Real Madrid’s Best Line up
That’s a tough question because it depends on so many variables (or constants or whatever, I am not good at mathematical concepts) It depends on the team you are playing, on the players you have and on other factors, but If you were Bernd Schuster, and you had everyone fit, who would you lineup?
Though I personally love to play a 4-3-3 line up. When I play FIFA 08, I always use this line up because this is the only line up I can think of if I want to win against the computer on Legendary difficulty. It gives me a lot of options in attack, I can go from the wings, through the middle, a little bit of both and some more creative approaches.
Anyway, considering this is REAL life and I can’t risk that much like I do in a video game with little to no consequences (all I have to do when I fail is, load a savegame), If I was Schuster I would use
4-1-4-1 because of the squad we have and not all players perform at their potential in every match.
Casillas:
Obviously, everyone will pick Casillas, he would the first person on my team sheet, anytime. Not only because he won the Euro 2008, but because he is always consistent and is a goalie that you can truly count on under pressure situations. He is the best, we all know it. He has got it all. Buffon can’t dive like him and so can’t Cech. Casillas can easily save me a game or two every month.
Ramos:
Sergio Ramos has improved dramatically during the last couple of seasons. I wasn’t impressed with his performances when he came in 2005, but as I said, he has significantly improved, and is now considered to be one of the best defenders in Europe because of his maturity and his young age. I mean, he is already starting to lead Real Madrid in times of hardship which really shows his caliber.
He used to be a little stupid while defending in the previous seasons where he would concede free kicks and penalty kicks in horrible situations and most of the time, for nothing. Just like Heinze conceded a stupid and pointless penalty in the last game against Espanyol which really THE POINT in the match as Real Madrid ended up drawing the game.
Sergio Ramos is now much more competent and composed when in awkward situations. I think he needs to work on his marking a bit more. But at such an early age, there is no limit to his potential. If he stays at Real Madrid, there is no doubt in my mind that he will go down as one of the greatest defenders of all time.
Pepe:
A lot of people criticized Calderon and Pedja Mijatovic , for paying 30m euros for a bald, skinny guy called Pepe (no offense to Pepe but how else would you describe him ). I also questioned his signing, but the guy has shown respect, commitment and hard work. He really kicked-ass against Barcelona last season at the Cam Nou, that’s when he started being the real “Pepe” which all knew in his time at FC Porto.
He has the pace and the stamina to run down any attacker. Sometimes he tries to win balls that are impossible to win, but he tries never the less and concedes silly free kicks. I like only because of two reasons, one, he has pace and two, he can head the ball which means he can defend deep in Real Madrid penalty area.
Cannavaro:
If you know me, then you know that I’m a big, big, fan of Cannavaro, I love him and I have a lot of respect for him. Although he is quite old, Cannavaro is still undeniably one of if not the best central defender in the world purely because of his experience and ability to judge the game in advance, he can read strikers better than themselves and can anticipate to ridiculous levels, sometimes it feels like if everything is scripted, but as we all know and should assume that football is not scripted.
He has the quality, the physical shape and the winning mentality that a Real Madrid player should have. Why not pick him, when he is the World Champion too.
Marcelo:
I thought I’d go for Heinze in here, but you know what, I don’t think he is better than Marcelo, at least, not right now. Yes, Heinze has got the experience, but he doesn’t have a brain “sometimes” and usually make a lot of stupid mistakes (Real Madrid vs Espanyol – last weekend as I mentioned before). Though he has done it for the first time since joining Real Madrid, but at Real Madrid, there is no room for that kind of stupid mistakes.
On the other hand, Marcelo is younger, faster and growing. He might lack the experience required for a Champions League knock-out clash, but he has everything else. I say, I have faith in this guy. He may not be the next Roberto Carlos but I think if he keeps his head down then he can come pretty close to being a Roberto Carlos.
He has to work on his shooting and passing a lot.
Diarra:
Diarra is one of the two defensive midfielders we have in our squad.Gago might have the excellent passing skill (that he was brought for) – but he doesn’t have what Diarra has – the strength in midfield.
Though I picked Diarra for Gago, but I think as time goes one, Gago is going to be the main stay of Real Madrid midfield. I think he has such a acute sense of when to tackle and when not to.
Plus, he can play the ball which we all know Diarra cant. Gago is more clever than Diarra. There were some instances where Gago just knew which trick the attacker was going to use against him and he countered efficiently.
Diarra is on the slower side, not that Gago is fast but you get the idea. Plus, Gago asks for the ball no matter what the situation. Which believe me is a big help when the team is going through a rough patch.
I play football matches too and I am almost dying to see another player asking the ball from me, players usually want to get away from the ball when the team is down but Gago does the exact opposite.
But as I said, Gago is young, Diarra isn’t. From Champions League point of view, I am going to stick with Diarra as long as he is fit.
Van Der Vaart:
Guti could go in here? Well…. What I hate about Guti is the fact that he only plays well when he is in mood. In other words, he is inconsistent. If I just knew what makes him in good mood, I’d let Schuster know. Maybe sex 20 minutes prior to a game? As Pepe knows? I don’t know, so I’d go for Van Der Vaart instead.
Sneijder:
He is an awesome player, who can do anything and everything on a football field while attacking. Wesley is the sort of player who is capable of changing the fate of opposing teams. He is class – and I hate those jerks who claim that he can’t win the Ballon D’or or the FIFA World Player of The Year.
People, it doesn’t only depend on the player and his performances, it depends on the team he is playing on, what trophy they won (In this case, the Champions League gets you the award) and how many goals you scored, to which I may or may not agree. I think the criteria to select the best player in the world is a bit biased. It should be titled more like “Best attacker in the world”. Personally I think, there should be 4 awards, World Keeper of the year, World Defender of the year, World midfielder of the year and World Striker of the year and a player may win more than 1 award.
Anyway, Cannavaro won it the hard way, That’s how Cannavaro won it. He won it because:
1- He won the World Cup with Italy.
2- He gave a fantastic performance throughout the tournament.
3- He won the Seria A with Juventus.
So If Real win the Champions League, and Sneijder scores 4 or 5 goals in that tournament, he will get it – for sure that’s the obvious thing.
Robben:
Injuries has chased Robben since he started playing football professionally. I was surprised to know how many things he achieved when he was just starting out. But as you know, we all call him “Glass knees”. He gets injured too much and that’s something on has to deal with if one wants to become the best in the world.
Now, Robben is surely among the world’s best wingers. He is fast, smart and shoots well. Hell, he is class. On the downside, he is pretty much a one dimensional player and his right foot is awful, but he is the best winger Real Madrid have, so I am going to go with him for now at least.
RAUL
I belive in Raul so much. And this would be a tough decision because I’d choose between: Rau’l – the legend and captain & Higuain – the young and impressive, but its going to be Raul, for now. Higuain needs to work on his skills and some pace.
Higuain is too raw at the moment. He needs to sharpen himself and work on making something his trade mark. Like finishing or heading.
Raul is the man everyone goes to for answers when Real Madrid is loosing. He has such an calming affect on his teammates. He leads by example and like Rafael Nadal, never gives up and always tries to give his best and leaves nothing on the pitch.
He rarely complains about stuff and performs at his best when he is struggling which is a very rare quality. The only other player I know (active player) that has that ability is Wayne Rooney of Manchester United.
I think Real Madrid have made enough world class striker signing in the past 5 or 6 years, only to see Raul working hard to retain his position and his place in the team. That alone is enough justification for his place in my line up, especially when you consider the names Real Madrid have signed in the last few years.
Some of them include Ronaldo, Robinho, Baptista, Owen, Morientes
Van Nistelrooy:
I’m not gonna talk about this one. I’m not qualified sorry because I think its as obvious as it gets. One of the greatest strikers on the past decade. Perhaps, seconded only by none other than Ronaldo. Van Nistelrooy has got a killer finish on his foot and can finish moves , most players only dream of.
So, alright, I’m gonna shut up now. Answer that question.
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