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Van Der Vaart, Baptista and Robinho + Match Report
Van Der Vaart, Baptista and Robinho
Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster is delighted with the way new signing Rafael van der Vaart has quickly settled. OK, OK, hang on a minute. He scored just one goal which was not something you would call spectacular and I have seen him in the last two matches he has played for Real Madrid, he is nowhere near anything special. His touch is pretty OK, and distributes the ball well, but if the fans are expecting something of a Zidane or even Sneijder, then I think they’ll be left disappointed.
“He has integrated very well into the team, because he is a great player,” said Schuster, who was also asked about Real’s failure to find a deal for Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I’ve been watching this issue from the outside. It doesn’t bother me because I have only been focusing on my current team.”
Robinho saga continues as well (along with Baptista’s) as Robinho refuses to drop his contract demands.
Currently on £1.5 million-a-year, Robinho is seeking a clean £4 million-a-year to stay in Real Madrid, however I have read that Real Madrid are not prepared to go as high as that for the obvious reasons.
If Real Madridagree to his terms, which is highly unlikely, may be Real Madrid would tell Robinho to calm down for now and if he impresses during the season then Real Madrid would renew his contract to what Chelsea is offering him right now.
Robinho is prepared to stay if Real Madrid pay up ofcourse, despite the interest of Chelsea. I do not know but I think he would still be a undervalued player at Real Madrid, I did not know this before but from what I have read, that teammates such as Royston Drenthe and Julio Baptista are earning near double Robinho’s salaray, now that is what I call “SUCKS”, that SUCKS.
Sure Robinho does not deserve a 100,000 a week salary but how come Baptista and Drenthe (of all the people) are earning more than him. Robinho has got way more potential and ability then these two guys. Robinho is not known for his consistency but I think if you match up Robinho’s consistency against these two guys, he is way ahead. I did’nt know Baptista was making more money than him.
Now this all makes sense as to why Robinho wants a new contract. I do not blame Robinho for anything now. Real Madrid should be dumb enough to know that obviously a player as talented as Robinho should be payed double if not equal to players like Baptista (more inconsistent than Robinho) and Drenthe ( man , I do not even want to get to Drenthe, lets just say he is poor).
Anyway, despite all these things going on, Chelsea still have tabled an offer close to 25 million euros just to make Real Madrid thinking.
Daily Star reports that an offer of £25 million for the Real Madrid ace is imminent.
Real Madrid rejected an initial offer thought to be in the region of €25 million, roughly what they paid to bring the Brazilian from Santos in 2005. Real Madrid asking price should be around €50 million mark. Yeah, I know what I am saying. If Chelsea can rip Real Madrid in Robben deal then Real Madrid should do the same to Chelsea.
However, despite several declarations from club officials that the 24-year-old is happy at the club and will be staying, his agent Wagner Ribeiro has persistently fuelled talk of an exit and Robinho himself has admitted to having made contact with Chelsea, but nothing more.
For those of you new to this particular saga, Robinho first became unsettled when his name was mentioned as part of a swap deal to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Robinho is thought to have taken this as an insult (which he should) which was made worse by the club’s refusal to let him travel to the Olympics after he picked up a minor injury.
Cristiano Ronaldo clarified his future last week, confirming that despite harbouring a desire to move to Real Madrid, he will be staying at Manchester United this season, at least. The very notion of Real Madrid letting go of Robinho is now unthinkable as Real Madrid did not get Cristiano Ronaldo and did not even think about signing Quaresma, I feel we are missing the real deal over here. Quaresma would cost way less and will give the same attitude and skill as Ronaldo if not better as he has greater physical strength.
Though Real Madrid contended all along that nobody would be leaving in an exchange deal for Ronaldo, with Wesley Sneijder and Sergio Ramos also having been mentioned as potential makeweights for the Ronaldo deal, which I think would have been insane.
Robinho is still angling for a new contract so that he may have parity with the top earner of the club, which is suspected to be the lingering reason behind his agent’s ongoing enthusiasm to seal a move to Chelsea.
The Daily Star reports that, despite a five-year deal on the table from Real Madrid, Robinho is still holding out for an exit before the transfer window ends on August 31. Chelsea are ready to improve their previous offer and table a bid in the region of £25 million, or more likely equivalent to €30 million.
That does it for today as far as Robinho goes, lets move on.
Roma struggling to find agreement with Real Madrid’s Baptista
Roma are struggling to strike personal terms with Real Madrid attacker Julio Baptista.
The two clubs settled on a fee earlier this week, but Il Messaggero says there remains a huge difference between the two parties over personal terms.
Hah, as I said in my previous posts that nothing should be taken for granted until it is official, remember what happened with the transfer of Gabi Milito (a Barcelona player now), Real Madrid wanted to sign him, everything went normally and then boom, during his medical, Real Madrid people found out that he had some kinda knee problem or something.
Anyway, that is not the case with Baptista as Roma just want Baptista to take a pay cut for him to move to Roma.
Agent Threatens Roma: Pay Up Or Forget Baptista
Julio Baptista’s agent Herminio Menendez is threatening to pull out of the deal if Roma don’t offer his client the money he earns at Real Madrid.
The transfer saga which shows no sign of ending has taken yet another turn.
On Tuesday, Menendez revealed that Baptista wanted to play for Roma and that wages were an issue.
Now, in an attempt to get what he wants, the agent seems to be threatening Roma and he has given them an ultimatum, Real Madrid money or forget Baptista. I think Roma is probably going to go with Option 2 over here.
The agent is also unhappy with the way the Roma have dealt with the deal and he is furious.
“Roma can’t expect to pay Baptista less than what he earns at Real Madrid,” an angry Menendez told Il romanista.”
“The money they have offered just isn’t enough. Roma knew what Baptista earns. The player is important at Madrid and he is part of the Selecao.“
“If Roma want him they have to pay him the wages he earns at Madrid.”
“I don’t want my player to lose out by moving to Rome. It’s Real money or nothing at all.”
Ok , First Baptista is not an important player at Real Madrid, why the heck would Real Madrid would want to sell him if he was an important player and second, isn’t it obvious that no other club can pay what Real Madrid pay to its players.
It’s unlikely that Roma will bow down to the agent’s pushy demands even if the deal threatens to go up in smoke.
Schuster Wants All-Round Improvement (Match Report)
Bernd Schuster was unhappy with Real Madrid’s defending and the striker’s wastefulness in front of goal during the pre-season friendly against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday evening.
I am going to totally agree with him. the defending was so so poort, I could not believe that Real Madrid had defenders like Pepe and Sergio Ramos in their ranks, who are normally so good in the air.
The German coach highlighted some positives from the 1-1 draw against the Bundesliga outfit, but wants his players to sharpen up at both ends of the field before the season begin, yeah because otherwise, Valencia is just going to take us apart.
Real Madrid played such a poor game, I mean I know it is a friendly and may be Real Madrid was trying to test some training ground moves but the way Real Madrid players were passing and loosing possession so frequently was nothing less than frustrating.
There was no fluidity in Real Madrid’s play. No build ups, all that Pepe and Sergio Ramos or even Diarra did was to kick the ball up as further away from their goal as possible instead of trying to steady the ship by passing the ball around to a feel for the game, Real Madrid defended deep, and frankly speaking, I can say that Frankfurt could have scored more goals, they had a lot of chances but just could not convert them .
The goal was so so poor, infact the goal conceded by Real Madrid was very similar to the goal Roma scored in Champions League against Real Madrid. All these 2nd tier teams do is that they put in hoards of crosses into Real Madrid penalty box and just hope that Real Madrid defenders would misjudge the ball thus providing their poor strikers to head the ball into the goal.
That’s what happened when Roma knocked Real Madrid out of Champions League and that is what happened when Frankfurt drew with Real Madrid the other day.
Defending was very very poor, the ball should have been cleared long before it even got the striker into the penalty area. I think this is Real Madrid’s achillies heel, Real Madrid never defend air balls from set pieces. Always seem to leave one player or the other completely umarked with ample amount of space.
Schuster had to make loads of changes to his starting line up at half time to give his team some boosters because Real Madrid players looked lethargic especially when going forward. Van Nistelrooy and Raul looked so much out of touch.
Van Der Vaart and Diarra weer unable to slide through balls to Van Nistelrooy or Raul because of the striker’s poor movement and timing of their runs.
Anyway, Habib Bellaid put the hosts in front after just ten minutes and it was not until midway through the second period that Madrid drew level when Robinho equalised.
“There were two things I disliked today. The first was the goal. We must improve set piece plays. The second was our finishing. We cannot miss or else we will pay dearly,” Schuster said.
“We will have many problems come Sunday if we miss chances which take so much effort to create.”
“But it was the match we all expected. It was very interesting for such a special occasion. The fans were great and enjoyed so many chances.”
“I saw some interesting things. I am pleased. We are now focusing on the weekend. There were no injuries and I am satisfied.”
Schuster was pleased that Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Christoph Metzelder played for the first time since returning from an extended holiday after the Euro 2008 exploits.
“Most important is that they played their first minutes and proved they are unquestionable starters for our team. For Metzelder it was important that he did not hurt his foot again,” he continued.
“I am also pleased with Rubén De la Red. They all withstood the rhythm of the match. Having fresh legs and players like Robinho and Baptista come in in the second half allowed us to play at a faster pace.”
Finally, Schuster explained that he always felt that Rafael Van der Vaart would quickly adapt to his new suroundings and was once again pleased with his performance.
“I am not at all surprised by his integration. Our style of play suits him, as he already proved in Colombia. He is very talented. He will adapt easily and be an important member of this team,” he said.
