REAL MADRID
The "Raúl Plan" underway as Real Madrid legend starts his coaching career with U-16s
The former Real Madrid player and club legend, Raúl, started his coaching career at the academy at Valdebebas on Thursday.
It's not all bad news at Real Madrid after the defeat to city rivals, Atletico Madrid, in Tallinn on Wednesday night. Raúl González, the club legend who played over 700 times in white, has taken his first session as a coach with the club. On Thursday, he was at the Ciudad Deportiva de Valdebebas to coach his Cadete B (under-16s) as he begins a new stage in his career as a manager. He completed his coaching badges with an all-star class with intensive classes alongside Victor Valdes, Marcos Senna, Xabi Alonso and Xavi Hernandez.
Alongside Diego Nogales, who will act as his assistant, he had Christian Hernando, who will work as the physical trainer for the youngster. The former player has eight days to tune up his squad for their first test. That comes at the Madrid Youth Cup Tournament on August 24th until 26th. Their others tests, which follow, come in the G.I Tournament Challenge Cup from August 31st to September 2nd. They play Élite Talavera (September 6th) and ED La Salle (September 12th) after those competitions.
The images published on Real Madrid's official website show an enthusiastic Raúl greeting his players, chatting with them and thinking about the task ahead. These are the first steps of project that was always going to get started sooner or later and might end with the former striker sitting on the bench at the Santiago Bernabeu. The "Raúl Plan" is already underway.
