The Real Madrid Renovation Part VI - Should Raul Start On The Bench?

Raul Gonzalez Blanco is a paradox.

He is as much a problem as a solution, as much an unwilling inhibitor of progress as a willing instigator of it, as much intimidating as inspiring, as much symbolic of the era that exhibited orgasmic football as of the epoch that was the worst in Real Madrid's recent history.

He can go five games without a goal and then score four in three. He can sink into depression form-wise and then rise like a phoenix. He can run and run and run and do nothing fruitful for 89 minutes and he can then stay still and poke in the winner in the 90th minute. He never had pace, doesn't look good in the air, cannot dribble past a string of defenders, cannot shoot from 30 yards but he somehow-anyhow!-always, always gets the goals.

Raul Gonzalez Blanco is a paradox.

And a legend. Make no mistake about that: he is the King of Spain. Raul is the all-time leading goalscorer for Real Madrid, all-time leading goalscorer for Spain (and he hasn't played for the national team since 2006), all-time leading goalscorer in official UEFA competitions, has three UEFA Champions League medals and has won La Liga a frightening six times. This season he is the highest goalscorer for Real Madrid and has scored 18 times in the league, only two fewer than Gonzalo Higuain.

Number-wise Raul has looked good- rather very good- in the last couple of years, yet he has not really been too convincing and there have been persistent calls for him to be relegated to the derogatory role of a second-half substitute. And with Florentino Perez's all-consuming neo-Galacticos era about to subsume the world with its inane vanity and ridiculous media-cheerleading, Raul's apparently as-certain-as-death's-victory-over-life position in the starting line-up week in week out is seemingly under threat.

Under Threat

Raul might have scored 24 goals in all competitions this season but most of them have been rather too easy. Okay, scoring a goal in professional football is not easy but when you are five yards out in front of an empty net, scoring is not that difficult. Yes, he has ran and ran and ran and has worked hard as much as a water-carrier but for all his work ethic and unalloyed passion and commitment, he has not been very ‘convincing’.

Raul has played in various positions in the last three years. He has played on the flanks, in the 'hole', as a supporting striker, as an out-and-out striker and has even started on the bench and has always worked his bum off for a Royal victory, but he has been praised more for his effort, commitment, passion and love than for the end result. He has disappeared in more matches than he has appeared, has looked obsolete in some of the biggest matches this season, doesn't add much to the side except goals, most of which can be scored by a Peter Crouch or an Andy Johnson, and has been bereft of consistency.

Gonzalo Higuain has been a better and more fruitful striker overall as he has scored crucial goals in crucial matches, been consistent and has expressed his versatility and adaptability. It's been he and not Raul who in the absence of Ruud van Nistelrooy has taken over the baton of leading the Madrid attackline and it would interesting to see how the Argentine pairs up with the Dutch goalmachine when he returns next season.

The Case Against

Ah, there's the problem. At this point of time, it would be safe to assume that Van Nistelrooy would not be part of the summer exodus and that he is certain to slot back straightaway into the first xi next season. In 2006-2007 he won the Pichichi with 25 league goals, scored 16 in 24 last season and before getting injured this term had bagged four in six. RVN’s place in the starting line-up should be confirmed, which leaves just one slot for another striker to move in and that striker should be El Pipita, who at 21 can only get better. Of course if Florentino Perez brings a David Villa, a Karim Benzema or a Carlos Tevez, then things might and probably should change but among the current strikers in the Madrid squad, Higuain is a sure-shot starter.

Even poor old Klass-Jan Huntelaar perhaps deserves to start ahead of Raul. He is akin to his Dutch compatriot Van Nistelrooy in that he doesn't make games entertaining, scores goals from all positions and doesn't need to get too many chances to score. He has 8 goals in 12 starts, having had 15 shots on target while Raul has 18 goals in 33 starts having had 31 shots on target. You do the math.

And if a world class striker in the mould of David Villa or Karim Benzema is added, then, well, starting Raul ahead of them would be a fatal combination of lunacy and short-sightedness. As legendary a player Raul is, it is clear to even the most adamant of Raul-lovers that Villa and Benzema are technically better players, are more athletic and would score goals and create them too.

But Still.....

All of which indicates that in Perez's neo-Galacticos era, it would be prudent to start Raul on the bench for most matches. The arm-band can be passed onto Iker Casillas but the problem is can Raul start on the bench? Yes, Raul will be more than willing to play his role in the rise of his love-club but keeping a figure like Raul on the bench is almost an impossible idea. It, what some would suggest on moral grounds, simply cannot happen.

But it can and probably should.

Subhankar Mondal