La Liga Review

Lassana Diarra: What type of player have Real Madrid signed?

Real Madrid have acted on their poor recent form by unveiling their latest big-money signing. France international Lassana Diarra has joined the Spanish club from Premier League side Portsmouth and it is hoped that the midfielder will have a positive affect on their season.

The 23-year-old passed a medical on Monday and has signed a long-term contract that keeps him at the Bernabeu until 2013. The fee for the player is expected to be around £18m, so it is easy to see why Portsmouth couldn’t turn it down.

Speaking about the move, Diarra says that it is an ‘honour’ to be wearing the Real Madrid shirt. Real president Ramon Calderon then claimed that the midfielder will have a ‘great future’ in Spain because he is an ‘exceptional player’.

It has to be said that Calderon is not wrong when he praises the talents of Diarra. He has shown in the few appearances that he has made for Portsmouth that he is a player of pure class and one that should suit the leap in standard. His ability on the ball is superb and he reminds me of a Real Madrid legend from the past – Claude Makelele.

It would be money well spent for Juande Ramos should Diarra manage to emulate the performances of his fellow Frenchman. Despite selling Makelele to Chelsea a number of years ago, many argue that he has never been replaced. Perhaps this is no longer the case.

This is a lot of weight on Diarra’s shoulders, but I would place a football bet on the fact that he is prepared for the challenge ahead. He is a very ambitious individual, after all. In an era of football where many players are happy to sit on the sidelines, Diarra is desperate to play football and make the most of his career.

When he wasn’t getting a game at Chelsea, he decided to move to Arsenal. When he wasn’t getting a game at Arsenal, he moved to Portsmouth. It was a smaller club, but he knew that he would be playing football every week. He also knew that it was a chance to show his talents to the big clubs, like Madrid, around the world.

One thing I will express a slight concern about it why didn’t it work out for Diarra at Chelsea or Arsenal? Arsene Wenger in particular normally keeps faith with youngsters, but for some reason he was happy to move Diarra on. Perhaps there was a personality clash between the two?

That is all in the past now though and Diarra must focus on improving Madrid’s league position. The Spanish giants currently sit 5th in the league after a run of three defeats in their last four games. Ramos did record a victory in his first home game against Valencia though and Diarra will be hoping that this will be the start of better fortunes for his new team.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

New Real Madrid boss eyes Premier stars

By Guest Writer Thomas Rooney

Newly appointed Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos has set his sights on signing two Premier League players at the first given opportunity. It is being reported that Ramos wants to bring Tottenham midfielders David Bentley and Aaron Lennon to the Bernabau.

More on this in a minute, but first I have to talk about the decision to appoint Ramos in the first place. To be honest, I see it as a clear sign of Real Madrid’s desperation. They sit nine points behind leaders Barcelona in 5th place and a 4-3 defeat to Ramos’ former club Sevilla was the final straw for outgoing boss Bernd Schuster.

In response to this they have appointed a man who watched on as his reputation fell apart during a dire spell in charge of Tottenham. Ramos did win the Carling Cup last season with the English club, but the start of this campaign was their worst ever to a league campaign and it cost the Spaniard his job.

After spending so much money in the summer, Ramos’ team sat rock bottom on the Premier League and the player’s confidence was lower than ever.

With this in mind, it is rather bizarre that the most famous club in the world, Real Madrid, have left it just 45 days after this nightmare to leave him in charge of rebuilding their season.

In fairness to Ramos, it may just be a case of not coping with the culture change, the language barrier and the different style of football. He did, after all, have great success with Sevilla in Spain and this is what the Real Madrid officials will be basing their appointment on.

Like I have mentioned though, Ramos is keen to return to Tottenham – but only to buy two of their best players. Bentley and Lennon have played a huge part in Tottenham’s revival since Ramos left, but it is thought that they are being targeted by the new Real Madrid boss.

To be honest though, I can’t see this happening at all. The atmosphere in the Tottenham dressing room was so bad during Ramos’ reign that I doubt either player would want to work with him again – especially this soon after he left the club. Bentley himself has even described Ramos’ management as ‘shocking’ and went on to say that ‘We have not been together; we have not known where we are running or what we have been doing.’

With this in mind, I wouldn’t place a football bet on any of Tottenham’s players jumping ship to Real Madrid anytime soon!

The focus for Ramos needs to be the games leading up to January though as they look to climb back up the table. His first task is to take his team to Barcelona this weekend – talk about a tough start! I suppose it gives him the chance to win over the Madrid fans straight away!

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting