"Maldini" On The Money / Julio Maldonado / 24 February 2009 / Leave a comment

Betting.betfair.com caught up with the man they call "Maldini" to talk about Real Madrid's good run of form, the truth behind rumours of a Bernabeu move for Adam Johnson and England's footballing lesson at the hands of Spain.

1.A masterclass of football by Spain against England midweek was the way the match was reported in the UK. Was it the same over there or were there areas that need to be improved?

In Spain everyone is raving about how well the national team is playing. You have to consider not only how well the current team is playing, but also how many times the team has underachieved and disappointed its fans. In any case Spain needs to improve its finishing skills, the final score rarely reflects the real difference between the two teams. Spain needs to produce more in front of goal, if they manage to do that, they will be unstoppable.

2.No place in the team for the likes of Silva in a midfield that was essentially made up of four central midfielders in Iniesta, Senna, Xavi and Alonso. Is this the way that Spain will play from now on?

Against England, Del Bosque played Xabi Alonso and Senna on parallel in the midfield, but we expect him to play with only one centre mid-fielder, which would open a spot for Silva. And let's not forget Fabregas, a player who will also contend for that position as soon as he recovers from injury.

3.Moving to the domestic front and we find Real Madrid on an incredible run of form. What's this down to?

Real Madrid is really having an excellent run, but they are playing very poor football, and if that doesn't change, their results soon will. When Schuster was coaching them Real Madrid games were open contests with a lot of pace, where neither team seemed to have control over the match. With Juande Ramos that changed completely. Real Madrid controls the games and plays counter-attacking football.The Bernabeu crowd doesn't like that - Capello was fired two seasons ago for that same reason.

4.There were some surprising reports over in the UK linking Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson with a possible move to Real Madrid. Any truth behind that?

To be honest I don't know how much truth there was in those rumours. Having said that it's a fact that since Juande Ramos landed at Real Madrid, the club has been scouting the Premier League like never before, due to the fact that Juande knows the market well after his tenure at Tottenham. It's no coincidence that they have signed Lassana Diarra from Portsmouth and Julien Faubert from West Ham.

5.We saw the return of Juan Valeron after almost three years out with injuries. Does he still have anything left in him at 33 and having been out of the game for so long?

Valerón has an enormous talent, with amazing passing skills. I think that he will have a hard time securing a spot in the starting eleven though, he is not as quick as he used to be.

6.We might as well put Barca's name on the La Liga trophy but what about the Spanish Cup? Worth laying Barca at around [1.5]?

The final will be against either Athletic de Bilbao or Sevilla. Right now Barcelona is head and shoulders the best team in Spain. In a one-off match in a neutral ground, I'm convinced they will win. I think the sensible bet is to back Barcelona at [1.5].