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!

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!

UEFA Homegrown Player Rule: Real Madrid Don't Have A Thing To Worry About

There is certainly some confusion on the Internet about the "homegrown" rule or the "Protection of young players" rule that UEFA have implied from this season onwards, I too got a few questions because of the last post about how the homegrown quota would be fulfilled if Granero is sold.

I knew a little about this rule, had the idea that Marcelo and Higuain would be considered as homegrown players, but there was more to it so I did a little research and found out that Real Madrid are more than covered in the homegrown department.


This is how UEFA defined homegrown players on their website:

UEFA defines locally-trained or 'homegrown' players as those who, regardless of their nationality, have been trained by their club or by another club in the same national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21. Up to half of the locally-trained players must be from the club itself, with the others being either from the club itself or from other clubs in the same association. The UEFA rule contains no nationality conditions whatsoever.

According to this definition, these players can be called homegrown players: Iker Casillas (GK), Sergio Ramos (DF), Esteban Granero (MF), Marcelo (MF) , Antonio Adan (GK), Xabi Alonso (MF), Sergio Canales (MF), Alvaro Arbeloa (DF), Raul Albiol (DF), Ezequiel Garay (DF)*, Gonzalo Higuain (FW), and Pedro Leon (MF).


*I am not too sure about Garay, but he did complete 3 seasons with Racing Santander before he turned 21, so he can be considered homegrown.

 The ones in bold font have completed 3 seasons between the age of 15-21 in the Liga BBVA with different teams, but will be classified as homegrown players because of the condition stated above. The rest of them have completed 3 seasons with Real Madrid between the age of 15-21.

UEFA have set a limit of 25 players to be used in the European competitions, and out of these 25, eight of the players have to be homegrown. Real Madrid currently have 12, out of which 7 are trained by Real Madrid, thus also fulfilling the criteria that 50% of the homegrown players should be trained by the club they represent.

A few of the players are going to be sold, and if Real Madrid fall short in the homegrown department  which is highly unlikely, they can name a few players of the academy in the list of 25, as there is no rule that obliges the club to play a certain number of homegrown players on the field.


So there you have it, Real Madrid are well covered in the homegrown department, I hope this clears the confusion created by the rule. Hala Madrid!

If you want to read more about the rule, visit UEFA's Official Web-Site.

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.

Eugenio Martinez Bravo Has The Right Ideas For Real Madrid

Eugenio Martinez Bravo

Those of you who have been reading my stuff for a long time, know that I don't like dealing with the money issues or the politics related with Real Madrid. But when there is something related to the academy, you can expect me to know about it.

The man in the photo on the right is Eugenio Martinez Bravo, president of the Plataforma Blanca group, Eugenio tried running for the post of president last time around, but couldn't as he wasn't able to come up with the money required to stand in the Presidential election.

Eugenio Martinez is called the "White Laporta," a title I hope is because of him advocating for the proper use of the academy and not because of the corruption, lies, politics and the independence bull-s**t.

Eugenio has taken up some really great points in his interviews which I have read, and I am very impressed by this man, if these points are taken up by the management it would be really good for Real Madrid, I'll be covering those points in this post and will state the sources at the end.

Short-Sighted Sporting Model

He has said that Florentino Perez's model is short sighted not because of the age of the players but because no player has stayed for a long time in the club in the past few years. And he backed up his arguments by stating the numbers and showing that despite signing 53 players since 2000 and spending a whopping €1 billion putting on a debt of €700 million only Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas are the remaining player since the start of 2005-06 season.

Eugenio blamed Florentino Perez completely for such a disaster but I don't believe that only Florentino Perez is to be blamed here because Ramon Calderon was the president from 2006 to 2009, but you have to agree the numbers are shocking and something needs to be done.

Treatment Of Managers

Another point that was taken up by Eugenio was the way managers have been treated at Real Madrid, he criticized the way that Del Bosque was sacked by Florentino Perez and also pointed out that Florentino didn't learn from his mistakes when he dealt with Manuel Pellegrini, and I'm sure no one will argue over the fact that Real Madrid don't even think once let alone twice when it comes to sacking managers and this has to change.

More Spanish Players

With Kaka and Benzema turning out to be flops, Eugenio said it would have been wiser if Real Madrid had tried to sign either David Villa, David Silva or Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), this point I don't agree much, because he didn't say anything about the success of Cristiano Ronaldo. This point is debatable because Kaka and Benzema are good players, it wasn't expected that they won't succeed.

Mis-treatment Of The Canteranos

Eugenio also raised a point that I also stress many times, about how the academy players should be given preference over players like Gago and Drenthe in the first team, would it not make much more sense to give some academy players a chance instead of some untested foreigner?

He also said that money won't be made if Real Madrid chase and buy the Cristianos and Kakas from the Manchesters and Milans, it would be better to produce the new Cristianos and Kaka. He believes the academy has the potential to do so.

Eugenio also doesn't like how the Canteranos are used as currency for other signings (eg. Rodrigo for Angel Di Maria), he says the buy-back clause is okay but he would prefer to give them a chance at Real Madrid. And he stated his displeasure of the recent sales of the Canteranos by saying, "One day the major signing of Real Madrid will be Marcos Alonso."

Eugenio Martinez Bravo is waiting for his moment and he will run for presidency of Real Madrid in the future and when he does I hope he wins the elections, he is the man with the right ideas for Real Madrid. Hala Madrid!

I've just covered the sporting part, if you want to read more about Eugenio Martinez Bravo and how we wants the changes at Real Madrid, here are the sources for this post (all in Spanish):
Plataforma Blanca
Defensa Central
Menorca

WTF!: Rodrigo Moreno Signs For Benfica

Rodrigo Moreno: Star of the quarry

Rodrigo Moreno signed with Real Madrid's academy last season from Celta Vigo and had been quite a revelation in Madrid since, being promoted from Real Madrid C to the Castilla in a matter of months.

The 19 year old right sided winger was born in Rio de Janerio but had taken up Spanish nationality. He just featured with the Spanish U-19 team and was their star performer in the recently concluded U-19 European Championship.

According to the Portuguese newspaper's ("A Bola") website, Rodrigo Moreno has been sold by Real Madrid for a mere €6 million, Rodrigo will sign a 5 year contract with Benfica.

If the news of him leaving Real Madrid wasn't bad enough, adding insult to injury is the clause in his contract which will enable Real Madrid to buy him back for €12 million.

Rodrigo will be presented as a Benfica player on Tuesday at Estadio da Luz during the match against Tottenham Hotspur in the Eusebio Cup.

The transfer makes very little sense for Real Madrid.......no wait......the clause makes a lot of sense, because after one good season with Benfica Rodrigo's value will shoot up to €25-35 million and Real Madrid will get him back for ONLY €12 million, isn't that just really awesome?!

Source: A Bola

Official: Sami Khedira Signs For Real Madrid

Xabi Alonso has a new partner in midfield. Terms of the transfer of Sami Khedira have been agreed with Vfb Stuttgart, but the terms of the transfer haven't been disclosed. The newspapers are speculating the transfer to be around €12-15 million.

Sami Khedira will undergo his medical at 12:00 CET on 31 July, then he will head off to Los Angeles to join the team on their USA Pre-Season tour.

Official: Marcos Alonso Completes Bolton Switch

Source: bwfc.co.uk

Bolton Wanderes have completed the transfer of one of the stars of the academy and they know it.

Owen Coyle seems to be pretty pleased with himself after completing young Marcos's transfer, Coyle said,"I have said before that when we are investing money in transfers that I want to do it with young, talented players. He isn't the finished article yet - he's a young player making his way - but you don't get through at Real Madrid without having a bit about you."

The confidence that Owen Coyle has in Marcos Alonso means that Marcos Alonso will get a lot of playing time in the first division of English football.

The English media had made quite an issue about Marcos Alonso's transfer by saying that Marcos Alonso didn't feel happy that he was being used as currency for the Angel Di Maria deal, for those who bought that, let me tell you that this is just typical English media bull-s**t.

The reason for me saying that is Real Madrid ALWAYS wanted to send him with a buy-back clause which all of you have been familiar with, and secondly Marcos Alonso is trusted by everyone in the club, and that is the reason why he got his debut last season with the first team, so there is no such case of "Real Madrid using him as currency."

I have already expressed my thoughts about Marcos Alonso's transfer to Bolton, you can read them here. Hala Madrid!

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

Too Good To Be True? Ruben De La Red Back In Training

Yes it's Ruben in the training kit. :')

Yes, you are not mistaken, that is indeed Ruben De La Red wearing the new training kit of Real Madrid and no, that is not a one off event.

De La Red fainted and was stretchered off the field in the Copa del Ray clash against Real Union. It has now been an year and eight months since De La Red has participated in training or a match.

Ruben De La Red passed the regular medical tests which the whole team underwent before the pre-season training commenced, Ruben has been with the team since last Thursday.

Please don't start dreaming about the prospect of him and Xabi Alonso playing together yet because the club doctors have not yet given him a green light to train normally or play matches. Ruben is just doing some light physical excercises with the team to stay active. But at least it's better than nothing, I'm just happy to see him back.

Meanwhile Ruben De La Red hasn't been wasting any time and has already finished the 2A Level of the National Coaching Course, and will start the Third and final level on 26 November and will be done with it in 3 weeks and will get a diploma that will allow him to coach in any of the 53 countries that fall under UEFA.

I hope that Ruben De La Red doesn't have to start coaching for a good 10-15 years, and that he can finally return to play next season. Get well soon, we miss you Ruben! Hala Madrid!

Pedro Leon's Signing Is Just What Was Needed

I'm a little late due to some personal issues but here is the Pedro Leon post that I promised.

Last season whenever we looked at the bench to change the flow of the game, we had an old Raul, two out of these three holding midfielders—Lass, Mahamadou or Gago, a low on confidence Granero, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Guti and Benzema.

Out of these Guti, Benzema and Rafael Van Der Vaart were the players who could change a game while making an appearance from the bench.

Kaka remained injured for long stretches, Benzema got injured too. And to replace the injured Kaka either Guti or Van Der Vaart started the game, which meant further reduction of bench strength, attacking wise. All that we are left with was 2 holding midfielders, an unconfident Granero and Raul (despite the captain having passion, you still can't call him a player who can change the game).

It really doesn't help when the best options on the bench are defensive players as I've never seen a team chasing a game win by bringing on defensive players, and that's why I think Pedro Leon's signing is just what was needed! We now have a player that can turn around games, is two footed, can play on both the flanks & the center, has the passion and the drive to succeed, is also a proven performer in the Spanish league and at the age of 23, he has many years left in him.

Pedro Leon signed with Getafe last season from Valladolid and helped them finish sixth in the league and qualify for the Europa League with 8 goals and 9 assists, and was hands down their best player.

Although it is expected that he will be a bench player, it wouldn't surprise me if Pedro Leon would fight his way in the starting 11 and with the rumors about Kaka requiring surgery, it is quite possible that he might get his opportunity early! Bienvenido Pedro! Hala Madrid!

I really don't dig the music in this video, but it's a good compilation of what Pedro Leon can do:

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

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

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


» Pedro Mosquera Signs For Getafe

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

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

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

» Daniel Opare Signs For Standard Liege

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

Source: Standard Liege Official Site (French)

» Daniel Carvajal Offered Promotion & New Contract

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

Source: Defensa Central

» Jesus Fernandez Signs For The Castilla

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

Source: Defensa Central

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