I'm a fickle fan. When I first started paying way too much attention to European soccer five years ago, thanks in large measure to my passionate dislike of my job at that time, I committed myself to Fulham Football Club. The team had a veritable truckload of Americans on the team with Kasey Keller in goal, Brian McBride as striker and captain, along with new recruit, Clint Dempsey. The team also picked up Eddie Johnson, who promptly lost any semblance of ability and was loaned out to a team in Wales. Around that same time period, Liverpool dropped off a wheelbarrow of cash in Madrid to sign Fernando Torres. I had been a big fan of El Nino since the 2006 World Cup where he scored an awesome goal or two. Suddenly I was torn. My favorite player or my newly picked team?
Another thing happened at the same time. I was introduced to the world of Jose Mourinho. The Special One is no ordinary manager. He is manager's manager. If Chuck Norris had a teacher, it would be Jose Mourinho. Mourinho is a master of the press and a master of mind games. He manages players brilliantly. He earned the respect of Sir Alex Ferguson, longtime manager at Manchester United. Mourniho demanded your attention and you either love him or hate him. He took a small Portuguese club to the pinnacle of European Club Soccer (losing Tim Howard his job as ManU keeper in the process), went to Chelsea FC and led them to the top of the Premier League, and then went to Internazionale and won the Champion's League again. Now he is at Real Madrid and you know what? I finally really care about Real Madrid. Kent is a massive fan and I always wanted to care about the team, but felt like a Yankee's bandwagoner because Madrid is soccer's most expensive team. Now, with Mourinho leading the club, I want them to win. I'm suddenly a fan.
So, back to my fickle fandom. I've realized that the drama and personalities are what makes the game so intriguing. It is really this way in every sport (think NFL and Brett Favre -- we're obsessed with a 40 year old washed up QB!) but it is especially true for me and soccer. I don't have a true team to obsess over because I don't live in Europe so I adopt personalities and drama. I love the underdog story and the outsized personalities. It's what makes the game interesting. So, I'll continue to be fickle. I'll pull for Fulham, but pay more attention to Torres. I'll check the score of the Fulham game as I relish another insane Spurs game (what an insane team! Does Harry Redknapp actually do anything?) I'l feel a bit guilty, but I'll enjoy it.
Real Madrid beat AJ Auxerre in their Tuesday Champions League match in their now typical 2010 fashion. Lots of possession, some opportunities and very few goals.
Madrid possessed the ball for 70% of the game and had 19 shots compared to Auxerre's 9 shots. Yet anyone that watched the game could tell you that even though Madrid had a lot of possession and shots, they had very few great opportunities.
Granted, Gonzalo Higuain did have a great opportunity in the first half where his shot was blocked by a defender on the line. There were other good moments as well, but you have to expect more out of a team that possesses the ball for 70% of the game and has so many talented players.
It also wouldn't be as big of an issue if this was an isolated incident or one time event. But Real Madrid's lack of scoring production has been an issue and their main cause of concern thus far all season.
Jose Mourinho finally expressed his concerns and feelings about the lack of goals after Real Madrid was unable to score last week against lowly Levante in their La Liga match-up. In speaking about that game Mourinho said:
"We created so many chances, some very good, and obviously I'm worried because you need to score to win. Every point counts, but for us every game we play is one we have to win. So these are two points less than we could have. We're not happy about earning only one point because we must win every match.''
In preparation for the Champions League match against AJ Auxerre Mourinho tried to mix things up and went with Karim Benzema as a starter hoping that he would produce a spark.
Unfortunately for Benzema he looked somewhat lost for much of the game. Not sure if it's his youth or lack of playing time, but he's never seemed to gel or be on the same page with Higuain or the other players. He wasn't terrible last night, but didn't quite produce the spark Mourinho was probably hoping for.
Not that the other players were much better. All the players seem to struggle when they get in and around the box. There are opportunities, but most chances seem to end with a bad pass or Ronaldo getting frustrated and blasting a shot from outside the 18 yard box.
Despite the lack of scoring concerns, there are plenty of bright spots thus far for Real:
1. The defense is much better.
Probably a result of the return of Pepe and shifting Sergio Ramos to play central defense with Pepe. Last year Iker Casillas had to make 2-3 amazing saves a game to make up for Real's faulty defense. This year has been very different.
2. They have a loaded roster.
Madrid isn't like Liverpool or other teams that are struggling and don't have options or solutions. They have players, the just need to find the right combination. Kaka will return soon and he might help. Ozil, although he didn't start last night, has been amazing thus far for the team. He has created numerous opportunities for the forwards. Once he can get on the same page with Ronaldo and Higuain, the scoring flood gates could burst open.
3. They have Jose Mourinho.
He doesn't call himself The Great One for no reason. If anyone can figure out the right combination of players and control all the egos on the roster and get everyone on the same page, it's Mourinho. He's done it multiple times before, no reason to think he won't be able to do it with this talented squad.
Yet the scoring is a concern. Mainly because it needs to get resolved soon. Madrid can get by with one goal against opponents like Auxerre and it can even afford a tie to Levante only because La Liga is pretty weak this year.
But Madrid doesn't spend the money to beat Auxerre and do well in La Liga.
Madrid spends money and brings in Mourinho to win the Champions League and beat Barcelona and win La Liga.
One goal might get you a victory against Auxerre, but it likely won't be enough against Inter, Chelsea, Man U or Barcelona in the knock out stages of the Champions League or El Clasico.
Especially since none of these teams fear Madrid.
Surely they all respect Madrid and the players on the roster. But Madrid has been eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 five years in a row. Barcelona has won La Liga the past two years. Teams know that Madrid is a tough opponent, but not unbeatable.
Madrid been a lot of bark and hype, but no bite and results. Hopefully that changes soon. Otherwise, despite the many changes, they will be the same dog as always.
Real Madrid drew Ajax for their first match in the group stages of the Champions League. They were clinical in their 2-0 victory over Ajax, as shown in the video below. The best part about this video is the interview after the game with The Special One, Jose Mourinho. His presence at Real Madrid makes up for all of the bad signings they've made over the past few years and should give Real fans hope that they get past the first round of the knock-out stage (I'm realizing that there is a lot of insider lingo when it comes to the Champions League so I'll start working on a Beginner's Guide to the Champions League). The man has more charisma than Barack Obama during campaign season.
After watching Real play a few questions come to mind.
1. What are they going to do with Kaka? Ozil, the German International who signed with Real over the summer, is younger, better, and cheaper than Kaka. Kaka seems like the odd man out.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo is lacking that killer instinct that he displayed at Manchester United right now. I'm reminded of David Beckham's transition from soccer player to global icon. The transition made Beckham a fortune but he wasn't quite the same great player that ran the sidelines at Old Trafford for United after he went to the darkside.
3. It's great that Jose acknowledges the fierce loyalty of Liverpool fans. Even when Liverpool was losing at home 4-0 to Chelsea, they continued to sing their support of their team.
La Liga starts tomorrow. As always, there were numerous numerous off-season transfers and roster changes. As a Real Madrid fan, this has been par for the course the past few years. Each year there are numerous changes as the roster is a revolving door of players. Players come and go with increasing frequency. There has been little consistency with their roster for the past decade. This has never been more apparent than this season as the one consistent part of the roster, Raul Gonzalez, will not be on the roster for the first time since 1994.
This last decade for Real Madrid has been a new generation aptly called The Galacticos. The Superstars. The business model has been simple: buy all of the world's best players. In theory, all teams are trying to get the best players, or at least the best players for their team or their system. They are trying to find all the right pieces for their needs. Real literally just tries to buy the biggest names in soccer and assumes those are best players and thus the right pieces. If these are the best players in the world, and your roster is full of those players, then your team must be the best in the world. This galacticos generation started when Real bought Luis Figo from Barcelona back in 2000. It caused quite the stir and controversy. Barcelona fans were so upset about it they threw pig heads at Figo when he played his first game back in Barcelona as a Real Madrid player.
Figo was just the beginning though. The following season the great Zidane joined. He was soon followed by Ronaldo, Beckham, Michael Owen, Ruud Van Nistelroy and many others. Yet despite the world class talent possessed by all of these players, Madrid became and has since been a revolving door. No matter how great a player was or how much money Real paid to purchase the player, any player was pushed aside to make room for the next big signing. These great and fabled players were headlines one day and afterthoughts the next. Granted, a lot of the galacticos were aging and sort of past their prime, but even the young superstars and players in their prime had a hard time sticking around.
Notoriously and most recently, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, two dutch superstars in their prime were shown the door last season in order to make room for more stars - Kaka, C. Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema (who sat the bench most of the season). Fittingly for the karma gods and all non-Real fans, Robben and Sneijder led their new teams, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan respectively, to the Champions League final. Madrid has taken on an image and mentality. Forget developing players. Just let others develop them and then buy the best and hope they mix well. It has yet to be proven to be effective.
Amidst all the constant changes and chaos that has been Real Madrid for the past decade, there has been one constant: Raul Gonzalez Blanco. He's been the lodestar of the galacticos. The one familiar face that always remained on the roster. He started in the Real Madrid youth system in 1992 and made his first appearance with the Madrid C-team in 1994. By the end of that season he was on playing for the top team and he never looked back. It's a storied career. More goals than any other Real Madrid player in history. Three Champions League titles and numerous league titles.
His style of play is anything but flashy. He has never been the type of player with individual skills to be able to create many shots on his own. His Top 10 goals aren't exactly amazing. They are really good and quality, but when you compare them with Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Denis Bergkamp or any of the other legendary forwards or players, they don't exactly match up. He's not so much of the skilled forward with the blistering shot.
Raul was more of the forward that is constantly in the right position at the right time. Always knowing exactly where the pass was going to be or the exact place to be to receive a cross so that he could put it in. He definitely relied on other players to help him score goals. I don't say that to take away from any of his efforts or make it seem like he didn't work hard for his goals. Much to the contrary I think he was the hardest working man on the field and the ideal team player (except for maybe Guti). Raul understood that soccer isn't about individuals. It's about 11 people coming together to make beautiful music. When it comes to winning games, you need 11 players in concert with one another. In a club that has become completely self absorbed and entirely about personal image and being a galactico, Raul was the lone man that always stood out. Not because he was flashy or trying to steal the spotlight, but because it was evident that he was always playing for the name on the front of his jersey.
That was clearly evident this past year when Raul lost his starting position and would occassionaly come in off the bench. He would get subbed in for the last 10 minutes of the game and run around like an 18 year old making his first appearance and trying to impress the coach. You wanted him to score more than anything. Not because he needed yet another goal to pad the resume. But much like you root for the young player trying to get his break, you also cheer for the veteran who still plays his heart out and acts like this is his last game ever.
I think that is the biggest concern about the loss of Raul this season. He was maybe the last emotional connection to the players. Of course there will always be a soccer fanatic, team dedicaton connection where you will cheer for them no matter what. But the team is increasingly filled with superstars from all over the globe that come and go and don't seem to care about Real unless they receive a check each week. With Raul you could point to him and say, "There. There is our Madrileno." There is our noble representative. The player who has never been redcarded in his entire career that would sacrifice his life for our club. The player with five children - all from the same wife - that kisses his wedding ring after every goal he scores. The player that despite all of the poor and outrageous signings, still makes you proud to be a Real Madrid fan.
Granted, the fans will always be proud. And as long as the current ownership is in place the galacticos and all of the good, bad and outrageous signings will continue. Real Madrid isn't going anywhere, even if Raul is gone. Which is how Raul would like it. He just wanted to be a part of the great machine and contribute to it moving forward. Which he did, and it will. Let's just hope these galacticos know where to go without their Lodestar as the guide.
Posted by kent
Posted on 12:07 PM
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It's summertime, which means it's transfer season for the European clubs and leagues. Transfer season is just like a summer romance. Lots of break-ups and hook-ups are happening. Even more rumors of break-ups and hook-ups. Some are true, most are false. Some hearts are broken only to then be healed by the rumor of a new romance. Many new romances are full of hope and optimism. You don't quite know how it will play out in the long term, but it's the start of a budding relationship so you are excited and believe that only great things lie ahead. In a few months it could all end miserably. But at least for the time being, it's July and things look good.
Liverpool fans are really running the gauntlet of emotions this summer. Lots of signings, lots of departures. Not to mention the ongoing saga with Fernando Torres. He's the hot girl that is with you, but sort of has a wandering eye. On one hand you want to just say good riddance to her and that she should just leave if she wants to. You think you would be better off with someone that wants to be with you and just you. Plus, it's summer, so you feel confident of your possibilities. But on the other hand, she's really hot and you don't really want to let that go. Frankly I don't know where most Liverpool fans stand with the Torres issue. No team wants unhappy players. But can you really compete without Torres? Many fans may not like that he's looking elsewhere as they think that he should feel honored to play for the wonderful and storied Liverpoool. Whatever their outward opinion, I think deep down they know they need him and that they'll have to live with the wandering eye.
If you are a Barcelona fan, you have once again had a great summer. Barcelona is the guy that is dating the homecoming queen while also dating the head cheerleader and the dance team captain. He's also flirting with the other really hot girl that isn't involved in any outside activities, but is just hot. Basically, all the ladies want him. He's not cheating on any of them as he's not "exclusively" dating any one of them and they all know he has "friends" all over the place. And although he has all the attention he could want and any guy could need, it's rumored that the hot volleyball player (Cesc Fabregas) is now interested. He by no means needs the extra attention, but he still goes after it. Why? Because he knows she's interested and more importantly, because he can. Barcelona is completely stacked and loaded with talent. As great as Fabregas is, they don't really need him. But he, along with most every other worldclass player, seems to be interested in playing for Barcelona. Great coach. Great core of old and young talent. Great team chemistry. Summertime really couldn't be better in Barcelona.
It's hard if you are a Valencia fan. You sold your two best players: David Villa and David Silva. But you knew it was a long time coming as your team is broke. You are just glad they didn't have to sell the team altogether. The silver lining is that you qualified for the Champions League last year. So although your really hot girlfriend bolted on the first sunny day of summer, you are optimistic because you are heading to a new school this year where there is endless potential. But it's cautious optimism at best and basically just trying to cover up the lack of self-esteem. Poor Valenicia. They are holding on to their last string of hope. Hopefully things go well for them. At the same time though, without talent, they could bow out of the Champions League early and not finish at the top of La Liga and their financial woes could really get out of control. You hope for the best at a new school, but the anxiety of the unknown is enough to kill you and ruin your summer.
Real Madrid is having their typical summer. Just a cold, heartless player. Cruising the beach looking for the most attractive eye candy and going after it. Somehow (he's so smooth and has money) the ladies always want to take a ride and seem to wait in line for their turn. It's the most ridiculous summer romance. And it happens every year. He's the guy that goes off to some random summer camp every single week and woos a different girl. All the girls know that the relationship is likely going to be short lived and that they have tons of competition and that they will likely be an afterthought come fall, but they all are interested. Its uncanny. You see it happening year in and year out. You think that one summer he will calm down and maybe take a break and work with what he has and see if he can't take one of current flings and turn it into something meaningful. But nope, summer rolls around and just like the previous year, he heads to the beach or camp and starts the process all over again. Pushing out last year's talent for new, fresh, and often unproven faces.
Not quite sure what to make of Manchester City. He's pulling a Real Madrid and going after a new girl a week and trying to make the most of his summer. But there is a little more of a party edge or feel to it. Real is the guy that dates all of the girls seperately and tries to keep them isolated until they all meet up in the fall and everything blows up. Man City is the rich guy that is inviting all the girls over at the same time for the pool party and bbq. Everyone is having a great time. Which is all fine and good for the summer, but at some point this has to end poorly right? I mean, how many midfielders can one team sign? Are they going to start 5 midfielders and 4 forwards and just play with a sweeper and a goalie in the back? Maybe. Who knows? It's carefree Man City. Live for the moment. You have the money, so spend it. It's summer. You'll figure it out somehow in the fall. And somehow they probably will, and it will likely end up better than most other teams in Europe.
So here we are. There are still 3-4 weeks of summer left for most teams. Plenty of time to do some damage and break some hearts or take on a new romance. It's all very exciting and fun in July when it's warm and life is good. Hopefully the romance still exists come November when it starts to get cold and bleak. Nothing is worse than the temperatures dropping and realizing that your summer of love was just a bad romance. At least there is a bright side. If things are bad, you can always look towards the December transfer window and hope for a nice short holiday fling to come around and get you through the rest of winter.
The much anticipated, but somewhat uneventful El Clasico happened on Saturday. It's the biannual meeting between Barcelona and Real Madrid. It was "the game" in La Liga not just because the two teams were tied for first in the standings, but also because La Liga has pretty much been a two horse race this year. Valencia, the team currently in 3rd place, is 20 points behind Barcelona and Real Madrid. Even if Barcelona or Real lost the rest of their games, Valencia still couldn't catch them. The two teams have been completely dominant this year which makes for good drama twice a year when the two teams do play each other, but leaves a lot to be desired the rest of the weeks. As exciting as it may be to watch Real and Barcelona play each other or other teams, the league is definitely better off when the there is talent accross the board.
Even that sentence however may be a little incorrect as it lumps Real into the same category as Barcelona. While other teams may not be able to compete with Real, Real still can't compete with Barcelona. Barcelona is like the varsity sports team of the world right now and everyone else is JV. No one can compete with them. On some days the JV teams might surprise or shock the varsity team and pull out a tie, maybe even get really lucky and pull out a win. But whenever that happens, the varsity squad just comes out the next day and thumps the JV team and reminds them that they can't really compete despite their victory. The perfect example of this was a couple weeks ago in Barcelona's Champions League game with Arsenal. In the first leg of the series that was played at Arsenal, the two teams tied 2-2. Despite Barcelona going up 2-0, Arsenal clawed their way back to a tie. It was an exciting and inspiring victory by the JV squad (Arsenal). So what happened next? The following week when the teams played the second leg at Barcelona, Barcelona came out and thumped Arsenal 4-1. Any slim hope or belief that Arsenal had that they could actually compete with Barcelona was smothered by the end of the first half.
So on Saturday, I was curious to know if Real Madrid, with all of their off-season acquisitions, was still a JV team or if they had made the jump to varsity. Could they really compete with Barcelona? Well, no. They couldn't. Here's three reasons why:
1. Dominant center midfield.
Good night Xavi is ridiculous. Every Spain fan has to be salivating in anticipation for the World Cup this summer. Xavi and his passes and the way he controls the game are...well, Zidane like. I said it. I'm surprised as well that I went there, but Xavi is deserving. He's up there with the finest in the game right now. His vision and control of the game and his incredible through balls are just lovely. He's so great to watch. He just takes over the game and controls the pace and the tempo and controls every player on the field. It's magnificent to watch, unless of course you are rooting against Barcelona in which case its incredibly frustrating. But yet you have to admire his skills, which makes the situation even more frustrating. I hate you Xavi and Barcelona, but you are so good.
Real doesn't have that player at the moment. Kaka was supposed to be that player and was that player with AC Milan, but he was injured on Saturday and he's been nonexistent all year. The huge contract and huge expectations have really made him seem lost. Real also has Guti, but he's so erratic. Sometimes brilliant but sometimes dismal. He was actually brilliant on Saturday and provided the beautiful pass that set up Real's best moment of the game, but again, he's not a consistent player unfortunately.
2. Team Chemistry and Rhythm
This is another one that is just awesome to watch unless you want Barcelona to lose. Barcelona is just one fluid mass moving up and down the field. They will possess the ball and barely advance it for 5 minutes and just frustrate the other team. They are so patient and every player is moving and knows exactly where they need to be. They have a lot of veteran players and a lot of role players. Everyone knows where they need to be and they all do their job. Xavi and Iniesta control the midfield and the game, Puyol and Pique take control in the back and Messi scores the goals. All the other players understand that, respect it and play their supporting role as needed.
Real has no chemistry. For one, their midfielders that are supposed to control the game, Kaka and Xabi Alonso are new to the team this year. Granted, the season is almost over, but as mentioned, Kaka has really struggled to take the reins of the team. That's probably because he has to deal with C. Ronaldo running all over and trying to keep him satisfied, which is no easy task. Speaking of which:
3. Barcelona has the best player in the game
Remember how two years ago when Ronaldo set those crazy scoring records in the Premier League and he was considered the greatest player in the world, and then the following year Messi and Barcelona went on to dominate the league and people started to wonder who was better, Messi or Ronaldo? Then everything culminated in the Champions League final last year when Messi's Barcelona palyed Ronaldo's Man United. Messi scored, Barcelona won, and Ronaldo, who had little impact during the game, eventually left Man U for Real Madrid in the offseason.
Now, I'm not saying that C. Ronaldo isn't an amazing player, but can one honestly argue that he is better than Messi? Last year it was a great debate. Now, not so much. Ronaldo is still probaby the second best player in the world, but no one can compete with Messi right now. And that's mainly because Messi always comes to play. I mentioned above that Messi is on a team with better chemistry and a better midfield, but it's not that Ronaldo is playing with chumps. Ronaldo is surrounded by great players, just like he was at Man U. Yet for some reason, in the last couple of big showdowns, Messi has proven that he is the better player. Yet again on Saturday Messi scored a goal and had a few other great opportunities. Ronaldo was fairly silent throughout the game. He didn't create much for his team and he didn't do much on his own. Again, not saying he's a bad player by any means, but until something changes, the debate is over as to who is the better player.
So even though Barcelona proved that they are the varsity squad and that Real Madrid is still a JV team, the nice part about JV is knowing that you are so close to making the jump. Which is where Real is right now. Assuming they don't fire their coach and blow up their current team (which is more likely to happen than not), they could easily make the jump next year and finally compete with Barcelona. Between Kaka, Xabi and Guti, they have the midfield playmakers. They have Higuain and Ronaldo that combined can be as great as Messi and in a year they will have a defense and a team that has had time together to form and identity and chemistry. They are close. You can tell that the pieces are there and that they want to be considered a varsity team. But they aren't. They are still a year away.
I know this post is a little late since it has been almost a week since Real Madrid lost to Lyon and was knocked out, yet again, in the first round of the knock-out rounds in the Champions League. That makes six years in a row that they have lost in the first stage of the knock-out rounds of the Champions League. I wanted to post earlier, but I needed a few days to mourn as I was legitimately upset after the game. There is nothing worse as a sports fan than losing and knowing that you will have to wait an entire year before you can team can redeem itself.
The other difficult thing about this game is that I don't really know what to say about Real. I keep wandering in circles. Six years with the same result means that this has happened to six different squads. You can't fault C. Ronaldo or Kaka for not getting the job done, when Zidane also failed with Figo and the original Ronaldo. But it's not the players and I don't think its the coach. I could only come up with one explanation: the business model.
Real's "business model" doesn't work. They spent over $280 million in the offseason to acquire 5 players and they lost to a team that doesn't have 1 recognizable player. I didn't know anyone on Lyon. At first I thought I knew one guy, but then I realized it was thinking about a differnet guy with the same name. I guess Lyon's central defender might make Brazil's World Cup squad as a back-up. Might.
I haven't read Soccernomics entirely, but I understand that Lyon is discussed in the book as a team that is projected to be successful in the future because of their business model of developing youth and not overspending for players. Real disregards its youth system, overspends on players and has no loyalty to its current players because they are constantly running out and looking for the next "hot" player to buy. I think the game was a great illustration of both teams and how their style of play reflects their business models.
In the first half Real came out firing. Granted, they were down 1-0 because they lost the first leg at Lyon, so they couldn't hold anything back. Not that they would though. They are hot, flashy players. Not all of them of course (some are ugly), but most of them are recognizable players and have a huge paycheck and huge expectations to live up to. So they come out firing and needing to score goals to silence the critics and be int he spotlight. Which is what they did in the game. They scored right away and had a couple of other great opportunities. Real just dominated in the first half. It could have easily been 3-0. One would think that the dominance would continue in the second half, but it was a totally different game.
But in the second half, Real flamed out. Lyon had weathered the Real storm and onslaught, proven that they weren't intimidated by the big names on the back of the jersey, and then they just started a slow, progressive attack on Real. The game turned into a finesse battle and was no longer just one side trying to overpower the other side. Lyon suddenly had tons of chances and was attacking just as well as Real. Lyon knew that the game was 90 minutes long and they played like it. Real was in it to win it within the first 10 minutes of the game. Not in it for the long haul. No development, just come out and slaughter the other team. Lyon withstood the onslaught, built up their confidence and offense, and came out and late in the game put the dagger in Real's heart. Which is what they have been doing all season. The announcer mentioned that Lyon scores most of their goals late in the game - more than any other team. Might not be the most exciting way to win games or the most exciting way to build a club, but it works. Just slow and progressive and playing for 90 minutes.
Lyon's business model and game plan isn't flawless of course, but it is pretty brilliant. Sometimes it might not work. Real did have some moments where they should scored. But you aren't going to beat Real at it's own game - not that you would want to. No one can spend money like Real, frankly, no one should. And no one can really attack like Real. Well, teams can attack better than Real, but you know they are going to do an all out attack. Lyon didn't try and match their attack, they just frustrated it. Waited until Real was done trying to show off, and then just beat them at soccer with their good team chemistry and players that might not be individually as skilled, but collectively are solid.
So really it's pretty simple. Real failed because their business model failed. They were beaten by a team with a better business strategy. The need to change their strategy. I understand that the original group of galacticos won the Champions League in their first year together, but they only won once. No long term success. If you only have one championship to show for all your efforts over a long period of time, then your business model needs to be changed. And it's a shame Real couldn't figure things out a couple years ago so that the dream of winning the Champions League in Madrid in their own stadium could have been a reality. I'm sure Barcelona will be more than happy to turn that failed dream into a nightmare by winning the championship in Madrid.
Before getting to the weekend preview, it was reported earlier today that Michael Owen is out the rest of the season due to injury. Talk about a career completely plagued with injury. Such a bummer.
He had the ability to do this:
But this is how he will be remembered:
Unfortunate.
The first big game of the weekend is Manchester City v. Tottenham. Both teams are tied for 4th and have a one point lead over Liverpool in the standings. Manchester City is coming off a great win last weekend against Chelsea. A game that featured 6 goals and this awesome move. (For those unfamiliar with the story, it recently came out that John Terry, the player in blue, had an affair with Wayne Bridge's girlfriend, the player in white. Hence the no handshake.)
Tottenham is coming off a win vs. Everton last weekend thanks to this sweet move by Landon Donovan. Doh! My heart actually aches a little every time I watch that clip. So sad. That goal would have tied the game. Just rough.
Anyways, the two teams are currently tied. Both are trying to hold on to that 4th spot, but surely both can hear Liverpool coming up behind them in the standing. If Liverpool wins, then the loser of the Man City/Tottenham game will fall to 6th behind Liverpool. A tie doesn't even help these teams as it would only give them 1 point each and Liverpool would leap frog both of them with a win. A lot riding on this game.
Prediction: Man City wins 2-1.
Real Madrid v. Sevilla
Huge game in La Liga. Real needs the win, but could very well lose for a variety of reasons:
1. Sevilla beat Real earlier in the season when the two teams met. However, that game was played at Sevilla and this game is in Madrid so Real should exact their revenge.
2. Real is only two points behind Barcelona and if they want to win the league this year they know they can't lose or tie to anyone otherwise they won't win the league even if they beat Barcelona in a few weeks. They just have added pressure for each game.
3. C. Ronaldo is already running his mouth and saying that he is sure Madrid will win the league. Again, why add the pressure? You haven't won anything yet. Barcelona is the king of La Liga. Why bother even saying anything at this point?
4. Lyon comes to Madrid on Tuesday. I don't think Real is overlooking Saturday's game, but they know the second leg of their Champions League match up will take place this Wednesday. It's a huge game for Real. To spend so much money and lose this early in the Champions League would be a huge embarrassment and epic fail. Players know it. Fans know it. Ownership knows it.
Prediction: Despite the pressure, Real comes out and thumps them 3-1.
Many other games of course. Those are the two big ones. Hopefully Donovan comes out and redeems himself and isn't scarred for the rest of the season.
The knock out rounds of the Champions League started up on Tuesday. While there are many interesting story lines and thoughts about the games, the biggest storyline isn't Wayne Rooney's continued dominance or Real Madrid's continued failure in the knock out rounds, it has to be the incredible goal scored by Paul Scholes in Manchester United's 3-2 win over AC Milan. Check it out in the video below. It comes at the 1:10 mark. It's the opposite of a golazo.
That has to be one of the luckiest goals ever. He tries to kick the ball with his right foot, completely whiffs like an 8 year old in AYSO, yet miraculously the ball deflects off his left foot which is planted on the ground and rolls into the side of the net. Anyone could have scored that goal. All you need is a shin. Not even a shin or a leg that can move. If you have a stationary body part, you too can score a goal in the Champions League.
There were other interesting observations from Tuesday's games. Since I'm already discussing the Manchester United/AC Milan game, I don't know how you stop Wayne Rooney. We might be witnessing one of the greatest individual seasons ever. I don't know how his season stats actually compare with single season records, but the way in which he is carrying Manchester United is incredible. Everyone expected somewhat of a drop off for Man U after C. Ronaldo left over the summer, but it hasn't happened. And it's not because some player stepped up and filled in Ronaldo's shoes. It's because Rooney decided to make up the difference on his own. Love or hate the guy, you have to admire his efforts this season and be impressed with how well he has done with the parts around him. Granted, we are talking about Man U here, the players around him aren't chumps; but they are when you compare them to the players at Chelsea who only maintain a 1 point lead on Man U in the standings. It's impressive.
Real Madrid v. Lyon
For the past 5 seasons, Real has failed to advance out of the round of 16 in the Champions League. 5 years, 5 different teams, 1 result: Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Roma and Liverpool. This year, it looks like it might be Lyon's turn.
Now, Lyon only won 1-0, and it was at Lyon. It's not like it's over for Real by any means. If Real Madrid does lose after the second leg, it will be interesting to discuss the true value and impact of C. Ronaldo. Granted, you can't pin all of this on him, especially since Real has had the same result over the past 5 seasons. But Man U seems to be perfectly fine without Ronaldo and Real actually seemed to be playing better as a team when he was out for a couple games with a red card.
I guess the main issue for Real though, is what do you do if you are yet again knocked out in the round of 16? Real Madrid spent over $250 million this past offseason purchasing various players - most notably, C. Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and Xabi Alonso. $250 million! It's completely absurd to spend that money in the first place. But when you spend that type of money, anything short of a championship would be a disappointment. You know what would be even more disappointing? Spending that money and not improving - which is what has happened thus far this season. Real finished second in La Liga last season behind Barcelona. Currently, they are in second place in La Liga right behind Barcelona. Last year they were knocked out in the round of 16 of the Champions League, they are currently down 1-0 after their first game with Lyon in the round of 16.
Well, it makes for good drama. Not to mention the fact that Zidane is disappointed with the team. You can't disappoint Zidane.
Anyways, Real and Lyon play again on March 10 in Madrid. Love them or hate them, Real Madrid always makes things interesting. I don't know why March 10 will be any different. If you ahve $250 million on hand, you'll find out if it's enough to buy win, or at least advance to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Barcelona was defeated (derrotado) at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Sunday. It was their first loss of the season in league play. Going undefeated would be an awesome achievement and quite the exclamation point on Barcelona's dominance over the past two seasons. Although it's quite a bummer for Barcelona fans they didn't complete the undefeated season, there are actually some positives to losing.
1. No more pressure
Going undefeated is an extremely difficult feat. While it clearly would be historic, it can almost have a negative affect on a team. As the season wares on, the pressure to go undefeated can become unbearable. It can overshadow everything else and become a hindrance. In the end, it would be better to win a championship, than go undefeated. Sure, both would be ideal, but sometimes the continued pressure of remaining undefeated can be the team's toughest opponent and actually cause the team to lose. The added pressure and discussion of the undefeated season is now removed. Now the focus can shift back to discussing how it is that all of your star forwards and midfielders are under 5'7" yet completely dominate the world's game.
2. Perfect time to lose
The loss couldn't have come at a better time. The second half of the Champions League starts up this week. The last thing Barcelona wants is to lose prematurely in the Champions League because they are thinking and focusing on upcoming La Liga games and remaining undefeated. While winning La Liga and being undefeated would be great, it's not worth the opportunity to be repeat Champions League winners. They of course want to win La Liga as well. But they are in the driver's seat for the La Liga title. It's theirs to lose at this point. Now they can focus just on winning and repeating as both La Liga and Champions League. Not that it's an easy task, but being repeat champions in both instead of just one because you were too focused on the one, is worth the loss.
3. Better Atletico than Real
If you have to have your first loss come at the hands of a Madrid team, better to have it be Atletico. This is obvious not only because Real Madrid and Barcelona are bitter rivals, but also because its been a tough year for Atletico. It's been fraught with disappointments and underachievement. They aren't the rich white boys (los blancos) from the north part of Madrid, they are the poor stepbrother team that rarely gets any attention or recognition. When they finally do, like this season when they qualified for the Champions League, they self destruct and embarrass themselves and the rich, white boys laugh and mock at the embarrassing younger stepbrother. This win will help Atletico much more than it will hurt Barcelona. Barcelona is fine. They will continue to steamroll and crush future opponents. Atletico on the other hand needs a lot more help to save their season and finish near the top of the standings. They needed this. Consider it a charitable act of service to the poor stepbrother who constantly gets abused by your enemy, as opposed to a loss for your team.
4. El Clasico will be better
Of course there is always some Real Madrid aspect to the loss. But admit it, even as a Barcelona fan, you are more excited for El Clasico now. Even with the loss Barcelona is still in first place. So if Barcelona hadn't lost and both teams continued to win, then when the two teams play each other (El Clasico) later in the season, the game would have been meaningless. The game would have been highly contested of course as both teams hate each other and want the bragging rights. But ultimately, win or lose, Barcelona would have remained in first place. If they would have won, all the fans would have bragged about the dominance. If they would have lost, all fans would have argued that the players didn't care because win or lose, they were still going to be in first place. But now, assuming neither team has any unexpected losses, the league title will essentially be on the line on April 11.
Bonus
A little added bonus of the loss for the Barcelona fan. If Real Madrid didn't have a chance to overtake first place with a win on April 11 (which they wouldn't have if Barcelona had remained undefeated) then the victory wouldn't nearly be as sweet. But now, you can go into Madrid on the 11th and rip the league title away from Los Blancos right in front of all of their fans. THEN, you can follow that up by going back to Madrid for the Champions League final (at Real Madrid's stadium) and really put a dagger in the heart of all Real Madrid fans by winning that title and having your fans celebrate on their streets of Madrid. There could be no better way to win the two championships.
So you may be derrotado right now. But enjoy the highlights below, they may be the moment you look back upon at the end of the season as the moment that led Barcelona to a fantastic finish.
Even though there are no English Premier League games this weekend, the chicos to the south still have some games going on. Here are some games worth interrupting your Valentine's weekend:
Real Madrid v. Xerez - There is always drama with Real Madrid. The drama queen, C. Ronaldo is back from his two game red card suspension. Although lowly Xerez is in last place and Real should easily beat them, it will be interesting to see how Real plays with Ronaldo back in the lineup. They were actually playing better without Ronaldo and had some incredible chemistry the past couple of days. Everyone looked like they were actually having fun.
Well, except for Raul. Looks like he's on his way out. This will deserve a future post of it's own. For now, I'll continue to pretend like it's not actually happening, even though I've known for awhile that this day was coming.
Also, Sergio Canales, an 18 year old star agreed to play with Real next season. He should fire his agent. Doesn't he know that if you want to play for Real, you first have to go to another team and become a huge star and then come over? He'll ride the bench for a year and then go out on loan.
Sporting Gijon v. Valencia - La Liga is essentially a two dog race. It's probably too late for Valencia to catch either Real Madrid or Barcelona, but they continue to do well despite having financial difficulties. I'm not sure how exciting this game will be, but if Valencia wants any chance to keep their star players, they need to keep winning and finish in the top three of the league.
The game of the weekend:
Atletico Madrid v. Barcelona - When these two teams met earlier in the season, Barcelona thumped Atletico 5-2. The games between these two teams are notoriously high scoring which is always entertaining.
A Barcelona game is always worth watching because of their dominance and their amazing team play on the field. Plus, they have Messi. The 5'7" beast that leads the leage in both goals and assists. Amazing. Plus, Barcelona is still undefeated in league play, so every game is compelling. I don't really think Atletico can beat Barcelona. Atletico has had quite a disappointing season. But they are playing at home and Barcelona is struggling with injuries so an Atletico win is possible. I wouldn't bet on it though.
I went off in the last post about beautiful fastbreaks, but didn't even mention "El Tacon de Dios" or "The Heel of God" that happened on Saturday in Real Madrid's game against Deportivo de la Coruna. I didn't quite realize it was a fastbreak because of the assist that overshadows everything else that transpires, including the goal. Not sure if you will find a more selfless move than what Guti did. Few players in the game would ever turn down the goal scoring opportunity that Guti had. An even smaller percentage of those players would actually have the huevos to make that pass in that moment. It's just brilliant. Phil Ball provides a great commentary and analysis of the goal and Guti (he also coins the term 'taconazo' - the heel pass version of 'golazo'). Here is just an excerpt:
"If you were at all conscious this weekend and vaguely interested in football you will have seen the back-heeled pass that Real Madrid's Guti conjured up on Saturday night for Karim Benzema to score against Deportivo de La Coruña, up in windy Galicia. If not, take a look now. This is because, to return to the point that Ken Loach was presumably trying to make in his film, it's the unexpected that causes the greatest impact in your life - perhaps a moment where you dared to take a risk and it came off, and then you remember it for ever as a life-changing decision because you know you could have taken the safer option. But if you had, your life would have been the poorer somehow.
The wonder of Guti's 'Tacón de Dios' (Heel of God, dixit Marca) is that it has changed in an instant the player's image, from burned-out waster outliving his time in La Liga and entertaining us only with his weird declarations to the press - the latest that he intended to retire to Bangkok - to reconfirmed genius."
As always, Phil Ball is spot on. If Guti had just scored the goal, it would have made the highlight reel for the games this weekend. Instead he took the other option, the one that isn't nearly as safe, but etches the goal in soccer highlight history. Who knows what will happen with Guti this season. He's always been all over the map. But if he continues to play like he has in the past couple of games, he could be the piece that relaxes the team and also brings them together and makes Madrid a dominant force again.
The Cristiano Ronaldo show was in full effect on Sunday. Ronaldo scored both goals in Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Malaga. The first goal is just a beauty. Fantastic team play. The ball moves so fast down the center, then to the outside and then centered for a great finish. I think the combined salary of the 4 players that set up and scored the first goal is somewhere near $100 million. Quite the bargain. It's nice to see Guti, the blonde spaniard, getting some playing time again. The second goal is also pretty. I love the reaction from the bench. For every player on the bench that is going crazy and celebrating, you always have at least one or two that are sulking in the background and mad that they aren't getting any playingtime. At one point they too might have celebrated in order to try and impress the coach and look like a "team player" and someone that cares about the team's success. They have since given up though. They probably didn't even bother to put their shorts on underneath their warm up pants.
Anyways, a Ronaldo show isn't nearly complete without a little drama. Later in the game, Ronaldo does what he does best and gets red carded when the game is already won. Even though he clearly hits the player, I was actually surprised by the straight red card. I understand that Ronaldo hit the player in the face. He was flailing his arms and it does appear that he intentionally swung his arm back at the player. But the guy was holding his jersey. The red card seemed a little harsh. Apparently not though as Ronaldo was given a two game ban for what he did instead of the customary 1 game suspension. Two games?! Real Madrid is of course going to appeal, as well they should. I realize it was a punch to the face, but two games? Plus, "punch" is used loosely here. I'm no street fighter by any means, but Ronaldo doesn't exactly look like he would have a death blow up his sleeve. He looks more like an arm flailer and a cheap shot guy. Kicks people when they have their back turned and things like that. This looks like another example of Ronaldo just being a baby.
Maybe that is why he got a two game ban. Maybe La Liga is sick of dealing with a 3 year old. Which is what Ronaldo basically is. He whines, pouts and full on punches and kicks people when they take his ball away from him or he doesn't get his way. And maybe that is what is going on with the two game suspension. La Liga has realized that Ronaldo, like other 3 year olds is slow to learn and isn't correcting his ways, so they needed to be harsher in their discipline.
Well, whatever the reason is, I'm not a Cristiano Ronaldo apologist and I think he deserves most of the red cards he gets, but I don't agree with this one.
Gonzalo Higuain has easily been the unexpected star of Real Madrid this season. Real Madrid's offseason was flooded with the major signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karem Benzema. With all of the signings it seemed like Higuain, despite his solid play last season, would be the odd man out and yet another young player that was pushed aside at Real Madrid for a star signing. Higuain (can we call him Gonzo? His nickname is El Pipita, but I like Gonzo better), like many players, could have shrunk at all of the star signings and taken his place on the bench until he was sent out on loan or traded once his contract expired. Instead, Gonzo has been nothing short of brilliant this season. He started the season on the bench but made the most of every opportunity. He now is a regular starter and leads the team in scoring with 11 goals - 4 more than C. Ronaldo and 6 more than Karem Benzema - the hot shot young forward Real bought this off season. I have nothing against Benzema, I think he's a solid young player. But the purchase of Benzema shows how flawed Real is. Both Benzema and Gonzo are 22 years old. They already had Gonzo, a superstar young forward who was coming into his prime, but Benzema was a "hot" name on the transfer market, so Real picked him up. A fine purchase since he does contribute, but practically unnecessary. Real doesn't play both Higuain and Benzema at the same time since they play C. Ronaldo at forward because they already have a host of midfielders. If you already had a productive young forward, why spend on another one? Because there is no such thing as logic and prudence at Real Madrid and because you never wait for a young player to develop when you can just buy one instead.
Anyways, I digress. It often happens when trying to make sense of Real Madrid. Back to Gonzo. On Sunday he was once again brilliant. He scored Real's first goal and assisted on the second. Check out the video below (there is a long intro, the first goal comes at the 2:00 mark).
Gonzo is clearly a legit forward. That first goal is just a beauty. He shows that he has an outstanding shot and fantastic accuracy. The second goal (he has the assist and makes the cross) shows off his skill and that he has great touch and can set up players and isn't just a finisher. Plus, he's a big guy and can push defenders around and out-muscle lots of defenders. He was showing flashes of brilliance at the end of last year. Luckily for Real Madrid, he was given another chance this season and was able to prove that he can dominate at the highest level.
So I wanted to post about Gonzo for a couple of reasons:
1. It's always fun to point out examples of how Real Madrid's business model of constantly buying players on the market and ignoring their own talent is terribly flawed;
2. I've been watching him all season and really believe that he is one of the best young strikers in the world and over the next few years will be in the "who is the best striker in the world right now" discussions; and
3. Those discussions will all begin after the World Cup this summer. Argentina has world of talent and loads of issues. They have a crack addict coach and a lack of mullets on the team. They need to fix their issues. If they can/do, with players like Gonzo, they can and should make it to the semifinals, if not finals. We all know that team is centered around Messi, as well is should be since he is the best player in the world and an incredible playmaker. But Messi can't do it alone and despite having other great players, it's a player like Gonzalo Higuain that is the x-factor that turns Argentina from a pretender to a contender. Mark it down and watch for him this summer.
Gonzalo Higuain might be the unexpected star for Real Madrid with the star-studded, ("galactico" if you will) lineup they have, but that should make him one of the expected stars this summer.
**Post update: Fittingly, just as I finally get around to posting about Higuain and giving him his due, I jinx him as it's reported that he injured his foot in the last game. However, the injury does appear to be minor and he should only be sidelined for 3 weeks. So he will be ready for the knock-out rounds of the Champions League and definitely ready for the World Cup so that he can prove me right that he's the next big thing.
Meet Cristiano Ronaldo. He's so hard to love. In some circles he's considered the greatest soccer player in the world right now. He's also a punk. In the offseason Real Madrid bought C. Ronaldo from Manchester United for roughly $160 million. He's the Alex Rodriguez of soccer, except without the steroids (of course, I wouldn't put cheating past C. Ronaldo if he had the opportunity). As much as he may rub you the wrong way, the man is so talented that deep down you know you would want him on your team. You despise him, but can't turn your head when he has the soccer ball, which makes you hate him even more. He's arrogant. But he can back up his arrogance with his talent. He's a terrible drug or addictive substance. As much as you hate everything about it, you can't help yourself and you cave and submit and confess that you need it/him. As a Real Madrid fan, I was so upset when we signed him. We have plenty of other talent. He's not a team player, yet he makes the team better. We play better when he's on the field, which is so upsetting because he's clearly a "me first" player. Do I overlook his arrogance and terrible personality because he helps the team? Do I have to remain committed to the team despite a player who is clearly more concerned about himself and what the team does for him? I can't stand him. Look at him in those tiny shorts with a pink hat and a flower. You can tell he thinks he's the cat's meow. What a tool. He's so sexy. Pompous prick. I love him.
Sunday was a perfect example of why I struggle with Ronaldo. Real Madrid is playing lowly Almeria. Real Madrid jumps out to an early lead from a goal by Sergio Ramos, assisted by Ronaldo (see, he contributes and makes players better). In typical Real Madrid fashion, they don't play defense and soon find themselves down 2-1 to one of the worst teams in the league. Higuaingets the equalizer in the 73rd minute and ties the game 2-2. Then, in the 82nd minute, Ronaldo is rewarded a penalty because he is tripped in the box by the goalie. I have issues with this call in general because I think the goalie has no other options in this situation, it's a guaranteed call for players and all players, not just Ronaldo take advantage. Anyways, Ronaldo takes the penalty and his shot is actually blocked by the goalie. Fortunately, Benzema is there to clean up the mess and he, not Ronaldo, scores the go ahead goal. Everyone is happy because the team is back on top and probably going to win. Well, everyone but Ronaldo. As shown in the video below, he doesn't join in on the celebration, he's too busy mourning his miss. Granted, it's frustrating to miss that shot. He should have scored, but the bottom line is, the TEAM scored and has now taken the lead. Be bummed all you want, but at least congratulate the player on scoring the goal. He's on your team remember? Apparently, team success is only great if it accompanies individual accolades.
Two minutes later, when the game doesn't matter as much, Ronaldo scores off of a perfect set up from Higuain. Ronaldo doesn't do anything for the goal. He just taps it in. I could have made that goal. Well, I actually missed an even easier one in my game last week so I guess I can't say that, but I'd like to think I could have made it and surely any other professional player could have made it. Regardless, it's not the winning goal since Real already has the lead, it's just a meaningless goal to ice the cake. Yet Ronaldo celebrates like he just won the World Cup and runs over to the side of the field and takes off his shirt so he can show off his abs for the entire stadium. This is stupid for a few reasons:
1. As shown in the video below, he has a really hard time getting his shirt off. It takes him about 30 seconds. There's a good chance he trips and falls while trying to get it off and injures himself;
2. The ladies already want him. There's no need to show off his abs and body. We get it. We already know are ripped and can pull chicks like Tiger Woods; and
3. Taking off your shirt is a guaranteed yellow card. There is no debate or discussion. It's the easiest rule for a ref to enforce. If shirt comes off, give yellow card. Not much room for interpretation or argument.
Despite the rule, many players, not just Ronaldo will take their shirts off. Usually it's not that big of a deal because it's just a yellow and a warning and as long as the player keeps his cool for the rest of the game, he's fine. It especially shouldn't be a big deal if there are only 6 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, this is Ronaldo, not your average level-headed player. So, 4 minutes later, 2 minutes before the end of the game, an Almeria player hits the back of Ronaldo's head with his arm. Not quite sure if it was intentional, you can see it in the video. Intentional or not, Ronaldo flips out and retaliates by brilliantly kicking the player right in front of the ref. This of course gives him his second yellow card, which translates into a red, making him ineligible for the next league game.
So lets recap: He scores a meaningless goal against a bad team, gets carded for his celebration, two minutes before the game ends, when Real has practically won, he kicks another player and gets red carded, Kaka is already out because of injury and now Ronaldo is out for the next game because he's an idiot, and the next game happens to be at Valencia-the team in third place right now.
How do you honestly expect me to love you?
Maybe by coming back two nights later and scoring two goals (including a brilliant goal off a free-kick) in the Champions League to help Real Madrid qualify for the knock out stages. Curse you Cristiano Ronaldo. Curse you. You make it so hard to love you.
El Clasico was, well, a classic. Brilliant in my opinion. I'm not quite sure how to recap the game, so here are my observations/impressions after watching the game:
1. I'm not a soccer guru by any means, but Real Madrid and Barcelona along with Chelsea have to be considered the best clubs in the world right now, at least if they are playing like they did on Sunday. If it's any other team, besides maybe Chelsea, Real Madrid wins that game on Sunday. At the same time, if it's any other opponent, Barcelona wins 4-0. I haven't watched every game this year with these two clubs, but I've watched enough to know that both teams were playing some of their best football.
2. Goal(s). If there was a downside to the game, it was that there was only one goal scored. For soccer fans, one goal is sufficient, especially in Sunday's game where the quality of play and the stakes were so high. However, a common complaint from casual and non-soccer fans is that there is a lack of scoring in soccer. Because Sunday's game had everything else: two storied teams, two rivals, Barcelona celebrating their 110 year anniversary, first place on the line, the current reigning club champion trying to repeat and the other team using all of it's massive spending power to dethrone the club, brilliant play, world class players, etc. the only thing that could have helped the game would have been a couple more goals.
With that said, the goal from "the Nose" was superb. One of those goals where you don't realize right away that it's a world class goal because the player makes it look easy. But to volley that ball into the side of the net from a cross over your head 25 yards away, is not easy. Casillas was shifting over so Ibrahimovic had only about a 3 foot window on the near post for the shot. Not every player makes that shot, few make it look so easy.
3. The Barcelona midfield. I know it's a broken record at this point to praise the Barcelona midfield, but it's just so hard not to do after watching a Barcelona game. The manner in which they control the tempo of the game and create opportunities is just amazing. Midway through the second half Barcelona lost a man because of a red card. You would have never noticed they finished the game with only 10 men, and that isn't because Real played poorly. It's because Barcelona's midfield was still able to control the ball and keep possession as if they had 11 men. If Barcelona wins La Liga again this year and wins the Champions League again and Spain goes on to win the World Cup Iniesta and Xavi will go down with Magic/Kareem, Lennon/McCartney, Mario/Luigi, and Lindsey Lohan/alcohol as one of the greatest duos of all time.
4. Real Madrid is much improved. They can't expect to have team chemistry overnight, at least not like Xavi and Iniesta seem to have- look at them frolicking together, giving piggy-back rides to each other. They're tight. But it takes time to really have a rhythm and know the other players on the field. Although they didn't win, Real can actually compete with Barcelona this year. Last year they lost 2-0 at Barcelona and then were embarrassed and lost 6-2 at home. In both games it was evident that they were playing against a team that was flat out on another level. It will still take a brilliant effort to beat Barcelona when Barcelona is playing at the top of their game, but Real could actually do it. Kaka is finally showing flashes of brilliance and showing why he is considered one of the best midfielders and set up men in the game (The first set up in the clip below is a beauty. Ronaldo can't be missing those types of chances with the paycheck he gets. Messi also uncharacteristically misses later on as well - not set up by Kaka though. Kaka's set up around the 1:30 mark in the clip below is also incredible. I still don't know how he keeps the ball). You also can't undervalue the importance and addition of Xabi Alonso and Lass Diarra. They did wonders for wreaking havoc on Barcelona's midfield. They made it very difficult to Barcelona to establish their rhythm and wouldn't let Barcelona control the ball for too long. A lot of clean, hard fouls, forcing Barcelona to make bad passes and keeping possession when they won the ball. Despite losing, Real proved that they can actually play with and even beat Barcelona, something they couldn't do last year.
5. The next Clasico. I know it's early and the next Clasico isn't until April. But at the end of the game, I couldn't help but think about how much will be on the line in April. Barcelona has yet to lose in La Liga. At most they might lose one or two between now and then. Sevilla, Valencia and Deportivo de la Coruna are playing well this year and are within striking distance of Real and Barcelona; but if Real continues to play like they did on Sunday, there is no reason to believe that they won't be in second come April. I don't see any other teams being able to overtake Real and Barcelona. During the game they mentioned that in the past ten years, Barcelona has had 1 coaching change. Real has had 9. Barcelona develops their players, Real broke two world transfer fees to buy two players this summer. I don't think anyone favors Real's business model over Barcelona's. But can Real Madrid buy a championship? Barring any sort of catastrophes or team blow ups (which is very possible with Real's history and all the egos) we should find out in April. It will all be on the line. Hasta entonces.
Atletico Madrid lost to Real Madrid in the Madrid derby over the weekend. You always hope for exciting derbies, and this one delivered, mainly because Atletico played until the 90th minute. From just watching the game, you would never know that one team (Real) is in second place and the other is third to last (Atletico) and would be relegated if the season ended today. Real jumped out to an early lead with a screamer from Kaka and a goal from Marcelo at an extremely tough angle. Real played better than they have in any game since the loss of Christiano Ronaldo. They finally showed that they have loads of talent even without C. Ronaldo. Derbies seem to bring out the best in players and Real came out strong. In the second half, Real took a 3-0 lead on a terrible defensive play from Atletico's Luis Perea. Players lose their starting jobs on blunders like that. Just poor play. Higuain just ran up and took the ball away and scored. However, only a minute later Sergio Ramos was red carded and Atletico came back to life. Granted, Real was only playing with 10 men, but Atletico went on to score 2 goals in the 79th and 81st minutes. They went on a tear and almost made it a match for the storybooks. Atletico made a valiant effort, but in the end they did fall short.
So while Atletico deserves a lot of credit for their effort on Saturday, they needed more than a moral victory. They needed some sort of silver lining on the extremely dark cloud that is the start of their season. A win against Real could have been that lining and the start of their climb out of the cellar. As mentioned, to their credit, they never gave up and they played the entire 90 minutes. They had as many shots and controlled the ball as much as Real. They are as good of a team as Real and most every other team they have faced this season. They have all the players, but haven't been able to piece it together. It almost came together in Madrid on Saturday night, they just needed a Manchester United stoppage time to get another goal. Another goal to tie the game would have been huge for Atletico. To crawl back from a 3-0 deficit against their rivals could have saved the season from an emotional standpoint. Unfortunately it didn't happen and their season is over. I know it's only November, but they only have 7 total points, while the league leaders already have over 20. Atletico won't be relegated, but they aren't catching the leaders this season. Much like the photo, the loss on Saturday was probably the knock-out blow. Hopefully Atletico doesn't give up entirely because they have loads of talent and can easily disrupt other teams down the stretch. Still, it's a sad consolation and role for a team with so much talent and that had such high expectations at the start of the season.
Alcorcon beat Real Madrid on Tuesday in their Copa del Rey match. Most people are probably unfamiliar with Alcorcon. It's a small suburb about 15 miles outside of Madrid. Even if you visited Madrid you probably never went to, or heard of Alcorcon. If you ever had the pleasure of living in the Madrid area for say, a couple of years, Alcorcon is the type of place where you hoped you never had to live. There's nothing wrong with the city per se, but there isn't much "right" with the city either. Some cities in Spain are ripe with history. There is rich spanish culture and history that mixes and blends perfectly with modern spain or society. Alcala de Henares is a good example of this. Alcorcon isn't. Both suburbs, only one is more like a Pasadena (Alcala) type suburb and the other one is more akin to the City of Commerce or Hawaiian Gardens. (Proof of this: One of the first 5 photos that comes up in a Google Images search of Alcorcon is a picture of a bunch of teenagers being arrested. Another photo is of just a bunch of teenagers. If you know Spain, you know that if a city is known for having spanish teenagers, the city probably doesn't have much to offer society.) Basically, there is no reason to stop in Alcorcon unless you are just stopping at a gas station to go to the bathroom; or apparently if you want to see their their third-division soccer team with a payroll of just over $1 million, beat up on Real Madrid, a team with a payroll of $420 million, give or take $10 million.
You can see from the video that this wasn't exactly a highly publicized match. It looks like some high school student was asked to film the game and all he had was the video camera on his phone. I also love the "stadium". It's just bleachers lining the field. They'll probably be taken down after the game since the field probably doubles as a parking lot during the day. I'm sure some of the fans paid while most just hopped the fence to get in.
But honestly, how does this happen? I understand that both Kaka and C. Ronaldo didn't play in the game. I understand that it wasn't the normal starting 11, but there is no excuse for this. Not when you have spent over $400 million to compile all of your players. Not when you insist on neglecting your development program because you are compiling all of "the greatest players in the world." The first goal scored by Alcorcon against Real Madrid was by Borja Gomez, former Real youth player.
It's been said before on this site and it's so evident that it's just a broken record at this point, but Real has no defense. No defense. It is incomprehensible that Marcelo continues to play. He is a Roberto Carlos reincarnate. He slides way too much. He always wants to attack. He never covers his man. He gets beat all the time. He's just a roaming defender that is never in position that can't guard anyone. Sergio Ramos is the same way. He wants so desperately to score or have an assist that he is never in position. I don't even know if those guys played in the Alcorcon game but it doesn't matter. No matter who the opponent is, there are players constantly roaming free inside the box. Look how open the Alcorcon player is on the third goal. It's remarkable. Especially since that happens in every game. Every game! Champions League, La Liga, or Kings Cup. Doesn't matter the opponent. If you want to hang out in Real Madrid's box unguarded, Madrid's defense is more than happy to comply with your request.
Real has lots of issues. Not even sure where to begin or if there is any quick fix. But I think a big problem with Real Madrid this year is that they have no leader. Raul is no longer their leader. He might be their captain and inspirational leader, but he's too old and not dominate enough to be their leader on the field. C. Ronaldo isn't a leader. I think he's a competitor and wants to win, but he's too concerned about personal glory to lead a team. Maybe he is their leader, they have been struggling with him out of the lineup.
I think everyone, including myself, was waiting for Kaka or Xabi Alonso to assume the leader role. I thought one of the two of them would step up and direct the team. Kaka has been extremely timid and looks like he is feeling the weight of expectation because of his huge contract and signing. He's not playing poorly, but he's not stepping up and directing the team either. Xabi was brought in as "the final piece". The man that would direct everyone and be the midfielder that could mesh all superb talent that was on the field. Has anyone seen Xabi? It usually takes about 20-25 minutes into each game before you realize he's even on the field. Maybe leadership isn't the problem. But something is terribly wrong. A team with that payroll has no excuse for playing so pitifully.
I would say it's a shame that Real spends all this money and has all this talent and can't put it together. And it is a shame since they could really be one of the greatest teams of all time if they figured things out. But at the same time, maybe it's not a shame. Maybe it's a good thing they are struggling. Not that other teams could construct a team like Real if they wanted to, but perhaps it's good that Real's "business model" fails. Maybe it's the only way for the ownership to realize that they need to work on team chemistry if they expect to ever have any championship success. That's unlikely though as I'm sure the ownership is already out placing a bid to buy another forward since that, for some flawed reason believed by the owners, always solves the problem.
Anyone else know how to fix Real Madrid's problems? Anyone care? Maybe everyone is just happy the overspending giants are struggling.
On Sunday, Sevilla not only handed Real Madrid their first loss but also completely embarrased Real Madrid and their defense. Sevilla beat Real at their own game. They didn't play for possession, they just came out firing in an all out attack. I didn't think C. Ronaldo meant so much to Real, but they had no spark and were never really a threat on offense. More importantly though, Sevilla completely exposed the terrible back line that call themselves Real Madrid's defense. Talk about unorganized. Marcelo is a joke, as will be shown in the video. Pepe can't organize anyone, and Sergio Ramos is too interested in scoring goals. They are not in sync, and no offense should feel intimidated having to go up against Real's defense.
In a previous post, we discussed the SI.com Power Rankings and the fact that they had ranked Real #1 and Barcelona #2. We argued that Barcelona is still deserving of the top spot and also that there was no way Real Madrid's defense was good enough to control the top spot. There were a lot of statistics mentioned, but the premise was basically that Barcelona controls the ball practically the entire game and they hold their opponents hardly any shots and chances on goal. Real has a weak defense that allows too many shots on goal. This was demonstrated again on Sunday:
Barcelona vs. Almeria:
Barcelona - 17 shots, 7 were on goal. Almeria - 0 shots, 0 on goal. Barcelona controlled the ball for 73% of the game.
Real vs. Sevilla:
Real Madrid - 17 shots, 3 on goal. Sevilla - 24 shots, 10 on goal. Real controlled the ball for 58% of the game.
Ok, of course Sevilla is a tougher opponent than Almeria, but 0 total shots! That is complete domination. Almeria isn't the best team in La Liga, but they are far from the worst. If this was the first time Barcelona had held a team to 0 shots on goal, then it might be more of a statement about how poor Almeria is. But this is the third opponent with 0 shots on goal (Almeria being the first with 0 total shots), so its more of a statement that Barcelona is just that good.
Meanwhile, Real has serious issues. Below are the highlights from the game. Iker Casillas was other worldly. His performance deserves a post of its own. His saves at the 3:05 and 3:23 mark are just phenomenal. Simply amazing. Sadly for Real's defense, he makes incredible saves like that in almost every game. Mainly because Real's defense just stands around and lets opponents roam free in the box. The way in which Marcelo stands around on the first goal (2:09) is a perfect representation of Real's defense right now. Sevilla had so many open men and chances, it was just absurd.
The issue isn't so much that Real Madrid isn't deserving of the #1 spot in the Power Rankings. Those are just arbitrary rankings that don't really mean anything. The issue is that it's the same song and story for Real: Spend lots of money on offense yet forget about your defense. That equates to losing to Barcelona in La Liga and another early round exit in the Champions League.
Brief addendum to the post. In the comments for the previous post about the rankings, Brad thinks that the rankings should be:
1. Barcelona 2. Chelsea 3. Real Madrid 4. Man U 5. Man City
Personally, I wouldn't put Real Madrid before Man U or maybe even City. I would struggle putting Real anywhere before where ever Liverpool would fall in the rankings. Liverpool may have lost to Chelsea, but I think they fared a whole lot better than how Madrid would have done against Chelsea. Chelsea can shut down Madrid's offense and their high powered offense could put up 4-5 goals against Real Madrid's terrible defense. I think upcoming matches for Liverpool against Man U and Man City will be interesting. I'm still not impressed with Man U and I think City is still figuring things out. Arsenal is also quietly doing well. I think the only thing for sure is that Barcelona is 1 and Chelsea is 2. After that, its a crapshoot in my opinion.
