Raul- A Footballing Genius

For a guy who's not particularly tall or quick, you've got to say the RAUL Gonzalez of Real Madrid is quite a phenomenal footballer. I saw him in the flesh recently in Madrid's 10th consecutive league win when they beat Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago. I was looking at him all through the game and I was wondering what exactly it is that this man does to still be the linchpin of Real Madrid.

Granted we had terrible seats and if I'm being honest I was still a bit gatty having tanked up on Mojitos all day in an Irish bar off Las Ramblas before the game. What could I do? It was happy hour all day. It was the only way I could sit through watching the Rugby and subsequently much of the football match was a bit of a blur. It didn't help that we were seated behind the goals and part of a very large running track (it was after all the Olympic running track). The Real Madrid fans in our section didn't seem to mind and no one complained so neither did I. In fact we saw ourselves later on the television when the camera flashed to the Madrid crowd after Guti scored the free kick.

In any case it didn't look to me like Raul was doing very much. He wasn't afraid to drop back, make tackles and get stuck in. There was something very English in his approach but he wasn't making any impact but then none of the Madrid players were and it didn't look like they were going to win the game until Guti benefited from a goalkeeping error to give Madrid the lead in the 68th minute. Another routine 3 points inevitably followed but not before the genius intervention of the maestro himself.

Taking a pass on the edge of the D, Raul stroked the ball into the bottom corner of the net just out of reach of an admittedly bumbling goalkeeper. The shot much like the man himself was executed with the minimum of fuss. One touch was all he needed and with such an economy of power that it was just his awareness and accuracy to which it past the goalkeeper.

Raul has been doing this throughout his career. He has always found himself in the right places and he is surely one of the greatest finishers of the modern game. It is his ability to find the space and apply the desired finish to whatever chances come his way are what have been such a great and durable footballer at the top level. The Madridistas know and appreciate this fact.

Madrid fans have never been slow to criticise players they don't believe are fit to wear the famous all white shirt but they will never criticise Raul, partly I suppose because he is the embodiment of Real Madrid shown in his industry and unwillingness to be anything less than number 1 but he is also revered simply because he is such a deadly finisher.

His stats speak for themselves. He has won six La Liga titles, three Champions League Finals. He is Real Madrid's all time top scorer with 312 goals as well as the all time top scorer in the Champions League with 64 goals. He also holds the national record of 44 goals for Spain. There comes a time when the excuse that he happened to play on good teams just starts to wear a bit thin. As if that wasn't enough, even now at the age of 31, he is still the top scorer in La Liga while in 1994 he became Real Madrid's youngest ever player at the age of 17.

There is a distinct lack of appreciation for the likes of Raul in a modern game where Dirk Kuyt and his ilk are considered indispensable. I am certain that Raul is suffering more than anyone over last Wednesday night's defeat at Anfield but what price do Liverpool pay for such victories. As long as Benetiz is in charge, no local player in the mould of Raul will ever get a chance. Had Raul been a Liverpudlian, he would never have lasted at Anfield.

He would have been shipped off to places like Leeds and Cardiff City long ago just like another great finisher of modern times, Robbie Fowler. Raul wouldn't even make a top Premier League side today because he wouldn't be considered fast enough or strong enough but remember this: while Liverpool fans thrill themselves at the sight of Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel, Real Madrid still have Raul Gonzalez- The Greatest Finisher of our Time.