Pablo Sarabia Joins Getafe: The Complete Story

Pablo Sarabia is considered to be one of the most talented and promising players in Real Madrid's youth ranks. He is so highly-regarded that scouts from all over Europe attended several Castilla games this season to watch him play.

Clubs such as Arsenal, Benfica, Braga, Barcelona, Manchester United and many more were keeping a close eye on him. His agent had admitted that Arsenal, along with a couple of Italian outfits, had expressed an interest, and that Real Madrid were aware of that, but he later stated that Sarabia wants to triumph at Madrid.

Pablo joined La Fabrica as a 13-year-old in 2004, moving up through the youth ranks over the years, until he made his professional debut in the Segunda B against Alcorcon with Real Madrid Castilla in 2009. He improved immensely under Alberto Toril who was promoted from Juvenil A's coach to Castilla's in the second half of the 2010-2011 season.

With Castilla, Sarabia made 49 appearances and scored 15 goals. He made his first-team debut last season in a 4-0 win over Auxerre at the Bernabeu in the group stages of the Champions League after coming on for Cristiano Ronaldo. On his debut, he looked comfortable, didn't get lost chasing the ball or forget orders and also showed some great passing and dribbling abilities, all signs of his maturity despite only being a teenager with very little high-level experience.

On Sunday, July 3, Real Madrid officially announced the departure of Pablo Sarabia. In a brief statement, the official announcement reports that an agreement has been reached with Getafe, reserving the right to buy him back:

Real Madrid C. F. and Getafe C. F. have reached an agreement for the transfer of RM Castilla player Pablo Sarabia. Real Madrid CF reserves the right to repurchase the footballer.

Sarabia had a contract with Real Madrid until the summer of 2013; however Real Madrid cashed in on him for a reported €3 million, also inserting a buy-back clause in the deal. The buy-back clause can only be activated after he completes 2 years of his 5-year-contract with Getafe.

There's a lot that can be written on the complexity of the issue of non-usage of Real's cantera graduates, but most of the problem primarily lies at the doorstep of Florentino Perez and his over-the-top 'I know it all' tendency.

Also, Mourinho is under pressure to deliver and taking risks with youngsters is certainly not included in his plans. No matter how hard he tries to make fans think he cares about developing our youngsters, he doesn't, which is unfortunate because this generation of La Fabrica players is the best in years, and I, along with many other Madridistas, would hate to see what happened to Mata and Parejo happen to them.

However, I don’t think this will be the case with Sarabia. In recent years, we've had De La Red, Granero and Parejo leave to Getafe and come back at a later date, under similar circumstances to Sarabia's move. De La Red and Granero were able to make it back and Sarabia will be hoping to do the same.

With Getafe, Sarabia will get plenty of playing time in the Primera. This will give him the opportunity and time to fully develop. He has all the raw talent and ability. Playing regularly at such a high level will aid him by providing him the confidence and experience he needs. Hopefully, he will impress Perez and Mourinho (or whoever is the manager when Sarabia starts dazzling), and we’ll see him wearing the white shirt again.

Good luck, Pablo!

Keeping It Real—Why Promoting a Canterano Might Backfire

Joselu: Scored on debut

"Ten youth teamers debut this season"—Just as the last match of the season in Liga BBVA had ended for Real Madrid with a 8-1 victory over Almeria; Real Madrid's official site ran a post with the above mentioned headline, to remind us all of the greatness of Jose Mourinho—the big risk taker who despite having the pressure of winning every trophy invested in not two or three but TEN youth teamers.

What Real Madrid's official site wanted to convey didn't sit well with me, this post of ten youth teamers debuting was a way to please the fans who have been wanting to see the youth teamers with the first team, wanting to see another Raul, another Casillas, another De La Red; this post reminded me of what these debuts meant for Jose Mourinho—another way to please the fans.

I won't deny it, never have, never will—I'm not the biggest Jose Mourinho fan (but still I'm glad he is continuing with the team because he marked an amazing season with the club.). So there, you can use this against me, say that my hate for Jose Mourinho is the reason I see this as a way to please the fans. But you can't change the facts, can you?

Juan Carlos, Mateos, Antonio Adan, Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata, Alex Fernandez, Nacho Fernandez, Tomas Mejias, Jesus and Joselu made their debuts for the first team this season according to the post, but lets not count Alex Fernandez because all he got was a little above 30 seconds at Racing and not single touch of the ball. So that means only nine canteranos properly debuted this season.

What makes me question Jose Mourinho's actions, and say that all these debuts were just to please the fans is because out of these nine, only two players have made more than one appearance—Adan and Nacho. Not counting Morata as despite the Levante tie in Copa del Rey being dead and buried, he only got a substitute appearance.

Sarabia: Impressive on debut

Had Mourinho been genuinely interested in using them, surely more canteranos would have gotten more than one appearance and Nacho wouldn't have been the only outfield player to get a start and play a full game; especially when Pablo Sarabia impressed in the 30 minutes he got to play against Auxerre and has been performing brilliantly for the Castilla week in and week out.

Many of these canteranos in the beginning got in the team because of Jose Mourinho's helplessness. Mateos was given a professional contract at the start of the season because, Pepe and Garay were out injured, and there was no back up in central defense.

Adan got a start because Casillas wasn't called up for the game and Dudek broke his jaw, then later Dudek's injury saw Adan make more appearances. I think you catch my drift, by the end of the season, Mourinho had realized what the impact a canterano appearance makes on the fans, still Nacho's start was more due to suspensions.

I'm not saying, I'm not thankful of Mourinho to start so many canteranos, but I'm not particularly thrilled about their future if they were used as a tool to make the fans happy. The last player to get promoted to the first team was Mateos, he was loaned out to AEK Athens in the January transfer window. I'm sure had he stayed here longer, he wouldn't have notched up 90 minutes in a season.

Talking about Mateos isn't fair, because surely there was no way he would have started over Carvalho, Pepe, Garay or Albiol. But we can definitely use Sergio Canales as an example; Canales was supposed to be going on loan this season before Jose Mourinho himself requested to keep him with the squad for the season.

We all saw what happened with him. If Sergio Canales—who had a decent season in La Liga before joining, wasn't trusted by Mourinho to get enough minutes, I don't see a way how the canteranos who play in Segunda B can gain his trust if they are promoted.

The way that Jose Mourinho has acted, promoting the canteranos is not an option that will be any good for the canteranos, because once they get promoted officially they are no longer eligible to play for Real Madrid Castilla, which will mean they're most likely to notch up 300 minutes a season at most, if they're lucky enough.

Will they be used like Higuain?

I won't complain about the canteranos getting 300 minutes if they are sent in crunch situations, like Gonzalo Higuain was when he was new at Real Madrid, during the time when the scores were level or when Real Madrid were behind; he was sent in to get a goal, get a result; that is positive reinforcement for a young player.

But how the things have gone so far, these 300 minutes will most likely come when the game's result is beyond doubt; which will hardly help build any character, they'll never be ready for the first team like this. It's better they stick with the Castilla or join another La Liga club with a buy-back clause, because that is a strategy that seems to be working.

I feel that I am being a little too harsh on Jose Mourinho, it's not exactly his complete fault that he doesn't trust the canteranos, it's a little too hard to put the blame on him when you know what kind of pressure to succeed is on him.

The man who has to be blamed for this is none other than Florentino Perez, had he not sacked Vicente Del Bosque, there wouldn't have been a period of instability at the club, and the managers would have taken the risk to give chances to canteranos.

Hala Madrid!

The Impact Of Alberto Toril On Real Madrid Castilla

After Allejandro Menendez was sacked as the manager of Real Madrid Castilla, Alberto Toril the former Real Madrid Castilla and Espanyol player was promoted from the Juvenil A to coach the Real Madrid Castilla.

That move of promoting Alberto Toril seems be the one of the wisest decision the club has made in a while, and it shows with Alberto Toril stacking up 8 wins in 8 matches.

Alberto Toril having worked with and led Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata, Alex Fernandez and Daniel Carvajal to a triplet with Juvenil A, constructed the squad around them and relegated players like Pablo Gil, Raul Goni, Mandi and Raul Ruiz who were signed from other clubs by Allejandro Menendez to the bench.

Alberto Toril even promoted Victor Merchan and Denis Cheryshev to the Real Madrid Castilla, and also brings 17 year old Jese Rodriguez—who is tipped as a great talent who's style is considered a mixture of both the Ronaldos (R9 & CR7), to the Castilla sometimes for a few appearances.

The philosophy of Alberto Toril is clear, he doesn't only want to win, he wants to win in style, which is clearly visible in his last interview to RealMadrid.com after defeating Cacereño 2-0 in the last game at home. He said:

"Estoy contento con el resultado, pero hemos perdido el estilo de partidos anteriores y hay que recuperarlo."

Which loosely translates to:

"I'm happy with the result, but we lost the style of previous games and we have to recover."

People who follow me on Twitter, know that I am a self confessed Alberto Toril fan, and why shouldn't I be? The man transformed Real Madrid Castilla from a mediocre mid-table team which was rotting away in tenth, eleventh or twelfth position to a team, which is not only sitting pretty in promotion play-off places but is also looking like a prime promotion candidate.

Here's a few stats to show the magnitude of the good work Alberto Toril has done for Real Madrid Castilla since taking over.

Attacking Flair With Defensive Stability

When Alberto Toril managed only his second game, which they won 5-0; the official Real Madrid site had a line which made me chuckle, "Castilla becomes friends with the clean sheet again."

Under Menendez, the Castilla managed to score 21 goals in 19 matches where they failed to score in 7 matches. The Castilla of Alberto Toril has already outscored the Castilla of Allejandro Menendez; playing 11 fewer games, they have scored 27 goals in 8 matches.

The biggest improvement under Toril isn't the free-flowing attack, but the rock solid defense. Under Menendez, the Castilla conceded 24 goals in 19 matches and kept only 6 clean sheets (2 of them are from 0-0 draws), while under Toril the Castilla has conceded a mere 3 goals in 8 games, and have kept 5 clean sheets in 8 games, which is just one less than what Menendez managed in 19 games.


Away Games: From Toothless To Ruthless

Real Madrid Castilla under Allejandro Menendez won only 1 of their 9 away games, and drew 2 games, collecting just 5 points out of a possible 27. Under Alberto Toril, Real Madrid Castilla won 4 of their 4 away games, collecting all 12 points.

Under Allejandro Menendez, Real Madrid Castilla managed to score only 5 away goals and failed to score in 5 of their 9 away games. The turnaround in fortunes was visible from the first game as Alberto Toril's whose first game in charge was an away game to Coruxo which the Castilla won 4-1. Since then Alberto Toril's team has scored 10 goals, and have scored in every away match.

The defensive ability away from home has improved under Toril as well. Under Menendez, the Castilla conceded 14 goals in 9 games and could only manage to shut out their opponents 3 times (out of which 2 games were 0-0 draws). While under Toril, the Castilla has conceded only 1 goal in 4 games, shutting out the opposition 3 times.


Home Games: Strengthening The Fortress

Under Allejandro Menendez, the only source of points on the board for Real Madrid Castilla was home games, and despite that the home record under Menendez isn't even close to impressive, collecting just 19 from a possible 30.

In the 10 home games that Allejandro Menendez managed, Real Madrid Castilla only managed to stack up 6 wins, drawing 1 and losing 3. While Alberto Toril has managed 4 and won all of them.

The most shocking stat at home is that under Allejandro Menendez, the Castilla only scored 16 goals (failing to score on two occasions) in 10 games which is 1 less than what the Castilla has managed in just 4 games (17 goals) under Toril.

Despite Alberto Toril setting out a more attack minded team compared to Allejandro Menendez, Castilla under Toril has conceded only 2 goals (0.5 goals conceded per game) at home keeping 2 clean sheets in the process, while under Menendez the Castilla leaked goals at the rate of 1 goal per game, conceding 10 goals in 10 games, and kept only 3 clean sheets.


Conclusion

The change in fortune is all due to the fact that Toril promoted players from within the academy instead of signing players from other clubs like Menendez did. I have pointed it out time and again that this generation of La Fabrica which includes Carvajal, Alex, Sarabia, Morata and Jese is one of the most talented generations to come out from La Fabrica in a while, Toril having worked with them, realizes that and that's why Real Madrid Castilla is now finally playing to it's full potential.

Due to the recent results the canteranos of La Fabrica are getting noticed by everyone. And by everyone I do mean everyone, many scouts from big and small English clubs and other Spanish clubs have been spotted watching the Castilla games.

Not only this, Alvaro Morata is finally scoring the goals that Jose Mourinho ordered him to score during the winter break to get into the first team, and is now "being promised" a spot in the first team at the start of next season by Jose Mourinho. Although I still doubt the "promise" of Jose Mourinho. But on the other hand Mou is speaking about him, that means Moratito is finally grabbing his attention.

Although it may be a little to early to say, but I think with his philosophy of 'not just winning but winning with style' and ability to bond with the players (like Alex Fernandez said in his interview), Alberto Toril might just become the manager of Real Madrid's first team in the future. Boy, I sure hope so.


Hala Madrid!

More To Come: Real Madrid Posts In The Future

I have been horribly cut off from the matches, my computer and my television, following what my neurologist calls as "stress in the brain with a hint of migraine," he says that I have been overusing my brain and have been thinking too much, so in order to calm my brain down, I have been forbidden to do anything (of course I sneak in a few activities, like writing this post), even drive my ass out of the house.

So seeing as how Mourinho didn't have the guts to take all the blame (he was completely at fault) and poured it all over the players (who were at fault as they showed no fight, but to be clear we lost because Mourinho got it wrong); I had planned a tactical analysis on the El Classico. Which as seeing my condition will be delayed, so I'm confused whether to actually publish it or not. Need your opinion.

Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata and Antonio Adan, all got their first team debuts in the past week, which as a big positive; Jose Mourinho has now give 5 canteranos a debut (Juan Carlos, David Mateos, Antonio Adan, Pablo Sarabia and Alvaro Morata), but I still won't call it utilizing the academy like the rags AS & Marca or the others are; a post on that too; the Jose Mourinho ass kissing should stop.

That's about it, I'll undergo a CAT scan followed by an MRI in the coming week, as the medicines aren't working as they should (I'll most probably change my doctor); it's nothing serious, but still wish me luck.

Will jump on these posts as soon as I get fit! In the meantime, if you want updates and random blabbering from me, follow me on twitter: @rmcanterano

Hala Madrid!

PS: Seeing as Muna is busy with college and stuff, I'd really appreciate if anyone is willing to do a guest post for me. If you are willing mail me: d3epak91@gmail.com

Pablo Sarabia & Alvaro Morata (Might) Make The List For Auxerre

According to the Madrid based AS; Alvaro Morata and Pablo Sarabia have both made the list of 19 players to be called up for the last group stage match in the Champions League against Auxerre. To be very clear, Real Madrid haven't yet released the official list on their website, and AS have based this list on the players who have been training for the match.

Now this is all well and good but, Alex Fernandez (Ginger) was previously called for the match against Ajax but he didn't even make the bench for that game, which was disappointing to say the least.

Mourinho has been teasing us by calling up canteranos for games and training but he doesn't even let them make the bench, let alone get a few minutes of playing time with the first team.

I seriously have had enough of this teasing, give them their chances Mou, I wish to see these canteranos play for the first team even a few minutes would be appreciated.

PS: I know I haven't done news pieces in a while but I felt happy reading this, thought I'd share!

Hala Madrid!

Pablo Sarabia To Sporting Braga In January

Photo: AS.com

The transfer that all the Madridistas were fearing would happen now has a time and date according to the Spanish daily AS. AS on their website claim that the Spanish U-19 International and Real Madrid Castilla player will be transferred to Sporting Braga of Portugal in the January transfer window.

Pablo Sarabia will be sold for €3 million with a 2 year buy-back clause in his contract, Pablo Sarabia recently renewed his contract with Real Madrid at the end of July.

The contract would have been renewed a lot earlier had it not been for Pablo's agent, and I seriously believe that it is again his agent thinking about what's "better" for Pablo. Pablo has time and again expressed his desire to stay at Real Madrid but his agent always has had different things in mind for him.

If this transfer really does happen, it's not just his agent, even Allejandro Menendez has to blamed for it, Allejandro has benched Pablo Sarabia time and time again after performing so well for the Castilla, even in the last game against Coruxo, Pablo Sarabia only got 17 minutes worth of playing time.

And if this transfer does complete, I don't like the chances of Pablo Sarabia playing for Real Madrid again despite the buy-back clause, Mesut Ozil, Sergio Canales, Pedro Leon, Angel Di Maria, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo are no where close to retirement in the next 2 seasons.

I hope this transfer doesn't happen, but that's a tall order so I'll hope for what's easier, I hope Pablo Sarabia outperforms them all so we can see him playing for the first team soon. Hala Madrid!

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!

Florentino Perez Thinking Of Shutting Down La Fabrica For Good [Satire]

"We don't need an academy, creating players is overrated!"

Real Madrid President—Florentino Perez today in a press conference declared that Real Madrid will be shutting down their academy for good, and that the players in the academy will all be all sold for prices less than the price of the cellphones they have on them.

Arsene Wenger & Michel were the first ones to respond to the news and they quickly bought players of all ages, shapes and sizes by the dozen.

The news was taken surprisingly well by the fans of Real Madrid who said they were happy that they wouldn't have to moan all the time about a certain player from the academy not getting time in the first team and how it is unfair that some random 19 year old chick from Argentina is getting chances before a good prospect of the academy.

The Canteranos were the ones most pleased with the news because they think that now that they'll play at different clubs without a buy-back clause, Real Madrid will actually value them and pay some attention to them after they create a name for themselves with different teams, they are 100% sure that Real Madrid will spend millions to buy them and they would get to play for the team they supported since they were little kids after a season or two at max!

This is what Florentino Perez said when he was asked for the reasons of this decision, he said (English translation),  

"I didn't even realize there was something like the academy at Real Madrid, I thought they had shut it down after Iker Casillas graduated from there. Besides it's not like these kids were talented enough to succeed at Real Madrid, you have to be as talented as Drenthe and Gago to make it at Real Madrid!" 

Florentino Perez further went on to say:

"Trophies are the only thing that counts in my books, it's not like the Juvenil A did the double of the European Championship and the Domestic League last year! The academy can be considered a successful one only if almost all the teams in the academy ended up with a trophy or more and ours didn't, it's just a waste of our time and money and it is best to pull the plug on this sham, let these "players" be mediocre like Juan Mata somewhere else!"

I myself was at the press conference when Perez declared that the Canteranos were going up for sale, I tried to buy Pablo Sarabia but unfortunately I fell €5 short and missed out on making a huge profit. :(

Official: Pablo Sarabia Renews With Real Madrid Till 2012-13

Real Madrid have tied one of the best player in their academy with a contract extension till the 2012-13 season. Many European clubs have also shown their interest in signing the young left sided winger in the summer but the latest inductee of the Spanish U-19 National Team prefers to continue at Real Madrid.

Pablo Sarabia returned to the Castilla squad today and even featured in the first half of the practice game against the first team, along with Juan Carlos (top scorer of Castilla last season) on the right wing, he was the most potent threat that Castilla possessed in the first half. Real Madrid's first team won the match 1-0 courtsey of Sarabia's team-mate Alvaro Morata.

Source: realmadrid.com