Mourinho: "Kaka is not a problem"

Jose Mourinho

What did you like most about your team?
We and LA Galaxy wanted to train. I spoke yesterday with Bruce (Galaxy's coach) and he said he would play with two teams, me too. He is playing and fighting in the championship and we have four days of training. It was a very good training game and the players played 45 minutes. Players who came from the Euro 2012 were fresher. For the others was difficult because cost them a little more to assimilate all the work. This is normal. I liked the attitude of the team. The team played with joy, wanted to win and to leave a good image to the people. I have been here for many preseasons and always prepare these matches in this way. We also appreciate the attacking play performed by LA Galaxy.

Will Real Madrid recover the huge investment made to sign Kaka?
It's a complex question with a difficult answer. He is a great player. If he stays with us we will try to get his best as last year, because although he had not a brilliant season, he helped us. Last season he gave us his contribution in the title that we won. Until August 31 we want him to stay. He is a hard working guy and is important for his teammates. In some matches he can help us a lot.

How are you working with Kaka?
We work well. We've been through a lot. He spent the first season recovering from injuries from previous seasons. The second campaign gave a good contribution. I know him and I know what he has in mind. We have talked and we don't need to send messages through the press. The important thing is that he should choose the best for him and his family. If he continues, we will be delighted. If he decides to leave for his happiness, we hope he can be happy in other team. For me there will be no problem if he wants to play for Real Madrid.

What about the defensive line?
The first match was this. The other matches were played with the youth team players. We can say we started training four days ago when arrived to the preseason the players who played the Euro 2012. It is the first game we played. It is a moment in which the teams are not perfect and are not in good physical conditions. We still need a few kilometers in the legs, so we will have to play more games in this preseason. We will play against Mexican, Italian and British teams. We will grow slowly. The moment of truth is when you start the league, which will be the time to respond. The team should be ready by then.

What is the most important in these early days in Los Angeles?
The most important thing today was to show the work of training on the field. We wanted to work hard and this first match has been good. That is the most important. Players are ambitious and the preseason is very short. We have to play hard. I am a very lucky coach. I have a fantastic group, hungry to win. We face another season in good conditions.

About Sahin?
Real Madrid is very difficult team to play. It is not easy. Now we have a peaceful situation because he wants to play every game, but it is complicated. If he stays, great. We have Xabi, Lass, Granero, Khedira, Özil. If he stays, we will be very happy and will encourage him to play.

LA Galaxy 1 - 5 Real Madrid (Friendly)

Real Madrid did what they came to do in this game. They won decisively and did so whilst putting on a spectacle for the more than 30,000 spectators who were at the Home Depot Center. Mourinho’s players were far superior but did not let themselves go and showed off their footballing repertoire with good passing, touches and shots that left everyone happy. Real Madrid's tour in the US could not have started better. Winning whilst exciting the crowd. Galaxy’s stadium a small Bernabeu filled with white shirts and flags.

Higuain scored the first goal of the match

Real Madrid started in Los Angeles with the first of four friendlies that Mourinho's team will play in the US. The coach opted for a 4-2-3-1, with Higuaín as centre forward. In the defensive-midfield roles Alonso and Lass and in the line of three in front of them Kaká, Callejón and Di María. The Whites made it clear from the opening whistle they wanted the win and also to do with goals and entertaining the people who had come to see them in the nearly full Home Depot Center. In the 2nd minute a Di María through ball was collected by Higuaín in the area before he calmly beat Saunders. 1-0. A minute later Di María could have scored but his shot was off target. Mou’s players imposed themselves with authority opposed upon some Galaxy players that offered little resistance. In the 11th made the score 2-0. Di María pushed himself for every minute that he played, controlling the ball up front and comfortably hitting a strong shot at goal.

It seemed that the Whites had already won the match in less than a quarter of an hour and could begin to have fun and enjoy playing. But it didn’t quite happen like that. With nothing to lose the North Americans launched an attack and could have cut the deficit in half through Robbie Keane in the 19th minute but his shot well blocked by Albiol. In the 22nd minute the score became 2-1. Beckham crossed in a good free kick to the far post which was touched by González and Lopes before crossing the goal line. Galaxy began to make the match exciting again. They began to believe and pushed forward for an equalizer, but that is a dangerous thing to do against Real Madrid. In the 35th a counter attack led by Higuaín and Kaká ended with the ball at the feet of Callejón who shot across Saunders. 3-1 and the Whites widened the gap on the scoreboard. It was the youth academy player’s third goal of the pre-season.

In the 38th minute Casillas got a touch that prevented the American’s second goal. The match was back and forth and the chances kept coming. In the 40th minute Mourinho made his first change and youth academy player Alex came on for his brother Nacho. In the 43rd minute Higuaín could have made it 4-1 but the goalkeeper and a defender managed to clear the ball between them. That is how the first half finished.

Real Madrid started the second half completely different team. Eleven new players took the field. It was the turn of Adan, Pepe, Ramos, Arbeloa, Morata, Sahin, Khedira, Ronaldo, Özil, Granero and Benzema. Despite the carousel of changes in the game neither team had trouble getting into the match. In the 48th Granero played a great through ball to Morata, who controlled it in the area and cleverly put the ball into the Galaxy goal. 4-1 and the crowd were still enjoying the show put on by Real Madrid’s. The Whites were in absolute control of the game against a Galaxy showing more signs of the changes made than Mourinho’s team.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who instilled delirium of the stands with everything he did, tried a shot from distance in the 63rd minute but it went wide. The whites brought out the best of their repertoire with back-heels, passes and touches that thrilled an audience that filled the Home Depot Center and broke the attendance record with 30.317 spectators. The goalkeeper Perk turned out to be the best player for the Galaxy saving his team three times after Morata, Benzema y Özil each had very clear chances. The minutes passed and in the 80th minute Mourinho made his last two changes. Jesé and Jesús cameo n for Morata and Adán. And the forward, with his first touch of the ball put the ball in the goal following a sensational piece of play by Özil and Benzema in the 83rd minute of the game. The crowd were cheering for a goal from Cristiano to round things off and Portuguese tried to finish, but bad luck and goalkeeper didn’t let it happen. The end of the game came with the aim accomplished: to win and put on a show so that everyone went home happy.

Summary

Stadium: Home Depot Center
Attendance: 30,281
Goals: 0-1 (2'): Higuain. 0-2 (11'): Di Maria. 1-2 (22'): David Junior. 1-3 (35'): Callejon. 1-4 (48'): Morata. 1-5 (83'): Jese.

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Preview: LA Galaxy vs Real Madrid (Friendly)

Real Madrid faces within a few hours (04:30 CET -Thusrday 2, 19:30 PST-) its first match of the U.S.A. Tour against Los Angeles Galaxy, a match that is becoming a classic in the white preseason.

LA Galaxy vs Real Madrid 2011

Jose Mourinho has all the players of the squad available after the recovering of Varane and Di Maria. In the previous training session to the match, Lass had to retire with discomfort, but it seems nothing serious and he will play, in principle, some minutes.

Mourinho does not expect much of the friendly except to verify that the players are taking the work of the preseason. The coach wants his players fresh in return for the afternoon break he gave to his players yesterday. A well-deserved break, after four days of work in Los Angeles with double session training each day. Given the workload, it was decided to reduce the pace of training and Moruinho suspended the afternoon session. The Galaxy are a good team and there was no question of arriving at the appointment without legs in good physical conditions.

Once again, the big draw at Real Madrid will be the reunion with David Beckham. He does not have many colleagues in the squad, only Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos, of the galactic stage that Florentino Perez reminded these days with nostalgia while was watching the white team's training at UCLA. A team that guaranteed titles, a game machine and above all a machine to make money, precisely during this time summer friendlies, where the presence of the English midfielder guaranteed good incomes.

Mourinho will use two teams to give minutes to all players, including youth players. Can not draw many conclusions, but some things are clear. For example, Sahin, who has played on the left-back in some trainings, is on the squad to plug holes in the tactical scheme waiting for a move. In the squad there is a group of players with more training pace and a friendly played against Benfica, while the international players will play today their preseason opener. Kaka will still have minutes. The Home Depot Center will not fill and yesterday there were still tickets.

Mourinho: Modric or nobody

With 18 days to the begining of the official competition, Real Madrid, and especially his manager and coach, Jose Mourinho, is determined that the only signing to do this summer is that of Luka Modric. Will be him or no one. There is no Plan B because the player who wants Mourinho is Modric, not another. The Croatian meets all the requirements demanded by the Portuguese coach and Mourinho does not want any experiments with another name.

Mourinho only thinks about Modric to reinforce the squad

The agreement with the footballer has been closed since early summer, but with Tottenham, the positions are more distant now. The signing was about to materialize on Friday, July 27. All seemed to agree on the terms of the transfer. Levy, chairman of the English club, had his arm twisted. The Real Madrid offered 30 million euros more variables (matches and titles achieved by Modric playing for Real). But at the last minute Levy backed down and refused.

Mainly, the reason why the signing of Modric was stopped is the Paris Saint Germain and its chairman, Nasser al-Khelaifi. A call at the last moment by offering the 45 million euros Tottenham wants, stopped the negotiation. If Real Madrid would have matched that amount, the transfer would be closed, in other way, negotiations would remain stalled. The PSG, with the signings of Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi, Verratti and El Baillal wants to complete the squad with the Croatian. They have already spent 100 million euros and are willing to shell out 45 more. Modric is the piece missing.

Levy is using the PSG proposal to put more pressure on Real Madrid and force the Spanish team to make a better offer, but also knows by the mouth of Luka Modric that he will refuse to be sold to the French team because he only wants to play for Madrid.

At the Real Madrid board, is known the player is on its side and this scores points. They do not like the Croatian player refused to travel to the U.S.A. Tour with Tottenham. But since he returned to London and trains alone each day, they have seen his behavior has been impeccable and this made reopen negotiations. Real Madrid is strong, does not move form 30 million euros more variables, although the Daily Mail yesterday published on its website that the white club had made a final offer of 38 million euros with 10 depending on variables.

After more than a month of negotiations, Florentino Perez, Jose Angel Sanchez and Mourinho are convinced that the negotiation will be for long. They thought that Levy was bluffing, but now they see that he will harden the transfer to the end. He has not even listened to his coach Villas-Boas. The Portuguese gives up to Modric and he would like to leave him go and spend the money on other player (Moutinho). Villas-Boas does not want to reach the last day of the market without a player to replace Modric. To sign a player in the last day would be impossible.

Adriano Galliani will meet with Florentino Perez in NY

Milan chief executive, Adriano Galliani, has confirmed that he will meet with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez in New York on August 8 to discuss the transfer of Kaka. The meeting will take place the same day of the match that both teams will play in the U.S.A. city within the framed preseason games at the World Football Challenge. "We will talk with Florentino in New York", admitted Galliani.

Ricardo Kaka is training with Real Madrid in Los Angeles

The Mialn board member has not wanted to hide the interest in the Brazilian midfielder, but has not denied that his return to San Siro is very complicated: "We already have a nice story together, but to sign Kaka is very, very, very difficult", acknowledged before diagnosing the problem: "He earns a lot of money".

So, the transfer seems to be in the hands of the Brazilian player, who still has three years remaining on his contract with Real Madrid. If he agrees to reduce the salary that currently charges, there would be possibilities. It is also the new philosophy of wage cuts imposed in Milan that has led them to part with players like Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Seedorf, Gattuso, Nesta and Inzaghi and the different tax in Spain and Italy.

Mourinho will give priority to the Spanish league

Change of plans. If last season Mourinho's team did the best to get in shape to the Spanish Super Cup, this year the duel against Barcelona to dispute the first title of season passes to the background. The priority is the Spanish league. The coach is not willing to jeopardize the season for the title less important of the four for which the Real Madrid will fight.

Real Madrid and Barcelona will face again in the Spanish Super Cup

This summer the Super Cup has trap. Embedded as it is in the middle of three games of the league, to focus all attention on it can be very dangerous. And more with how expensive it is the Spanish championship. Any failure can be decisive in a league that last year demanded that Real Madrid reached 100 points. Mourinho is not going to give the Super Cup as a gift, that's obvious, but he will not neglect the three league days because he knows that a bad run of results in the Spanish competition can condition the rest of the season.

Last year's preseason Real Madrid focused on the Super Cup. Mourinho thoroughly prepared the first game of the season. Among other things, because the team needed a stroke of authority against Barcelona. To boost morale after losing Champions League. Now, after winning the league, Real Madrid no longer needs to prove team can beat its great rival. Team did it in the Spanish Cup and, above all, with the last league title.

Moreover, the preseason of last season thinking about performing the best in the Super Cup conditioned the team performance along the rest of the year. Being in good physical condition in mid-August, was harmful because many white players were tired in the decisive matches of the Champions League. Also last year was a summer free of competition for most of the white squad players and they could be forced. Not now, after Euro 2012 they have to plan well the campaign.

In addition, the friendly matches of national teams the same week the Spanish league starts, complicate the situation. International players will arrive just in time to prepare the first day. In the case of Real Madrid the rival on the first day will be Valencia. With this situation, it is reasonable to consider playing the Super Cup of Spain with non-regular or rested players thinking about not fail in the league. The season is too long to wear down the players to the first exchange.

Pepe: "We are reaching a very high level to face the season"

Pepe spoke with the press after the first training session on the third day at the UCLA. The Real Madrid defender praised the team spirit of the squad trained by José Mourinho and analysed the League which they won last season: "The points we have earned and the goals scored show that we deserved to win the League. We demonstrated that we are a very strong team and that when we have to play, we really do play and when we have to fight for victory, we really do fight. We have a strong sense of comradeship and we won the world's best League thanks to that comradeship".

Pepe at press confrenece

The Portuguese player, who is beginning his sixth season at Real Madrid, spoke of the motivation with which his team looks towards the season: "We are really looking forward to all the training sessions. The team is gaining a very high level to face the season and when Real Madrid begins the year, it has to be ready to face all the trophies. We know each other better and it's the coach’s third year. We understand his mentality and we are ready to face and try to win all the trophies. After each training session we are in an even better position to help the team and get to the top".

When asked about José Mourinho, his coach, the Real Madrid defender only had words of praise: "He's a coach who demands a lot from us to be able to win and be competitive. In the time we have been here, he is showing that he knows a lot, that he knows us and that he has the same keenness to win trophies".

On Xabi Alonso, who didn't finish the morning session, he revealed: "It's normal for these kinds of things to happen during a training session. It was a bump and he's already with the doctor, but I think he will be in the afternoon session". He also mentioned Kaká, saying: "He's a great player and forms part of our squad. I am very happy that he's here. He's a Real Madrid player and we must hold him in high esteem".

When asked about his personal situation in the team and that of his compatriot, Coentrão, Pepe got straight to the point: "When I got here my signing sparked a lot of controversy. I adapted and things turned out well. People like me and are very fond of me. I really like that fondness. Fabio doesn't have to show anything. He's a quality player, is young and played well during the European Football Championship. His entire career has been in Portugal and the time he spent at Zaragoza was a bad experience for him. Nobody can deny his skill, but it is difficult to play for Real Madrid. People must support him and be patient with him. Together with Marcelo, it's an honour for us to have the two best left-backs in the world".

The Real Madrid defender mentioned the names which have been circulating in order to strengthen the team next season: "The coach knows what the team needs. It's an issue for Mourinho and the president. Witsel is a really great payer and is doing things well in his team. If he comes to Madrid he will be welcomed and if he doesn't, I wish him all the luck in the world. Last year we won the League with the same players who are here".

Lastly, he mentioned the ever increasing competitive edge which football has taken on in the United States: "It's my third pre-season here and each year I realise that football players are more skilled and competitive. Football is universal".

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