There were many players in all major clubs who were deemed to have brilliant careers when they were younger – but did not realize even a part of that potential in the senior squad.There are various reasons why these “roses” never bloomed properly, and one of them is Raul de Tomas, a ‘child’ of Real Madrid, who never played for the first team of Los Blancos, and now admits, ten years later, that he is the main culprit for such turn of events.De Tomas, now the striker of Espanyol, talked in an interview with El Pais about the mistakes he made in his younger days, and that confession could be a must-read for many young players who choose strange paths in their careers.”I have seen many dangers in this profession in my career so far. For example, while I was at Real’s academy, I was sort of in a bubble, I didn’t understand many things in the right way. I had huge expectations, but there were many things in my head that did not exist, and I believed in them”, De Tomas began the story.Sun 23:00: (5.40) Espanyol (3.70) Barcelona (1.67)The Spaniard explained what he meant.”One of them was that I should play for the first team and be a star. Yes, it is wrong to think that it all belongs to you much earlier than it should happen. It’s not just football on the pitch. Real is a big club in which many talented football players play, who are at a higher level than others. But there’s a lot that’s off the pitch, out of that bubble I was in. And if you don’t have the maturity to get used to and accept a lot of things, you are destined to fail, as happened to me. “De Tomas continued to unravel the pieces of his puzzle.”I am aware that I would probably have had many more opportunities at Real if I had done some things differently. Many times I complained that I was not in the first team, and then I did not give one hundred percent. I was not a professional off the pitch either. I’m talking about food, rest…””Now, after so much time, I realize that I was wrong, not the coaches, as I thought then. It’s not just about the quality of football you poses, at least it wasn’t in my case. And, for a long time, I thought that was all it was about. And then I was smacked by reality. And I realized that I was wrong all the time and that changed me.”Absolute madness! Atleti and Getafe share seven goals in an insane derby that ends in a Simeone’s slot triumphRaul de Tomas pointed out that he had three major milestones in his career.”The first was when I moved from my area to Real’s academy. The club saw that I would quickly give up football if they didn’t bring me there, and that was an important decision. The second was when I left Madrid. I took my friend Pablo to be my personal trainer and that was the best decision I made. Today I also train boxing, meditate and I am in perfect shape. And the third, I haven’t talked about it so far, was when I didn’t want to go to Benfica.””Lisbon is a beautiful city, Benfica is a great club, but when things don’t go well in your life, then you see something bad in everything,” said de Tomas.
