Real Madrid Club de Fútbol #28: Liga-leiders!

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Liverpool heeft opnieuw een talent uit Spanje aangetrokken. De 16-jarige Argentijnse middenvelder Gerardo Bruna verruilt de jeugdopleiding van Real Madrid voor die van de Engelse topclub. (Marca)

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Op zaterdag 29 september 2007 13:08 schreef De_Ananas het volgende:
Waarom gaat ie weg? Is ie niet goed genoeg of jat Liverpool gewoon spelers zoals ze wel vaker doen in Engeland?

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Op maandag 1 oktober 2007 11:23 schreef WeebI het volgende:
[afbeelding]

deze kan weer in de OP, die van Betis vervangen

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Op woensdag 3 oktober 2007 20:25 schreef WeebI het volgende:
Goeie vraag.

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Op woensdag 3 oktober 2007 22:53 schreef venomsnake het volgende:

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Maakt Real nooit een medisch verslag openbaar?

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Op vrijdag 5 oktober 2007 22:29 schreef TC03 het volgende:
Hoe denkt men in Madrid eigenlijk over de prestaties van Drenthe?

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Op dinsdag 9 oktober 2007 11:57 schreef RayMania het volgende:
Ik heb ook even een linkje gemaakt naar het plaatje van Getafe.

Zal ik Werder ook teruglinken?

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Op dinsdag 9 oktober 2007 12:01 schreef RayMania het volgende:
Ja, maar als je dit doet:

[LIGA] Getafe CF - Real Madrid CF 0-1
[CL] Real Madrid CF - Werder Bremen

Is het lelijk, niet op gelijke hoogte .

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In Praise Of Real Madrid's Youth System

‘Zidanes & Pavones’ - A phrase made famous by the erstwhile Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez. A phrase where the roots of the infamous 'Galacticos' can be found. Much has been written about it - and lots of pages have been produced in making fun of that policy. But surely the Real Madrid youth system deserves praise, too?

The Galacticos defined the turn-of-the-century Real Madrid side, and perhaps defined an era in world football, too. Indeed, we now have the ‘Cuatro Magnificos’ - or 'Fantastic Four' - of FC Barcelona or the ‘Fantastic Four’. It remains to be seen if they head the same way as the Galacticos, or if they can carve a new, more successful niche in Spanish football history.

But this article is not about these two groups. Instead, it is for the unsung 'Pavones' of Real Madrid. Or, in other words the youngsters of the Real Madrid, cantera, arguably one of the best youth systems in the world.

Sadly, though, these young players often show so much promise, yet find themselves begging for chances when the time comes to showcase the talent in the Primera in the colours of los blancos.

A bit of background: unlike certain British clubs, the major Spanish clubs each have a wonderful youth system that brings out talented younsters time and again. And its into these pools of talent that coaches like Rafa Benitez dive in - or, as some Madrid fans would say, prey upon - and save some youngsters from drowning in order to gain some young talent of their own.

(Don't get me wrong, British clubs do have their 'reserve teams' and youth academies, but the talent that comes out is arguably not as good as that of Spain. Once in a while you do get your Micah Richards' and Theo Walcotts, but they are few and far in between. I know that the Premier League fans will want to debate this. But let us leave that for another day.)

Lets start by looking at how the Real Madrid team system is arranged.

Real Madrid – The first team. They play in La Liga. Of course.

Real Madrid Castilla - This is the second team. They played in La Segunda until last season's relegation. Now they are in Segunda Division B, a division lower.

Real Madrid C - The third team in the Tercera Division. This is also where the FC Barcelona Team B plays.

Juvenil A - They play in Division de Honor Nacional Juvenil (In essence, the youth 5th Division)

The rest comprise very small teams of very young players. Juvenil B, Juvenil C, Cadete A, Cadete B, Infantil A, Infantil B, Infantil C, Alevin A, Alevin B, Benjamin A and Benjamin B are the names that they go by.

This youth system has produced lots of talented youngsters who have made a name for themselves, Guti and Casillas being prime examples. Guti has been in the first team for a long time now but his inconsistency frustrates a great deal of the fanbase.. One game he is as useful as water in a desert and the very next he is as useless as an air-conditioner in the Arctic!

But what about the others?

Iker Casillas - Well, what can one say about him that hasn’t been said? He is the sole reason Madrid have been in the top 4 for the last 3 or 4 seasons. Rising from the youth teams, he has cemented his position for both club and country at such a young age. No coach has yet dared to touch him. And 'Ikerman', as he is lovingly called by fans, will be there for a long time to come.

Roberto Soldado - He was the last big name to hit the headlines, but he now sits on the bench of Real Madrid, queuing up behind Raul, Ruud & Saviola. The striker was on loan at Osasuna last season and was immensely successful there; duly recalled for this season, he was hyped up only to be on the bench yet again. Apart from pre-season, he is yet to feature in any match. So will he get his due chance to be the next Raul? We have to wait and see.

Portillo - He broke Raul’s goal scoring records in the Castilla, but he was always deemed to be not good enough for the first team. He spent seasons on loan at Fiorentina & Brugge before going on a free transfer to Nastic last season after finding no space in the first team at Madrid. Now, he's at Osasuna, following Soldado's path.

Miguel Torres - a youngster who was thrust into the 'Eternally Fragile' backline of Madrid by Fabio Capello. He's versatile enough to play anywhere at the back, which explains his early debut, but seems to play mainly on the left. Credit goes to him for coming good in that trial by fire last season. It was quite the step up: he was in fact playing for Real Madrid C when Capello picked him.

He signed a new contract during the summer, which raised hopes, but hasn't featured in any game yet. Schuster has even prefered Drenthe to Torres at left-back in recent games. Drenthe is a left sided midfield player and very uncomfortable at LB. And there is also Heinze to contend with now, not to mention Marcelo. So what has Schuster in store for Torres? We don't know as yet but pray that this talented younster doesn't rot on the sidelines.

Granero - Arguably the most talented from last year's Castilla squad. Granero has been with Real Madrid since he was 8-9 years old. He signed a new contract in the summer and is now on loan at cross-town rivals Getafe. Some fans look at him as a future replacement for Guti. There is no denying his talent, but it remains to be seen if he will get a chance when and if he comes back.

Ruben De la Red - Another talent who appeared fleetingly under Capello last season before being sold to Getafe with a buy-back option.

Mata - Only a few months after being promoted from Juvenil A to Castilla, he made the controversial choice to go to Valencia this summer, with his agent's help, in search of first team action. One could understand his looking for chances elsewhere if he was, say, a 21 year old youth team player that had been playing 2 years with Castilla without any chance at Primera Division level.

But Mata's not 21: he's 18, and drastically inexperienced. For such a young midfielder, who only has played a few months in Castilla, his actions seemed inexplicable, and they disappointed quite a few Madrid fans. He is languishing on the bench in Valencia at present.

Diego Lopez - He was Casillas's understudy last season and now is with Villareal. A classy goal keeper but unfortunately would never have been first choice as Casillas is the undisputed No.1 for both club and country. Still, a big-money summer move to the Madrigal showed his pedigree.

Talking of goalkeepers, there is Jordi Codina, the current understudy to Casillas (besides Dudek), and Kiko Casilla, who are both very good. It’s amazing to see how many top-class keepers Spain has produced over the years when compared to the drought in England.

Jurado - A talented midfielder with a wicked left foot, sold to Athletico Madrid with a buy-back clause.

Javi Garcia - Another name that seemed promising but just wasn't given the chances to show it. He is now at Osasuna.

Adrian is the son of Real Madrid legend, Michel, who coached Castilla last season (and had them relegated). He is obviously not as talented as his father was as a player, but still promising.

Bueno has quality, but his problem is his physical stature. This was very noticeable in the pre-season games. It needs to be seen if he can stand the test of the tough defenders of the Primera Liga.

Negredo can be a good forward for any other first division club in Spain. He was sold to Almeria this summer with a buy-back clause.

Adan, Sergio Sanchez, and Nieto are just some of the other names that come to mind. One has to admit that some are definitely not of the high quality that a top club like Madrid needs, but they will probably make it at a decent first division team in the future.

In fact if you look at any club in La Liga (OK, except maybe FC Barcelona), it will not be hard to find at least one player who has come through the Madrid ranks.

And we have only mentioned Castilla players till now. The talent runs deeper down the echelons of the youth at the Bernabeu. Here are some other very young players to look forward to in the future:

David Moreno, Dani Parejo, Guerroro, Jose Luis Arrollo, Nacho (Jose Ignacio Fernandez), Cristian Benavente, Javier Llorente etc., the latter being a Peruvian. Indeed, Nacho and Arrollo are actually playing with Spain under-17 national team.

But the one player that not just Real Madrid fans, but all football fans will be eagerly waiting for is Enzo. Did you say Enzo who? Well, he prefers not to use his famous last name on his shirt: Enzo Zidane.

He's named after the Uruguayan footballer Enzo Francescoli, who was Zinedine Zidane's childhood hero. Need I say more? He is just 12 years old, though, so let's wait a few more years to see him rise.

And what happened to Pavon, the player whose name was associated with the cantera policy? After spending a few seasons warming the bench and playing bit part roles in the first team of Real Madrid, this summer Paco Pavon finally put pen to paper and signed a contract with Real Zaragoza.

Time will tell if any of these talented Real Madrid youngsters mentioned above will get their day in the sun like the recent FC Barcelona introductions, Giovanni Dos Santos & Bojan Krkic.

If not, then at least the cantera will always be a happy hunting ground for the likes of Rafa Benitez.

Chetan Bambolkar

goal.com