These observations in which I look at the history of Real Madrid, its players on loan to Castilla, tactical details and other relevant thoughts, are now commonplace. All previous editions can be found here. Yesterday was Raúl González's 45th birthday and that is the only reason to write something about him and even record a monologue about one of the greats of all time. The history of Real Madrid is destined to be remembered, loved and commented on in bars. Decades from now we should be remembering Vinicius' goal at the Stade de France, the unity of the 2021-2022 team, the transcendence of Karim Benzemas, the alpha performances of Eduardo Camavinga from the bench and the unforgettable comebacks. Celebrate the classics.
Raúl is as classic as he seems. If there's anyone you should be talking about regularly long after his retirement, it's him. He is a symbol of Real Madrid. For years, when the Bernabéu would swing the bat signal in hopes of a moment of genius in a big game, it was for him. He called up so many times the Champions League Finals Classics knockout matches and to begin with he had the same cry for revenge and war face that we saw with Sergio Ramos Fernando Hierro Iker Casillas Cristiano Ronaldo Luka Modric Karim Benzema Marcelo Roberto Carlos Emilio Butragueño Alfredo di Stefano and other legends.
Raúl had bitten. He maybe he had the label of a quiet and shy kid, but he was the opposite. He was a peacemaker, but he also defended his teammates, taking on opponents and ripping them apart with intelligence and a diverse bag of offensive tricks. The same intensity is seen on the sidelines now at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano. I've seen a lot of speech in the last 24 hours, naturally, from people who didn't see him play asking what he was like. A common response: he wasn't good at anything, but he worked hard. There is some truth in the statement. Fernando Hierro himself once said that Raúl is not a 10 in anything but an 8.5 in everything. There are many who do not see him as talented because he did not make spinners and elastics, although he has examples of all of them in his career.
But labeling him as a hard-working, untalented player misses a lot and ends up putting vague nicknames on one of the greatest players in Real Madrid history. Raúl arguably had the best first touch in the world in his heyday. He could bring a ball down at any speed and height as if he were pulling a feather towards a magnet. No one could sign a goalkeeper like him and no one could replicate that aspect of his finishing at such a prolific rate. When I spoke to Julian Draxler in 2019 he told me: I remember one time in training I asked him how he does the chip. His response: It's easy. If the goalkeeper is too close, just hit him 90% of the time, it's a goal! He was smiling and I was like it was so easy that everyone could do it.
Luis Figo once said that Raúl was the best player of all time. Pep Guardiola stated that Raúl is the most important player in the history of Spanish football. Sir Alex Ferguson publicly admitted that he was more afraid of Raúl than of Figo and Zidane. And he wasn't wrong, Raul grilled Manchester United with a massive four goals over the course of three Champions League knockout games and the only reason he didn't score more for them was because he missed game four.
Beyond that Raúl's talent for me was intelligence in the same way that Thanos is one of the most intelligent entities in the Marvel universe. He knew where to be and was reliable in almost any position. He led the league in scoring one year at left back. When Vicente del Bosque fielded Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario and Raúl together, Raúl often had to play the deeper quartet because he was so good defensively and in his union game. Go back and watch one of my favorite games: Real Madrid beat Manchester United 3-1 in the first leg of the 2003 Champions League quarter-final. Raúl scored a brace and did everything else too. He was a workhorse. A tactical glove for any tactician. You never needed to worry about balancing the lead or anything like that when he was on the field. He did everything.
Beyond that, the reason why I celebrate Raúl as much as I can, I will do it again on his 46th birthday and any other milestone, is because it meant a lot to me and to many other madridistas. I had pictures of him on my wall growing up. He was my idol. He would have been the insufferable kid posting Raúl propaganda if Twitter had existed in the late 90s, early 2000s, especially when he was snubbed by Balon Dor. But, I am not alone. Raúl was the favorite player of many fans during that time. just like david
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