Raul Albiol- not Real Madrid quality?

Seen this being hinted at in many of the threads. Whats the current verdict on Raul Albiol.

There's a poll, add your reasoning behind your vote if you feel it necessary.

I'm going to say no. Most games he plays, we don't keep a clean sheet. He is not first team quality, there are a lot of players who sit on the bench that could start for any other club in the world, this is the strength in depth that we need. Albiol is not one of them. Offer him at a below market price to Chelsea, ManU, Milan, Inter or Barca and I'm pretty sure they would respond with "thanks, but no thanks"

He's alright for backup.

I've never been convinced by Albiol. His lack of composure and technique always have me nervous.

He has his good moments then and there, but his faults far outweigh.

GTFO

xabi wrote:GTFO

lol, no beating about the bush then!

Well he's too nervous for a defender. For some reason he still manages to start for Spain. Last season when one of Carvalho or Pepe were out, I really became nervous when any attacker got near him.

He has his moments though, remember the saved goal against Sevilla

well for a 4/5 CB backup, he is ok.

i could rip my legs into pieces with a whip and torture myself in a billion ways and id still be a better defender than that failure.

he was pretty good at valenia...decent enough backup against small teams

ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) y u no like Raul Albiol?

decent backup.

saw he might go back to valencia for some first team football.. would be a good decision for him if we let him go.

If he wasn't so nervous he would be OK.

But his composure is really bad, ideally not good for any defender. I don't even see him as worthy backup material. I think it's better today to have versatile players are backup, that way you can have WC backups. *cough*Ramos*cough*

Rulebook to sign a good defender.


1) Calmness. someone who is good at reading the game, and dont go ape ish when he sees danger.

2) Athletic + mobility. strikers are getting stronger and faster, and you need defenders that can match them.

3) ball playing skills. defenders are becoming integral part of the way we play now, very often the first passers.

4) size. strong tall defender is always great. the combination with pace is a great asset.

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Albiol only has size, and some ball playing skills, but he has no calmness at all, so he cant pass under pressure.

would be a nice archetype for us to sign our next defender when Albiol and carvalho likely go out.

Would be nice if we sign a spanish guy but there isnt one lol

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:Rulebook to sign a good defender.


1) Calmness. someone who is good at reading the game, and dont go ape ish when he sees danger.

2) Athletic + mobility. strikers are getting stronger and faster, and you need defenders that can match them.

3) ball playing skills. defenders are getting are becoming integral part of the way we play now, very often the first passers.

4) size. strong tall defender is always great. the combination with pace is a great asset.

-----------------------------------

Albiol only has size, and someone ball playing skills, but he has no calmness at all, so he cant pass under pressure.

would be a nice archetype for us to sign our next defender when Albiol and carvalho likely go out.

Would be nice if we sign a spanish guy but there isnt one lol

NACHO NACHO MAN I WANNA BE A NACHO MAN

We have Nacho that is all

I like Nacho, he is a castilla kid, but im not as convinced as you guys. maybe he is being sold above his value atm.

anyway, we need experience off the bench

The problem is he isnt a Back up,he is our first choice substitute.

The tribe has spoken, 90% GTFO approval. Poor bloke. I took one look at him a few years ago and declared: Paco Pavon v2.0

Sticking by that analysis.

Didn't feel like making a new thread to ask this question so I just searched the word "quality" and this sprung up. Nacho was rated by Crimson, neat.

Anyway, how do you guys define "Real Madrid quality"? Honestly, that phrase gets written A LOT on Madrid forums and it usually has various and mostly arrogant definitions. Unlike the other Madrid forums I frequent, we are actually balanced (ish) in our opinions so...answer away.

Also, not a serious thread so one can be an ass to your heart's content.

To me... better than the person currently holding the job. Nothing more, nothing less. So it's not a static thing to me.

i've always said Real Madrid as a fan base is no different from flo, just not as rich (which is why i laugh when fans criticize him). there is no set definition for Real Madrid quality- but its that same notion that has prevented flo from doing anything in the market...madrid have signed players who weren't as good as the person or persons holding the job and the fans still appealed to them

and there have been fantastic player, better than the holder, who for one reason or the other fans have dismissed as not being "madrid quality"... van nistelrooy is an example, he wasn't viewed as "madrid quality" and spanish tabloids were far from excited about it, despite him beasting at utd. there's no set definition, its just an arrogant feeling that some clubs have. believe it or not, arsenal fans at one point too had such opinions

The only thing that frustrated me about Raul Albiol was his lack of calmness and composure on the ball against tougher opposition. When he was composed, he was solid. When he was not, you could see it on his entire body. In that state, he was a mistake waiting to happen. As for what's considered to be "Real Madrid quality", I've always been under the impression that new signings are compared to the standard set by iconic players of the past who played in the same positions. Our defensive standard has never been notably high.