One. I always love to see how Madrid players come dressed for the concentración, because they all have their own styles, some good, and some bad.
Yesterday, Sergio, Cris and Iker were on the bad side (as well as anyone carrying LV luggage), while Esteban, Álvaro (minus the LV suitcase) and Fernando were on the good side. I’m quite impressed with how our canteranos dress.
Also on the bad side: Kaká and Marcelo’s gesture. It’s also always entertaining to see the players struggling to get up the slope where the bus is parked, as you can see here and in the pictures below.
It’s also fun to see the individual touches the boys bring to the official gear. Álvaro opts for shorts and tights, just as he does during the training sessions, Sergio keeps his hat on (and sucks on a lollipop) and once again Xabi is carrying a book. And a different one from last time too! And Albiol accessorizes with the best accessory of them all, a great smile.
Two. According to today’s Marca, Mou used bottles of water and Coke to explain the changes in tactical strategies to the players during the halftime of the game against Villarreal. That night, as soon as Mou entered the locker room, not even taking the time to take off his coat, he turned on a screen, but it didn’t light up. So, the coach began to collect bottles of water, and placed them on the floor, while asking his assistants to bring other bottles from around the locker room. Mou arranged the bottles, with Real Madrid as the bottles of water, and Villarreal as Coca Cola. He began moving the bottles around to explain the changes to his players, saying things like, “Xabi, you’re this bottle, and you’re this one, Sami.”
In case you have trouble picturing this, Marca kindly provided a drawing of how they assumed the locker room looked during the halftime break.
This is the real takeaway point of the article. I LOVE the attention to detail – each player’s hair is completely correct (Sergio’s even has shine!) although perhaps they were a bit generous with Carvalho. And that’s exactly how I imagine Ozi and Cris looking, and I love Iker with the glove propping up his chin and the pensive look. I wonder why they decided to give Albiol a drink. And check out the reserves! Kaká has his arm around Sami!
Three. Gonzalo Higuaín was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon (he came out walking) and is resting up in his hotel in Chicago. He told the press that “everything had gone well.” A fun note: Pipita took a taxi back to the hotel as a precaution despite the distance being only 100 or so meters, because the sidewalks were iced over and covered with snow (the fact that he wasn’t wearing a jacket probably influenced the decision too). He’s scheduled to stay in Chicago until next Wednesday, leaving after one more revision with Dr. Fessler on Tuesday.
Four. We can expect to see the return of former canterano Juanfran Torres tonight, after he signed a four-year deal with Atlético. He last played for Real Madrid in 2006.
Five. Over at the Sami Khedira Fanpage, there is cute article on Sami Khedira, from his former club Stuttgart’s magazine Dunkelrot (I love that mutual love still exists between Sami and his former club!). The interview took place when Stuttgart’s youth team was in Madrid to play Getafe. They meet at the Real Café (go there if you have a chance!), and take a visit around the stadium and museum. Sami tells the magazine that Mou is the best, and that Iker and Cristiano are “quite normal.” Go take a look!
Six. Nothing too fun in this week’s Crackòvia episode, but we did get a musical number between FP, JM, Sergio and Kaká. There are subtitles in Spanish when they sing, so you can get the point. The basic point is that Mou wants a forward, FP tells him there’s no money and to use Kaká, but Mou doesn’t want Kaká.
Seven. And José Mourinho is one of the models of Adidas and Porsche Design Sport’s 2010 fall/winter line, along with Stefan Edberg and Jochen Schümen. He makes a pretty good model, no? The outfit is totally him.
