First, today’s Mouism, from José Mourinho’s press conference this afternoon:
If those who play don’t play well, on Saturday I’m going to fill the bench with Castilla players.
And there you have it, primera plantilla. Consider that your warning. And now onto the training session:
Both Sergio and Raúl are back! That’s something that Álvaro, I and I’m sure all of you heartily approve of!
Anyway, Madrid held their last training session before their debut in this year’s Copa del Rey. Two canteranos – Juanfran and Jesús (Castilla’s gk) – joined 16 players from the first team. If you’re wondering where the other players are, three are still injured (Kaká, Gago, Garay) and one temporarily – Lass, who was suffering from inguinal adenopathy (I looked it up and it’s an inflammation of the lymph nodes in the groin area) and who stayed in the gym. Meanwhile, Xabi, Mesut, Carvalho, Dudek and Marcelo are enjoying their mini-three day vacation (Marcelo and Jerzy joined those players whom Mou had already said would not be playing against Murcia). Sergio trained normally, and was included in the list of called up players after missing the last three games. This also allowed Mou to give Marcelo a rest.
Thus, the list of players traveling to Murcia consists of goalkeepers Casillas, Adán and Jesús; defenders Albiol, Arbeloa, Pepe, Mateos and Sergio Ramos; midfielders Khedira, Granero, Diarra, Canales, Pedro León, Di María and Juanfran; and forwards Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuaín and Benzema.
In his post conference, Mou said that he does value to the Copa del Rey, that 17 years is too long to go without winning it, and that he wants to win it.
Related to that, Mou says he does have confidence in the players that will see action against Murcia, naming Pedro León, Granero and Albiol as examples. Meanwhile, his defensive line will be made up of solely Iberian players: Iker in goal, Sergio on the right, Arbeloa on the left and Albiol and Pepe in the center: “four world champions and Pepe. Not bad.”
As to why Iker will play: “because he’s the best in the world, he’s not tired and he can play a game each day, since goalkeepers don’t get fatigued physically. If I have the best, why would I play with the second or third best? Dudek and Adán are working hard. Dudek is a top goalkeeper for his experience and his weight on the team. Adán is getting small opportunities, such as this game, and has to feel that the future is his.”
Pipita also received some compliments: “Higuaín is working like he’s never worked before. I’ve watched many of Madrid’s games in the past, and I’ve never seen him work like that…. he scores goals, gives out assists, makes others work… the reason why Benzema is not playing is because of Higuaín. But Benzema doesn’t have to do anything to convince me because it’s the fault of Higuaín, who’s doing things very well.”
Mou was also asked about why he would be the one signing autographs in Murcia tonight: “we all have to do it. One or two times a year. Everyone has to have a turn. It’s an initiative that the club likes. We made a pact to do it. Pedro’s going because it’s his home province. I wanted the other to be Chendo, because it’s also his home, but he didn’t want to. So it was left to me.”
And since I mentioned him before, here’s the latest on Salamanca player Miguel García: the team doctor says he won’t be able to return to playing football. Miguel’s reaction was one of pain, but with resignation. Sad news! He’s still in the hospital, having spent the night there, but is evolving positively and could be discharged this afternoon.