Because I am already thinking about it!! Preseason schedule per Marca: July 15: Squad returns to Valdebebas July 26: Benzema returns July 28: Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, Coentra, Khedira and Ozil return July 30: Casillas, Albiol, Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso return Friendlies July 24: Maghreb Athletic Tetouan (National Stadium at Tangiers) July 27: Benfica (Estadio da Luz) Friendlies / World Football Challenge Aug 2: LA Galaxy (Los Angeles) Aug 5: Santos Laguna (Las Vegas) Aug 8: AC Milan (Yankee Stadium, NY) Aug 11: Celtic FC (Philadelphia) Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu Date TBD: Millionarios de Bogota SuperCopa de España* Aug 22: FCB (Camp Nou) Aug 29: FCB (Estadio Santiago Bernabeu) * Liga season is schedule to begin on Aug 18/19
Nice! A very good friend of mine is part of that peña. I am close enough to normally go to that one and the one in Philly, but I'll be in Spain visiting my parents.
Gonna be intetesting to see who we field in the first 2 preseason matches since none of the Euro players will be back yet.
I would imagine something along the lines of: Adan Carvajal - Carvalho - Varane - Marcelo Sahin - Granero Di Maria - Kaka - Callejon Higuain
Still a very strong squad, eh? I'd imagine that's about right, with maybe a few more youth players in the mix. Alex, Morata, etc...
Yeah, I mean that basically exhausts all the options we have until the Euro players return. Some Castilla players will certainly have to be on the bench, if not in the starting lineup.
According to Marca the Club has given Marcelo permission to participate in the Olympics which means worst case scenario he won't be back until a couple days before our first league game. I imagine he won't be given any extra timeoff but I hope this decision doesn't bite him in his little Brazilian ass.
Will be interesting to see how Coentrao (and his fanboys) handle starting the first month or so of the season. Marcelo might not be given any extra time-off but i expect him to see a bit of bench time early on having missed the preseason.
Well yeah, and when you add to that Mou's rather peculiar trend (IMO anyway) of sticking with players who perform decently in the preseason throughout the season, even when they're obviously not sharp this could be an "interesting" season for Marcelo. Just sayin'....
Friendlies July 24: Maghreb Athletic Tetouan (National Stadium at Tangiers) July 24: Oviedo (Estadio Carlos Tartiere) NEW July 27: Benfica (Estadio da Luz)
So Benzema checked into preseason a couple days early. I think he senses competition could be tight for that starting striker position. Good on him.
First preseason game today at 7pm UK time. Will be interesting to see what happens regarding Kaka, AS and Marca are reporting that he has told him to basically find another club after telling him he will just be another squad member.. I think he'll probably be on the bench today if he is involved. Sahin will not be involved tonight because he has gastroenteritis. Squad for tonight's game : Adán, Jesús y Pacheco. Varane, Fabinho, Nacho, Mateos, Casado, Ríos e Iván. Kaká, Granero, Lass, Mosquera, Álex, Juanfran, Denis, Lucas, Callejón, Álvaro López y Di María. Higuaín y Morata
Meh. Dude needs to do something about his "bad luck" or he won't be here much longer. Fantastic player though.
Wow, it's actually happening huh? Sad, hope we get a decent sum for him and we add a player beyond Modric. Maybe Morata takes Kaka's place and/or Jese gets more run in the team? Yeah man, I was thinking that when i read he was out. Should have a leg up since he's been training for awhile, but then he is out for the first match? Just a bummer.
Apparently he was the star of the Castilla vs. First Team game (he was with Castilla), and really impressed Jose.