season started with Canales finding his chances limited and like Granero, Canales too is trying too hard to get in the team, deviating from his game, that saw him come to Real Madrid, he is trying the "killer-ball" way to much, just so that he can rack up wonderful assists and get in the starting eleven instantly, and hence he is playing poorly.

Mourinho isn't doing him any favors by dropping him from the team, dropping him will only lead to destroying his poor confidence further, instead Mourinho should talk to him, let him know that what he was doing in the pre-season is the reason that he wanted him to stay in the first place and give him a few more chances. It's not a case of case of Mou can't bring him back his confidence it's much more of a case of he doesn't want to because he has a lot to deal with at Real Madrid.

A player of Canales's qualities and abilities can be very useful for Real Madrid as he will drop back and join the attacking players with the midfield—one thing that I don't find Ozil doing right now (Ozil's very young and can work that into his game, once he does, he'll be even more lethal). Canales is a great talent, and what happened to Granero was awful, loaning him out in the winter would be the best thing to do for his own good as he's just getting ignored right now. What do you think?

Sergio Ramos & Xabi Alonso Red Card Fiasco: Cards Aren't The Real F*****g Disgrace

Due to my continuing health problems, I couldn't watch the Ajax-Real Madrid game live and had spent the whole day relying on written/verbal accounts of the game (the repeat telecast was delayed too), What I had read was that UEFA were going to investigate two very ridiculous and obviously deliberate red cards of Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso.

At that point of time I hadn't watched the game but still thought that looking into red cards for time wasting was a real waste of time and resources, and was thinking of writing a post with the heading, "U in UEFA Stands For Useless: UEFA To Look Into Ramos & Alonso Red Cards."

But after watching the repeat in bits and pieces (important pieces), I was inspired to write something else. As the match ended the Sky Sports commentator said, "Real Madrid take sportsmanship to two new lows!" I was furious at the blatant double standards of the English commentators! So I decided to speak my mind on the hypocrites that are, the English commentators and UEFA.

Before I tackle UEFA, I'll talk about the lowly scum that is the English media and the "expert" commentators that work in it. The example that I'm going to use will sound like me bitching about FC Barcelona while in fact I'm just merely pointing out the hypocrisy of the commentators. I know there are many cases of this hypocrisy but I'll use this as it'll sting much more.

Last season when Internazionale faced FC Barcelona in the semi-final, the Barcelona players were diving like fairies getting Inter's players booked the commentators said, "Haha they are skilled in this part of the game as well" and laughed off the whole matter (most probably said at the San Siro).

So according to these commentators, getting your own players red carded for time wasting in a match that was already decided at 4-0 to protect those players for the knockout phase is cheating and un-sportsman like behaviour but diving in a very close match to get the advantage for your team isn't. Bravo!

And now UEFA; even the though the action hasn't been taken yet, just the fact that UEFA set up an investigation to look into the whole matter is idiotic at best.

The punishment dealt out (one match ban) for the law that was broken (time wasting) by two players is enough according to the rule books (even Real Madrid's Official Announcement says that this investigation isn't according to the rule books) as there's nothing more to it. It would have made much more sense to investigate had Ramos and Alonso made cynical tackles or dived to swing advantage in their team's favor, manhandled a manger after losing, I think you guys know where I'm headed with this.

Valdes manhandling Mou

UEFA's bias against Real Madrid becomes so much more obvious when there have been cases regarding Barcelona that screamed for an investigation, be it Valdes knocking out Copenhagen's N'Doye (straight red even in the eyes of the biased commentators); Busquets diving to get Thiago Motta sent off in a very close game (they investigated Arsenal's Eduardo's dive against Celtic but Busquet's, NO) or Valdes manhandling Jose Mourinho while the former celebrated knocking out Barcelona and making it to the finals (Drogba called the disgrace as it was and he got suspended, Valdes, NO).

All of these "crimes" deserved punishment let alone an investigation, but UEFA have to look into the two red cards to Real Madrid's players as with 3 minutes remaining had Xabi Alonso or Sergio Ramos not wasted time, Ajax would have scored 5 goals and the result would have been much different!

If these cards were to two Barcelona players, none of this would have been taking place, they would have ignored it along with the other misdemeanours from the Catalan club. Last word of advice to Michel Platini, if you can't be un-biased leave the post, and if you don't want to be un-biased at least try to hide your bias, this is getting ridiculous. Lastly if you would use these resources into the real crimes and things that really matter (which you call "Playstation Football") the game would surely improve a lot!

Last thing I want to say, if Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso (Iker and Jerzy too apparently, according to UEFA's official statement) get a punishment that would be a Drogba-style f*****g disgrace!

Is Marca Correct? Alvaro Morata To Start Against Osasuna?

Alvaro Morata

The recent news in Marca claims that the 17 year old striker we all know and love—Alvaro Morata will make his debut against Osasuna, and not by coming off the bench, but by actually starting the game.

News of Alvaro Morata making the bench against Osasuna wouldn't have been a surprise because he has been a regular in the training sessions with the first team and also the fact that Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo are injured, leaving Jose Mouriho with only striker for the Osasuna game.

Call me a skeptic but I do not believe Marca, I do not believe that Moratito will actually START against Osasuna despite all the bull-crap that Marca has to say about Jose Mourinho in favor of playing two strikers at home (Santiago Bernabeu).

Marca really really really really really don't like Manuel Pellegrini and they haven't even tried to hide that fact over the duration of the last season and even now when he's gone.

They have stated how Jose Mourinho is much more awesome than Manuel Pellegrini and how Jose "thinks" more about La Fabrica than Manuel ever did, by stating that Juanfran, Mosquera and Marcos Alonso only got a few minutes and that too by the 28 gameweek and how Jose Mourinho will start a 17 year old canterano in just his second game of La Liga. (link)

If you look at the transfers made this summer you'd know that Jose Mourinho has done more harm than good to the canterano's chances in the first team. The difference in treatment give by Marca to the two managers is evident, and this supposed news is just a way to make Jose Mourinho look better.

Now I'm not saying that Pellegrini was amazing in giving chances to the canteranos, but Jose Mourinho is no better, because it's just circumstances that are forcing him into using the academy, you've read it all summer, if he'd had it his way, he would have signed a third striker instead of looking at the academy.

Please don't state Mateos's rise to the first team as a sign of Jose being better for the academy because Mateos's inclusion in the squad is also circumstantial, if THREE central defenders hadn't got injured do you think Mateos would have got a professional contract?

Because of what has happened so far under Jose Mourinho, I can only see as far as a 4-5-1, with Gonzalo Higuain the lone man upfront, Angel Di Maria and Pedro Leon on the wings, Sergio Canales or Mesut Ozil as the attacking midfielder and Xabi Alonso & Sami Khedira the anchor-men in midfield, and no room for Morata.

But with that being said, circumstantial or not I am really happy that Alvaro Morata has got his chance to impress, and I hope that he makes a lot out of this circumstance, even if it's an appearance from the bench.

I know I'm not wrong but still I would love to be proven wrong by Jose Mourinho for the sake of Alvaro Morata! Hala Madrid!

Official: Samuel Alonso Saiz Joins Sevilla Atletico On Loan

Samuel Alonso Saiz, better known as Samu, one of the striker who I backed to be the third striker for the Real Madrid first team has joined Sevilla Atletico (the B team of Sevilla) on a year long loan, the Andalusian outfit will have an option to purchase Samu after the season.

Ever since Samu started playing football, Samu has played for Real Madrid, out of the 19 years of his life Samu has spent 11 of those years with Real Madrid.

Samu holds the record for the most number of goals in the Benjamin category—117 goals. Samu is the leading scorer of all time in the Real Madrid youth teams (Alevin y Benjamin).

Like the better players in the academy, Samu did not spend any time in Real Madrid C and made the jump from the Juvenil A into the Real Madrid Castilla. Samu could only manage to start a few games for the Castilla last season but he managed to score 5 goals and string up a few assists.

Samu has reportedly moved away in pursuit of playing time as he would see his playing time reduced by the jump of Alvaro Morata from Juvenil A and the addition of Joselu who was signed from Celta Vigo last season.

I really don't see that being a strong reason for loaning out Samu, I never trusted Allejandro Menendez much, and he's signing players instead of promoting players to plug the holes in the Castilla, utterly disappointing.

It's a shame to see Samu being sent on loan, it's an even bigger shame that loyalty and class now count for nothing in La Fabrica, this is a sad day, still I end this post with Hala Madrid!


I apologize for my absence, I have been really busy with college and stuff, but to make it up, I'll publish a Castilla post tomorrow.

Life Lessons Through Football: FC Barcelona Learn It The Hard Way Through Ibrahimovic & Chygrynskiy

Super-Flop

The season before the last one, FC Barcelona won everything there was to be won, they won the Copa del Ray, the La Liga and the Champions League, but due to Florentino Perez's arrival at Real Madrid and the signings he made, turned the spotlight on Real Madrid.

FC Barcelona didn't like that one bit, they didn't want the spotlight to be taken away from them, so they started critcizing the philosophies of Real Madrid, while making two mega money signings themselves in the form of Dmytro Chygrynskiy & Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Barcelona paid €25 million for Dmytro Chygrynskiy and €45 million plus the star man of last season—Samuel Eto'o (€30-35 million) for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But as fate would have it Chygrynskiy & Ibrahimovic both flopped and fell out of favor at the Catalan club.

FC Barcelona sold Dmytro Chygrynskiy to Shaktar Donetsk for €15 million suffering a loss of €10 million.

And after a long soap-opera in the summer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic finally bid farewell to Barcelona as he is now going to join AC Milan for an year on loan and then AC Milan HAVE to purchase Ibrahimovic for a mere €24 million, with FC Barcelona suffering a loss in the range of €50 million.

FC Barcelona were already covered in the central defender deaprtment, so it didn't cost them to find his replacement but they did spend €45 million on David Villa to replace Zlatan.

Now I agree that David Villa is an amazing signing and is better than Samuel Eto'o, but they have spent nearly €100 million on a player that wasn't even required to be replaced.

Now I agree Real Madrid did a lot of stupid things last season, and two namely being Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, but Real Madrid weren't the "hexacampeons," Barcelona were, why change a system that wins you things?

Even if Barcelona wins 6 trophies in a season, they'll always be jealous of the club in Madrid that wears the royal whites, and this jealousy has cost them more than €100 million, and it doesn't help when your club has to take loans to pay off the salaries of the players.

Kids, now every experience in life teaches us a lesson, this experience teaches us that jealousy is a bad thing and you should not let what others do determine the things you do.

Okay now enough with the life lessons, lets have a laugh at the expense of our dear rivals! And did you hear, Gerard Pique handed in a request to join AC Milan too, I wonder why.........

Hala Madrid!

Yellow Legal Pad: Ricardo Carvalho

If you have seen How I Met Your Mother's every single episode, you will be familiar with the yellow legal pad that Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) uses to make a list of pros and cons, so as a tribute to one of my favorite TV shows ever, I have decided to call all my pro and con list posts (from now on) as the "Yellow Legal Pad." I hope you guys like the idea for the name of the post.

 Real Madrid finalized Ricardo Carvalho's deal two days ago, Carvalho is due his medical with Real Madrid, and after a medical Ricardo will hold a press-conference at 13:00 CET. Ricardo Carvalho has been around for a long time and everyone knows what he can do, but still lets look at what he brings to the team.

Pros:

• Ricardo Carvalho has played more than 10 years at the top level in England and Portugal, and such an experienced player would be a welcome addition to the young defense of Real Madrid, Ricardo can provide excellent guidance to the defenders.
• Ricardo Carvalho has already played with Pepe in Portugal and has worked with Jose Mourinho at Porto and Chelsea.
• He signed for just €8 million, which is acceptable for one of the best central defenders in the English Premier League.
• €25 million won't be spent on Thiago Silva.
• What he lacks in strength he can more than make up with hard tackles, love the way he wins the ball.

Cons:

• Carvalho's 32 years old and seems like a temporary fix as he's only been given a 2 year contract.
• Last two seasons of Ricardo Carvalho have been plagued with injuries and played only 33 league games of the 76 in those two seasons.
• Not quite sure of it, but it is likely that Raul Albiol will lose his place in the starting eleven.

With all that being said, I believe that Ricardo Carvalho's signing is a very good one, looking at all the aspects of the deal, his deal was the better than  those who were linked with the Real Madrid and the best thing about the transfer is that ridiculous money wasn't spent. It's great to have Ricardo Carvalho at Real Madrid! Hala Madrid!

Remind Me Again, Who's This Thiago Silva You Talk Of?

I think I've seen this guy before, no, probably haven't!

So I've been hearing this name a lot lately, Thigao Silva. It's being used a lot recently by AS & mostly Marca, he's said to be this central defender who'll cost €25 million to Real Madrid, honestly I've never heard of him before!

He's costing €25 million, therefore I presume, he's someone world-class, is captain for his club & country, has mad ball skills, he just looks at the players and they are dispossessed of the ball and is probably so young yet so experienced that the club that owns him don't want to let him go, I'm guessing he's just 17 years old!

I'm just fooling around, I know who Thiago Silva is, I'm just trying to make sense of the €25 million price-tag on a player who's 26, who's club's defense can be ran ragged if 10 men aren't defending or how this guy wasn't even on the list from which the players were selceted for the World Cup by Brazil.

When you repeat a lie for a long time it starts to sound like the truth, and such is the case of Thiago Silva's transfer rumor, Marca (obviously) were the first one's to start this rumor, they repeated it long enough so that more and more sources started to believe it was true and they started running with it.

You ask, why I'm so sure?

Well for starters, one thing I've learnt this transfer window is that it is great that Jose Mourinho has a say in all the transfers, and the other thing is that Jose Mourinho isn't stupid, but obviously Marca is. Jose Mourinho said no to the ludicrous demands of Morrati and Internazionale for Maicon, who's a world-class player and reduced his offer to €22 million for Maicon.

Now explain to me, why a man who isn't willing to go any higher than €22 million for a world-class defender who is a regular for the Brazillian national team would pay €25 million to a virtual unknown (comparatively speaking, of course)?

Got an answer?

I have it, he won't! So Marca should stop wasting our time and theirs too, and come up with something better than this Thiago Silva bull-crap.

And Eduardo Inda, the €17 million for Romelu Lukaku are a good start by the way, you dumbass!

Hala Madrid!

Kaka Should Have To Earn His Place In The Squad After His Surgery

Does he deserve to wear this kit?

After reading thoughts of Corey on Real Madrid Offside and the comments there on the issue of Kaka's surgery and all, I felt inspired to do a post of my own.

Kaka came to Real Madrid last summer as the favorite signing of all Madridistas, many people liked him better than Cristiano Ronaldo, one of them being me.

Only in one season at Real Madrid, Kaka's popularity between the Madridistas has dropped dramatically. Over the last season Kaka didn't show the form that is expected from a player worth €65 million, stayed injured for long stretches in the season and showed he cares more about AC Milan than he does for Real Madrid.

And Kaka did nothing to help his case as he went to play the World Cup for Brazil ignoring his injury which could have ended his career.

Because of his 3-4 month lay-off due to the recent surgery many fans want Kaka to be sold and want as much money that can be recuperated. Can't say I blame them, who would like to see a player collecting a big-fat pay-check who shows no responsibility towards the club and has no passion for the club they he plays for?!

I don't doubt Kaka's quality, no one does, everyone knows deep inside that IF he fully recovers from all of his injuries (left knee's meniscus injury which he underwent surgery for, sports hernia, and the pubic injury) , he can be really important for the team.

I want Kaka to stay because class never dies and also the fact that no team would pay close to what Real Madrid spent on him and they would take a heavy loss financially if he is sold.

The lay-off of Kaka isn't worrying me because I am pretty confident that both Van Der Vaart and Canales can do a dandy job playing as a playmaker and they won't make us miss "the Kaka that plays for Real Madrid." What is worrying me is the policy that Real Madrid applies for star players like Kaka, the players filling in for the star are always relegated to the bench despite doing a good job.

I want to see Rafael Van der Vaart and Sergio Canales being given a fair chance to start for the team even after Kaka returns fully fit from injury, Kaka should have to fight for his place just like Gonzalo Higuain did at ths start of the last season, no more star status, it should all be on merit.

The reason why I say this is because Kaka has lost the respect he got from the Madridistas and if he starts for Real Madrid due to his star-power, they won't like him even further and more and more fans would start asking for his sale.

Kaka needs to change on and off the field, he needs to show the same passion for Real Madrid like he had for AC Milan and start performing like he did for them because the Madridistas have made it clear, "If you don't have passion for the club, you don't belong in the club!" Hala Madrid!

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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Note: I hope you like the Opinion+News Update post. I find it rather un-interesting to just write a news piece, would definitely love the feedback.

Does Maicon's Signing Make Any Sense To You?

Get a room!

The newspapers all around the world have been filled with "Real Madrid's interest in Maicon," "Maicon's dream of joining Real Madrid," and "Jose Mourinho's desire to be reunited with Maicon!"

What I don't understand is, WHY? Why Maicon, when the biggest priority was the left-back position?!

I've rattled my head around the transfer and Maicon and I haven't come close to convince myself that Maicon's signing would be useful to Real Madrid, so I just thought to pour my mind out and ask around for answers.

The only worthwhile explanation for Maicon's signing that I could think of was that Jose Mourinho wants to play Sergio Ramos in the center. Well, Sergio Ramos was originally purchased to replace Hierro in the center of defense. Sergio Ramos would be amazing in the center, he's the perfect combination of speed and strength and is brilliant aerially, he can be the best central defender if he chooses to play in the center.

But if Sergio Ramos plays central, either Pepe or Raul Albiol will lose their place in the starting 11. Most probably it'll be Albiol who'll end up losing his place because Pepe will get preference as he has already worked with Jose Mourinho in Porto.
  
Benching Raul Albiol would be one of the harshest thing to do, it'll be like benching Gonzalo Higuain! Albiol was one of the most consistent performers for Real Madrid and was constantly improving aerially as the season progressed.

And to be really honest the defense did quite well last season, despite people questioning Real Madrid's policy of buying only offensive players (and simultaneously forgetting that Garay, Albiol and Arbeloa were the new defenders who joined last season.). And changing a system which is already working fine, seems to make very little sense.

If you think that all the above points have weak points and can be countered, I'll present to you a reason which when read with the above reasons makes them even stronger, and that is: "The Price-Tag."

Maicon is 29 years old and has been priced at €30 million by Internazionale, and that is a reason alone to stay away from him, his signing is also directly against Real Madrid's new policy of staying away from players who's clubs demand exorbitant sums of money.

Maicon's a good defender, no doubt, but he can't play left-back, is old (comparatively) and at €30 million he's too expensive. Signing Maicon is a luxury not a necessity. If you think otherwise, let me know!

Hala Madrid!

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Marcos Alonso's Transfer To Bolton Can Be A Good Thing

As the days of the transfer window have rolled on, more and more players from Real Madrid's academy have been linked with a move away from Real Madrid. Rodrigo, Sarabia, Alipio, Marcos Alonso, Opare and Mosquera have all been linked with many clubs.

Out of these Mosquera has already signed with Getafe and Opare has joined Standard Liege and if you believe Marca, Marcos Alonso will follow suite and will sign a 3 year contract (option to repurchase in the 2 & 3 season) with Bolton in a couple of days.

Now Marcos Alonso is one of the pearls of the academy, so I don't read the transfer as "sale" but much more as a "loan" deal, and unlike a certain Mr. Xavi Hernandez, I am correct in reading it as a loan deal because maximum of the players sold with buy-back clauses return to the club. And yes, that "loan" part was a pun at Xavi's comment: "Fabregas is on loan at Arsenal!"

There is always a risk that the managers are not willing to take at Real Madrid (for obvious reasons) in switching a player from Segunda B straight into the first team. So what better way to prep them up for Real Madrid than sending them to the first division clubs in Spain, England, Germany, Italy (none of the players from the academy have joined an Italian club in the last few years) and even Portugal?!

Marcos Alonso was linked with Benfica & Bolton, and I'm glad that Marcos Alonso and Real Madrid have chosen Bolton for him, the reason(s) for me saying that is:

1. English League is way better than the Portuguese League, no offence.
2. Marcos Alonso doesn't have a guarantee to start at Benfica but will start for Bolton, which means more playing time which in turn means more experience.

Call me an EPL fan or whatever but I just write what I see, the English League is much more physical than the Spanish League and it isn't only Physical like the Italian League, it is much faster, it is the perfect place for a young defender to get some experience. The EPL plus the guidance of Owen Coyle might just make Marcos Alonso even better.

Although it would have been nice to see Marcos Alonso in the Real Madrid first team this season, but seeing him at Real Madrid next season with much more experience of the first division isn't such a bad bargain. This transfer will be a blow to the Castilla but first team comes first.

What are your views about Marcos's transfer?

Hala Madrid!

We Need Another Striker: Pick Someone From The Academy Mr. Mourinho

I like to remind people how Mata too was from the academy!

I strongly believed Alvaro Negredo should have been bought back to replace Rudd Van Nistelrooy in the winter. Imagine what is going through my mind when the reports of Raul being linked to Schalke 04 are being circulated. And by the look of things, it seems that the captain has set his sights on Germany.

If the news of Raul moving away isn't bad enough, there aren't any strikers linked with Real Madrid to replace him. Of course Marca says, "Real Madrid are interested in signing Mario Gomez" but we all know that's a lie and it's just Marca being typical Marca—corrupt institution interested only in selling their papers.

It has been a very long summer, and never have we once heard about Alvaro Negredo and his buy-back clause, there should have at least been a "rumour" on Goal.com about it, but no, nothing, it seems that Real Madrid have forgotten about Negredo.

I had stressed about bench strength in the Pedro Leon post, I have a similar argument in bringing back Negredo, we will be left with only 2 strikers (Cristiano Ronaldo features as a winger in Jose Mourinho's plans) if Raul does join Felix Maggath & Cristoph Metzelder at Schalke.

Alvaro Negredo didn't have such a poor season at Sevilla to be forgotten completely, he started 25 games for Sevilla and came off the bench in 10, scored 11 goals and set up 5, those numbers are not shabby at all.

Alvaro Negredo was sold to Sevilla last season because he would have not got many opportunities at Real Madrid, but now the situation is now completely different, Negredo will get as much chances at Real Madrid as he would at Sevilla with Raul moving to Schalke.

And in the new system with wingers that Jose Mourinho wants to play with, Negredo might just be more useful, as he played in a similar system last season (not exactly similar as it was 4-4-2 mostly but the width was provided by wingers) with Sevilla, and linked up pretty well with either of the wingers but notably Jesus Navas.

Plus Alvaro Negredo will bring something different to the team with his strength, I still remember how Negredo manhandled Raul Albiol at the Sanchez Pizjuan and forced an incredible save (best piece of goalkeeping I have ever seen) from Casillas after he passed the ball to Perroti.

Although I strongly believe that Alvaro Negredo should come back, I wouldn't mind if some other striker from the academy is promoted instead.

Now I'm shady on the stats for the strikers but I know that Raul Ruiz and Cristian Lopez are the starting strikers for the Castilla, and also the fact that Cristian was almost always on the score-sheet at the end of the season. Samuel "Samu" Alonso Saiz, is another striker and one of the nomads of the academy and played for Juvenil A at the start of the season, Real Madrid C for some time and then Real Madrid Castilla at the end of the season, and is now permanently a part of the Castilla.

Samuel Alonso Saiz

Samu although short in height is one of the brightest players and definitely the best striker of the Castilla if not the academy, now the reason why I didn't make such a bold claim of the best in the academy is the reason that a Juvenil A striker by the name of Alvaro Morata, who might be promoted to the Castilla this year and is featuring in the recent practice sessions is also one of the stars of the academy.

Javier Acuna who had started the season brilliantly with the Castilla last season could have been one of the candidates to be promoted but he suffered from a horrible ankle injury and lost the last 6 months of the season.

Jose Mourinho has already made clear in his interviews that he is interested in signing only 2 more players, a midfielder most probably Khedira and a defender. The "Special One" knows what he's doing, and will probably choose what's best for the team.

The chances of Negredo coming back are slim, but I do hope he comes back, if not, I'll be more than delighted to see new strikers coming up from the academy. Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid's Pursuit For Sami Khedira Is a Step Forward In The Right Direction

Those of you who have been following Real Madrid's transfer updates would be familiar with a similar trend in the process of signing a player.

Firstly the media links Real Madrid with millions of players, the second step is the player's acceptance of his love for Real Madrid and how he's always wanted to play for the club. Next, the President of the "target's" club issues statements about how the player is not for sale, and simultaneously hangs a hefty price-tag on the player which is 20-25% above the actual price of the player.

Now there are different things that happen depending on whether the player is an actual target or not. If the player was not a real target, the rumors slowly die down and the occasional Madridista's tweets and/or comments on blogs, forums etc. about how he/she would like to see the said player wearing the royal whites pop up in a Google search.

And if a player is a real target, then the President (Sporting Director etc. etc.) of his club issues a statement about how they haven't received any bid from Real Madrid (75% of the time, this is a sign that there is interest in the player), the negotiations begin, the player gets restless and goes on dropping hints in interviews that his signing is a matter of time, Real Madrid get the player but pay more than the market price.

Every Madridista is happy that the new player has arrived but nearly everyone believes the price is a little too much on the higher side then it should be. The cycle continues.

This trend started to change last season, when Real Madrid said no to Valencia's demand of more money for David Villa, Real Madrid told Valencia to shove him up theirs and moved on, although the "Plan B" hasn't panned out exactly like they would have expected but it is not such a bad transfer looking at Benzema's previous records and his age. The good thing here is that they have learned to say no to teams's exorbitant demands for players.

The change in pattern seems to be continuing as Real Madrid have already denied to pay €50 million to Bayern Munich for Bastian Schweinsteiger, €30 million to Athletic Bilbao for Javi Martinez, and €30 million to Liverpool for Steven Gerrard. Now we can all agree that all of them are wonderful players, but are definitely not worth the money their teams are asking for. The smart thing to do is communicate with the teams and get the prices down, but neither Bayern Munich or Athletic Bilbao are in need to sell their players so they probably wouldn't lower their prices, like Valencia refused to budge last year.

Going after Sami Khedira is a brilliant decision as at €8-10 million, he isn't half as expensive as the aforementioned players and is a pretty decent player, one of the brightest talents of Germany—so my Bayern Munich supporting friend tells me!

For those who are skeptical about Sami Khedira joining Real Madrid, this isn't the first time that Sami Khedira has caught the attention of Real Madrid, 2 seasons ago when he was busy winning the U-21 World Cup with Germany he caught the eye of Real Madrid for the first time. Sami Khedira had a brilliant World Cup with Germany recently and add to that the fact that even Jose Mourinho himself pondered about signing him last season at Internazionale, the interest in Sami Khedira was bound to rekindle.

I am just happy that Real Madrid are looking at cheaper alternatives instead of throwing money on the players, I hope this trend continues and they learn to spend money more wisely and don't get conned by the selling clubs.

Now if you are still not convinced by Sami Khedira, you better start liking him, like I did with Angel Di Maria (I might smile and accept his signing but still I am not happy about this signing, he's too expensive for someone unproven and might cost us a few of the Canteranos),  because if you believe what AS & Marca have to say, Sami Khedira was in Madrid yesterday and also visited the Valdebebas, and that the completion of Sami's transfer is a matter of hours.

More on Sami Khedira after the completion of the transfer (75% of me believes the signing is done)! Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid's Player of the Season: Xabi Alonso

The season after spending truck-loads of money on players comes with a lot of expectations, and when you're Real Madrid people expect good football, trophies and a whole lot more from you. The expectations are so much that despite securing 96 points in a season and scoring 102 goals and conceding a mere 35 goals in the process your season is still deemed a failure.

I beg to differ, the last season wasn't a complete failure before the sacking of Manuel Pellegrini, but with Manuel Pellegrini sacked Real Madrid are back at square one, and with a new coach all the work of gelling and playing to a system will have to be done again.But still, last season Real Madrid regained the style with which they play football (2008-09 season was an utter disappointment, the football was very ugly that season after losing Mahamadou Diarra and Ruben De La Red for the season) and with that attractive attacking football also came a defensive stability despite missing arguably the best central defender they have—Pepe.

Now I know many people have different players as their Player of the Season, some have Cristiano Ronaldo, some have Gonzalo Higuain, some have Sergio Ramos, and some like me also have Xabi Alonso as their Player of the Season.

The reason why I chose Xabi Alonso as the Player of The Season is that I always feel that enough credit isn't given to the best midfielder in the world, be it in the Spanish National team, Liverpool or Real Madrid. Xabi Alonso does all the work be it passing, breaking up plays, winning balls back, covering up Gago/Lass's (Busquet's in Spain) mistakes and with all that Xabi also brings a much needed level of calmness in the center of midfield.

Xabi Alonso is one of the smartest players to wear the royal white jersey, he's always aware of the runner and can play one-touch football very nicely. Xabi's short grounded passing is like running a warm knife through butter and his long sweeping, attack changing accurate balls are just magnificent. Xabi Alonso's passing range is the envy of many midfielders. I'm sorry I get carried away whenever we talk about Xabi Alonso's skill, that's why I also have added the video of Alvaro Arbeloa's goal against Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu to show you what I mean.



All the people who watched Xabi Alonso this season, know how important he really is, we can do without Cristiano or Kaka or Higuain but we can't live without Xabi Alonso. All season long Xabi Alonso has sat back more than he usually does (covering for Gago and Lass), broke up many of the opposition's plays, sat back so Sergio Ramos could bomb forward, linked the defense with midfield brilliantly, made assists like the one above to bail out the team and is the biggest reason for just conceding only 35 goals last season.

Xabi Alonso is the best £30 million ever spent. I hope he gets a better midfield partner than Lass or Gago this time, Mahamadou would do just fine though.

Hoping for some trophies to match our performance next season! Hala Madrid!

(If you have anyone other than Xabi Alonso in mind, don't be shy, speak up, comment below)