news on the newbies, Castilla… and even Barcelona!

Happy Monday!

With Mou closing off training again before the big Madrid-Milan game, there hasn’t been much tactical news filtering out of Camp Real Madrid, but we don’t really mind, since we’re interested in other things, right?  And here are some of those things…

One. According to AS, these photos are from a report carried out by Real Madrid’s web site.  So why are we seeing them here first, and not on the official web site?  Anyway, the club got the six new players together yesterday, and took them around the Bernabéu.  And of course, they got the requisite sound bites:

– Mesut: Mourinho is the perfect coach.

– Khedira: I’d like to win all three titles.

– Pedro León & Canales: this is the best club.  Magnificent.

– all of them (in unison, presumably, after a cue card was held up): our dream is to go to Cibeles.

Here they are seeing what it’s like to be Iker.  And crossed arms are definitely better than thumbs up.

Ricardo, over here!  And yes, Sergio C.’s hair is back to normal!!!

With regards to the picture on the left, I almost expect them all to start doing high kicks in unison.  And how convenient that four of them have lockers right next to each other.

The players also talked about each other, and as expected, they were very complimentary:

Di María on Carvalho: he’s a great central defender, he’s strong and fast.  He’s triumphed on all the teams he’s played for.  His experience is great for this young team.

Carvalho on Canales: he is very good with his left leg.  He’s very young and has a margin to progress.  We all know what kind of quality he can bring to the team.

Canales on Pedro León: he can destabilize a game and he has an incredibly powerful shot, one of the best I’ve seen.  Those are his best assets.  He’s the type of winger people were saying the team needed.

Pedro León on Khedira: physically, he’s a wonder.  He’s going to help us out a lot.  He does a great job in the middle of the field.

Khedira on Özil: my best friend here in Madrid.  We spend a lot of time together, learning Spanish and practicing dance moves for the next goal celebration so that we’ll be able to join in.  Cristiano won’t let us join in unless we can show him we can move. We played together on the German national team and I know his qualities well: he’s fast, intelligent, he sees football like no one else.  He has a great future.

Özil on Di María: he’s a very vertical player and a very destabilizing one.  He runs the wings well, he’s generous and he always looks for the best-positioned teammate.  He makes football easy.

And now we go back to the important issues: who is your best dressed from this report?  I like Sergio C, with Mesut taking the runner-up award.  And I can totally imagine Pipita Higuaín in Ángel di María’s exact outfit – must be an Argentine thing (and what are those discolored patches??).  The same goes for Ricardo Carvalho and Cristiano, although the jeans might fit just a bit more snugly.

Rest of the pictures here, from Madrid’s web site, which has just published the report.  English version here.

Two. Castilla beat Conquense 1-0 yesterday, thanks to a goal by Javi H. (you know, Guti’s cousin).  Juan Carlos had some good chances too.  Other than the fact that Mou and Karanka were at the Alfredo di Stéfano watching the game (along with the stadium’s namesake), the big news was how the boys celebrated (the goal came in the 87th minute, so it was big).

Three. Sergio Ramos is expected to be ready for tomorrow’s game against Milan and could even start.  He’s feeling better after medical treatment and physiotherapy, and will train with his teammates today after training alone yesterday.

Four. The idiot Robinho, in today’s Marca (only what he said about Madrid’s players, the rest I don’t care, because it’s coming from an idiot):

– the most important thing is for Milan to win, and if I score, better.  Afterward, I’ll send a joking message to Iker.

– Sergio is a great friend, and a great fullback.  It’ll be a great battle between us.  We’ll see what happens.

In any case, we’re much better off with Cristiano.

Five. Zinedine Zidane told newspaper Le Parisien (why is he suddenly so chatty?  He was never like this when he was a player) that he’s changed his mind about becoming a coach.  He said, “three years ago, I would have said no to an offer.  Now I ask myself, ‘why not?’  It could be that in three years time I’d be ready to transmit what I learned to young players.”

He added that he does not miss playing, although “I took the decision of retiring a bit prematurely.  I could have played one or two more years.  I was 34 and I told myself that it was better for me to stop playing before I was forced out.”

Of José Mourinho, Zizou said, he’s a “great coach who has won everything and now has to make Madrid win.  He can do it, there was much discipline in Madrid but he has added even more.”  Of Karim Benzema, his thoughts were: “he’s waiting for an inflection point that will allow him to become an indisputable starter.  Last year, he didn’t have the support of Pellegrini or of his national team coach.  This year, both coaches are counting on him.  That’s great.”

Six. The workings of Barcelona bore me (the club, not the city – I love the city!) but this news is funny.  On Saturday, Barcelona’s members met at a general assembly, and they passed a motion to bring the last board of directors, the one headed by Joan Laporta, to account for the €48.7 million lost during his presidency by suing them.  Here are some of Laporta’s alleged expenditures – my favorite is the last one.

– €631,000 for 1,518 tickets for the final of the Champions League and €177,000 for tickets to the Final Four, all for internal use.

– €5 million for trips that had nothing to do with football, to places such as Abu Dhabi and Monaco.

– €1,514 for a hotel stay in Qatar by a director.  The hotel opens next year.

– €90,000 for 1,644 tickets to see U2.

– €53,ooo charged to the credit card of Laporta’s bodyguard, including charges at restaurants and bars, and for cigars, drinks and perfume.

– €576,000 for catering in the presidential box, which works out to €20,000 per game.

– €516,000 for the personal security of Laporta and his home.

– €2 million in private detectives used to spy on members of the board of directors and journalists.

Were these items charged by his bodyguard?