Not sure about Del Pierro and Inzaghi but Paul Scholes is definitely not a regular starter in the Man United line up. Secondly, there's a difference between being the fittest on the team and being able to positively contribute to the game. If you have followed Real Madrid this season, especially at the beginning when Raúl WAS starting games regularly, you'd notice how slow we were on our counter attacks. I'm not criticising Raúl, but he no longer is the deadly goal poacher he used to be. I admire your sentiments and your need to defend Raúl, but sadly in football, sentiments do not count for as much as rationality. I'll stress this again. Raúl will forever remain my favourite player to have worn the Real Madrid shirt, and I respect the man immensely. But I don't think at this point in his career he should be given regular starts if Real aim to win silverware. I believe Raúl can easily fit into the role of a supersub which makes more sense at his age. He is turning 33 this year, not the ideal age for a striker to be making regular starts especially if it means benching quicker, younger forwards like Higuain and Benzema. Yes I have not been fully satisfied with Benzema this season, but I'd rather we give him chance to show what he can do than to field Raúl regularly - also we should probably remember that Raúl has broken every record there is left to break (except maybe for Zarra's 252 goals in the league). He should not have to prove himself, he has already done that for the last sixteen years and MOST of the Madrid fans love and appreciate him for what he has done for the club. There are always going to be naysayers who will look for every opportunity to criticise Raúl, and most fans tend to ignore them. As for the Spanish National Team, honestly there's no place for Raúl. Because the alternatives are David Villa and Fernando Torres, both of them are younger and quicker than Raúl. Raúl had his chance and he did brilliantly. But I think it was time to pass the baton to the younger generation - even though I'd have loved to see Raúl lifting that Euro trophy, but I don't disagree with Aragones's decision to not pick Raúl. Maybe if I do have a bone to pick, that would be the inclusion of Sergio Garcia who in my opinion was not the ideal material for the team but even then he didn't feature much to actively contribute in the victory for Spain. Next, with regards to how Real Madrid is treating Raúl...I don't see what the problem is, except maybe he is getting benched more. But I've already explained above why I think it's better for him to be a sub than a regular starter. The section that is doing most of the criticism is the Media but we all know how the Spanish media is. No one, and I'm sure Raúl included, takes them seriously. Though I'd love to see Raúl tell someone to fuck off; that'd be most entertaining. As for Raúl's psychology, none of us have any clue as to how that guy functions! I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that sixteen years of playing professional football under such intense media pressure has moulded him appropriately to handle whatever criticism is being thrown in his direction, And for the record, the last two seasons he scored 18 goals a season. His performance this season, especially at the beginning when he WAS starting regularly paled in comparison. It's the duty of a manager to bench a player who is not performing and make way for someone else to prove his worth. At this point in time, the onus is on Raúl to show Pellegrini that he still has it in him to be a regular starter, something sadly he hasn't been able to do. Let me once again reiterate that I immensely respect and admire Raúl for who he is; to me he'll always be a Real Madrid legend, he'll be an icon and one of my favourite players ever to have worn the Real Madrid shirt. But I am also being realistic here.
