the copa is back on tuesday... hopefully GR rests some of the big guns and gives a deserved run out to some players who aren't getting a lot of minutes. I'm guessing - Cesar Arbeloa Mejia Pavon Raul Bravo Juanfran Guti Celades Solari Morientes Owen Guti played the full 90 against Valencia so if perhaps we'll see Javi Garcia make an appearance (if not now when?).
I like that lineup -- I love giving the young, homegrown, talent a shot to play with the big boys. If Javi Garcia can play, I'd like to see him start -- same with Jurado, but MadridForever says he's out for 2 months, so there goes that idea. Javi Garcia is supposed to be a really, really special player (ManU offered him 2mil and he turned it down) so I'd love to see him given 45 minutes with Owen and Moro (2 world class strikers who can take his passes and put them away) and Beckham, Juanfran, and Solari (all very talented players) around him.
He should play Samuel at least. Samuel as he still needs more games to keep adjusting to the Spanish game, he will need resting eventually but a 20 something defender is less of a worry than a 30+ midfielder or jaded looking starting forward.
These players definitely won't be playing, as they will be given 3 days of rest by Garcia: Raul, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Salgado.
Assuming no one else is sitting ............Morientes .............Owen Solari......Zidane......Figo ..............Guti Bravo...Samuel...Helguera....? I don't believe they are going to take their chances dressing the youngsters. Real want to win the first leg handedly so they rest more players for the second leg.
I am sure you can add Figo, Zidane & Casillas. And I hope he rests Helguerra too. I like the idea of giving Samuel more practice.
They might get subbed for that game as well, he just gave those named players time off because apart from playing the matches with Madrid they also had to play for their national teams.....the other players just have to do with having sunday as their 'time off' because the training scheduled for today was called off because of the victory against Valencia.
Apparently Guti is out for this match due to getting a card in the final match last year, so perhaps we could see Javi Garcia after all.
I'd like... -------------Cesar Mejia---Arbeloa--Samuel--RBravo ------------Celades Juanfran---Javi Garcia--Solari ------Morientes--Soldado A very young, inexperienced team (besides Samuel, Moro, and Solari, and to a lesser extent RBravo, Juanfran, and Celades) but these are the players that you'd hope can perform sooner or later, might as well find out immediately how good they are/how well they play together.
New Real coach to stick with high-risk Cup strategy MADRID, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Real Madrid will stick to their strategy of treating the early rounds of the King's Cup as a test bed for young talent in Tuesday's derby at third division Leganes. Ronaldo, Michel Salgado, Raul and Roberto Carlos have been excused first round Cup duty while Santiago Solari and David Beckham are injured, and Guti is suspended. Striker Michael Owen, who scored two match-winning goals last week, is hoping to start again on Tuesday but the England striker will be surrounded by unfamiliar faces. http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-spaincup&prov=reuters&type=lgns
Re: New Real coach to stick with high-risk Cup strategy In the referenced article, it states that Pavon will be playing. Wow, once that guy gets wrapped around your ankle, there ain't nothing getting him off...
Re: New Real coach to stick with high-risk Cup strategy - I'd really like to see Mejia instead of Pavon, why not even try Arbeloa there? Of course next to Samuel. - I guess alot of ppl will be keeping an eye on Juanfran after his performance in S.Bernabue Cup match, this is a good chance for him to shine. - I really hope Owen and El Moro do well, and whenever the mission is completed, bring Soldado on.
damn it!! Solari was injured in training today and he'll miss the match against Leganes. I feel bad for the guy, he's shown great form in the relatively few minutes he's had to play and just before a match where he's likely to feature he's injured again.
Bad news about Solari, but we should not need him against a II Division team. REALFOREVER, there is no second leg in this part of the tournament. The Division I team just plays away. Well, here is my lineup. Its kind of fun to put in the B players. I am listing Pavon not because I want him to play, but because his demonic influence is too strong to resist. Owen - - - Morientes Javi Garcia -- Guti -- Celades -- Juanfran Mejia -- Pavon -- Samuel -- Raul Bravo Cesar
My team would be: ---------------- Cesar Arbeloa -- Mejia -- Samuel -- Raul Bravo Juanfran -- Celades -- Javi Garcia -- Alex Perez -----------Owen - Morientes Bench: Casillas Zidane Figo Borja Soldado Pavon I would use Zidane and Figo instead of Alex Perez and Javi Garcia in the second half if we are having ploblems. And if we are winning, i would use Soldado, Borja and Pavon in the last 30 minutes instead of Owen, Celades and Arbeloa/Mejia. But i think that Garcia Remon probably will respect the hierarchy of the team, and the subs of the first team will have priority over the Real Madrid B players, then the team could be: ------------- Cesar Mejia -- Pavon - Samuel - Raul Bravo Juanfran - Celades - Borja - Alex Perez --------- Owen - Morientes Borja has been injured the last months, but he is OK for this game. I have to say that Borja isn't one of my favourite players. He played a lot of games with the first team the last year but he didn't make anything very interesting. I would prefer to see Javi Garcia play his first game with the first team. Let see what finally decide Garcia Remon .... About the game, Real Madrid B won Leganes few weeks ago (Both teams play in the same group of third division), but this game will be totally different. First, the game won't be at Real Madrid home. Second, the game will be a sold out. Third, The atmosphere/pressure will be bigger. Four, Leganes players would be very motivated to play against Real Madrid first team. The first rounds of Copa del Rey should be dangerous, because you can't make mistakes, if you have a bad day you are out. It is only one game and in the stadium of the small team. Normally a small stadium, with not very good field. The last year, we also played with Leganes, and we tied in the last minute with a goal of Solari, winning in the extratime. And teams like Valencia, Barcelona,.. have lost in the first two rounds in the last 2 years. I won't be upset if we lost, because i think that we should concentrate in La Liga and Champions League. But this competition can be a great opputunity to give minutes to the subs (like it seems that Garcia Remon is going to do this year). Now it's time to the subs and RM B players to show to Garcia Remon that they deserve that minutes in Copa del Rey, to demostrate that they can have a place in the starting 11 (first team subs) or in the first team (RM B players) ... They shouldn't let pass these opportunities. These are the kind of opportinities that players like Solari never waste, let see if they play with the same motivation/ambition than Solari.
CONVOCATORIA PARA LEGANÉS Porteros: César y Casillas. Defensas: Arbeloa, Mejía, Pavón, Paredes, Samuel y Raúl Bravo. Centrocampistas: Juanfran, Álex Pérez, Celades, Borja y Javi García. Delanteros: Morientes, Owen y Soldado. Fuera de la lista: Beckham, Woodgate, Solari (lesionados), Guti (sanción), Raúl, Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Salgado, Helguera y Diego López (decisión técnica) So GR has left out Zidane and Figo as well in the end, so we're definitely going to see a lot of 'Pavones'. Borja! I had forgotten he's still on the squad! I definitely agree with you about him, MadridForever. Last year he got plenty of minutes but made very little impact. I hope we do win. Even though there are only a few players from the first team likely to appear a loss today would disturb the positive atmosphere which is developing after two consecutive wins. It's also a good opportunity to get minutes for some of the squad players -it could be a nice boost for their morale (I think I've been playing too much FIFA 2005) and get a look at some of the B team players and see who can do a job for the first team.
I know, I know. Not to get off topic but this Fifa is not bad. I like the new career mode and the player creation thingy.
Watching the game on GolTV and Madrid is playing: Moro------------Owen ----Javi Moreno----- Borja--------Alex Perez ------Celades-------- Meija-Samuel-Pavon-Raul Bravo Madrid is winning 1-0 at nearly injury time after Moro tapped one in. Leganes aren't very good at all and are packing the centre to keep Real on the wings. Madrid has had 75% of the possession and has kept the ball for over a minute straight at times.
Two minutes into the 2nd half RM went up 2-0 when Moro pulled one back from the goal line to Owen who slotted the ball past Lagens' keeper at the far post. Thought the game was over but Leganes just scored on a great curling free kick that went past Cesar. Juanfran came on for Perez and the announcer says there was another sub, but I'm not sure who.
RM has become very nervy after that Leganes goal and they almost gave up a PK when Perades, who earlier came on for Samuel handled the ball in the box while settling it after a dangerous cross, but the ref kept the whistle in his pocket.
Looking at the match stats on AS, and lo and behold I see 4 yellow cards been given in the space of 3 minutes. Gotta love those Spanish refs Things not going so good right now Announcers seem to blame this on the subbing of Alex Perez, nice that a youth player does so well, only not so good that the rest of the team can't keep up the pace when he leaves.