If Madrid is combing the market for a goalkeeper it’s because Adán does not want to stay.
My job is to convince Antonio to stay, & I have asked Iker to help. Adán is the second-choice keeper, & if we cannot convince him to stay we’ll have to find a solution.
Let us all appreciate the faces of drunk Xabi.
At Barajas airport
Training gifs, 4.13.12
1st Half:
Pre-match gifs, 3.10.12
RM Training Gifs, 2.23.12
Arriving in Moscow, 2.19.12
RM: Prepping for Ajax (12.6.11)
Training. In the last workout before leaving for Amsterdam, Mourinho had 31 players at his disposal, including nine canteranos. Two groups trained on different pitches. Casillas, Cristiano, Ronaldo, Pepe, Marceloa, Khedira, Lass, Pacheco, Martínez, Rios, Gónzalez, Plano & Lucas trained on Pitch 3. The rest of the first teamers, Jesé, Mendes, & Mejías worked out on Pitch 2 in a more intense fashion. Carvalho continued recovery of his injured knee. [video - Spanish]
Call-ups. Mourinho named 19 players in his squad for Wednesday’s match.
Keepers - Adán, Mejías, Pacheco
Defenders - Albiol, Coentrão, Varane, Arbeloa, Mendes
Midfielders - Alonso, Kaká, Di María, Özil, Granero, Altintop, Callejón, Sahin
Forwards - Jesé, Benzema, Higuaín
Presser. Mourinho - The coach did not want to give away his entire lineup for the Ajax match. He only announced three players who would appear: Benzema, Adán & Higuaín. Mourinho also stated that of the three academy players, Pacheco will have to watch from the stands.
When asked about Frank de Boer’s comments on el Clásico, he remarked, “[De Boer] should be worried about tomorrow’s game. I’m worried about tomorrow’s game. If he’s thinking about el Clásico & not tomorrow, maybe that will give us the advantage.”
On his team’s strength: “I make my players stronger with my work, & they make me stronger with theirs. We’ve been together for a year & are better now. This is a natural evolution. A coach who doesn’t make his players better isn’t any good, & the same goes for players who don’t make their coach better.” [videos - English / Spanish]
Adán - “I’ve been working a long time to be ready so that fans don’t notice Iker is absent when he doesn’t play. I’m ready, & the coach has faith in me. This means I’m doing a good job; that’s why he’s giving me the chance to play.”
Arrival. When the team arrived in Amsterdam, they were greeted by about 100 fans at the airport. The blancos then left for their hotel, Hotel Okura. Wednesday’s game kicks off at 8:45 pm CET / 2:45 pm EST.
[Photo gallery / Where to Watch]
