Regardless of whatever "illegitimate" journalists, we do have to look at a few of the facts: 1. Owen does have an unmatched scoring rate in La Liga as of right now. Considering this, it would seem most logical to start a player with this impressive statistic. 2. Raul is not in top form. Regardless of the reason for his "slump", he has been given half of the season to work it out (not even considering his lack of form last season and at Euro 2004). 3. The combination of Ronaldo and Owen seemed to work fine on the few occasions this season. Althogh I don't have the statistic of scoring rate of the Ronaldo-Owen pairing compared to the Ronaldo-Raul pairing, I don't think that the Ronaldo-Owen match is worse. It might be the same rate but most likely it is greater. Thus, there are only a few more options as to why Owen is not starting. I have a few ideas... A. (The less Conspiracy-Theory Theory) Our coaches see some tactical incompatability with Owen and Ronaldo. Maybe it is because Ronaldo isn't the type of striker that comes back for the ball and they view Raul as the guy to bridge this gap. B. There is actually a Raul reign. It is a little hard to believe that he has SOOOO much power but as the team captain, he is likely to have the most say in terms of any player in the team. The thing that I just don't understand is why we don't start playing with 3 strikers, at least just to test things out. Although we have a supluss of attacking midfielders, I see it a greater waste to keep Owen on the bench in comparison to Becks, Solari, or Guti. At times when we have all three strikers helathy, play them all. The more you play them, the more they will get injured and we will then play with just 2 strikers. Sounds harsh, but why own a Ferrari if you don't let it out? Although there have been many changes in the club since then, we should remember that we won the champions league with 3 strikers: Anelka, Moro and Raul. I think this trio could be much more lethal than that trio that won it all.
Robinson and Lowe are obviously morons who want to stir up controversy. If Raul was a 7/10 with left and a 4/10 with the right, then why is he tied with di Stefano in all-time CL goals, all-time high scorer of Spanish national team? In addition, Raul would never do that. He knows he gets the flak if they f up, and they are well aware that Raul and Owen cooperate really well (last goal of the last game, guys?) and had Raul not have been a team player, Figo or Beckham or one of the Galacticos would've spoken up in public and ******** would've exploded.
Oh come on, Raul will never be benched in favor of Owen. It is literally unthinkable. It would be like Jeter sitting. Really, he's the face of the team, the most popular player in recent Spanish history, and any coach that benches him is putting his job on the line. There's a reason the Hierro saga dragged out so long well after it was clear that he couldn't cut it anymore -- because he's a Spanish legend and benching him would be clubhouse suicide. It is much easier to dangle Owen in limbo and wait for Ronaldo to hurt himself again (shouldn't take too long, since it happens every six months or so). You can play with all three, with Owen in Raul's spot and Raul dropping back to attacking mid, but realistically you can't do it without dropping Beckham, because otherwise he slots into D-mid, and I'm pretty sure Vanderlei isn't going to do that. Plus, there is no public support for Owen displacing Raul as striker. No one really likes Owen here, and they are upset that he was brought in to replace Morientes. They'll like it even less if he replaces Raul. Owen would really have to play out of his mind for it to work without the fans getting upset and second guessing the coach -- even better than he is playing, and realistically that isn't likely to happen. He's good, but not Maradona.
a few thoughts: 1. nothing is unthinkable, this is football. has the chelsea-chelski thing thought us nothing? unlikely, maybe, but unthinkable? and the main reason raul hasn't been dropped, in my humble opinion, is the lack of a strong enough coach to do it, rather than an obvious stopgap. i have hope that vanderlei will do whats right for the team(again, hope), even though benching your captain can never be ideal. 2.beckham being dropped is not nearly as impossible as you might think. he's never convinced here(and apparently half of the problem was him thinking he could actually be a central mid, lets not blame it all on real, i seem to remember he was the one who wanted to play there for england too), and now apparently gravesen could be a threat if the formation is retooled. i think you will find very few, if any, madrid fans think his position in the starting 11 is untouchable. what makes you think vanderlei wouldnt consider that? is beckham somehow his golden boy? 3. whether or not owen gets a starting spot regularly, i think will depend on how madrid finally shape up in the coming months. mainly, whether raul is deployed as a striker or mid, ronaldo's fitness, and not forgetting if vanderlei decides suddenly three strikers is the way to go. remains to be seen, but nothing is concrete for now, except if he keeps delivering, it cant be too long till his status is upgraded. ps. i think a lot of madrid fans were actually happy for morientes to finally get a starting spot, even at another club. and remember, perez reportedly took a smaller cash payout so that moro could go where he wanted. in light of some recent transfers, i must say this is one of the most amicable goodbyes i've seen. most of us here think he's too good for a sub, and being behind even owen is just a pity for a player like him. pps. whos this Jeter
Everybody is happy for Moro, who has been jerked around for too many years, but I think a lot of people would still have preferred never to have Owen in the first place. I certainly don't think it is impossible for Becks to get dropped, though I think he'll get every shot in the world to stay up. If he goes, though I think it will be for Guti or Graveson. I just don't see Vanderlei not playing a 442 when he has the players to do it, and I just don't feel like he's a big Owen guy. I just don't feel like there is any pressure on him for Owen to start, especially since Raul always seems to score a goal just when people are starting to grumble.
Excellent points, echineko. Dropping Raul is not "unthinkable". Camacho did it. And GR pulled him Raul out in a few games. I think GR should have done it a few more times & I think that feeling is getting stronger among RM fans. But in the majority of games Raul has still been hustling & making things happen. And while I salute Owen's performances as much as the next guy, starting him is not an automatic success story - are we forgetting the 1-0 loss against Sevilla so quickly?
That's a good point - many of Owen's goals have come in his appearances as a substitute. That may be just a curiosity but there it is. Raul looked better against Zaragoza. I've read in Marca (sorry, can't find the link but it was a couple days ago) that Lux is trying to get Raul to play closer to goal than Ronaldo, as Ronaldo's explosive pace and excellent control gives him the ability to take on defenders and score, and having Raul closer to goal allows him to be where he needs to be to score - whether it's from a rebound or from a well placed pass. It will take a few more games to know but we could be witnessing the revival of Raul.
Personally I thought the team worked well with Owen deep, then Ronaldo, the Raul behind them. The problem is that means Beckham is dropped, and he sells too many shirts for that. I feel a bit sorry for Owen, because his attitude has been excellent, his strike-rate when he has been brought on has been excellent. That said, he should have figured out that Ronaldo and Raul aren't going to be regularly benched regardless of how well he plays. Sid Lowe is a good writer.
Another Michael Owen interview - "I've got this year and three more signed on my contract and I am happy here," says the former Liverpool player who has been linked with Newcastle United in recent weeks. "Life is very good. I enjoy things both off and on the pitch. I've got plenty of fire in my belly because I want to perform more than I am performing at the moment. That is the only thing that I would change out here." http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/european/story.jsp?story=602985
I say it differently, Sid Lowe is a great fiction writer. And I will say it another way - does any one really think Zidane, Figo & Ronaldo take orders from Raul on who to pass to? The whole Galacticos freezing someone out concept is a fairy tale. I do not like Owen, Raul & Ronaldo on the pitch at the same time. RM's problem is in being overrun in the midfield & getting service to the strikers. None of those 3 does a good job in playing in the midfield. In this sense, Solari does a much better job of helping win the ball back.