Sport
Raul Gonzalez assures Real Madrid academy is ‘best in the world’
Real Madrid Castilla manager Raul Gonzalez is standing up for La Fabrica's youth players, claiming the only difference between their youth products and those who are succeeding at Barcelona is opportunities.
With Marc Casado, Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal impressing at Barcelona, and Real Madrid experiencing an injury crisis but rarely using young players, there has been a lot of talk about the difference between the two approaches. However, during Los Blancos' last match, Carlo Ancelotti used Raul Asencio after Eder Militao was injured.
“Asencio's arrival has given the youth players a boost. It has given them hope of reaching the first team and also allows them to confront the discourse of comparison with Barcelona's youth academy,” he told Sport.
Raul further noted that the opportunities at Real Madrid are not given to the players, despite the fact that in his opinion they are good enough. A statement that can only lead to the conclusion that he thinks Carlo Ancelotti is not fair to them.
“Real Madrid has experienced one of the best moments in its history and the demands of the first team are not easy at all. Asencio's arrival has shown that the boys are prepared, like others who have passed through here and triumphed in other competitions. The Real Madrid youth team is prepared and has shown it.”
“The only thing missing is that there will be opportunities that arise due to circumstances and that may have come to other clubs. What is clear is that Madrid is the best academy.”
Ancelotti has rarely used academy players at Real Madrid, and they too have not been given a major role by Zinedine Zidane before him. He has reasoned in the past that it is very difficult to get into the first team, and that his job is to win games and not to bring players through. Recent reports claim that even with the injuries, Ancelotti lacks confidence in the quality of the youngsters coming out of Castilla.