Midweek Hodgepodge/Talking Points
Posted by atleti on March 4, 2008
A bit of a busy few days for me recently- I apologise for the lack of entries and commenting on other blogs. I hope to get back to my normal routine soon enough.
KUN TALK OF THE TOWN
Ever since his performance against Barcelona, the press have been gushing about him- and rightly so. KUN is world-class and arguably one of the best strikers we’ve ever had at the club.
Meanwhile, Maradona on our defence after the Barcelona game:
“How did I see my ‘son-in-law’ against Barcelona? When Ronaldinho scored early on, I thought Barça were going to run all over them, but then Sergio awakened…He showed his quality and began to make life hard for Milito and Puyol…However, of course, the Atletico defence is like that of Flandria, but in the end everything went well.”
OK, I know what you’re thinking: Who cares what Maradona thinks. I normally don’t pay much mind to his press talks, but this is Atleti-related so I had to include it.
INJURY UPDATE NEWS
Leo Franco has officially recovered from his injury. He’s back to full training with the squad. I don’t expect him to play right away, but his return to 100% match fitness means the eventual end of Falcón’s time as second choice goalkeeper. I wonder, then, What will become of the promising young goalkeeper this summer– Will we keep him? Or…?
Seitaridis is nearing the end of his recuperation and is expected to re-join the team during training sessions soon.
Simão seems to have picked up a slight knock and trained lightly recently– nothing severe, thankfully.
Motta? Well, he’ll be out for the rest of the season. It’s a shame we didn’t sign him on a pay-as-you-play contract during the pre-season…
OUR NEXT FIVE FIXTURES
Zaragoza v Atlético
Atlético v Levante
Sevilla v Atlético
Villarreal v Atlético
Atlético v Almeria
Not a bad schedule, all things considered. Sevilla & Villarreal away will be the toughest of the bunch.
Simão on the rest of the season:
“All of the twelve games left are important, and we must start with a win against Zaragoza, who are having a difficult time at the moment, but have a lot of quality and do not deserve to be in the position they currently occupy. It will be a difficult encounter, but we come into it in good spirits and must continue a positive run.”
RUMOUR-MILL ON FIRE
Fiorentina’s Czech defender Ujfalusi has once again been linked to us.
AS also reports that we might be ‘fishing’ for talent at Liverpool this summer: Benitez, Xabi, and Reina. Xabi, in particular, appears to be a player that has fallen our of favour at Liverpool. Reina’s father played for Atleti many years ago, so he would be more than welcome to the club.
Anything missing?
Armon said
I thought ujfalusi had already signed a pre-contract, or am I mistaken?
atleti said
That’s been a rumour, too. He hasn’t come out & said anything yet. I think a large part of this depends on whether we qualify for Champions next season. He’s been linked to a couple other clubs in England, too.
Ram said
Falcon will remain second or third choice next season also as Abbiti will go back to Italy.
atleti said
Would be good to keep him. If we manage to sign Reina, then Leo Franco would be 2nd choice.
Ram said
I doubt whether Leo will accept to be 2nd choice. Might as well sell him.
Armon said
Ya honestly I was never too impressed by him. He made extraordinary saves while also making extraordinary mistakes. Honestly I wouldn’t even be mad w/ falcon as our number 1, I thought he was magnificent in the copa
atleti said
I definitely agree on Leo. He is an OK keeper– far from top-notch and hardly reliable. He’s had more than his fair share of crazy goalkeeping moments. I’d hardly feel bad if he was reduced to 2nd choice keeper or left completely.
Mohammed said
It’s very frustrating to look for good goalkeepers and defenders. There are very few and many of them are settled in their clubs.
Ram said
Javi Garcia of Osasuna (Real Madrid youth product) is rumoured to be a done deal. $3 Million.
atleti said
Man, I hope we don’t sign Javi García. He’s a defensive midfielder– we already have Camacho who has proven to be ready for the top team. Javi is also a product of Real Madrid Castilla.
Hopefully we’re still pursuing Heitinga.
fernando said
Los cuatro siguientes partidos son claves para llegar a la Champions League. Un abrazo.
Billie said
Don’t belive anything.
atleti said
Words to live by.