Welcome Pepe Thread

I picked other.

This was my intitial reaction:

30 million euros?
WHO?

 

the galactico era is over. the age of overpaid, over 25 celebrities is done for.

 

its much better, theres no ego involved, they have not achieved anything so they are hungry for titles and come here ager to prove themselfs.

 

Bastard!

So you leave poor Metzelder without a "welcome" and what about the prodigal cule, Saviola? Don't they deserve their own 500 post welcome thread which would eventually get off topic? Huh?

The nerve of you Sephraim! Then you put "Hala Madrid" to make it "all good", it won't work this time.

Lol, soon the common price for U20's will be 40 million, lol. They'll all get Kia (Tevez, bastard of an agent) to represent them.

This is all true.

I wonder who they will sell as being the best thing this year..

 

....and Alexis went to Valencia for 6 mill. (for those who say Spanish players are expensive)
....and Albiol would not cost 30 mill either, or Jarque (and they looked much, much better last year that a guy nobody really did notice)
....and Barca is gonna get Milito for 15 or less (wait until that happens, how much they are going to laugh...that's why they are not talking about RM spending 30 in this one, their press will wait until the right time...)
....and "Pepe" better be good, real good. For 30 mill. you are not even allowed to have a year to "adapt". You can't. He has to come in and play and do....hope he does. If not, the name "Pepe" is going to be in so many jokes Mijatovic will have to leave the country...

What I see right now, you'll tell me later if I was right or not:
Cannavaro: A defender that can't even play the ball and is proven not to be capable of playing here. Schuster is making him stay (funny, everybody thought Schuster liked technical defenders...).
Helguera: ?, can't get out from the bench this year.
Metzelder & Pepe: Two defenders with no prior experience in a league like ours....Cannavaro, Samuel couldn't even trade the experience they acquired in Italy to succeed here, so these are very likely to need time to adapt, and then we will see if they are really capable or not (still a big question mark). The german was cheap, but the 30 mill....jesus...

So, this is what I see right now: Ramos will end up playing in the center before the year is over by popular demand, which is where he should be. Amazingly enough, I don't think that there was much better in the center than him this year anywhere in Europe, or with more projection at least. Why the change and particularly the 30 mill....not logical.

 

30 millions for player that most people never heard of=total absurd.

 

the reason we got pepe and metz. b/c we needed good replacements for canna. and helguera. both are good. metzelder is a good veteran and still is only 25/26 years old. pepe is the next great thing. along with marcelo, torres, cicinho and ramos we have a young, but good defense and then u add canna and helguera who r great veterans. our defense is the strongest since hierro left.

 

Pepe is from the Portugese league, he won't be THAT bad...

 

While I don't agree with the price at all, I do think you have again taken things overboard. While Pepe isn't someone you know (because you don't watch Portugese Liga or Porto in the CL) he is a good defender, fast, has the ability to score off FK and is young.

There is no reason for you to have a essay to bash him, but than again, that is what you do at times.

I hope you apologize about your thoughts about Pepe, the same way you did about us being "failures" this season.

Also another thing, Ramos was expensive and young. Quite a few were angered or turned off about his purchase. Yet he's turned out well (don't know about the best CB comment you made, he commented many stupid fouls and had many mistakes as well), so why don't you give Pepe the same chance you gave Ramos.

 

I didn't bash him. The generalized opinion from the fans all over Spain (and Portugal is not that far), is one of surprise. Nobody knows him. You should see the video that AS has online of a reporter asking questions about him in the streets of Madrid...everybody is making fun of this purchase all over the place...

I did apologize for that, and very gladly. You know that already, you were there when I did.... You don't have to bash on me every single time you see me though...(or maybe you just don't get enough intelligent confrontation around these parts, that's why you don't lose an opportunity when I post once every 3 months...) I merely said here that Pepe has a lot to prove, and I certainly didn't call him a "failure", I only said that given his price tag he better be good. Nothing most of the fans are not saying right now.

Ramos was proven, young, but proven and much better known that this one. The proof is that he was in the top 3 in the team last year no matter how you look at it...worth every euro. I wasn't angered about his signing at all....maybe you were?

 

Read the bold.

 

You did in fact bash him and you even "limited" his "ability" to achieve success. Also when ever did "popularity" determine how well a player plays? So if the player is unknown he is automatically not good? Is this your reasoning?

You did, and I just wanted to remind you that you too could get it wrong again. Let's be real, you're one harsh supporter, and usually throw the towel in being very critical alot.

Bah, I do..

From 4x4s to Maca there is enough to pass around for everybody.

You gave the impression that because..

1). He isn't Spanish
2). He isn't a La Liga player
3). He isn't the most popular player
4). He costed way too much

That he would fail, which you don't know that and I don't. So before you hang him let him plead his case. It's not like he requested for us to spend 30 million, he just wanted to join us since February.

So your saying Ramos was more proven at Sevilla than Pepe was at Porto? I don't think so, just think you think that way because you don't know the player.

Also who said that Ramos wasn't one of our top players? You said he was the best or near the best CB in the world last year, which is most definitely a stretch.

I welcomed his signing, and have always supported it from the beginning.

What he said... uh.. read it.

 

There are threads on the Porto board where you can find Porto and Benfica fans, and i think even some Sporting fans, agreeing that Pepe was the best defender in the Portuguese Liga. They generally describe him as fast and an excellent reader of the game, though the general consensus seems to be that we overpaid by about 10 million euros.

Anyway, silly money aside, I'm glad that we bought someone young and fast this time around, with great potential instead of great reputation. Comparing him to Cannavaro and Samuel may not be the best thing to do. Speed is a necessity for defenders in La Liga and neither Cannavaro or Samuel had it as they were always a step slower, hence the constant fouls. I'm sure Pepe will fit in much, much better.

 

Well, I don't have to be exact. 6 mill or 8 mill as opposed to 30 for a young player proven in 1st div. play who has been an EC champion with the NT, like Albiol (both were in the same team) who you can see how he is performing at Valencia, clearly as one of the best defenders in Liga....also, there are no two players going to Getafe, I don't know where you got that from. Possibly they will be prioritized for players on loan, that's about it. And no, I am not putting it on bold. Don't have to.
I should remind you however that Valencia got Alexis with Mijatovic in the negotiation trying to get him to RM...I guess he couldn't offer more than 8 for him, but he could offer 30 for Pepe...like I said, it better work.
Valencia won't sell to Madrid? anybody tried? for 40mill they would have sent us Vicente gift wrapped. The player didn't want to, and it doesn't matter anyway. Jarque, from Espanyol who I did mention and you didn't is not in the same situation....

The other one, I forgot...oh, Milito...I hear that Barca is not offering more than 15-18 for him, which makes sense, but even if they did go up to 30, which they won't it would make more sense...hell, 30 for Chivu would make more sense...and that I still consider a stretch. Whatever it is, you are not seriously trying to justify 30 mill in an almost unknown CD? nobody is...

 

It's because Real Madrid. The age of buying good player with reasonable price is gone already ever since the Galactico era. Either wait for the contract to be expired (Metz case) or buy with steep price. I'm starting to suspect if clubs received our 1st enquiry for their player, they will tag him with high price, so high that nobody else thinking to try. Maybe Real should follow the trend... look who's the flavour of this summer and try to snap him from other clubs (money war, but could be more reasonable - Chivu case).

And oh, I'm happy with the buy of course, his price aside.

 

I haven't used the words you quote: "limited" and "ability" in that post at all, so I don't know why you quote them. I didn't say anything about his play at all because I don't know how he plays, almost nobody does, and that's exactly the point. My reasoning is that a player who costs 30 million has to be known, and not become known for that reason. It is too much of a risk for the directors. So, I said that he better be good. No more, no less, no funny words in quotes I never said or used....get serious dude.

I am Spanish, I am always very critical. It's what we do......get to know the original fan base of the team you follow. Capello winning La Liga and getting fired should have taught you something...

Certainly. I prefer sane criticism and proper reasoning to senseless (and untrue, you seem to like putting words in my mouth that I never said) bashing, however. There is too much of that and it really is too easy...

Not at all. I said Barca is after Milito and considered it a smart choice and a smart price tag. I wouldn't mind Milito for what they want to pay one bit. Again you get the wrong impression from me. I would however prefer a Spanish player like Alexis or Jarque for a third of the 30 mill, since yes, being Spanish in a Spanish club does matter...shouldn't it?

Absolutely. The portuguese league is not up to par with ours. It means nothing to me and to most that he is coming from Oporto. Now, coming from there and having a smaller tag would make sense, 30 mill. does not. Diarra is a great example of what I mean.

30 mill. should be a demand to have a certain level of popularity.

Right, at least you agree on the basics.

I stated that coming from where he is coming from he is either going to be very good or much more likely he will need time to adapt, and to me 30 mill. do not give you the right to need time to perform, which I think it's probable. Cannavaro, a WC champion, the best in the world!? is still not playing acceptably here, I said that I hope that he does play like a 30 mill. player should and right from the start, not that can't. We still don't know if he can, nobody knows, and that's what's sad about this.
To me this looks more like an operation to sink Mijatovic, really.

Ramos was already a star, international and had already caused a great impression in Liga before signing. And you are right, I don't know the player, that's the problem. When RM spent 25 in Ramos they had a very good case going for him.

Why? he was one of our top scorers with numbers that only Hierro has had in recent years making him the first one to be seriously considered to replace him, our best defender in the history of the club. Everybody agrees that our most determinant players were VN, Casillas and Ramos, other than Becks or Robihno for short periods. We had nothing in defense but him.

It cannot be compared to this one and probably never will. Moving Ramos to the "2" is almost wrong as well...

Nothing much really....

 

A; Valencia paid €8 mill + two youngsters, i don't remember the name but im sure one of them was on loan last season.

B; Getafe were demanding cash + De La Red and Javi Garcia, Mijatovic did not want that deal and was smart about it. We overpaid for Pepe but there is nothing to do about that.

C; Thats right, they do not wish to do business with Real Madrid since the club paid Mijatovic buyout clause without consulting with Valencia first.

Back in 2004, Florentino Perez made a €40 million bid for Vicente and Valencia turned it flat down so no, they would not "gift wrap" him.

D; Chivu was being greedy and to be honest, I'm pretty happy that he is not coming, i don't like players like him. Milito came out and said that he wants to play for Barcelona and the papers are saying that Zaragoza are not budging from their €23 million asking price.

 

Should we request for Porto to "gift wrap" Pepe?

 

Nope. Not yet. A loan is also not a "+ 2 players", it's a loan. Whatever, you just can't compare 8 mill to 30 mill on a better known (EC Champion, had a great year in Liga), player to one who is not even called by Brazil's NT playing in Oporto. You see, same happened to Deco, even for the Brazilians playing in Portugal means nothing...get over it.

So?, for RM it was still cheaper than this. Plus, De la Red on loan (yes, loans not players) would have been better than De La Red not playing and in the bench or on 2nd div., like the other....Getafe was a club that was a receptor of RM youth players, and then they were suddenly denied...it would actually have been very smart to renew that relationship instead of getting to the silliness of Schuster paying 480000 cash of his own money to be able to sign with RM....Mijatovic this far has no credibility as a negociator, this is only the 8th or the 9th screw up he makes....

Well, I remember Vicente saying "no, never" as well....40 mill and the player putting pressure on the club...as I said, it doesn't matter anyway.

I agree with the Chivu case...not because of greediness..(he really wanted to play for Barca, not us to begin with and for a very long time), but because we have a history of hiring CB's from the Calcio that don't work here (Samuel, Cannavaro), probably because of La Liga's different playing style.
The Milito case is as you said and as I said, Barca is not giving more than 15-18 mill. for him, so I don't know why you mention it again only to agree with me but using different wording (of course Zaragoza want $23 mill, his clause...)

 

yes we over paid but jsut get over it and enjoy his defending next season..i have not seen him play and will not act like i did but its true that theres a general consenssus that he was the best in portugal. and then people start talking about how unproven he is when just a few days ago he was considered to be an excelent signing.

30 mil is for me 12 mil to much but hey, its a gamble and a good one to take in my opinion and really....hes young, talented, fast, and a good free kick taker ( all of this i have heard)

not only all this but he is only 23 and if he were to be really good we could potentially have an extremly young and talented D for years to come. we have signed a player based more on his quality then on his name and we should be happy for that.

if you balance t out i think the positives beat the negatives big time!!!!

welcome pepe...