http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9753,1349472,00.html I didn't see this anywhere else-interesting piece. It's interesting dynamic now-makes me wonder if w/Hierro as captain, this would have gone over smoother. The Spanish lads run the show, as Macca was fond of saying, but when the captain of the club has a diva quality to him, as well being in the position to have to fight for his place (no thanks to Florentino, who keeps buying forwards)...well, you're asking for trouble in the dressing room.
What a load of crap. The piece itself, on Owen integrating is fine, but the Raul allegations are of course uncredited. Perez has denied being upset that Beckham was benched & the whole tie-in with the Camacho resignation doesn't hold water. Now I am not saying that Raul didn't make an arguement that Morientes should have been the first striker off the bench - he probably did. But that is a long way off from sabotaging the team's performance on the field. I am sure this type of fiction sells newspapers though.
I was just about to inquire about the credibility of this Sid Lowe character myself. I highly doubt any player could get away with sabotaging a team's results. I didn't see any evidence of Raul not passing to Owen, and i remember Morientes setting up Owen plenty of times. Other senior players have complained about Raul's supposed antics? I've never heard of any.
Exactly, Illuminatus. Any one who actually saw the games knows differently. And who passed the ball to Owen for his goal against Valencia? Raul.
First, Lowe is a very good writer. Two, don't be naive: no player is going to put his name behind a quote saying that Raul tried to undermine the team. As much as I like Raul, I find this very much possible. This is a fantasy team, put together by a president more concerned with "brand." And there have been other stories about the cliques in the dressing room-which Helguera did put his name behind a quote in this story. Here's another way to look at this: If Raul was not a Spaniard-si no era el simbolo del Madridismo-would there be names behind those quotes? I think the answer is obvious.
I am not buying it. There is no source named because it did not happen. I have watched every minute of every game this season. And your "very good writer" doesn't name a source which puts us in the position of believing our own eyes or Lowe's fairy tale. And it has nothing to do with who is Spanish & who isn't. The reality is, Michael Owen came off the bench before Morientes in the very first game of the season against Mallorca. Who has the beef - Owen or Morientes?
Well then sorry, you are naive. Uh...the point point of the article is that Owen doesn't have a beef-that he's rolling with the punches with class and (in Lowe's view) deserves better treatment.
This is very much true, I was watching Revista de la liga and Guillem was assessing why Camacho left, and he has exact same views as Lowe. Personally I believe this, and well...only ignorant Madrid fans will argue.
we gotta be realistic, the club is run by zizou, figo etc, and mainly raul. these guys call the shots, raul 'king of spain' has it how he likes, and until florentino perez loses an election, thats how its going to stay, so we betta get used to it!
It's funny how you claim others are ignorant when you have no proof at all to prove what you're saying has any basis at all....oh wait, I just noticed who wrote this. Nothing new. If Raul ran the show so much, Morientes would not only not have been sent to Monaco, he would be a starting player. ¿Or are people now going to say that Ronaldo is better friends with Raul than Morientes? It's not like Morientes wasn't scoring for the team before Ronaldo came....so if Raul has that much power, it's not like it would have been mission impossible to keep him a starter. #2: Camacho has said in his latest interview that Owen wasn't his signing, and it's been mentioned numerous times that he tried to keep Morientes in Madrid and promised him more time than he had gotten in his last year with Madrid. But no, Raul is the reason why Owen wouldn't get minutes (even though as already mentioned "Michael Owen came off the bench before Morientes in the very first game of the season") not like one would think: it being because of the coach's opinion. Obviously not.
I don't care either way what is true or not on this. All that matters is Owen is playing and scoring regularly now, and the team is picking up wins as a result. Long may that continue.
Here's another Sid Lowe article, from last January -- an interview with Michael Robinson of El Día Después: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1135138,00.html Notice Robinson's comment, "At Real Madrid, Owen would be a substitute."
i know this is off topic but i didn't want to create a new thread for it, just thought it was interesting. Owen has an uncle from Spain who runs a restaurant in Liverpool The interview from the Real Madrid website doesn't specify but I presume it's a Spanish restaurat. Gazzad, do you know the place?
Owen toasts passing his Spanish test He has scored at the Santiago Bernabéu, found the net in the league, the Copa del Rey and the European Cup and boasts, although he would never boast, the best goals-per-game ratio in Spain. His family has, at last, left the hotel and settled into a house just north of Madrid. And now Michael Owen has flown through the final, toughest rite of passage yet. Not sitting before his accusers in the media but standing before his team-mates and making a speech in Spanish. "We went out for a meal [on Tuesday]. There was no special reason - I guess it's just something they do now and again," the England striker revealed yesterday, perhaps unaware of just how rare such camaraderie is at Madrid. http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1366271,00.html
Owen: “The respect is won on the pitch, without complains” This is the interview that is referenced in the Guardian article posted above. The figures show that he´s the most profitable forward of the League. But he takes the situation quite naturally: “It´s my job. I came to score goals”. Owen says to be happy in Real Madrid: “I didn´t expect to come and play, I knew I would have to fight for it”. The English player rejected the idea of the team focusing only on the Rome game: “In the League we cannot let any more point escape”. And about his future he was conclusive: “I must win the respect on the pitch, without complains”. He´s a complete gentleman. http://www.realmadrid.com/web_realm...icia.jsp?idnoticia=43675&sec=1&subsec=0&esp=2
Owen: “My season would be very good with 20 goals” Gravesen has made an impression on the players: “There was a lot of hope about him and he didn´t disappoint us”. Owen summed up in a press conference the impressions made by the Danish player. The number ‘11’ player ruled out any discomfort about Madrid: “I just want to score goals and play in this Club”. He said of the number of goals he would like to score: “It would be a very good season if I score 20 goals”. And he praised Luxemburgo: “He communicates very well, he talks a lot with the players and we know what he wants” http://www.realmadrid.com/web_realm...icia.jsp?idnoticia=44191&sec=1&subsec=0&esp=2
Re: Owen: “My season would be very good with 20 goals” Hmm, interesting. For another spin on the same interview, see http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1392781,00.html
Re: Owen: “My season would be very good with 20 goals” I just finished reading that article, I thought the same thing.
You know, these reporters, they are the worst. I was watching his press conference on the news, and when a reporter asks you something like "do you like sitting on the bench" obviously he's going to say no, that he always wants to start, and then bam, the headline in Marca is that Owen is demanding that he replace Raúl as second striker.