The Void Left By Ruud

Ruud van Nistelrooy was a striker that made me leap off my couch more times than I can possibly count. In his years spent at Real Madrid, he was a revelation. The Dutchman scored 59 goals for Real Madrid since he arrived from Manchester United in the summer of 2006. His Madrid downfall happened to be his long term knee injury last season that ended his campaign leaving him with only 7 goals for the season. When Madrid brought in high profile goal scorers the fallowing summer by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim Benzema, Ruud was forced to watch his new teammates early in the season because he was still in the recovery process. When he finally did return, he rose to the occasion and took his chance. He was given 15 minutes to impress Pellegrini against Xerez. He did just that. He had an assist and scored a goal. However, he injured himself again in the process and La Liga never saw the Dutchman again. Through fitness problems that still exist and tonsillitis that kept him out of action in the latter part of the fall campaign, he was never able to burst back into the Real Madrid first team. We will always cherish the time RVN spent in a white shirt. We won two La Ligas during his first two seasons. Perhaps the squad would have been better off if he would have been healthy for the whole of his third season. Good luck at Hamburg. From myself and all sane Madridistas, Gracias.

Now the question looms. With a striker's spot open on the mighty Real Madrid, who fills it and when? There are several options. In actuality, when you are Real Madrid, only few options aren't possibilities. I'm going to review them, give you my opinion, then you can make your own personal decision.

The most recent policy has been to buy big. A blind man could see Madrid spent hundreds of millions of Euros this past summer to bring in the cream of the crop. Does Madrid opt for a David Villa, a Luis Fabiano, or someone of similar caliber? Hey don't get me wrong. Whoever is scoring goals in a white shirt is more than welcome by me. However there could be negative consequences if we buy big again. We already have Higuain, Benzema, and Raul. We all know currently, despite his injury, Higuain is on fire. Benzema has lacked form lately. He looked to be hitting stride before the winter break but I think the pause broke his momentum. He has been floating around ever since. Raul hasn't started since the beginning of the season. With a new big name in the camp one of these names would be weeded out. Higuain looks to have established a solid place as the starting striker. So ultimately Raul or Benzema would be the player to lose out. Benzema, I think still has along way to come. I would hate to see him ride the pine, get unhappy and leave. Then later on, when he is scoring goals somewhere else, we look at him as one of those players that we should have never let go. So that leaves Raul. Can we really do that to Raul? We have parted ways with loyal players so poorly in the past so many times, I might cry if we just weeded Raul out. I want him to retire in white. He deserves it. I've always felt that way about it.

We have several players out on loan that we could be brought back in the summer. This would avoid shoving one of our already established players out off to the side. The team is constantly talking about how they need time to gel, a big name might set back this "gelling" process even more so. Negredo or even Castilla striker, Szalai could be options to bring back and fill that spot. They have already been part of the team or trained with the team so the are familiar with the players, training staff, and surroundings. Not to mention, everyone would love so see a Madrid cantanero succeed in the first team. Szalai was just loaned to Mainz this transfer window and is yet to even have a fair chance to make his mark there. Negeredo is 24 years old and has been loaned out to Almeria twice, and now is on loan with Sevilla. In his two seasons with Almeria he totaled 29 goals but this season with Sevilla he has only managed 5. It's a little challenging for spots up top at Sevilla with the like of Kanoute and Luis Fabiano as fellow strikers but Negredo has started 14 league games. He is popular amongst many Madrid faithful despite never getting a true chance. Also, there are players within the system who reside with Castilla that could possibly fill the void. There are some promising prospects but are they ready for first team action yet? I would love to see a Castilla player step up to the challenge and make that spot his own. Pellegrini has made an effort to bring up Castilla players to play with the first team on a regular basis this season.

The third option I would consider would be an investment. Why not by small? We bought Higuain when he was 19 and look how he has turned out. I know the Hazard kid isn't technically an out and out striker and I bet he wouldn't sell cheap but he is a threat to any opposition's goal mouth. There is also that "next Drogba" character who plays somewhere in Belgium (his name escapes me at the moment). I say putting scouting to use and buying someone young and promising could pay off.

I'm going to give you my opinion straight. I don't want to buy big again. I say we run with the already enormous amount of talent we have. Big names would just set back an already adapting team. The latter two of my choices would be the best decisions for me. Ethically, I can't bump Raul out with a big name. It would hurt me too much. And I'm not ready to give up on Benzema in only half a season where he hasn't started the majority of the matches. I am more patient than that. My favorite decision would be to pull back Negredo. He is a Madrid product. He is quality enough to pick up the slack if someone is injured and can also pose a threat for a starting spot if any one of our strikers is lacking form. He seems to fit the equation. Not to mention he is 24 and has room to improve. My second favorite option would be the by small and mold an already talented player into gem with the first team, just like we did with Pipita.

That's what I think but what do you think? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. There could be options I may have over looked? Or maybe you would want to see a David Villa, Drogba,Torres,or some other Galactico amongst the camp? Anyway you put it, there is a spot to be filled at Real Madrid. One more time, thanks Ruud. (Clapping hands)

Bobby