Jonathan Woodgate’s injury problems had been an issue at Newcastle United, and didn’t disappear when he made the big move to Real Madrid.
A chance to play alongside some of the world’s biggest names for arguably the world’s biggest club, things started going wrong for Woodgate from his debut.
But despite that, Real Madrid fans still took to the defender following his Newcastle United transfer. A will to try, learn the language, and not complain saw Woodgate generate sympathy rather than anger.
Woodgate has told AS the reasons he feels Madrid fans liked him: “Maybe because I always had a smile on my face. I tried to learn the language very soon. Maybe they saw me as a fighter. Someone who wanted to improve the team. But it was like a nightmare. A nightmare! I signed for the best team in the world and I couldn’t play any games in my first season. It killed me, that killed me.”
Newcastle United himself, where he didn’t enjoy the greatest of periods, and certainly didn’t win over the St James’ Park faithful.
But Woodgate believes Owen isn’t actually the Real Madrid failure some insist, and when the Spanish newspaper pointed out English players failing to shine, he wasn’t having any of it: “What about Beckham? Didn’t he do well? And McManaman? Even Owen, for me, triumphed in Madrid. He scored 23 goals and played well, and had Ronaldo and Raul in front of him.”
Newcastle United probably came out on top of Woodgate’s transfer to Madrid, given his injury issues, but the same can’t be said for Owen.
