You all must have heard the news that Florentino Perez wants to sell Higuain to make way for another Galactico and because he was bought by Calderon and so Perez does not want any mention of Calderon if Higuain turns out to be one of the star players for Real Madrid in the future to win the club some major silverware. The tabloids also have it that there is some unrest between Higuain and C.Ronaldo so to maintain a good dressing atmosphere Perez wants to get rid of Higuain.

Here are 5 more reasons why Perez would want to sell Higuain:

1. Higuain may have scored 21 goals but rarely he scores a goal which he creates himself or scores a goal for which one might be tempted to say that Raul would not have scored that. Which basically means that Higuain is no special talent and it is just a matter of his determination and probably luck that he is scoring this many goals. He is like another Kanoute (Sevilla striker) or Darren Bent who plays in the BPL.
2. Perez is probably killing himself inside because Real Madrid got knocked out in the Champions League and that too by a tier 2 team such as Lyon. Plus, the blame could be put on Higuain as he was the one who missed the open goal opportunity. Perez must have noted his name then.
3. May be the miss at the Lyon game and several others where Higuain was unable to score at key moments (relatively easy chances) has signalled Perez that Higuain can never be a big game player or a big name player for that matter. Mind you, Higuain has also scored some crucial goals for Real Madrid in the past as well but the miss at Lyon cannot be forgotten or forgiven specially for a man like Perez who wants results no matter what.
4. Probably this is the best Higuain will be able to play in his entire career so may be this is a good time to sell the guy, make some money and then use that money to buy another Galactico, say like Wayne Rooney.
5. You could bring in another argument in the form of the “Ronaldinho effect”, I do not want to sound rude but considering the type of guy Perez is (Remember, he rejected Ronaldinho and bought Beckham for the same reason and probably got rid of Makalele for this reason too who knows), I do not think he ranks Higuain and Brad pitt in the same league when it comes to having a pretty face for brand value.

These were the reasons why I think Perez may be tempted to sell Higuain. One thing I did not mention is that Perez might also want to show the footballing world that Real Madrid does know how to do buying and selling when it comes to these players. We always loose money whenever we sell a player but here is the perfect opportunity to double our money because Higuain was bought  for relatively cheap price from an Argentinian side, Riverplate. I think it was 13 million or something.

What do you think? Would you stick with Higuain or sell him to make way for Benzema or someone else. I would keep both by the way. As always, I am all ears and want to hear what you have to say.

HALA MADRID!!!

More pain for Ronaldo

Ok. I cannot just remain in a SHUT UP mode after watching it time and time again. The match against Valladolid last weekend really showed where football in general and especially La Liga is going in terms of ethics and moral character of football players.

For those who still do not know what I am talking about, Ronaldo was literally HACKED at every opportunity Valladolid defenders got to the ground. They made horrific fouls on him which should have prompted the referee to produce some red cards but sadly he refused to even take out a single one.

Every Real Madrid player said after the match that Valladolid went over the line in far too many situations and yet the referee could not see what was going on. I know EPL is tough and really physical but the fouls defenders make over there are within the limits of BELIEVABILITY but the fouls on Ronaldo in the Valladolid game were just outrageous.

I would even go on to say that Valladolid players should be jailed for what they did to Ronaldo in that game. Made some bad tackles and BAD probably is an understatement but the most disgusting part is that the referee continued to ignore them all. It was quite clear from the start that Valladolid players were under specific instructions to physically hurt Ronaldo because apparently that is the only way one can stop his attacking venom so what did they do? They fouled Ronaldo not out of necessity or by mistake but they deliberately made tackles that would hurt Ronaldo so that he would get discouraged to receive the ball afterwards in order to protect himself.

You disgust me Nivaldo

The guy I specifically want to talk about is Nivaldo. This guy literally stomped on Ronaldo twice after he grabbed Ronaldo and threw him into the ground. Ronaldo was cut just above and below the knee and the more absurd part is that the referee did not see that and totally dismissed Ronaldo’s claim when Ronaldo showed him the cut he got from Nivaldo’s feet. Disgusting, would probably undermine the magnitude of lowness that Nivaldo went to in that game.

I mean, I cannot believe how Real Madrid are letting go of this situation as I think they should appeal to the FA to either show Nivaldo a red card or ban him for some games and if I was in charge I would ban him for atleast a year with no salary as what he did is unacceptable from a professional and even from a human being.

He has set a bad example for the kids and for the society as general and these sort of things do affect people when they see their heroes doing things like that they tend to think that it is just normal to do that in business and hence they adopt this ” Nothing personal just business” approach in their daily lives as well.

One other player that comes to mind is our very own Pepe in this regard but his situation I would say was a little bit different. He kicked the opponents striker because he barely touched the guy who went down (in order to get a penalty out of Pepe) as if he was bitten by a shark or somthing, that fueled Pepe’s anger, and by no means I am justifying his actions, which lead him to kick the attacker.

Whereas the Valladolid players had this very unsportsmanlike like attitude from the beginning of the game. I was really disappointed to read Valdano’s (Real Madrid sporting director I think) statement when he said that Real Madrid would not take any action as the match was over so the incident was over too. That does not make any sense, criminals like Nivaldo should not get away with things that he did to Ronaldo for two reasons, one is that it is dangerous to the other players career and second, it sets bad example for youngsters who want to grow up pursuing professional football.

Players like Nivaldo teach young people a bad lesson and thats, do what you have to do without give a hell about the other guy or more like ” Only winning counts, no matter how”. I don’t know why Valdano said that but what I do know is that I am really frustrated. Ronaldo even came to the coach to tell him that the Valldolid players were trying to hurt him not take the ball from him.

This is what Van der Vaart had to say about the Ronaldo Nivaldo incident:

“I believe Nivaldo’s tackle on Ronaldo should have resulted in a red card, but the referee didn’t see it. These things happen. I was very close and saw how his boot hit Cristiano’s leg. I’m glad he isn’t injured. He could have been seriously hurt.”

And this what Mr.Valdano had to say which is really really disappointing:

We do not want to create tension between anyone. We discuss events that took place during matches once they have concluded, but we try to turn the page as quickly as possible as long as there is no extremely serious matter to attend to.”

“We are putting too much blame on the referees and they usually do a good job, generally speaking. Officiating a Real Madrid match is not an easy task because there is a lot of pressure and there are many plays that are hard to see. We have the advantage of watching the game on television as well, which lets us see that something that originally looked like nothing is actually more serious than originally believed.”

That is all what I wanted to say. What do you guys think? Should Nivaldo be banned from football for at least some months for what he did to Ronaldo or do you think he was being a PROFESSIONAL doing his job? I want to KNOW your thoughts.

HALA MADRID!!!

Not the best when it comes to selling players

I was looking through the list of players that Real Madrid brought in this summer and the list of players Real Madrid sold this summer. Both the lists are relatively long but here is the catch, every GOOD player Real Madrid has sold this summer has gone on to do good things with the teams they have ended up with. Now whether that is because they had more motivation to show Real Madrid’s lack of vision to see them as good players or whether that is actually because they were not being able to adapt to the Real Madrid system (more like what has happened to Henry at Barcelona).

The 3 players I want to talk about at Wesley Sniejder who ended up at Inter Milan, Robben who ended up at Bayern Munich and one of the older transfers in Robinho who ended up at Manchester City.

Robben has truly shined with Bayern Munich and has shown that he has what it takes to be the best

Robben as we all know has overshadowed the likes of Ribery at Bayern Munich with his blistering runs in the Bundesliga. Ribery, of course the man that Real Madrid want and someone I do not want. I just do not think he would fit into the Real Madrid system. We need a player like Gerrard or some good defender. We have the quality upfront. Anyway, I think selling Robben was a mistake and that can be evidently seen when Pellegrini plays Marcelo or Lassana Diarra on the left and right hand side of the field.

He has been mesmerizing the defenders there too just like he did in La liga and the Barclays Premier League. It would have been a lethal combination of him and C.Ronaldo had he stayed or in other words, had he not been sold.

Robben though I think has learnt a lot from his Real Madrid days. For one, he is now wearing some kind of a knee support all the time, may be that has got to do with his not so stable knees but I have to add that though he is capable to making great runs through the midfield into the penalty area, the end product is zero more often than not. That was evident even in his Real Madrid days and can be seen even now,  with Bayern Munich.

Sneijder when in form is a complete midfield general and Mourinho has realised that

Sniejder is another player who has been performing well in the Champions League for Inter Milan and one of those guys who I think should never have been sold. Guti should have been sold instead of him. Raul should have been kicked out instead of him. He is young and is full of potential. People who do not know what I am talking about, just watch Chelsea vs Inter Milan Champions League Round of 16 2010 which took place couple of days ago and look for the player named Sniejder. Just the kind of player Real Madrid are missing at the moment because Alonso is not performing.

And remember Real Madrid payed heavily for Xabi Alonso whereas Sniejder would have been a perfect fit in this Real Madrid system and at no extra cost. He is also younger than Xabi and his work ethic is better. I do not believe that Florentino Perez signed Xabi because of his star power. I think it was more because he wanted to make the side a bit more Spanish than it was before and for that he was ready to do some horrific trading of players, like in case of Sniejder and Robben.

There was no need of Arbeloa. These five words are sufficient for a player of his calibre. Not Real Madrid stuff I have to say

It would have been difficult not impossible to fit him and Ronaldo in the same team

Robinho is another player I think would have had a bright future at Real Madrid because of the system Real Madrid play in and also the pace at which La Liga generally play. It is perfectly suited to his game and Robinho showed us that he can be the best player in the world if given enough confidence towards the end of his Real Madrid days and even though Real Madrid got a pretty good deal out of Robinho but I still think that with Cristiano Ronaldo and Robben on the wings and Robinho as the striker (his original position) in the center would have made for an awesome three for Real Madrid and could have rivaled Barcelona’s Henry, Ibra and Messi.

Sadly, Robinho was also shipped out of Real Madrid for non sporting reasons and that is the irritating part. Players are being sold for reasons that are not related to their job which is so unlike Barcelona. Barcelona sold Ronaldinho because he was not performing and sold Eto’o because he was having some trouble with the coach. I cannot really say that Robinho has been the same player he was towards the end of his stint at Real Madrid but he has certainly showed glimpses of his true talent in the BPL as well.

If you want further proof just look at his performance against Barcelona to see that on his day he could very well match Messi.

Anyway, whats done is done and now we have Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema to look forward too.

What do you guys think? Was Perez right to sell these 3 future stars and splash millions on Kaka, Ronaldo and Benzema? I would love to hear your thoughts and as always, after my every post what do I do? I sit and wait for your comments. Talk to me!!.

HALA MADRID.

I would be surprised if anyone else but Messi gets the next FIFA player of the year award because the 3 goals he scored that night against Valencia alone should give anyone ample proof that he is the best attacking player in the world. Anyway, coming back to the topic (if there is one).

On the weekend I was watching a little bit of English Premier League. It was Manchester City vs Sunderland I think and I noticed something. I noticed that the back four of Manchester City, ON PAPER in my opinion, is more stable than of Real Madrid. Let me explain by comparing the back four of Manchester City with that of current Real Madrid line up which played against Valldolid on the weekend (Real Madrid won the math, 1-4 by the way).

Right Back

Arbeloa vs Micheal Richards

Well, I think the choice is pretty simple. Micheal Richards is better than Arbeloa in every department of the game except may be vision for the game and Arbeloa gets that point only because he is half a decade older than Richards. Richards is fast, young, powerful and good in the air, something which Real Madrid’s defense has always lacked and most of all he can go forward and help out the attack WITHOUT compromising his defensive duties.

Wayne Bridge (or Sylvinho) vs Marcelo

I think this should be a draw. Bridge is far more experienced plus, sensible when it comes to attacking the guy on the other side of the field while Marcelo plays like a free spirit, save for the last game Marcelo has rarely shown positional sense or the ability to predict what the attacker’s next move is. Marcelo was once touted as the next Roberto Carlos but clearly he does not have that pace or strength nor that powerful shoot. His left is way way more wayward then his uncle’s (presumably Roberto Carlos).

Manchester City also have the choice of playing Lescott over there, normally he plays as a central defender but can also play on the left. He should also be considered better than Marcelo simply because lescott is more consistent and determined than Marcelo.

Sergio Ramos vs Kompany (or Vieira if needed, Zabaleta)

Sergio Ramos wins this one all over. He is younger than both, faster, stronger, is better at going forward, better at defending . Not to mention that Sergio Ramos has the dribbling skills or a pure winger and a finishing touch of a low quality striker (and I mean that in a positive sense) which means that he can score goals from the air and as well as from his feet which is a rarity now a days. He can also take free kicks but when one has C.Ronaldo to take free kicks in your time, who would want a right back to take instead.

Raul Albiol vs Kolo Toure

I would go with Kolo Toure here. Toure is again tall and extremely powerful. I have not seen him getting knocked off the ball. When he was at Arsenal, he really was one of the top 5 defenders in Europe. He could shoot from distance and took penalties as well. Had a good header on him and had pace which is again, not readily found in central defenders.

So there was my view on Real Madrid’s defense. This is also one of the reason why Real Madrid fail when it comes to playing in Europe. Elite teams do take advantage of weaknesses and apart from Sergio Ramos, they exploit every other defender in Real Madrid’s line up. So instead of chasing all the Rooney’s (not saying he should not be bought) and the Gerrard’s (he would be a wonderful signing), I think we should concentrate of signing world class defenders.

The name of Ashley Cole is being brought up and I think that would be a wonderful signing as Ashley cole also has everything a left back should have but his age is a little bit something to worry about, he is not the youngest out there. I would rather go with Lahm or Evra (if Manchester United let him go without making a mess which they always do), one other player that has always caught my attention is Gael Clichy, he would also be a good choice better than cole I think plus Arsenal are not known to ask for astronomical prices when it comes to selling unlike Manchester United, hope this gets into the heads of Florentino Perez’s management.

What do you guys think? Do we need attackers or defenders or what? I am waiting and ready to listen to what you have to say. So come on because I am all ears now and waiting.!! HALA MADRID

Kaka out of Real Madrid with an injury? Yeah, heard that one before

Real Madrid would be looking to put the Champions League disappointment midweek behind them now. It was a painful loss and a loss which would have affected the whole of Real Madrid. The management of Perez, Pellegrini’s decisions and the squad’s commitment to the cause will all be questioned as they always are whenever Real Madrid get eliminated from the Champions League early, which has been the case for more than half a decade now. Even though the loss was big especially after Real Madrid fans had high hopes for the team to turn the 0-1 deficit against Lyon, after the players showed an unbelievable amount of fighting spirit against Sevilla. Coming back from 0-2 in the second half to actually win the game gave a lot of confidence to the players and fans alike that this team really can achieve something big this season. Though Real Madrid got the top spot in the league that day, what was to follow a few days later has overshadowed that by a country mile and now what everybody wants to talk about is Real Madrid’s elimination and the 250 million euros that it took Perez to revamp the squad.

Never the less, this is a must win game for Real Madrid as we are ahead of Barcelona only through goal difference. It would be a tough away game with the squad’s morale on an all time low and an away win would do no harm to such a squad. Our goal difference is only better than Barcelona’s by a meager 2 goal margin and therefore, we not only have to win but have to win with big margins. Valladolid should be the team that Real Madrid would want to play right now at this moment because they have suffered heavily in all departments of the game since the beginning of the season including defending.

Real Valladolid are an interesting team. Currently I think they sit at 17nth position in the league table. They score a lot of goals and they concede a lot of goals both home and away. They have pretty decent players but the system at the club that the coach employs does not let them play at their potential, they could easily be pretty dangerous players if you put some of them in teams like Real Madrid or Valencia.

The problem with Valladolid is that, they had a change of coach who brought in a lot of players and kept on rotating them and because of that, none of the players had sufficient time on the field to get comfortable with the new season and as a result (wow, a lot of ANDs in this post) the team could not gel properly because of poor rotating policy.

Overall, they can put up a fight but the problem is that both their central defenders and the full backs are not exactly electric and kaka (Oops, I forgot that Kaka is INJURED!!), ronaldo and Benzema (man what the heck is wrong with me, he is injured too) can exploit these slows chumps at the back, however Valladolid defenders are really strong in the air but that counts for zero as Real Madrid rarely employ air game when they play their matches. Real Madrid are not centrally strong otherwise I would have had no problem in declaring a ” We will win by 3-0″ statement if you know what I mean.

Valladolid will definitely employ a CLOSING DOWN strategy against Real Madrid as they have plenty of players who can pull their socks up and be the dirty workmen for their team. They will try their best to hack and slash at the likes of Alonso, Ronaldo and the rest.

Real Madrid go into this match with not a lot to be optimistic about. We have not won at th Zorilla for 2 years but Valladolid have not won a single game in 2010 (like in 3 months to state it clearly) so you cannot really say, who is in better form at the moment. After the Sevilla game there would have been no doubts about who was coming to this match as the heavy favorite in terms of performance but a midweek disaster has changed all that and now the only place where Real Madrid are cut above the rest is on paper. No where else.

Our coach Mr.Pelligrini would have a lot of worries now. Reports have been rising up that there is a lot of unrest in the dressing room and apparently saint Kaka had few words to say to him. He is going to have to give a pretty emotional team talk before the match for the purpose of both boosting the team’s abysmal morale and also to make his position clear that he is supposed to be the authority in this group of extremely talented people.

Barcelona will play Valencia so we can at least hope that they drop some points and that will allow Real Madrid to open up a slender lead but a lead at least. One thing is for sure. Pelligirni is going to have to pull his socks up to make Real Madrid win this match otherwise I think there will be a little more change to this Real Madrid then expected come the end of the season regardless of what happens in the rest of the season.

Pelligrini has not released the squad list till now but that does not matter really as because of the injuries he does not have alot of choice now or does he. Kaka and Benzema are out. Pepe is out and along with him , thankfully, drenthe is out too. Guti, will not start I think, I do not think he is fit enough to play 3 games in a row at his top level. Granero might get a chance but considering his dip in form for quite sometime now (both in the league and the Champions League) I doubt with Pellegrini would start with him. I would think that Van Der Vaart would be the best choice (if he is not injured too, wait, let me just double check my sheet).

In the midfield, I want to see some changes. I would rather see Muhammadou Diarra for a change , I think in his heyday he is a complete box to box midfielder more like Essien, but I think it is safe to assume that Lass, Marcelo and Xabi Alonso would form the 3 man midfield with Raul, Ronaldo and Higuain upfront.

Real Madrid would be going for a 8th straight win the league and as the El Clasico approaches near, that is a stat that quite a few people would refer back to when pumping themselves up for that game. Anyway, this game is going to be difficult as all away games are for Real Madrid because of our not so ‘water tight’ defense but I think the players know that they have got quite something to prove following the humiliation in the Champions League and will rough it out tonight.

Lets just not go into the details of what needs to be done at Real Madrid because of this disaster. The same old cryings can be heard though. One section wants another revolution and another section wants stability in order to bring Real Madrid back to its Elite status in European football and for that to happen there must a consistent set of players who can make up the nucleus of the future Real Madrid more like Messi, iniesta and Xavi at Barcelona.

We should not be too quick to label this season as a failure as I think, beating Barcelona to the title is going to one hell of an achievement considering the form and the players Barcelona currently have stacked up in their squad.

So all that we Real Madrid fans can do is to let our voice known to the world that Real Madrid will not just lie down and roll over. There is always a next season and we will try hard the next season. The key here is not to loose faith and keep on believing that we can do it. That should not too far fetched a dreams as if any one team has the squad to win it all then I think after Barcelona its Real Madrid. In fact on paper, it is only Real Madrid that can claim the title solely on the basis of the amount of talent this squad has.

Well, that is it and now I am going to start to wait for the game to start. I am all ears now and dying to hear your comments. Come on Madridistas. Talk to me. I am listening.!!!

HALA MADRID.

]]> http://www.madridgalacticos.com/2010/03/15/valladolid-real-madrid-real-madrid/feed/ 1 http://www.madridgalacticos.com/2010/03/13/250-million-drain-real-madrid-loose/ http://www.madridgalacticos.com/2010/03/13/250-million-drain-real-madrid-loose/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:39:31 +0000 Borris Becker http://www.madridgalacticos.com/?p=1459

Is Rooney the answer instead of these two for Real Madrid's comeback?

Well. Here I was, thinking that wednesday (or was it tuesday) night is going to be the night that I see the end of two things. One, my grueling semester and second, Real Madrid’s streak of 5 consecutive failures to move past the knockout stage of the Champions League. Which is, quite frankly a disgusting stat for a club as rich and successful as Real Madrid.

Anyway, both of my “one and two” did not happen. My finals got postponed to after 22 march and Real Madrid lost the match against Lyon, thanks to Higuain, to continue this impressive streak of 6 consecutive years of non stop elimination from the knockout phase.

As expected, the media, the fans and the players alike went berserk and went on some of the most furious rants I have ever read on the net,more precisely, on goal.com and real.theoffside.com. The latter apparently dedicated a whole post to it I think when the post was titled “Vent Your Furies/Troll All You Want” in which readers were given full freedom to let their not so kind words out on the forum.

I cannot say I did not want to do that but what I can say that, this is the moment we should all remain calm because if there are two qualities that Champions show then those are patience and persistence to follow the right path, no matter what the situation.

Talking about situation, the situation at Real Madrid is a little less than what you traditionally call “STABLE”. Pellegrini’s head is again being called for because of the obvious reasons, though I think that it is simply not because of Real Madrid’s performance that Lyon beat us. It is something with this Champions League stage, because we have been getting knocked out so often by the same team, again and again. People say Pellegrini is making a mess of Perez’s Neo Galacticos and that Mourinho is being courted by Real Madrid.

Let me make one thing very clear to these people and that is, MOURINHO will not, in ANY SITUATION, become Perez’s puppet like some of these no name coaches can and do become. Mourinho will want things where he wants those things and when he wants those things. Any sort of involvement from the admnistration is going to lead to problems if Mourinho is incharge as we all can witness to that he did at Chelsea. Despite being hugely successful, he left the club. Why?

For the same reason that Abramovich (Chelsea’s owner) wanted Mourinho to bring in star players and pick players according to their brand value not for their performance and what did Mourinho do?. Walked out in the middle of the season when Chelsea were really in a delicate position as Manchester United had a slight lead over them in the English Premier League.

Anyway, what happened happened but I would only prefer Mourinho if Perez’s promises not to get involved in player purchases and player selection, only then Moruinho will be able to win something for Real Madrid otherrwise I would rather go with Pellegrini or hell, even Bernd Schuster if current ways are to be implemented in the future as well.

The bottom lines is that there are plenty of solutions being presented by plenty of people but one thing is for sure that, one elmination from the Champions League does not mean that the season is over for Real Madrid or the Neo Galacticos has failed. It takes a season for two for players go gel together and start seeing their moves getting connected on match days.

Otherwise, Perez could (and probably would) go on another spending spree next summer to further strengthen this side (which is on paper the best side in Europe hands down). My favorite for the job would always be Capello. He is the only one who can win us the Champions League if given enough time and oh yeah, if given enough tolerance because of the way he plays his teams ie, totally defensive football with lots of running and chasing the balls all over the field.

Mourinho cannot guarantee you Champions League, he only won it with Porto, could not do it with Chelsea where he had infinite supply of money and almost a complete team so why would he achieve that feat with Real Madrid? I think Capello’s Real Madrid was really starting to become the current Barcelona when our good and extremely honest buddy Calderon decided to kick him out.

Anyway, my opinion is not what counts. I am just a simple guy with a little bit knowledge about Real Madrid and a hell a lot of passion. What do you guys think? Have Real Madrid really wasted their 250 million? or getting knocked out of the Champions League by a team whose whole club is not worth as much as Real Madrid’s spending spree for this season alone?

Let me know your thoughts. I am sitting here and I am all ears. Waiting for your comments.

HALA MADRID!!!

The likes of Barcelona and Manchester United have over taken Real Madrid as far as on field performances go. As far as marketing side is concerned, they both are catching up with Real Madrid and fast. Barcelona are just getting over winning the first ever sextuple by ANY club, not just any Spanish club and Manchester United are loaded with money after their sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for 80 million pounds or so.

Last week’s performance against Athletico Bilbao (a match, Real Madrid SHOULD not COULD, have easily won, well atleast on paper) was not something which any Real Madrid fan would be proud of. An away lost to a tier 2 team and on worse, Barcelona won their match which widened the gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the top of the La liga table to 5 points which is a pretty hefty margin and from now on, it will be extremely difficult to catch Barcelona.

After 18nth week of La Liga, Barcelona are sitting at the top of the table with 46 points and Real Madrid are second with 41. That looks pretty OK but check this out. Valencia are sitting right below Real Madrid with 38 points which means that one slip up on part of Real Madrid could end up hurting us to the extent that Real Madrid would not be able to grab that automatic qualification for the Champions League next season.

Some would say that is just hypothetical, but I say, it is better to be safe than sorry. Barcelona are not going to let their form drop which obviously means that Real Madrid will have to step up their game and gel a lot quicker than Ricardo Kaka suggested some weeks ago (about 1 and a half seasons).

Right now, Barcelona are firing on all cylinders. They have looked the strongest side in Champions League and are definitely head and shoulders above the rest in La Liga (but on a good day, Real Madrid can at the least, match Barcelona), their club is going through a fantastic economic phase and generally, is pretty stable from an administrative point of view.

Coming back to La Liga. I think the major reason why Barcelona are so ahead of Real Madrid in terms of points (5 points is a lot of points) is because of the number of games Barcelona actually loose. If you look the the La Liga table a little closely, you will notice that  Barcelona have not lost a single game this season in La Liga whereas Real Madrid have lost 3 games which makes quite a difference. Barcelona always manage to scrap out a draw out of somewhere whenever they are not clicking and the other team is playing its best football. That to me makes a lot of difference.

Real Madrid have drawn fewer games then Barcelona (4 to 2 ) which tells me that whenever Real Madrid get behind in a match, they do not have the determination to fight for a win or at least a draw. We would have been only 2 points behind Barcelona had we drawn all the game we lost but only half a season has passed and there is a lot of football to be played.

Real Madrid have time to fix itself first and then wait for Barcelona to have  massive slip up if we want to get ahead. I always think of the margin the following way:

• We MUST win the game against Barcelona later in the season, that is a given. There is no point in winning the league if we cannot beat Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
• Given that we beat Barcelona, the point difference is actually 2 points which further means that we only need Barcelona to either loose one single game or draw twice to give us a chance to over take them. I think Real Madrid players have the quality and WILL have the motivation when they would know that Barcelona have slipped up to give Real Madrid the chance to get close to them and eventually overtake them.

Hope this releases some tension off some of our Real Madrid fans as it always helps me whenever I think about the situation of Real Madrid at the moment.

That is all for today and I look forward to the game against Malaga. HALA MADRID

I have had enough with Guti. I have been saying this for the past 3 seasons (not saying that I am a predicting machine or something, just that I did not like this player from the moment I say him play, that is, during the first Galacticos Era.) that Guti is a liability and I do not know what Calderon was thinking when he gave Guti a lifetime contract at Real Madrid.

I sincerely think that Guti has passed his prime. There was a time in the first galacticos era (around 2002-2003) that Guti ended up scoring in double figures in a single season for 3 consecutive season but since then it has gone all down the hill for Guti.

Here are my reasons why I think Guti should be kicked out of Real Madrid, ASAP:

• Guti is the most inconsistent player in the history of Real Madrid, probably of world club football. I have not seen Guti perform for 90 minutes for more than 2 games in a row. His best performances have come (which have been like 3 in a row at maximum) when he has used as a sub in the second half ( in an ideal world, you would think the coach intentionally brought him in the second half so that he could adjust to the slow pace of the general play as the rest of the opposition would be much exhausted) and that too, only under Juande Ramos. Even within a single match, Guti goes through several patches which can be detrimental when a team plays against tougher oppositions and as Real Madrid is a premier club, it always has to play tough oppositions at least twice a month.
• Guti’s attitude on the field and off the field is nothing to boast about. He, like Ronaldo (who could defend his case with his footballing skills), looks so uninterested in trying hard and making an effort to defend Real Madrid colors. Sometimes, during games he is walking and sometimes he has his hands on his knees as if he has done marathon or something. He switches off too many times. His work ethic is amongst the worst in the world. I have not seen him track back for lost ball in a long long time.
• He is physically unfit to play for Real Madrid. Just look at him and look at the way he holds himself during a game. One sprint and he looks to be knocked out cold. He cannot run fast (and that is not entirely his fault) so he should try to make it up with better stamina than most other players but that seems something which Guti has not even given a thought to. He is always having trouble in the training sessions which can obviously tell you that the coaches are a little less than happy with his commitment during the matches and the training sessions.
• His moral behavior (judging by the reports in the media) is not fitting either. Always finds himself in the bars late night and because of that shows up late at training sessions. Plus, the fact that it is detrimental to the image of a club as great as Real Madrid. Guti, does not (in anyway) set an example that young children or  Real Madrid youth players would be proud to follow.
• The most obvious one is that he is OLD. He will turn 34 this year and that is a lot of age when you consider the youth in Real Madrid’s squad this season. People keep on complaining about Van Nistelrooy being old. I tell them that at least Van Nistelrooy is giving his best and so far has performed well whenever he has been asked to play. Rarely has Van Nistelrooy performed poorly in a game. He is an instinctive old school striker and he has complemented his skills by keeping himself fit and mentally relaxed to play at his top level which is so much unlike Guti.
• And most of all, let us just (or let me just) state the fact that Guti is simply not good enough to play for Real Madrid. He is not that gifted technically either (when I say he is not technically gifted, I am speaking relatively. I mean, for heavens sake, we sold Sniejder and kept Guti, how much dumber can one get). Too many times he tries to be too cheeky with his moves and ends up loosing possession several times in a game which can significantly affect (and usually does affect) the final scoreline negatively from a Real Madrid’s perspective.

There you go. Above are the reasons why I think Guti should leave Real Madrid or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say “here are the reasons why I think Guti should have left Real Madrid some 3 years ago”.

That is all for today as Real Madrid gear up for the clash against Athletico Bilbao on Saturday. That should be an interesting game as Real Madrid is playing away from home which should give you the indication that there is going to be a lot of drama in this game. HALA MADRID!!!!

Do remember to talk to me through the comments section. Am I being fair to Guti or is there really a place for Guti in this Real Madrid squad. Talk to me. I am all ears and waiting for your comments!!!.

Cristiano Ronaldo sucked more that Brad Pitt's last film

Real Madrid might have won the match 2-0 against the humble Mallorca and are now first in the league table, lets hope it is not for only a few hours or so but the truth is that it could have been easily 6-0 or worse but Real Madrid did not take their chances, which sucks because things like these can make a big difference come the end of the season. Missing easy chances can have an affect on motivation level and enthusiasm level of the players.

Everybody missed a lot of chances but most notable was C.Ronaldo and that is why I am writing this quick post to tell you why he sucked in this match so much.

1. First things first. He sucked because he missed a lot of easy chances. He missed like a dozen after the 60th minute mark. I doubt if Messi would have let go so easily of his intensity levels if he has in a similar situation. I do not know, but if C.Ronaldo really wants to do what he says (like, he has said now that he wants to be the best player in the world) then he is going to have to take every chance that comes in his way otherwise Messi is going to run away with this too because his consistency, at the moment, is unmatched by any other player in terms of scoring goals and playing well even when not scoring goals
2. He tried to dribble a lot and every time lost the possession which put Real Madrid under unnecessary pressure plus the fact that he ruined many attacking moves because of his show off tricks. Add to that, Real Madrid players had to work twice as hard, just to recover the ball which Ronaldo lost 2 seconds ago. It was just annoying. On one occasion, Marcelo worked his butt off to get the ball back and then passed to Ronaldo to launch a counter attack and what did Ronaldo do? tried to dribble past one single stupid defender but lost the ball which again put the pressure of Real Madrid’s defence.
3. He did not track back when he lost the ball. This is the most frustrating parts. Look at all the good strikers in the world. Henry, Eto’o, Messi and Drogba (count Rooney in too), they all work twice as hard when the do not have the ball compared to when they have the ball but Cristiano Ronaldo rarely tries to make up for his mistakes. I know he has a lot of skill in him but he should definitely learn this from players like Messi and Rooney who are atleast at the same level of skill as Ronaldo is and yet are humble and work hard with the team to prove themselves useful for the team.
4. His free kicks sucked as much as he did himself. Way way way off target. The only I had hoped he would do well in this match if he did not do well in his general play and he disappointed me there too.
5. Did not seem to feel any shame or disgust at what he was doing and how it was costing Real Madrid. Whenever he lost the ball he made a face like, as if it was not his fault. I mean, he lost the ball, so he should be doing 2 things. Either forget about what happened and concentrate on the remaining minutes of the game or admit that he had played poorly in a particular move and try to work even harder in order to make up for it but Ronaldo looked like he was just blaming others for his mistakes which sucks.

So these are the reasons why I thought he sucked. Apart from Ronaldo, Higuain also sucked. He also missed some easy chances. I was certain that today, I would be writing a post about 5 REASONS WHY MARCELO SUCKS but the performances of C.Ronaldo and Higuain prompted me to do otherwise.

Anyway, the important thing is that Real Madrid won and lets just hope that C.Ronaldo improves his physique and most of all his attitude towards his mistakes. Real Madrid need to win with big margins against lesser teams to boost the confidence levels of their players, especially those who are just coming back from injuries and also, to show Barcelona that Real Madrid are not that far behind them and Real Madrid can also maul teams without playing beautiful one touch football.

HALA MADRID!!

Do let me know what you guys think about this. Did Ronaldo’s performance and most of all his attitude really sucked or was it just me? I am all ears now and dying to hear (or read) your opinion on this. Come on baby, I am listening.  TALK TO ME.

First up is the right back position and I think the answer is  clearly NOT OBVIOUS in this case as both are extremely good, extremely fit, extremely motivated and extremely competitive. One thing to note about both these defenders is that they both made their BIG money move (to Barcelona and Real Madrid) while playing at Sevilla.

For Sergio Ramos, I still remember the season where he scored a cracker of a long range free kick against Real  Madrid and won the game for Sevilla. Next season, he was wearing the white shirt such was his impact. Sergio Ramos is 23 years old and already has played over 150 games for Real Madrid and is definitely one of those players who are looked upon as future Rauls for Real Madrid.

Daniel Alves on the other hand is 3 years Ramos’s senior and is equally as talented. I wanted him to come to Real Madrid for the simple reason that his arrival would have meant that Sergio Ramos would have moved in the central defense and Ramos Pepe pair would have been the best in Europe (assuming Ramos learns to keep his head). But, it was not to be and Daniel Alves signed for Barcelona (man I so wished Chelsea would have signed him, but they signed a  pretty good right back themselves who goes by the name of Bosingwa).

Anyway, here are their individual stats.

Sergio Ramos

Real Madrid

Spanish League: 2006–07, 2007–08

Spanish Supercup: 2008

Spain

UEFA European Championship: 2008

Spain (youth level)

UEFA U-19 Championship: 2004

Individual

UEFA’s Best new player of 2004–05[citation needed]

UEFA’s 2005–06 All-World Defensive Player of the Year

Don Balón Award for Breakthrough Player of the Year: 2005

Antonio Puerta Award.[1]

ESM Team of the year: 2007–08

ESM Team of the Month: April 2007, May 2007, September 2007, October 2007, November 2007, December 2007, January 2008

FIFPro World XI: 2007–08

Móstoles Sports Elite Award[2]

UEFA Team of the Year: 2008[3]

FIFA.com Team of the Year: 2008

Daniel Alves

Club

Bahia

Nordeste Championship: (2) 2001, 2002

Bahia State League: (1) 2001

Sevilla

UEFA Cup: (2) 2005–06, 2006–07

UEFA Super Cup: (1) 2006

Spanish Cup: (1) 2006–07

Spanish Supercup: (1) 2007

Barcelona

Spanish League: (1) 2008–09

Spanish Cup: (1) 2008–09

Spanish Supercup: (1) 2009

UEFA Champions League: (1) 2008–09

UEFA Super Cup: (1) 2009

FIFA Club World Cup: (1) 2009

International

FIFA World Youth Championship: 2003

Copa América: 2007

FIFA Confederations Cup: 2009

Individual

UEFA Cup Most Valuable Player : 2006

UEFA Super Cup Most Valuable Player : 2006

UEFA Team of the Year : 2007

Best Defender : 2008-09 (LFP)

(Source www.wikipedia.com)

Now, According to me, their ON FIELD ability COMPARISON goes like this:

Daniel Alves |  Sergio Ramos

Acceleration                                  9                        8

Aggression                                     8                        8

Agility                                              8                        7

Balance                                            7                        8

Ball Control                                    8                       8

Crossing                                           8                       7

Curve                                                7                       5

Dribbling                                         8                       7

Finishing                                         6                        5

Free kick                                         8                         6

Header                                            7                         9

Jump                                                7                         8

Long Pass                                       8                         7

Long Shots                                     8                        5

Marking                                           8                        8

Positioning                                   8                         8

Reaction                                         8                        7

Short Pass                                      8                          7

Shot Power                                    8                           7

Slide Tackle                                   8                           8

Sprint Speed                                  8                          8

Stamina                                           9                           8

Standing Tackle                            8                          8

Strength                                          7                          8

Tactical Awareness                     7                         6

I ll touch on few of these points briefly

SPEED:

Draw

Both of them a really really quick. There is one difference though. Daniel Alves runs with long fluid smooth strides (more like how Federer moves on the court, sorry for persisting with Football Tennis comparison) whereas Sergio Ramos moves with faster shorter steps (more like Nadal). Both are such good defenders that a trait such as speed (which is basically the one QUALITY one looks for in a right back) is only a small part of the package they both have to offer.

A slight advantage can be given to Daniel Alves as his built is lighter than Ramos’s (who is a brute).

AGILITY

Winner: Daniel Alves

This one is a bit obvious. Daniel Alves has a smaller and much narrower build than Sergio Ramos which means that he is nimble on his feet  while Ramos does not have that quick a footwork.

AGGRESSION

Draw

Both are extremely hungry for the ball whenever they are playing on that right hand side which sometimes leads both of them to neglect their defensive duties but like Roberto Carlos both are so good and both going forward and getting back. Now, some would say that how come it is a draw. Sergio Ramos gets a red card like every 5 games and Daniel Alves gets one in, I do not know how many games but there is the thing; Sergio Ramos’s red cards are due to him making harsh tackles that are not for winning balls but for avoiding damage. Like when he tripped Aguero this season from behind when Aguero was through on goal which earned him a red card. Daniel Alves, on the other hand, does not get that much red cards.

Now whether that is because Barcelona’s defense plays as a unit and does not isolate Daniel Alves or because Daniel Alves himself lets go of situations as such is another question. By the way, I do think  that being a Real Madrid defender is a hell a lot difficult than being a Barcelona defender because Barcelona play their game differently. They pressurize from the front and try to win the ball in the midfield rather than at the back which is the case with Real Madrid. Real Madrid forwards and midfielders are poor when it comes to retrieving the ball from the opponent.

This is why, when you are defending for Real Madrid, there will be a lot of times when you will find yourself one on one with an attacker or making vital intercepts time and time again along with stepping up for offsides which is always risky. At Barcelona you do not get into these type of situations that often and credit should be given to their teamwork as their forwards support their defenders and in return defenders help the attackers. At Real Madrid it is more like, defenders do help the attackers and but attackers do not put in the work when it comes to gaining the possession back.

CROSSING

Winner: Daniel Alves

I say this purely on the fact that it was Daniel Alves who provided the cross to Ibrahimovic to score from a volley in the El Clasico. Sergio Ramos may, from time to tome, deliver better quality  crosses than Daniel Alves but if recent performances are anything to go by then I think Daniel Alves has the better cross. This is also be attributed to the fact that Real Madrid generally do not play the wing game while Barcelona do when their center  oriented game is not paying off. Also, Sergio Ramos is more content to playing the ball back, maintaining the possession rather than taking the chance of loosing possession in case of an inaccurate cross.

STRENGTH

Winner: Sergio Ramos

By looking at both men’s physique, you would think Sergio Ramos would own this one but no he does not. He does win though. That is also due to the fact that Daniel Alves is so fit. He is so strong. I have rarely seen him getting muscled out in any situation part of the reason can be that he does not get into my physical battles on the field but he does not shy away when a need arises. Sergio Ramos on the other hand has everything it takes to be a towering physical presence. That is why some people compare him to Fernando Hierro, a legendary Real Madrid defender, mostly known for his red cards.

TACKLING

Winner: (Sliding) Sergio Ramos, (Standing) Daniel Alves

A split in this attribute. Daniel Alves is a little more clever than Sergio Ramos in regards to predicting what the attacker is going to do next so he anticipates better and hence he can mug people easily. Sergio Ramos, again credit to his physique, is much better at sliding tackles.

Overall, I think Sergio Ramos just edges Daniel Alves purely on the fact that Sergio Ramos can actually think like a striker and due to his height is a huge threat on set pieces both when attacking and defending. Plus, the fact that he is 3 years Alves’s junior. Anyhow, both are superb players and I would love to see them play for Real Madrid one day.

Let me know what you guys think, who is better? Sergio Ramos or Daniel Alves. Did I miss something?

HALA MADRID!!!