Real Madrid can have Benzema for €100 million, Schuster on Raul
Lyon’s President had some good news and some bad news (I know I use that a lot) today. The good news was that the PRESIDENT said that any club (not just Real Madrid) can have Benzema (Hurrah on that). Then the bad news came, what the president really meant was that any club can have Benzema for 100 million euros. Wooh, that is a lot of money.
Benzema is one of the most feared strikers in Europe and has been subject to speculation in recent months because of his goal scoring abilites and his individual quality. Benzema , last seasons, scored 20 goals in 36 starts which is Ronaldo like ratio. This seasons he already has scored 4 goals in 5 matches, in two of the matches he came on as a sub.
That price tag tells me that Lyon really want to protect their prodigious talent and want to build a team that would put them in Europes Elite, but considering that Lyon don’t pose a huge potential in the Champions League, it is going to be hard for them to retain the services of their hitman when big clubs come hunting for Benzema and as always, one of the BIG CLUBS gunning for Benzema is Real Madrid.
Whether Real Madrid sign Benzema or not, one thing is of absolute significance and that is, a quality signing in the winter market. I know a lot people are saying that Schuster should just try to play with his current squad and think up of a strategy, but here is the deal.
Real Madrid do not have enough individual quality in attack to come back in a big game or deliver in big matches e.g Champions Leauge against Manchester United or Chelsea. I think Real Madrid do not stand a chance over two legs if we do get a match in round of 16 (I am assuming Real Madrid would qualify from their group.)
We need someone who is near to a complete midfield player who can score goals out of nothing and can perform when the team is down, who can lead the team and raise their moral with his individual brilliance and his calm in pressure situations.
Van Nistelrooy is a great striker no doubt, but he thrives on service so much that he cannot do anything if he is not being fed with quality through balls which we all know can happen as most teams do tend to defend like hell against Real Madrid.
Buying Huntelaar is another option, but my pick would be Adriano, considering the current situation in the market. Adriano, if kept under watch, is among the top 3 strikers in the world. On his day no one can match his brilliance and technique. He can shoot, dribble, run, head and pass the ball, a complete centre forward.
In the past few seasons, his form has not been the greatest but that was because he had some personal issues in his life and lost someone close to him which really put him down.
But now I think Schuster knows how to handle these Brazillians because he handled Robinho pretty well until Calderon and Mijatovic messed it up by that Cristiano saga.
Anyway, I think if Real Madrid want to make some sort of a impact in the Champions League to tell the football world that Real Madrid is still a force in Europe then I think we do need a quality attacking player.
Moving on to Schuster.
Bernd Schuster is rarely in a jovial mood but as he spoke today after the birth of his fifth child yesterday he did seem rather more than chirpy than usual.
Despite the delight which he must have been feeling though the Real Madrid manager was mainly made to talk about football rather than his newborn which makes sense doesn’t it?
Speaking in a brief conference he started by talking about Raúl and the need for Raul to start scoring goals.
“I would have liked him to play further upfront against Santander, but he always likes to work for the team, not just by getting goals.”
“He is a forward though who needs to score goals and whilst the other work is not valued as it should be sometimes we are not going to bring him back because he needs goals,” he reiterated.
His next opportunity to get said goal will be on Wednesday night as Real Madrid play host to Sporting Gijón but despite the fact that the newly promoted side got thrashed 6-1 by Barcelona at the weekend, Schuster is not expecting an easy match.
“It is not going to help us because a team that has conceded six goals will not want to do the same again. They will be more defensive and they probably won’t try to create too much,” he said.
For the match against Sporting Schuster confirmed that he would make changes from the weekend, most of them enforced due to injury such as Guti, Wesley Sneijder and Fernando Gago. In to replace them he said would be Rafael Van Der Vaart and Arjen Robben.
The media-shy captain Raul rarely gives interviews outside the club walls but he spoke to Radio Marca program, La Futbolería yesterday after feeling the need to clear up certain issues which have been hitting the headlines lately.
One of which has been his immediate future and the 31 year old made that his number subject during the broadcast. And I am telling you know, its a shock. Raul Said:
“I will have at least three more years in Madrid, which is what I have on my contract, and from then on I will go year by year and see how things go,” he began.
“But now, I am just taking things day by day, although it will become more customary to see me on the bench during games.
“I have spent 14 years in football, playing many games. I have always been there to help the team, sometimes coming off the bench, other times as a starter. There will be no problems,” he confessed.
Raúl then acknowledged that there is debate about that very topic at present and whether or not he should be a regular starter upfront despite his lack of form and goals.
“When I go five games without a goal, there’s always a debate. Everything else that I do on the pitch is never valued.
But this does not upset me. I will keep on fighting,” he added.
Raul then went on to speak about upcoming talents for Spain and Real Madrid and feeels that Real Madrid’s future is pretty much in safe hands.
“Higuaín is enjoying very good form at present and he will be even better in the future,” he said of Pipita.
“Villa is one of the best strikers in Europe today. And it is not true that I prevented his move. I do not decide these things.
“I only have an opinion, which I must give as a player and the captain of this team,” he clarified.
Raul also congratulated Spanish National Squad for winning the EURO 2008 of which he wasn’t a part of and said:
“After our success in the Eurocopa, we have the possibility to triumph in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa,”
Raúl beamed, before admitting that he remained in contact with his La Roja teammates throughout the Swiss-Austro championships.I ain’t buying that by the way.
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