ontd_football | We need a nickname for this guy people!

Today Jorge Valdano spoke to Real Madrid's official website. A few things he said that made me very happy:

“Real Madrid has a lot of people at work. Decisions are made by consent. Having the experience of a man like Zinedine Zidane is great. It's a privilege to have him here and he will help us a lot.”

Has been said before, but it just makes me so happy :)

“Pellegrini is very good at dealing with changes. We will be able to talk for hours about sporting matters on Tuesday. We will only sign players the coach likes. It wouldn’t be common sense to do otherwise. We are working on building a new team. New men will arrive and others will have to leave. We did it in the past and we’ll do it again. Pellegrini is polite and has firm opinions. His teams have a well-defined style. He is true to his ideals.”

This is I think what we all were hoping for.

”Raul has done nothing but offer solutions to Real Madrid for 15 years. He is the team’s all-time top-scorer and an intelligent man that knows where his place is. I have great admiration for him. He is a true Madridista. He could never be a problem. I’m very fond of him and often talk to him, but the coach will ultimately decide who plays.”

Is this the signal that Pellegrini could bench Raúl? His position in the dressing room has given him an "untouchable" aura, but age is catching up with him. As much as I love and adore him it is time for him to step back gradually.

Interview at realmadrid.com.

In his first interview with the official website Pellegrini said:

Does every coach no matter what corner of the world they begin their career dream of ending up at Real Madrid?

It’s a coincidence, but I did think it. I told my brother when I first began that no Chilean had ever reached such heights. I started off and never thought this was possible. We work hard to try to go as far as we can, and alter successful campaigns in Chile, Venezuela and Argentina I was able to move to Spain. People here now have an idea about who I am and how I like my teams to play. My style is quite obvious and I want to implement it to the fullest extent. I want Real Madrid to play the same way my other teams have. Valdano said that is what the Bernabeu likes to see. I arrived at just the right time.

The president said that your job is to place Real Madrid back on the world stage, similar to what you did With Villarreal by accomplishing unimaginable goals.

What we accomplished at Villarreal was unimaginable when I first arrived. They would have thought I was crazy had I proposed such success. But the truth of the matter is that I am a very practical person and I believe dreams can come true. Dethroning other institutions and putting Real Madrid back where it belongs is a great challenge.

If you, like me, raised your eyebrows at the "dethroning other institutions" part, I would like to turn your attention to the part where he says that he wants us to play his style. I quote:

Mobility and fast combination are a large part of Pellegrini's tactical methods. Defensive precision and the tension with which players on the back line are expected to experience games are just as important as the creativity and imagination implemented in the final decisive meters. Pellegrini explained, "My philosophy is related to having good technical players. A player must be steadfast in one part of the pitch in order to close open spaces run relays, crosses, come out of his own side of the pitch... and you have to let him invent in the last 25 meters. I tell players, "Let's manage ten set-pieces. We won't be successful eight of the ten times, but we will win the match with the other two." Creative football is hard if you aren't able to combine with others or be comfortable touching the ball. If a coach gets upset the first time a player makes a mistake in the final meters, the player will do things practically, but not make a difference. Making mistakes while trying new things is better than plain football."

For the people who don't know the way our new coach likes his coffee this could be helpful. His position as a player was centre-back, which is a good thing. Maybe he'll call mars and ask them where our defense is hanging out.

A short recap of the clubs he has managed over the years:

Universidad de Chile (1988-1989)
Palestino (1990)
Chile U-20 (1991)
Palestino (1991-1992)
O'Higgins (1992-1993)
Universidad Católica (1994-1996)
Palestino (1998)
Andorra (1998)
LDU Quito (1999-2000)
San Lorenzo de Almagro (2001-2002)
River Plate (2003-2004)
Villarreal (2004-2009)

Thank you wikipedia.

And last but not least: his press conference. I think every madrista should read it. It took away a lot of my doubts about him, and though we can never be sure, I think he is the right coach for this project. I'd quote the whole damn thing but it's better that I just put the link here and let you see for yourself...

This post took me quite a lot of time and I'm supposed to be doing stuff but I'll just say that this calmed my nerves and that I can do it better now ;)