That's the problem though, playing is so important at that age, just bumming around on the bench or playing for Castilla is a waste of time. Unless they just loan him out to smaller clubs in spain I fear he will waste his talent.
Martin Ødegaard
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What a fool.
You're all being incredibly harsh on him. It's easy to criticise his decision but none of us have been approached by Real Madrid as a young boy, big money and an incredible lifestyle. Also, imagine training with the likes of Ronaldo and Bale at that age?
Liverpool or Real Madrid. Not a particularly hard decision, to be fair.
No one plays pro football, at that age. He'll play for Zidane or La cantera and will be coached by the best youth coach, plus Ancelotti.
Stupid, stupid move.
He'll end up back in Norway in three years.
He'll end up back in Norway in three years.
That's still worse than signing for a club like Ajax or United where would get top class training every week and playing time against very good teams.
I haven't heard of him going on trial with Athletico yet..
Rooney / Wilshere / Fabregas say HI.
The point is from 18-21 the main rate of development happens. If he ends up wasting that precious period he may not reach his full potential.
BTW I assume this guy is reliable? We are all reacting as if this is a done deal but I haven't seen it reported anywhere else except by him.
And the thousands of other players say HI, and are obviously louder.
If you are good enough you are old enough right?. IF this kid is supposed to be good enough I don't see why he doesn't want to play at the best level every week. I guess we will see in a few years whether it was worthwhile.
He should have gone to Ajax.
Look, la Cantera is a great academy, Ancelotti is a great coach, he will train with great players. If things doesn't go well, he will go around 18-19 years old like Mata or Eto'o did.
Putting myself in his shoes, it's hard to not get your head turned by the glamour of Real Madrid.
Hope he learns a lot from all those other Castilla graduates in the first team.. Their keeper who made his debut 13 odd years ago and ummmmm their right back.
Horrendous decision. There's not one reason why a 15 yo should join Madrid. It'll be 4/5 years at least until he's a regular and god knows what state they'll be in then, so the decision logically should be about the youth setup and not who's in the first team squad.
Bayern would have been perfect for him.
Horrendous decision. There's not one reason why a 15 yo should join Madrid. It'll be 4/5 years at least until he's a regular and god knows what state they'll be in then, so the decision logically should be about the youth setup and not who's in the first team squad.
Bayern would have been perfect for him.
Queue photos of his summer vacation on a yacht with gelled hair and a pair of pink shorts and gucci washbag
Just kidding, probably not
Just kidding, probably not
VG is the biggest paper in Norway i think, so it Should be reliable.
Edit: second biggest.
Hopefully he don't turn into a complete knobhead...
Surprised by his decision. Thought he had a wise-head.
I think the stick he's getting here is a bit unfair tbh. If it does get confirmed tomorrow that it's officially Real, we've already had these stories to Bayern, then it would be very tough for anybody to turn that opportunity down. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there has ever been so many English speakers at Real before either to help him fit in.
A) Status - Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlo Ancelotti, La Decima - it's almost endless. The draw would turn all of our heads.
B) Training - To be alongside Ronaldo is the perfect education lesson to show him what it really takes to maximise that talent to reach the top. Then there's the speed and determination of Bale, the craft and hard work of Isco, the natural talent of James, the vision, technique and awareness of Kroos and Modric.
C) Style - Real have been using a less direct approach this season with a huge focus on ball control and working opportunities while allowing for solo dribbles and moments. It could be easily argued that those ideals suit Ødegaard's play more than anybody but Bayern. The technique and control in Spanish football coupled with the least physical nature from the big 3 leagues is also a great fit.
D) Pressure - the ultimate club for pressure. Draws are the new defeats and defeats are a crisis as Sid Lowe says. The lad has handled the watching eye thus far, life at Real will push that further than anywhere else immediately.
E) Carlo Ancelotti - A superb coach who is proficient with many systems and styles and an excellent man manager. Despite a track record of maximising already established players potential, there is no reason to suggest Ødegaard cannot thrive in a system eventually under Ancelotti. Paul Clement and Zinedine Zidane are also excellent trainers to spend time working with.
A) Status - Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlo Ancelotti, La Decima - it's almost endless. The draw would turn all of our heads.
B) Training - To be alongside Ronaldo is the perfect education lesson to show him what it really takes to maximise that talent to reach the top. Then there's the speed and determination of Bale, the craft and hard work of Isco, the natural talent of James, the vision, technique and awareness of Kroos and Modric.
C) Style - Real have been using a less direct approach this season with a huge focus on ball control and working opportunities while allowing for solo dribbles and moments. It could be easily argued that those ideals suit Ødegaard's play more than anybody but Bayern. The technique and control in Spanish football coupled with the least physical nature from the big 3 leagues is also a great fit.
D) Pressure - the ultimate club for pressure. Draws are the new defeats and defeats are a crisis as Sid Lowe says. The lad has handled the watching eye thus far, life at Real will push that further than anywhere else immediately.
E) Carlo Ancelotti - A superb coach who is proficient with many systems and styles and an excellent man manager. Despite a track record of maximising already established players potential, there is no reason to suggest Ødegaard cannot thrive in a system eventually under Ancelotti. Paul Clement and Zinedine Zidane are also excellent trainers to spend time working with.
For me it's the right choice, i already said it, Madrid, United, Bayern and Barcelona are good options they all take great care of their youth, and there is no pressure on him, now.
No one will expect anything from him, he will be able to take his time, if he is good enough, he will have a successful career, if not he will have avoided the media scrutiny that a lesser club gives, you.
Because it seems that no one thought about this but if he had signed for a club like Ajax, he would have been asked to perform right away, and if he wasn't ready, the all world would have called him a failure.
No one will expect anything from him, he will be able to take his time, if he is good enough, he will have a successful career, if not he will have avoided the media scrutiny that a lesser club gives, you.
Because it seems that no one thought about this but if he had signed for a club like Ajax, he would have been asked to perform right away, and if he wasn't ready, the all world would have called him a failure.
Stupid decision
There'll probably be a "what's Martin Odegaard up to these days?" thread in a few years time, the next Canales.
Odd choice, Madrid are probably the worst among the clubs interested when it comes to promoting youth, especially if they are attacking players. Should have went to Bayern or Barcelona, imo.
Anyway, good luck to him, hopefully he will fulfill his potential.
Anyway, good luck to him, hopefully he will fulfill his potential.
Did not expect that. Seems like a daft choice
They were 17 or something when they started playing a bit of football. Ødegaard just turned 16.
Taken from the article within this tweet...
Rooney and Fabregas were 16 when they started playing consistently. And they played in the PL, not in Norway.
And you consider that a good thing? That sort of immense pressure should not be experienced by a sixteen year old player. For example, there's also continuous pressure at Ajax to win the league title, but to a lesser extent. You have to learn how to deal with that first instead of immediately going to giants like Real.
At this age I imagine it's his parents who should kick some sense into his head but hey.
It's pretty stupid no matter how you look at it, if it's about cash it's cringeworthy, kid would still be earning a lot of money at, say, Ajax and would get brilliant development chance. Now he'll rot on a bench in RM Castilla after they're bored of him warming the bench in regular RM and he'll turn into shit earning shit money at some midtable club in next years or he'll come back to his home league.
Rooney was 16.
It's not surprising he wanted to play for RM. What is surprising though is that his parents were supposed to be traveling Europe to find the best place for his development. Yet he just ends up going to Madrid anyway, which is likely not the best option for a kid his age.
There is absolutely no way he'll avoid media scrutiny and pressure. He's already been hyped up as potentially Norway's best ever player and he's just moved to the biggest club in the world.
Fabregas was 17 before his first season of regular football according to Wiki. Rooney turned 17 two months after his debut.
The post I replied to was a reply to the statement that "no one plays pro football, at that age". That age being barely 16. Neither did Rooney, Fabregas or Wilshere. That was my entire point and I believe it still stands. A year makes a lot of difference at that age, so the comparisons weren't great.
Whether he handles it is yet to be seen but Rooney was playing at 16 and joined us for a fee up to £27m at 18. Would suggest he went through more pressure given the transfer fee involved and that he was expected to play immediately. Depends on how the lad handles it, including those around him too, so far he's held up very well.
Sterling was the subject of a transfer fee rising up to £5m as a 15 year old too. Made his debut at 17. Some thrive in the conditions. Neymar for example.
i thought Ajax would have been perfect for him. Not just with youth development and pressure/expectation, but also the culture, city, weather etc.
From all the clubs, going to Real, good luck mate. He could have just signed the contract right away instead of travelling around and making himself important. Real was his first choice from the beginning, just an attention grabber. Lets see what he has to offer, wouldnt surprise me to see him fail miserably.
From all the clubs, going to Real, good luck mate. He could have just signed the contract right away instead of travelling around and making himself important. Real was his first choice from the beginning, just an attention grabber. Lets see what he has to offer, wouldnt surprise me to see him fail miserably.
Wait, he's signed for Madrid? 
How utterly stupid can you be? Footballers never cease to amaze.
How utterly stupid can you be? Footballers never cease to amaze.
Yeah, I agree some youngsters performed even better under pressure, but it's a rare breed though. I still think the circumstances with Rooney were different; can't remember if he was hyped up before making his debut, but he was a young talent who came through the youth ranks into the first team and performed very well. He already had two years at Everton behind him before he joined United, he kind of knew how to deal with the pressure when the spots were on him (European Cup '04 for example). Sterling as well, not too many people knew about him when he made his debut for Liverpool. With Odegaard, the whole world is already watching and waiting to call him a failure if it doesn't work out at Real. That's a big risk he's willing to take. I don't know if he himself knows how crazy it'll be, his experiences in the Norwegian league are absolutely peanuts compared to the circus that is Real Madrid.
My reactions exactlyWait, he's signed for Madrid?
How utterly stupid can you be? Footballers never cease to amaze.
Just watch him disappear, people will talk about him, but in a little club or a little town, everyone hope and expectation would have been on him, at Madrid he will be like Asensio who also joined them and is considered as the new spanish big prospect.
At Madrid Ronaldo makes the news, Zidane makes the news but the wonderkids are well protected.
With all the solicitation to other clubs, does this not make him the youngest Player / Scout in the world right now?
He's had time weigh up first teams, training methods, career plans and objectives from all of them selling their dream to him.
He's had time weigh up first teams, training methods, career plans and objectives from all of them selling their dream to him.
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