Born in Madrid, but is he born to play for Madrid? I think our "always reliable" #18 deserves his own thread. Nacho is a homegrown player who perfectly embodies the values of Real Madrid. He has been at the club for over a decade having arrived in 2001 as a youth team player. He has gradually risen through the ranks to the first team. Just one month after winning the UEFA Under-21 Championship, he also earned his first full cap in Geneva (Switzerland) against Chile. One of the most important dates in his career was the 23rd of April 2011 when he made his debut for Real Madrid away against Valencia. Nacho started the game which Madrid won 6-3. Although his natural position is at centre back, he is a versatile player. He plays intelligently in any defensive position and stands out for his speed, calmness, strong tackling and, above all, his great maturity on the pitch in spite of his youth.
Excellent utility player, versatile as well. Always does his work quietly chipping in for injured / suspended players. I think Real Madrid have never lost when Nacho played for full 90 minutes. Terrific record to have on your name!
Me too, he is becoming more confident/useful. He is probably a much better athlete than Arbeloa at this point too. Nacho can fill in at all 4 positions across the line too a big plus!
I totally agree, I mean there's no position on the field that I like [the character] of our 1st/2nd/3rd choices equally (I'm not necessarily talking about their quality on the pitch) But Nacho is "more than a right back"
If you would have told me three years ago Nacho would be the Fernandez brother as an important player in the first team I would of laughed till I peed my pants. Well done Big Bro
Like the guy, does very well every time he plays and as a RB also seems to contribute to attack a lot, surprising for a converted CB. I do wish he would improve a little on his positioning, yesterday he seemed to play very very high up and left defense exposed a couple of times.
Great player to have for depth. Wasn't impressed with him in the beginning, but he's proven me wrong. Hopefully he'll be here for years.
VÍDEO- @nachofi1990 cumple hoy 25 años. ¡Felicidades! http://t.co/talGVJPj2I pic.twitter.com/FqEkSQ0H3Z— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) January 18, 2015
Nacho is a stand up guy! He was rock solid not only today, honestly i can't remember a game in which Nacho played bad or made any kind of big mistakes. Last couple of years every time he starts a match or comes as a sub - he delivers. I'm really loving this dude, glad he is staying with us for a while and i know we can rely on him even in a CL final! Keep it up Nacho!
Great to have such a quality back up like nacho. Always deliver goods everytime he steps on the pitch. Would really like him to get more min. Atleast more than arbs.
Surprised no team has already tried snatching him from us yet. Plays with a lot of confidence, fast, and reads the game well.
If Nacho played as much as Ramos, I'm sure there would be mistakes. Love the kid though, quietly goes about his business.
Mistakes are fine! The problem is that Ramos' playing style is very risky. Sometimes he is not mature enough. Stupid tackles, cards, dangerous dribbles which may lead to a quick counter for opponent. This is Ramos' character. Nacho won't play like this even after 5 years being a starter.
true. and especially teams like Atletico you need to be less emotional. Good luck Nacho, i think he will do well
This doesn't mean he wouldn't make more mistakes if he started more, I like Nacho, he can come in and do a job when the first choice defenders are out, still Ramos is a proven world class defender, I know who I'd choose playing style or not if I had a choice, he brings more than defending to the team, this is the dude that was decisive against the same AM when it really mattered, Nacho did well vs Sevilla but let's not get carried away