Real Madrid fans demand a youth team and Raúl González Blanco is emphatic: the players who are trained at home have the level to play in the first team. They just have to be put in place.
After more than seven months of Carlo Ancelotti’s inappropriate statements about his role and the opportunities that young players should have in the first team, Raúl González Blanco enters the scene to give his view on an issue that is causing a stir among fans. “The Real Madrid youth academy is prepared and is the best,” is the opinion of the Castilla coach.
His words can be described as exaggerated at a time of splendour at Barcelona and a foreign coach who has just arrived and who is not considered with young players. Hansi Flick, due to needs or lack of signings, for whatever reason, is getting the most out of La Masia.
We begin with the unfortunate words made by Ancelotti on May 4, the day Arda Güler played his first game as a starter at the Bernabéu and Real Madrid, with the league on track, were crowned champions against Cádiz. The Italian coach was asked about the situation of the Turk and stated, tactlessly, that “Real Madrid asks me to win games and not give minutes to the youngsters.” These words did not go down well with the fans who ask for more courage and a commitment to the youth players.
Ancelotti was too honest . He did not hide his way of thinking and working with the youth team and young signings who have a hard time getting into the game. Arda Güler did not play a single minute in the Champions League last season and his situation has not improved. Carletto is not taking any risks with the Turk or Endrick. The same thing happens with the youth team players, although in this respect he cannot be blamed entirely for the club’s sales policy. The youth team is there to make money.
Until the need to resort to a home-grown centre-back arose due to the plague of injuries and Raúl Asencio appeared with a brilliant debut at the Bernabéu that reopened the debate on the youth academy. Ancelotti is criticised for not giving more opportunities to the youth academy and to youngsters. The club’s policy, despite winning leagues and Champions Leagues, does not fully convince the fans who demand an identity from the youth academy. Winning titles and going to the Cibeles is wonderful, the best. Even so, there is a ‘but’ in the management of Florentino and Ancelotti, with a policy of selling youth academy players and with very little presence in the first team.
The bet on Raúl Asencio
Real Madrid fans demand a youth team and Raúl reminds us that the players who are trained at the club are not just there to do business. They have the level to play in the first team, knowing the demands that there are and in a squad that includes some of the best footballers in the world.
Raúl has said what many Real Madrid fans are thinking at an opportune moment after the emergence of Raúl Asencio , a player he has trained and who is in the dynamics of the first team due to the injuries of Militao and Carvajal , while waiting for David Alaba to recover and for the club to evaluate whether to go to the winter market to sign a defender.
Saying that Real Madrid’s youth system is the best is not just a message to Barcelona. It is a matter to which Raúl dedicates a lot of effort and work as a trainer of footballers who have to demonstrate their level to reach the first team. To confirm this, they have to be put in. This is also what Raúl refers to when he says that “the demands of the first team are not easy, but with the incursion of Raúl Asencio it is shown that the boys are prepared . Like others who have been here and are succeeding in other Leagues or in other teams.”
These words were spoken by Raúl González Blanco after Castilla’s last match (defeated by Antequera), proud of having managed to get a youth player to finally make it to the first team to stay. For now, only in the short term. It is a triumph for Raúl and also a vindication of the talent that exists in the Real Madrid youth academy.