Chus Mateo’s change of speech to reflect Real Madrid’s patience in the market | Relief

He real Madrid Basketball continues to follow its market roadmap. The same one that was noted at the beginning of the season and that neither the injury of Andres Feliz nor the injury of Ousmane Garuba has changed. In fact, this is evidenced by the change in speech (or nuance thereof) made by the white team’s coach, Chus Mateo, which confirms that Whites are in no rush or rush to sign anything… even with the two victims they have.. At least not at the moment. And as Relevo found out, unless there’s a great market opportunity that makes a white club realize it can turn around and improve the team’s dynamic, there won’t be a new boy for Valdebebas… yet.

When the white team was defeated in the Endesa Super Cup final against Unicaja, Chusa Mateo was asked if having 13 players in the squad was enough, the answer was clear: “We We have to be careful because as we have already seen, there is a physical demand, the physical level is so brutal that I need more players. probably in a 90-game season. I know that, we all know that, and the only thing we need to do is pay attention to how the team is doing and what we need. We are still not entirely clear about this, and we will be careful.“.

And he added: “Our concern now is Knowing where we need to improve and where to bring someone in. “Of course it will be like this throughout the year, there is no rush, we need to see how we function, but obviously with the demand that these two competitions have, 90 games between them, it is important to have a long-lasting squad.”

These statements from the coach reinforced the idea that the white club would yes or yes, waiting for the market, even if he was going to take it calmly. All the while, Dylan Osetkowski’s name continued to fly over Valdebebas thanks to the knowledge of possible FIBA ​​sanctions for a positive marijuana test that, a month later, is still unknown.

What happened next was The Other Side of Garubawho left Valdebebas this Wednesday along with the club’s medical staff while the rest of the team trained. This has already become a common occurrence for the Madrid player, who has suffered a stress fracture in his foot since the summer and has yet to find a way to complete his recovery.

Actually, Chus Mateo himself spoke about this last week, after the Whites’ victory on Thursday over Panathinaikos: “I prefer that he continue to recover separately until he is fully recovered. He’s made several attempts to come back, suffered one calf injury, another anterior tibia injury… it’s a disservice he’s doing himself and everyone else because we think we’re going to get it. and that’s not good enough. You must be patient with him for him to recover.“.

This increased or strengthened the likelihood that a profile like Osetkovsky’s was what he was looking for. white team for internal play. First of all, after there were already rumors about the lack of a contract to replace Guershon Yabusele and the fact that Ndiaye did not seem to have the confidence of the coach at all when it came to becoming Madrid’s “four”, while Serge Ibaka wasn’t done shining either. to compensate for Eddie Tavares’ changes.

Real Madrid continued to move forward, with Ndiaye gradually gaining confidence and the formula of using Gabi Deka or Mario Hezonja as a four.

– something that had already been commonplace in previous seasons – began to bear fruit. And then Andres Feliz was injured.

On October 10, the point guard tore his plantar fascia, leaving Facundo Campazzo alone to call the shots. Because if anything was noticed, for example, in the match against Baskonia in the Euroleague – which the Argentine missed due to disqualification – it was that the white team needed more wood in the direction of the game against Campazzoaddiction. After it became clear that Sergio Llull, who was a natural replacement, was better at two or that Xavier Ratan-Mays did not finish the game enough for the rest.

If Real Madrid’s squad was already short, or, in the words of Chus Mateo, needed “more players for a 90-game season”, then two more losses were added. Something that did there was even a possibility of including a temporary workerto compensate for Felis’ absence. Moreover, after the defeat in Vitoria a week ago, Chus Mateo himself said: “When you play to the limit, as we did, playing with fewer players than in other seasons, you come very close to the end.” Another reference to the idea he expressed after the Super Bowl final.

What’s happening? What Several factors occurred after this. The first thing Felis is waiting for after the FIBA ​​windows. That is, within a month. As a result, a period that could have been longer ended up being somewhat shorter, and the break also contributed to this. After, market situationsince more than one Euroleague team (eg Zalgiris and Barca after Nico Laprovittola’s injury) are looking for this type of profile and have difficulty signing a temporary player knowing that in a month the injured person will be back and that place for free disappears. And then the fact that Real Madrid really didn’t have time for tests as such – with filming and with players already knowing what it’s like to play together – with Andrés Feliz to know whether he needs strengthening or not.

And of course, Therefore, this Wednesday, at the press conference before the Euroleague match against Red Star, this change in the speech of Chus Mateo was noticed.after the technician assured the following: “I didn’t say it was a little short, but we must be careful that at the moment when it is deemed appropriate we refresh ourselves, because it is very demanding, and I understand that this is what we can do. What I need to do is think about what I have, I can’t think or predict if anyone will come… I don’t know, I don’t know if they will come or not, I know that I have there is the best I can have, I need to win day by day, the best for now, and I’m not going to think about whether it’s short or long, because tomorrow we’ll be fine, and then we’ll see. future”.

With this speech, the white coach reflects what the reality of Real Madrid is today, and, as Relevo learned, despite the players being offered to him, he will continue to take it calmly. Firstly, because They still don’t know what profile they really need. and secondly, because of the large costs that would be required to sign now and later, it will turn out that this is not the document they want. Of course, if one thing is clear to them, and that is that if they find a player who they think can change the dynamic or really strengthen the team, then they will consider making a financial effort to close it down.

And what is all this about? For the white club, the real need is to have the necessary pieces in place as soon as the titles start to be contested as such. And the first one is in February. That’s why The rush to expand the workforce that seemed obvious is now less obvious. hence the words of Chusa Mateo.