I think Joaquin's performance with la seleccion (esp. WC 2002) is what separates him from the other two right now... Should Torres or Reyes end up playing as well, then they could overtake Joaquin.
The best youg player, by far, is Casillas, but he is not on the poll. From the players in the poll: I saw Reyes played live a couple of times before his freak injury and thought he was the best player I had seen in a while, after almost two years he seems to be back to that level. Joaquin has not played at his higest level since missing the PK in the WC, injuries, contract issues etc. He needs to get back injury free and motivated. Torres, just misses too much for my liking yet. 1. Reyes 2. Joaquin 3. Torres
Best younger player in Spain right now would have to be Joaquin, he is the most developed of the three and at this moment as the most polished game. But I think Reyes will eventually be better than him as he has so much untapped capability.
My mistake. casillas has been so much a part of the first team for so long now (except the one season when he was fighting with Cesar) that it's hard to think of him as a young player. maybe emerging would have been a better adjective but I doubt you can call Joaquin an emerging player.
So we're talking about degrees of untapped potential? Then Portillo and Tote must make the short list.
This is true. I think that is normal, that since these guys come from the Madrid org, they tend to get overrated. Same thing happens when they are from Barcelona, the press blow them out of proportion. But right now in Spain, there are some quality players getting tremendous playing time and I hope they get noticed. Valdo, David Navarro, Makukula, Punal, Loppo and others.
Not to mention players like Riera, who was amazing last season (I'm not sure how he's doing in France this season). Tote, the king of "Rabona", has some nice individual moves but so do players like Victor (a very underrated player IMO) and he never gets any notice. I've never been a fan of Portillo. At best he'll be as good as Morientes, but I imagine he'll turn out to be like Oli.
from what I gather he grew up as a fan of Betis but also of another club from the capital that wears all white. In fact, he has said many times that he dreams of playing for them.
Agreed. When Madrid signed Ronaldo, World Soccer reported that many Madrid fans were angered because that meant that Portillo would not get his big chance. Please!
How about Vicente, valencia's terrorizing winger who is now somewhat of a regular in the spanish nt. And how has everyone forgotten about CESC? Francesc Fabregas, a revelation during the u-17 world cup, if i am not mistaken he was named most outstanding player. Anyways, he rode his wave of success, and to my misforune, left Barcelona and signed with Arsenal.