Drenthe was barely playing for Feyenoord the season before. So how could he become a starter here? I just looked at the 2007-2008 season. That offseason, Heinze also joined the team. Basically, he eased the transition after Roberto Carlos' departure. We also had Miguel Torres. Basically, I forgot about him, but memories came back. I thought Torres was a decent fullback. The wikipedia listed him as a left back. Was he? So we actually had 4 left backs on the team. According to wiki, he started a lot of games in the 2006-2007 season. I just checked.... Roberto Carlos only played 23 La Liga games. I guessed that Torres was the backup left back and a potential heir apparent to Roberto Carlos. We then signed Marcelo who was never used in the beginning. Our scouts found Drenthe in the Euro U21 Finals and signed him, but we signed Heinze as an insurance before Drenthe became the next starting left back.
Drenthe was expected to become a winger. I remember he scored a great goal in Super Cup, but his RM career never took off. He said he couldn't deal with RM pressure. We signed him as a prospect after he won the Best player award in Euro U-21. Calderon promised Kaka, Cesc, Robben as signings during election campaign in 2006. Failed to sign all three. Got Robben in 2007 though got embarrassed chasing Kaka' all summer. Senijder was the back up signing after his failed pursuit of Kaka and added another Dutch player in VDV after he couldn't sign Ronaldo in 2008. RVN was the best Dutch signing by far.
Gabriel Heinz also played as centre back on the left side and wasn’t limited to just the left back position.
When Pepe was healthy (and not suspended), Heinze played as a LB and Ramos as a RB. It was a solid defensive line until the disastrous 4-0 from Liverpool and the 2-6 against Barcelona.
I remember Torres starting as a RB but he was able to play both flanks and served more so the LB position. Then went to Getafe for more regular play time. I remember he was solid defensively albeit a little slow and didn’t offer much in the attack.
Yes, this one.... I completely forgot about Torres' role. The birdeye view actually showed the great buildup... a lot of one touch up's.
Beyond football, Ronaldo is probably my favourite person ever. Before I even knew he was real (yes, I was a dumb kid), he was my favourite player on whatever old video game it was. Such a excellent reputation and yet there still remains "What if?" in regards to his injuries and fitness. Just shows how good he was.
R9 is one of the most overrated players in recent memories. He only became top scorer 2x when he played for any of Europe's top 5 leauges in his prime. Also, R9 never became top scorer in Champions League and while he did had a great scoring campaign in Uefa Cup during 97/98, he was outscored by the French striker Stéphane Guivarc'h (the guy who won WC 1998 despite having 0 goals & 0 shots on target).
This is the worst opinion in the history of opinions. Truly written like somebody that didn't watch him play.
If Ronaldo did not join Inter Milan, I would have became a Barcelona fan. I am forever in his debt for saving me from the wrong path.
I wish VDV could've been at Madrid a bit longer. Looking back at highlights from his two seasons with the club he had some quality goals and interplay with Guti and a few others. I realize he was inconsistent but sort of like Ceballos now, I don't think he was given enough sustained playing time, especially once Kaka arrived. Did some good things at Spurs afterwards and to a lesser extent Hamburg. Just seemed like another guy who was stoked to be at Real Madrid and just was crowded out. How do guys all remember VDV's time with the club?
I really liked him. He seemed genuinely happy to be here, he got along great with fans and teammates alike (even when he was benched), and he was extremely good at set pieces. Sadly he wasn't given enough playing time, wasn't appreciated enough and eventually got crowded out.
Cristiano Ronaldo was presented at the Bernabeu on this day in 2009. 80 000 fans in attendance. He scored 450 goals in 438 games after that. GOAT.
VDV was pretty good on his day. But his first season at RM was very inconsistent. Thought he did really well in 2009-10 and Pellegrini gave him quality minutes. Club wanted to sell him in 2009 to fund our big summer, but VDV requested to stay as his wife was undergoing cancer treatment in Madrid and club agreed. He gave his all that season and remember him playing well in several games including 3-2 comeback win against Sevilla after being 2-0 down and think he also scored(or assisted) in the final league game at Malaga. Spurs move was good for him and I get why Mou sold him as we had just signed Ozil and club had signed Canales before Mou came. Kaka' was also there and Mou talked about getting him back to his best when he tookover so we were overcrowded in AM position.
A compilation of his great plays, all resulting in hitting the bar. So no goals in this one, but a great watch nonetheless:
Loved me RVN. You knew if the ball landed in the box and Ruud had a shot, 9/10 he would score. Really hope Jovic brings that kind of confidence back.
I think Ruud is unanimously loved by Madridistas. Dude brought passion and goals consistently. Helluva player. I liked most of the Dutch contingent and would've liked to see a few stay longer than they did. Definitely an interesting few seasons of the club trying to find its way pre-Ronaldo.
And one of the smartest and supreme positioner forwards I've seen. They literally rewrote the offside rule because of Ruud: Is like one example where its a goal but people didn't notice there was an injured Italian player who kept him onside.
Since we are talking about RVN, we should talk this guy. After Hamburger refused to allow RVN to return to Real Madrid, we turned to Adebayor. I did not have a good impression of him before he signed for us. I thought his goal celebration against Arsenal was unsportmen-like. I recalled he only did okay with us, but was popular within the locker room.