Real Madrid C.F. 2008/09

Marca are NOT known to write Cr@p surely??!!!

Green Arrow wrote:Marca are NOT known to write Cr@p surely??!!!

Nah, just like Man United isn't a one-man-team

Iker Casillas has said that paying €90m for Cristiano Ronaldo would have been unthinkable and believes that the club should be aiming for the Champions League this season.

The Spain international goalkeeper followed Los Merengues' transfer stories in the Spanish press over the summer and was stunned by the figures being talked about the club spending.

But if Ronaldo had joined then he would have been made at home, even though Casillas recognised that he only believed some of the stories being written.

"The amount of money being talked about is unthinkable. But that is how the football transfer market is. If that is what a club pays for a player that is because that is what he is worth," he told AS.

"I only know him from watching him on television where he appears to be a great player.If he had come and added something to Madrid then he would have been welcome.

"It is clear that the president has wanted to sign him, but if the player was unable to do that then there is little that he could do.

"But we know that when the season finishes there is always a two or three week period when the papers are filled with all kinds of stories.

"In the summer they have to fill their pages with things like this."

Madrid are preparing to take on Valencia in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday, but Casillas hopes that his side can win more than domestic trophies.

"After six year without winning the Champions League, everyone wants to conquer Europe again. But we must stop and remember that we have won two league titles-in-a-row after four years without any trophies," he said.

"We all want to win more but we have to go little-by-little. If this season we have a chance to win the Copa del Rey then we should go for that too.

"The reality is that we can win four trophies and we have to win at least one."

Axeslammer wrote:

Green Arrow wrote:Marca are NOT known to write Cr@p surely??!!!

Nah, just like Man United isn't a one-man-team

Barp!

Worrying signs ahead. Why the hell is Schuster still experimenting in the Supercopa? Admittedly it is essentially another set of warm up games, but he should use that to have the usual starters play with each other.

That back 4 was a complete joke, no point in even discussing it. Just about every player besides Ruud seemed to have no idea about what they were supposed to do. Raul and Robinho deserve special mention for doing absolutely nothing. But of course, while Robinho will start on the bench the next game, Raul will be in the starting 11 without a doubt. VDV did little besides put in some good passes from set pieces. De la Red gave the ball away whenever he got it.

And to top it off, Schuster took an eternity to make substitutions, and when he did they weren't very good to begin with. It's not a time to panic, since a lot of players were missing. Though it is a sign that Schuster needs to stop messing around with the lineups. The season starts in 2 weeks ffs!

Torrente wrote:Worrying signs ahead. Why the hell is Schuster still experimenting in the Supercopa? Admittedly it is essentially another set of warm up games, but he should use that to have the usual starters play with each other.

Because it really doesn't count for anything. I think he is still trying to decide whether or not he is going to need Garay and so he is trying the "worst case scenario" defensive lineup to see if they can cope with good opposition.

That back 4 was a complete joke, no point in even discussing it. Just about every player besides Ruud seemed to have no idea about what they were supposed to do. Raul and Robinho deserve special mention for doing absolutely nothing. But of course, while Robinho will start on the bench the next game, Raul will be in the starting 11 without a doubt. VDV did little besides put in some good passes from set pieces. De la Red gave the ball away whenever he got it.

At least Raul came back to help defend whereas Robinho just watches while David Villa swung in the cross on Valencia's first goal, for example. I don't think there is much point in losing sleep over Raul. He is the captain, Schuster isn't going to drop him and that is that. We all have to come to terms with it and get on with things.

I thought there were promising signs from VDV and De la Red - both are still clearly not match fit so it's good that Schuster made them both play the full 90 minutes.

And to top it off, Schuster took an eternity to make substitutions, and when he did they weren't very good to begin with. It's not a time to panic, since a lot of players were missing. Though it is a sign that Schuster needs to stop messing around with the lineups. The season starts in 2 weeks ffs!

I'm not to worried about the substitutions today. Robben for Robinho was always going to happen at some point given Robinho's performance and when Robben came on within a couple of minutes he created our 2nd goal. Seemed pretty good to me. Obviously Salgado was getting eaten up all match and Sergio Ramos needs to build up his match fitness, so again, I have no problem with that substitution. And finally, yes, maybe Higuain for Raul would have been more natural but like I said in the Supercopa thread, I think Schuster was thinking just to crowd the midfield and hold on for 2-2.

One thing that did concern me was the amount of time Ruud was falling off to the right wing in the second half. Not sure if that was by design but he has no business playing anywhere but in the box. And I thought it was a waste when Eto'o played on the wing!!!!!!

I thought Robinho was going to score 2 goals

Valencia came from behind to seal a narrow advantage ahead of the Supercopa second leg with a gutsy performance at the Mestalla.

A half-empty stadium witnessed an absolute cracker of a second half as Valencia fought back to secure a vital victory ahead of next week's Bernabéu clash.

Both coaches put out strong sides for the occasion, Unai Emery making his competitive Valencia managerial debut with David Albelda back in the line-up and Silva joining David Villa up front. Madrid boss Bernd Schuster left Arjen Robben on the bench as Robinho started, while the midfield was completed by Diarrà, de la Red and van der Vaart.

First Half
Within just five minutes Valencia had seemingly followed Emery's instructions of playing fearlessly as Casillas was called into action. Joaquín's cross from the right found Villa unmarked at the near post, but his fellow Spanish international pulled off a great save.

Gradually Madrid came into the game, particularly through van der Vaart and van Nistelrooy. In fact the latter Dutchman was to open the scoring 13 minutes in after a fine ball from Rubén de la Red enabled him to beat Mildebrand at Hildebrand's far post.

Alexis should have equalised as the half reached its midway point, and that seemed to embolden a Valencia side who looked very active through David Villa.

Silva, playing just off the striker, then had arguably Valencia's best chance of the half. Combining well with Mata, the erstwhile winger played a cross-cum-shot that very nearly went in; instead it clipped the post as Javi García and Mahamadou Diarrà struggled to clear.

Second Half
Valencia, having closed strongly, opened well, and ten minutes after the break it was 1-1. Silva's great cross from the left found Mata, who punished his own side with a neat finish, albeit one that Casillas may feel now that he could have kept out.

Three minutes later Los Che were in front. Once again Silva was at the thick of it: playing Mata through, the ball eventually reached Villa, who used all of his expertise to fox the helpless Casillas and make it 2-1.

This lead was not to last long: a further ten minutes later Robben made an immediate impact after coming on for Robinho by setting up the equaliser. A tremendous run forward eventually saw him free Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose predatory instincts sealed his second goal.

The game began to break down somewhat as substitutes took their toll, but there was more action still to come.

Miguel Torres had to be at his absolute best to stop Villa from striding through to face goal after he'd overcome Sergio Ramos, but he couldn't prevent the winning strike. Substitute Vicente weaved past Heinze to meet Silva's assist and place the ball into the back of the net to make it 3-2, and thus it ended.

VALENCIA CF 3-2 REAL MADRID CF
0-1 van Nistelrooy 13'
1-1 Mata 55'
2-1 Villa 58'
2-2 van Nistelrooy 67'
3-2 Vicente 80'

Valencia (Emery): Hildebrand; Miguel, Albiol, Alexis, Moretti; Albelda, Baraja, Joaquín, Silva, Mata; Villa.

Real Madrid ( Schuster): Casillas; Michel Salgado, Javi García, Heinze, Miguel Torres; Van der Vaart, Diarrà, De la Red, Robinho; Raúl, Van Nistelrooy.

@Jaime

I disagree that the Supercopa is completely meaningless. It might be something of a glorified friendly match, but it's a trophy that can help start the season with confidence. And with us playing the entire pre-season without numerous starters, I didn't see the point in leaving out so many again today.

And why experiment with another "worst case scenario" defense again when he's been doing it all pre-season? If anything has been clear in pre-season is that Javi Garcia is not a CB, Salgado is useless as always, and Torres can't be relied on (though yesterday he was good defensively, though contributed nothing in attack again). Yesterday was just the 10th confirmation of something that has been crystal clear the entire pre-season.


And I simply can't accept that we could have another season with Raul playing unconditionally. I figured that after winning the league and Spain winning the Euro without Raul, Schuster could get some confidence and begin benching Raul. I just can't believe that a coach would continue to sabotage himself by making such a stupid decision as to continue to start a player that does next to nothing all game.

No, Schuster *benching* Raul would be sabotaging himself, because no sooner than he does that, he'll find himself out of a job, most probably for reasons that none of us will quite understand, but will all be due to internal politics by Mr. Real Madrid

And last year you got absolutely plastered by Sevilla in the Super Cup, yet won against Atletico and Villarreal in the first few matchdays. So that's probably why Jaime isn't fussed too much. Though I don't mind the current scenario at all, with your first choice defense not having played together even once, an unhappy Robinho, and no strikers apart from van Nistelrooy

I really dont see the point of playing in La Liga this season, Madrid will walk it this year!! Even though we got worse by losing Baptista and the coming of VDV, Villareal, Valencia and that other coastal team wont prove much danger to her royalness.

Fey wrote:I really dont see the point of playing in La Liga this season, Madrid will walk it this year!! Even though we got worse by losing Baptista and the coming of VDV, Villareal, Valencia and that other coastal team wont prove much danger to her royalness.

Mallorca? I agree, they won't...the losses of Guiza, Ibagaza, and Navarro will be too much for them to handle.

Torrente wrote:@Jaime

I disagree that the Supercopa is completely meaningless. It might be something of a glorified friendly match, but it's a trophy that can help start the season with confidence. And with us playing the entire pre-season without numerous starters, I didn't see the point in leaving out so many again today.

Ok, so not meaningless. That was an exaggeration. I just didn't see any point to moaning over a match that certainly isn't going to define out season and that wasn't that bad of a result - we can still win the trophy! I don't think Schuster left out so many starters intentionally. Pepe was suspended, Cannavaro and Sneijder are injured, we have the olympic plaers still missing. Maybe Schuster could have started Metzelder but he's certainly not first choice either. And Sergio Ramos, I don't know why he didn't start TBH. IMO it makes sense to give Javi Garcia as much opportunity to play as centre back because even though we all know he's a midfielder it looks like that is where he is going to play this season unless Garay comes back.

Torres can't be relied on (though yesterday he was good defensively, though contributed nothing in attack again).

Obviously the boy isn't Marcelo (not such a bad thing) he isn't going to do anything flamoyant in attack but he got forward a couple of times and delivered a few nice crosses. If Torres were to play like this every week, I will be delighted.

And I simply can't accept that we could have another season with Raul playing unconditionally. I figured that after winning the league and Spain winning the Euro without Raul, Schuster could get some confidence and begin benching Raul. I just can't believe that a coach would continue to sabotage himself by making such a stupid decision as to continue to start a player that does next to nothing all game.

You're simply going to have to. Whatever the reason, Schuster isn't going to drop Raul.

kas wrote:I thought Robinho was going to score 2 goals

Like i've said again and again, part of AS and Marca's campaign against Robinho. This was some bullshit quote( like the Fabregas one ) obviously trying to make him seem arrogant after looking stupid by claiming he won't go to Valencia.

Torrente wrote:@Jaime

I disagree that the Supercopa is completely meaningless. It might be something of a glorified friendly match, but it's a trophy that can help start the season with confidence. And with us playing the entire pre-season without numerous starters, I didn't see the point in leaving out so many again today.

And why experiment with another "worst case scenario" defense again when he's been doing it all pre-season? If anything has been clear in pre-season is that Javi Garcia is not a CB, Salgado is useless as always, and Torres can't be relied on (though yesterday he was good defensively, though contributed nothing in attack again). Yesterday was just the 10th confirmation of something that has been crystal clear the entire pre-season.


And I simply can't accept that we could have another season with Raul playing unconditionally. I figured that after winning the league and Spain winning the Euro without Raul, Schuster could get some confidence and begin benching Raul. I just can't believe that a coach would continue to sabotage himself by making such a stupid decision as to continue to start a player that does next to nothing all game.

I completely agree, and on the Raul thing we just have to accept we will be playing with ten men all season..................again.

So how is Calderon coping having facked up on TRW deal - in addition to his failures on Kaka and Cesc?

Green Arrow wrote:So how is Calderon coping having facked up on TRW deal - in addition to his failures on Kaka and Cesc?

We don't care how Calderon is coping as much as ManUre's being already two points behind others. (Don't give us the usual cr@p about "when we start slowly we won bla bla".)

Newcastle and Fiorentina still trying to sign Saviola. Please let it me true...

Real Madrid's German coach Bernd Schuster has asked the Spanish champions' sporting director Pedja Mijatovic to recruit more new talent, sports daily Marca reported Tuesday.

"Pedja, I think we should make an effort when it comes to transfers," he told Mijatovic before Real Madrid lost 3-2 against Valencia in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup on Sunday, the newspaper said.

Schuster is especially keen to sign new strikers at a time when Spanish media report the club's Argentine forward Javier Saviola could be on his way to English Premiership side Newcastle, it added.

Dutch international midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who signed with Real for five years, has been the club's only new signing for the upcoming season.

Real signed Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander at the end of the season but under the terms of the deal the player will only join the club in the 2009-10 season.

In addition, midfielders Javi Garcia and Ruben de la Red, who helped Spain win the Euro 2008 title in June, have rejoined Real after a season with Osasuna and Getafe respectively.


Real president Ramon Calderon, who failed in his bid to sign Manchester United's Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo, has indicated that there will not be any more signings, saying the squad in "complete and very balanced".

"Real president Ramon Calderon, who failed in his bid to sign Manchester United's Portuguese playmaker Cristiano Ronaldo, has indicated that there will not be any more signings, saying the squad in "complete and very balanced"."

Sense prevails..

Very balanced?

I can't wait for a Van Nistelrooy injury. Pity the Clasico is only in December so Puyol can't do it himself until then

It's going to be the same again, Van Nistelrooy+Casillas+refs.

kas wrote:Very balanced?

I can't wait for a Van Nistelrooy injury. Pity the Clasico is only in December so Puyol can't do it himself until then

Ok, but he already had an injury and missed a third of the season, we still won the league. Can't get worse.

golsud wrote:It's going to be the same again, Van Nistelrooy+Casillas

Feel your pain with all the jokers in your squad.

zizoued wrote:

kas wrote:Very balanced?

I can't wait for a Van Nistelrooy injury. Pity the Clasico is only in December so Puyol can't do it himself until then

Ok, but he already had an injury and missed a third of the season, we still won the league. Can't get worse.

True
And now that I think of it, you do have Hamburg's star striker VDV as a replacement if needed.

But this time we have a group of players that will at least fight on the pitch.

kas wrote:

But this time we have a group of players that will at least fight on the pitch.

....with each other !

kas wrote:Very balanced?

I can't wait for a Van Nistelrooy injury. Pity the Clasico is only in December so Puyol can't do it himself until then

It's clearly not balanced, this is just Calderon's latest rhetoric to convince the fans that everything will be ok. We can still win as the last two years have demonstrated but I don't think we can make a serious assault on the Champions with the squad as it is.

"Hamburg's star striker VDV "