Re: Woodgate hurt again. Fair point but what happens if he sustains another terrible injury? Will he just have to be motivated to recover within the next year? Bloody hell they should just buy Ramos. If they are confident in buying him then buy get him cause right about now with Samuel leaving and Woodgate a risk we are a mess.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. If you want to talk irony, look no further than the Gabriel Milito debacle. 3.5 m EUR to sign him. A lot of money could have been saved and some of our CB problems would have been solved had the administrative geniuses not decided he was too big of a risk to sign because of a 2 year old knee injury from which he had completely recovered: "Having carried out the necessary medical examination and after rigorous tests, Real Madrid's medical staff consider that taking into account the intensity and frequency of the efforts demanded by Real Madrid, the maximum performance of the player over the next four seasons cannot be guaranteed," Madrid said in a statement on its Web site. "Very sadly, from the sporting and personal point of view, Real Madrid has called off the transfer of Gabriel Milito, whom we wish all the best for the future," the club added. Instead, we signed Samuel [24 m EUR] and then Woodgate [23 m EUR] and neither has lived up to expectations. Samuel is on his way out for a fee of 16 m [loss of 8m] and Woodgate is in all likelihood never going to play for RM. Hala Madrid!
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Well, never say never but Woodgate's not only torn a muscle in his thigh but he's got a Grade II/III sprain as well. Recovery from injuries of this sort are hit and miss - some people are able to return to their pre-injury level of performance while others are done for. A lot of it has to do with how the injury is handled in the early stages. I don't profess to know what his rehabilitation regimen has been or to be an orthopod, but he's been out for 15 months due to this injury which means it must have been serious. He's also had a setback along the way as he re-injured the area last year during the recovery process. Two consultations with specialists in the US and Norway, the latter involving debridement of a chunk of scar tissue, lead me to believe he's going to have a difficult time regaining the same level of function in that leg. After all the rehab, interventions and time that's passed since his injury, he's still not back in the squad or participating in full training with the team on a regular basis. That's why I don't think he'll be able to come back and play at the Primera level. If he does, then I'm glad I was wrong but the continuing delays in his return to squad make me pessimistic.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Well, I for one am going to be optimistic about this. For a couple of reason too. When I first read that he'd relapsed I felt really bad for the guy.. Now that its clear that there has been no such incident, I am again postive about his not-so-distant return. I think that he will be motivated like few players are ever motivated and will perform very well for us. This, for example, heartens me: "...Olmo praised Woodgate's determination, saying: "I've rarely seen a sportsman work as hard as he has done and it is clear that he wants desperately to play for Real Madrid.""
Re: Woodgate hurt again. on a quick note.... I thought that the Insurance Companies pay the players cost in case of such long injuries. That's what happened with Ronaldo when he got inured, as far as I know.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. It was an English paper, The Sun, which "broke" this story. And for broke, you can substitute "made up" this story.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. I know it is not your main point, but the specialist is Finnish. There is no point in RM or the doctors pretending that Woodgate is recovering properly. If the injury returns, which it certainly might, it is in RM's interest to find that out quickly & get Woodgate off the books. And don't forget that Ronaldo also came to the club after going through a year long injury.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. http://skysports.planetfootball.com...ID=186&lid=&title=Woody+defiant&channel=spain Woody defiant by James Pearson - created on 28 Jul 2005 Real MadridJonathan Woodgate is eager to dispel fears his career is over by making his long-awaited debut for Real Madrid. However, Woodgate feels his injury worries are behind him and he is looking forward to playing with his team-mates when he joins them on their pre-season tour in Austria. "I believe I will play at the top again," he said, sporting a t-shirt saying 'All I have in this world is my b**** and my word - and I don't break 'em for no one, you understand?'. "It's been tough and sad. I feel good, my leg is good and I just want to get back on the pitch."
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Well, he had other injuries before this one. So I am not too optimatistic about him. Perez should just forget him for now. If he makes it back, that would be nice. If not, we should move onward. The team cannot wiat for him. In a month's time, the season will start with Pavon and Helguera as starters.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Man, I'm sick and tired of being depressed about the fact that Helguera and Pavon have been the bulk of our back line for the past 2 years. I offer another option... the power of positive thinking! From this point on, I refuse to say anything negative about those two. If we just looked at it from a different angle it would make the whole situation look much different... and it is this: Helguera and Pavon have been the backbone of the Real Madrid defense for the past two years and if they have been such in a team as important and powerful as Real Madrid, then they must be world class! See, that makes the two of them sound much better! So, let's quit all this complaining and start taking pride in those two! Yee Haw!
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Though it is a nice idea gringotuno, I can't even pretend going on with it I agree with Excape Goat, the team can't wait for him. I guess having a decent CB will even lesser the pressure on Woody's comeback. All eyes on him at the moment. Since Deportivo played Newcastle with Andrade on starting line-up, how about the lovely Perea, Mr.Sacchi? http://www.marca.com/edicion/noticia/0,2458,658387,00.html Way to go Woody
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Sky Sports TV is running a 4 minute live interview w/Woodgate. Woodgate sounds pretty convincing. He doesn't know where the rumour came from, his leg feels fine, he knows he has to compete for a place in the side, ect. Sky Sports also shows him running & jumping over small hurdles. Oh & he has a "Solari" style "haircut", so he must be an RM player.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Someone better tell him that when you have long hair in the team, you are bound to sit (or at least deserve) to sit on the bench... e.g. Solari, Guti, Becks (his 1st season), Figo (in the middle of last season), Raul (deserved to sit). Garcia hasn't found his place in the club yet... and it has to be the hair. So, woody better take a trip to the barbershop...
Re: Woodgate hurt again. Woodgate,“I´m dying to play again” http://www.realmadrid.es/articulo/rma24683.htm Here is the Woodgate interview with Realmadrid Official Website.
Re: Woodgate hurt again. I'm not in any way, shape, or form saying that Real shouldn't buy Ramos... Hell, we wouldn't be much better with Woody and Helgeura, no offence to Ivan, but he ain't a defender that can cope with constant pressure. We need at least one more defender... AT LEAST!
Re: Woodgate hurt again. It will certianly look different now, but when we play Milan or Juve in the knockout round of the CL....
While Helguera and Pavon may not be world class defenders, they must certainly be good because they wouldn't be at RMCF. That's if you look at it logically.
Maybe you should look at it this way. Real spent so much money and time on the midfield and offence that they didn't have much of both to spend on defence. They just patched together the best possible defence, and it isn't very good.
Woodgate isn't hurt so maybe this thread isn't relevant... and hopefully never will be. First of all, what I am about to say is obvious; secondly, I have been asking for Sergio Ramos so I recognize that we need help in the back. That said, defending isn't about the four players closest to the goalie. We all know this. Defending is also about closing down time and space across the midfield (something Barcelona did very well last year). I am of the opinion that our defenders look poor because of how often they are exposed. I am not saying Pavon and Helguera are world class, but we need to think beyond the names across the back four. That said, I don't expect a huge change - although a Gravesen / García pairing would help in certain instances - which is why I like the tought of faster players in the center of our defense. Helguera, Pavón, Samuel... any of them fast? Nope. Raúl Bravo is, but he can't play the ball out of the back to save his life. Anyway... Woodgate isn't hurt.
Well said, and the new formation isn't helping either. The flanks are left wide open unless occupied by R.Carlos or Salgado, who are defenders.
Finally someone mentioned the formation or strategy. I know GREAT players can adapt to any scenario, but not every footballer can fit and rise to the occassion in every formation.