Instead of doing a Q&A for this game --I still have to recover from all the Q&As we did about the Clásico!-- I thought of asking a few questions about this first Copa del Rey match, and see what you guys think. You can pick the one(s) that inspire(s) you the most, or answer all of them. It's up to you! The comment section is your forum of discussion. :-)
Looking forward to reading what you have to say!
I could watch the first half of the match tonight due to my connection problems of my dorm. I mainly focused on how Sahin is doing because he is my compatriot. If anything, i was disappointed to see him playing like that cause if we remember Sahin is player of the year in 2011 in Bundesliga, i predicted to see him better than last few games which he has played. It looks like he has not fully recovered from his unlucky injury yet, first 45 minutes that I saw, he looked more passive than I saw he was in Dortmund. I hope that he could get his confidence back and show his real capacity as soon as possible. By the way, his left foot is great and can take freekicks from the right side of the pitch.(Look: Sahin's freekick goal against Bayern)
Another citizen of mine is Altintop and I should remind he can play in right back position as you already know. His transfer has happened because of the agent reasons I think, he is not at Real Madrid level if we consider he is 29 yo.
Other than that, I have to say that the effort made by Cristiano should be praised. Another bad game in El Clasico(I don't want to say "as usual"), he came back and tried to redeem himself. He was trying hard in the first half and I am happy for him to get reward of his efforts.
Hello Gaëlle, hope you're doing well :)
1. The game was slow, and I think that we should have won by a greater margin. But, looking back, a 2-0 win is quite good. Putting aside that it was an away match, there are two things to look at. First of all, Ponferradina made things very difficult for us and they could have scored a goal or two. Also, our record with smaller teams isn't too good and it's been a while since we've been able to get a positive result in the first game of the Copa Del Rey. So, overall, I'm satisfied with this result.
2. I've always loved Callejon. He's probably one of my favorites in the team. I watched him a lot when he was with Espanyol and his playing for us is really good. His record in the Champions League and his game yesterday shows it all. I'd love to see him play more often in the league though.
3. Cristiano is a great player, no doubt. But Callejon deserves to play more often even if it means benching Ronaldo or Di Maria. Also, he's a great backup incase things go wrong. But he tried very hard and was rewarded with a goal in the end. Good play to him in the end.
4. Ronaldo wasn't at his best but he just came back from a horrible game against Barcelona and now he needs to show his worth again. He had an okay game overall but could do better which I'm sure he will very soon. But he tried very hard and was rewarded with a goal in the end. Good play to him in the end.
5. Ronaldo is our best free kicker at the moment but we have a few players capable too. I'd like to see them switch around more often between Ronaldo, Alonso, Sahin and maybe even Ramos once in a while.
6. Jese is great but still young. He has a future with Real Madrid and showed a few good touches last night. I'm just hoping we don't end up letting him go as we did with many others. A loan would be helpful for a season or something I think. Can't wait to see him play with us more often (hopefully) but it's still pretty early for him.
7. Putting aside that it's great to see Spanish players with us more recently, its always great to see the canteros playing. They have a different type of loyalty for the team since they were "raised" by it. Always a sense of hope seeing them on the pitch.
8. I have the same question actually! But I don't fully blame Mourinho since Ramos is doing great at CB and Arbeloa is coming back from injury. Lass does well in RB and I guess so does Coentrao. Altintop had an okay time there against Ponferradina but I really don't think he's at the Real Madrid level yet. Would he be? Doubtful because of his age. Not too sure why we really ended up bringing him but he's alright overall.
9. I feel it was very deserved to be honest. Rough challenge and he wasn't really in the game from the beginning.
10. Sahin. Didn't see him too much in the Bundesliga but he is improving slowly. He's still not at the level that he once was and I guess he's just not fully recovered. He needs some more time on the pitch and Mourinho is giving him all the chances that he possibly can. Let's hope we see him fully back for us soon because Alonso really needs a break sometimes!
11. Our next game is against Sevilla who really know how to make life very difficult for us. I'm glad we had this midweek game to kind of let our minds relax after a horrible game in the Clasico. I think it would be a good game, yet not very comfortable for us. We need the three points badly and a win against Sevilla will get us back on track.
Göktug (sorry, I can't wirte the -g- properly), thank you very much for your comment, and welcome! I hope you keep stopping by. Thanks for your insights on Sahin and Altintop. I wasn't very familiar with those players before they came to Madrid, but I understand Sahin was very promising and he has yet to deliver on that promise. By the way, how should we pronounce "Sahin"? Here in Spain, it's become "Sajín", kind of, but I'm not sure that's correct. Same question for "Özil". I've checked the phonetics on Wikipedia, but I'm not sure I'm rading it right so I prefer to ask somebody who knows for sure!
Ali, wow, what a comprehensive report! It was a nice read! As Mourinho said, we need to do well in Sevilla so that we go into the short break on a positive note and with the lead. // Yes, we're doing well, thanks! :-)
No question about the field and rain? :)
I thought this game will be like a gasp of fresh air after El Clasico. As we'll score like 10 goals and CR7 will score another hat trick and everyone will talk about him scoring against smaller teams. But on the contrary, I got a boring Cup game, where I could see our team is depressed and the opponent is well-organized.
The only positive thing about this game (apart from us winning) is our canteranos. I'm happy every time I see them on the pitch, though when I think about Granero being subbed in for a couple of minutes every now and then, it breaks my heart. I wish better luck to Callejon. And I actually don't like that Cristiano's position in starting 11 is undountful (though Mourinho claims he has not undountful starters). I'd like Calleti (as Ramos called him) compete with Cris.
I still can't say anything about Sahn and Altintop as Madrid players. *In waiting mode*
Oh Anita, are you making fun of my extremely insightful questions?! :-D I was tempted to ask about the quality of the field and grass to be honest, but I suppressed the question at the last minute. So I think we can say you kinda caught me!
It seems to me we discussed that a while back, in one of the Q&As: Mourinho's management of Cristiano's psychology. Cristiano is not the kind of player who handles being subbed very well (not because of pride but because he wants to give his best for the team), so that's why Mourinho leaves him on the pitch. This is not necessarily true, it's just an interpretation that came up once and, based on yesterday for instance, I think it's valid: Cristiano wasn't subbed until he scored.
In the Clásico, I wish Callejón had had some playing time before it was too late, absolutely.
The only thing about last night though, is that we didn't play our A-team. I wouldn't call it a B-team, I don't think it's a fair reflection of those guys' talent, but having less playing time than other players is bound to affect your performance somehow, as well as the fluidity of the team. So it could explain certain things. Or am I making excuses?
Look at these 2 free kicks from Benzema:
1. With Lyon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrbJcPs5kM4&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL3ED1DDDE37A7BC30
2. With RM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez8oRc8YPB4
Sorry, the second one is with France!
Gaëlle, you can be sure, I will visit here as much as I can! There is no website for Real Madrid in my country and I feel very lucky to find a place to speak with other Madridistas all around the world.
And if we come to your question, I think best method for you to learn how to pronounce it can be via a video. You can hear it right at the beginning of the video. I hope it will help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj-F8RXua9E&feature=related
Amedo - maybe Cristiano should let some other players take free kicks?
Goktug - wow, graphics are awesome. I need to dump my Wii and get a Playstation 3 or Xbox!
Has anybody seen Benzema take any free kicks with Real Madrid? So we seem to have great options aside from Cristiano. It would be nice to give them a chance from time to time. Not that I think Cristiano does a bad job, but it's not like he scores each and every one of them either, so we might as well give other talented players an opportunity too.
Thanks for the links Amedo. :-)
I think so too El Chaval; Alonso is very good too. According to Sid lowe
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sid_lowe/12/13/clasico.thoughts/index.html
Ronaldo has taken 22 free kicks and he didn't score once!
Oh my gosh, the Spanish way to pronounce Sahin's name is soooo wrong! I'm glad I now know how to say it right! I'll try and use it in our Q&As. Let's not butcher people's names if we have an alternative! I know I myself probably mispronounce tons and tons of names, but at least I try my best --whether I succeed or not is a whole other story! :-D
Thanks for the link Göktug!
Gaëlle, I would like the Madrid team, and especially the attack, to be more collective; that's the only way to beat Barcelona. The RM football that ruled the world was always a collective one.
