I believe Solari is a top class left winger who is highly underrated He has been at Real for a number of seasons, but has struggled to hold down a first team place despite being a top player. However you would think he would look to another club, but he has turned down the chance to play at Man UTD and Inter(costing Real another £7-9m in the transfer of Ronaldo) I get increasingly frustrated seeing this guy on the bench when he is so capable of changing a game for the good of Real. Surely it is time he got a run in the first team, every time he has been given a chance he seems to prove he is top quality and with little match practice under his belt!
Totally agree. He's also really good at tracking back which is just what RM need. But I guess he's not 'galactico' enough.
I don't underrate him, he is my favorite player.. He can't be a galactico bc he actually runs the whole field and isn't a prima donna. I actually prefer him over any other left winger in Europe except Vicente and Nedved. Real have one of the best left wingers in soccer and don't even know it.
He was basically everyone's favorite player last season. Last years, I would have started him on the left side and move Zidane to the middle. I was thinking the other day how he got to Real Madrid. Ten years ago, he was playing low level college soccer in USA. I myself played higher level than he was playing. he stayed there so short that no one noticed him. And he ended up with Real Madrid in a short time(he might have jumped directly to RM from college soccer). Was it because of Redondo?
I'd forgotten about that. Do you remember where he was playing? That's something that makes him stand out imo - he's got a fantastic attitude and is a true 'team' player.
If I'm not mistaken, he did a short stint at River Plate before transferring to Real Madrid. His family is part-owner of the most famous soccer academy in Argentina. If Mascherano is transferred to Real, Solari's father and brother will reap a handsome profit because their academy owns a piece of the Argentine defender. I think that's great. Viva enterprising capitalism! Santiago Solari is one of RM's most valuable assets. It's no accident and no wonder that Florentino Perez refused to transfer him to Inter Milan in exchange for Ronaldo. Solari wanted to stay with Real anyway. Still, Perez has seldom let soccer talent trump a good financial deal. May Santiago live long and prosper wearing his merengue uniform!
I saw somewhere he is related to Fernando Redondo, don't know if its brother-in law or what. He is also one of my favourites, a typical Argentinian, in the way he never lets you down on the pitch. I believe he is a free agent at the end of the season so hopefully they get a new deal sorted out.
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/Players/Player=48378/ I think I got it here. Santiago's uncel is Jorge Solari. His daughter is married to Redondo. Jorge Solari coached the Saudi Arabian NT at WC 1994. Santiago went to the USA with them. They stayed at a small college. After the WC, Santiago enrolled at the school and played for a short time. I only recalled it was a NAIA or 3rd divison school. For people who did not college soccer in the USA, the level was very low. I had friends who never made to High school level made it in that level in college. I recalled he did not stay long. I am wondering where he went after USA. River Plate? or straight to Real Madrid?
feverpitchusa, I heard the story differently. Perez did include Solari in the Ronaldo deal. It was Solari that refused to go. Inter took the matter to court & RM had to pay the extra money to compensate for Solari not transferring. I am glad Solari did what he did, Perez was making a mistake here. Solari has been our best player off the bench & is a class act in every way.
Solari turned the deal down after Inter specified him as a player they wanted for the deal - Real did not offer him at first, but agreed to it in order for the deal to go ahead. Once Solari rejected it they had to make up the shortfall in cash.
Lockjaw, the version you heard wouldn't surprise me in the least, given Perez's keen appreciation of the commercial value of his players while demonstrating an appalling lack of discernment for the needs of his team on the pitch. That having been said, I think that if Florentino REALLY wanted to transfer Solari it would have happened regardless of the player's wishes. I give you Makelele and E'too as two examples of Perez's will: the first shown the door, the second not let in. For the record, I believe both of these choices to be big mistakes. My hunch is that Perez was wily in his dealings with Inter, dangling Solari as the deal-sweetener but knowing that Solari would refuse to go and that in the end Perez could say that "his hands were tied". He even forced Inter to go to court to collect the subsequent fees owed (what a bastard...but he's OUR bastard!). Anyway, that's my personal take on the matter. I like your posts, Lockjaw. Keep them coming!
A third version of the history. Yes, Perez included Solari (and Guti) in the Ronaldo deal. Solari preferred to stay in Real MAdrid, but he would have signed to Inter if RM had told him that the club had decided to sell him, like happened that time. The agreement between RM and Inter was 10 Millions of € or Solari or Guti. Solari didn't play CL games between september - December of 2002, because there was an agreetment between Inter and RM, and he shouldn't play CL. Del Bosque admitted later, that that was the only time that he had received orders of the club to not use a player in his 3 years as 1st team manager. Well, but Inter finally changed his opinion and they chose the money. Well exacly, they offered Solari much less money that what he earn in RM. Real Madrid said that that was a joke, and that Inter had broken the verbal agreetment between the two clubs, because you can't expect to sign a player if you offered him much less money that what the player earn in his club. Real Madrid decided to not pay the 10 millions to Inter. One year later, Inter report RM to FIFA for not pay the 10 Millions. The final decision of FIFA was that RM have to pay to Inter 8 Million €. RM had paid the first installment this year, and will pay the rest of the money the next season. End of the history. This year at the begining of the season Solari had a great offer of Manchester. He was going to earn much more money than what he earn in RM. Real Madrid was going to received also some money and the club was agree with the deal, but Camacho stopped the deal, he said that he wanted Solari and the club stopped the deal. And Solari again, like the great and exemplary professional that he has been since he is playing with RM, accepted the situation without said anything. Well, he said that he was very happy to continue in Real Madrid. Well, another player probably had forced his situation to force the club to sell him, because it was a great contract for him, but Solari isn't that type of player. Well, in the last years, i have always said that Solari is one of my favourite players, just behind of Zidane and Raul. He is probably the best example of professional player that i have seen in all my life. He always has had a perfect behaviour inside and outside the field. He never had said a bad word when he hasn't played, on the contrary, he has said things like "It is a honor to be the sub of Zidane" or "it is a honor to play so many minutes in a team with so many great players", ... And when he has played, he always has played with a great attitude. With this attitude he has played a great number of minutes. He must be between the 10 players that have player more minutes with RM in the last 4 years. He has fight with Guti, Macca, Savio,... to be the 12 player of the team, but he always ends all the seasons playing a great number of minutes, and alwasys being a very important player for the team. He even has ended some seasons playing in the starting 11, he played in the starting 11 of our last Champions league final against Bayer Leverkusen in Glasgow (2002). Not many players can say that have played and won a CL final playing in the starting 11. My opinion, and i hope that i'm wrong, it that we are seeing the last year of Solari in Real Madrid .... ... He ends his contract with RM this season, he is 28 years old (October 1976) and his next contract will be probably his last big contract, and he will have some great offers that RM won't be able to match because he will be a free agent, and the clubs won't have to pay any money to RM, paying that money to the player. What i hope like i said in a post at the beggining of the season, is that RM at least should make him a good/serious offer, according with the market, he deserve it. He deserve to have the option to choose, not end the season without any offer to continue playing with us. If RM make him a good/serious offer, and he decide to leave the team because he will play more minutes in other team, or because he has a extraordinary offer of other team, or both things. I will wish him very good luck in his new team, and i always will be VERY GRATEFUL to him for his four great years with us. No, he played four years with River (1995-1999) starting in the youth teams, one year with Atletico de Madrid (1999-2000 season) and then he signed with Real Madrid (June of 2000).
being a machester utd fan i would like to see him play teh left wing spot @ old trafford...especially since Giggs is aging
Letting Solari go would be a HUGE mistake...the most consistent player....never complains. Plus Real have no pure left winger besides him. Perez should give Solari a nice contract according to the market and make him retire in the white jersey. At least with Solari, we know that if ZZ starts to falter with age, we have a guy we can throw in there. Look at how difficult it is to get a good player 'willing' to fight for playing time and deepen Madrid's bench. BIG mistake to let him go. ZZ aging and Solari gone...damn...I am getting headaches.
Thank you, MadridForever, you had some details that I had forgotten. I believe your version is the completely correct one. The reality is that RM is locked in to too many long term, high salary contracts. This is the club's dilemma & there are no easy answers. Its easy to critize Perez, but if you don't have the resources of Chelsea, you have to make tough decisions. I think it was a mistake to offer Roberto Carlos the 4 year contract, rather than the 2. I suppose we have Camacho to thank for that one. Morientes' & Celades' salaries are huge. We have Casillas, Helguerra, Figo & Solari coming to the end of their contracts. All of them are quality players & it would nice to be loyal to all of them - but is that really in the club's best interest? Our competitors, MU, Arsenal & Barcelona are all figuring ways to get teenagers in to their starting 11 & our youngest starters are Owen (24) & Casillas (23). Something has to give here.
Yeah that's going to remain a problem for awhile. The thing is, if you show disloyalty, the world is going to know, and high profile players just might choose other options over us. And shutting out loyal players is just not something i'll ever feel comfortable with. You're right that some young talent has to come through, we can't be signing aging superstars all the time. But the only room we have at the moment for real youngsters appears to be Arbeloa as a replacement for Salgado and Mejia who should be ahead of Pavon and Raul Bravo anyway at center back.
Well deserved. ********************************************************** Solari, Galletti called up by Argentina By Luis Ampuero BUENOS AIRES, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Real Madrid forward Santiago Solari received a rare call-up from Argentina on Tuesday when he was included in the squad for this month's World Cup qualifier against Venezuela. Real Zaragoza striker Luciano Galletti was the other surprise as new coach Jose Pekerman named 19 foreign-based players for the match in Buenos Aires on November 17. Solari, who last played for Argentina in the 1-0 friendly win over Morocco in April, was delighted to be selected by Pekerman, who replaced Marcelo Bielsa in September. "I'm happy to be included and I know I have to play to a high level so the coach keeps picking me," he said in a radio interview. "One always aspires to be picked regularly for the national team."
tonights match cant have done him any harm atall one more good performance showing he should be starting - how long will it take????