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As the media machine that precedes every encounter between Real Madrid and Barcelona gears up to full speed, Juande Ramos should be thinking that this is a gilt-edged opportunity to turn his new charges' fortunes around.
The 3-0 win at home to Zenit on Wednesday was certainly morale-boosting, but neither its effect, nor the performance of the players should be overestimated. It's good to kick your tenure off with a victory and a clean sheet to boot, but let's not forget that there was nothing in play for the Russian side, as they had no chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
A win (or possibly even a draw) at the Nou Camp would have no impact in the relative standings, and is unlikely to be particularly decisive in the championship race. However, psychologically it would sow some doubt in Barcelona's mind - they have been unstoppable recently - and might have the same effect on the Real Madrid squad that the equivalent fixture had two seasons ago when Capello was in charge.
The managerial reshuffle has made things a little more complicated for Pep Guardiola, who rested some of his players in the midweek loss to Shakhtar Donetsk thinking that Bernd Schuster would be in the visitor's dugout on Saturday. Some Barcelona fans are a little worried too.
"With Schuster, we knew more or less what they were doing. With Juande, I imagine they'll do other things," said Guardiola, adding that he would look at the video of the Zenit game and some of the Sevilla games when Ramos was in charge (clearly he doesn't rate Juande's stint at Spurs to be too significant).
Guardiola is also using cautious language when asked whether Real Madrid's numerous injuries would benefit Barcelona. "There are no second rate players in either Real Madrid or Barcelona," he said. His counterpart has not made a pronouncement either way, but it surely cannot be helpful to have to add Rubén de la Red to Diarra and Van Nistelrooy as players who will be out for the remainder of the season. De la Red has been the subject of numerous tests for what is believed to be a heart-related condition, which may force his premature retirement from football.
Regarding the probable Real Madrid line-up, the talk this week has been about Dudek getting a start ahead of Casillas in the Zenit game. Iker's uncharacteristic poor form this season (24 goals in 14 games) fuelled speculation that he might not be included in Saturday's squad, although the most likely explanation was that he was being rested so he could fully concentrate on the Clásico.
Juande has been forced to experiment already to cope with injuries and suspensions, bringing Metzelder in as right back, instead of his usual central position, and switching Salgado to the left during the midweek tie. Initially, the rumours suggested that Salgado would keep that position as Marcelo was suspended for Saturday and Juande wanted a right footed player to try to control Messi's runs on that flank. It now looks like it may be Sergio Ramos who will get that responsibility.
Arjen Robben, perhaps Real's most dangerous and in-form player, is also suspended for the Barcelona clash following his sending off last weekend against Sevilla. Drenthe is likely to be the player Juande feels can bring some width and speed (if not much in the way of precision) to his side.
Friday, 12 December 2008
Clásico: mission impossible or golden opportunity?
Monday, 3 November 2008
Off the pace
Real Madrid put paid to a lacklustre last few games with a draw at Primera División newcomers Almería (this is only their second season ever in the top flight). This leaves them still lying in third place in the league standings, two points behind leaders Barcelona, who have had a particularly impressive run of form recently, scoring fifteen goals (including five against Almería) in their last four encounters. Almería's late equaliser left Real feeling like they'd "let two points escape", as Bernd Schuster put it.
It was a particularly tedious first half, with no shots on goal from the local team, and not much more from the visitors. The only bright spot was Raúl's goal, which came from a great bit of skill from Higuaín on the wing, crossing the ball for the captain to deflect it past the keeper in a diving header. It was Raúl's first goal away from the Bernabéu since the one he scored against Racing Santander last April and his fifth in the league so far.
If anything, the second half was even more depressing from a Real Madrid standpoint, as the players (and coach) obviously had their minds on the clash with Juventus on Wednesday and decided to "secure" the win. Inevitably, this led to a lack of depth (to add to the general lack of width in the side), with lots of losses of possession. Almería grew in confidence and self-belief as the half wore on, and it was only a matter of time before they scored.
Sergio Ramos, who had otherwise had an acceptable game, gave the ball away with a header into no-man's land. A lightning-quick move from Almería caught him and the other defenders napping and gave Casillas no chance. Almería even had the chance to walk away with all three points, and it would not necessarily have been an unfair result.
To add insult to injury (or should that be injury to insult?), Pepe limped off three minutes into the second half and is doubtful for Wednesday's Champions League game. Another player certain of not being selected is Rubén de la Red, who fainted in Real's midweek Copa del Rey clash and who is out for an indefinite period until the doctors can determine what caused his loss of consciousness.
All in all, this game is best forgotten. One hopes that Real has plenty more up their sleeve against a Juventus finding their form, otherwise their chances of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages (not to say anything about getting further in the competition) may be in jeopardy.
Monday, 22 September 2008
Capello would be proud
You have to feel some sympathy for Bernd Schuster. That's a strange statement to make about a man in charge of one of the most prestigious football clubs, and the current Spanish championship title holders. However, he faces a long and difficult season with a squad clearly split in half.
The defence, now back to full strength following the return of Ramos and Cannavaro, shows signs of being as confident and solid as in the latter part of last season and has just notched up its second clean sheet in a row. Schuster's attacking options, now that's another matter altogether.
Looking at Sunday night's 2-0 win over Racing Santander you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. After a tedious first half, De la Red put the visitors ahead eight minutes after the break following a swift counterattack by Gonzalo Higuaín. Van Nistelrooy made the game safe seventeen minutes from time with a typical clinical finish.
And yet, the prospects for the aforementioned long season don't look that rosy. The loss of Robinho has left Real Madrid with a distinct lack of options on the wing. Robben is very much in form, but his propensity to get injured may have prompted Schuster to decide to use him sparingly, bringing him on in the second half to overwhelm tired defences with his speed. The fact that De la Red is starting to click with this team is a welcome sight, but his game is distribution, like Guti, and the latter's injury may result in more playing time and pressure for the youngster.
Up front, you cannot fault 'Van the Man' for effectiveness, and Higuaín is coming out of his shell to contribute speed and a desire to run at defenders. But that is where the options start and end.
Raúl is unrecognisable from the man who scored 16 goals last season; he's the invisible man in the squad. It's no longer a question of whether he should be selected for the Spanish national side; rather, questions are beginning to be asked about whether he should be in Real Madrid's starting eleven. Saviola, for whatever reason, just does not feature in Schuster's plans, which leaves nothing in reserve.
So, as per the title of this entry, why would Capello be proud? Well, Schuster has clearly eschewed any pretensions to elegant, free-flowing football for an approach purely designed to get results. If, in his own words, nobody listens to his requests for reinforcements and he has to work with what he's given, he's doing exactly that. The questions is whether this will last out the season. Mijatovic may claim the club has no intentions of scouring the transfer market in January, but, if results don't go Real's way, he may have to spend some of the millions from the sale of Robinho.
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Madridistas in Euro 2008 (IV)
We say goodbye to the first batch of Real Madrid players after the quarter finals, with the surprising elimination of both Portugal and Holland, two of the more fancied sides after their group games. Aside from Spain's first defeat of Italy in official competition for 88 years, all the group winners fell at the quarter final stage.
Pepe (Portugal): the Portuguese defenders did not cover themselves in glory against Germany. Pepe was beaten in the air by Klose on a number of occasions and then proceeded to inexplicably miss with a header around the hour mark which could have seen his side draw level and change the course of the tie. He also has to take some of the blame for Schweinsteiger's goal as between him and Bosingwa they were not able to cover Podolski's run.
Metzelder (Germany): not many gave Christoph much of a chance against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes, but, to his credit, he turned in a solid, though not brilliant, performance. His uncharacteristic playacting after someone brushed his face is reprehensible. There was little he could do, however, to stop Nuno Gomes's goal.
Sneijder (Netherlands): his side's best player of the match and, in my opinion, Holland's best player in the whole tournament, he constantly harried and tried to find ways through the organised Russian defence. It was that final pass into space that seemed beyond him and he resorted, unsuccessfully to shooting from outside the area. His cleverly taken free kick found Van Nistelrooy towards the end of normal time and resurrected the Dutch, for a time at least.
Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands): looked very much alone up front and did not really get great service from his teammates. His goal at the end of the second half when all looked lost, was a typical "Van Goal" effort, but ultimately to no avail.
Robben (Netherlands): on the substitutes bench, but was not used by Van Basten against Russia.
Casillas (Spain): immense. There's no other word for it. Kept Spain in it with a left foot out of nowhere in the second half to keep Camoranesi out, and also saved di Natale's header in extra time, not to mention the two penalty saves that finally mean that Spain breaks the 'curse' of the quarter finals and their lack of success against Italy in official competitions which stretches back to 1920. The process of canonisation has started, in the Spanish press at least.
Ramos (Spain): much better - not yet at his best - but significantly improved from the first two games. He still made a few mistakes, especially in the first half, giving away possession too easily, but he also helped out as centre back when needed (Puyol was just too short to manage Luca Toni in the air).
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Madridistas in Euro 2008 (III)
Though half of the national sides taking part in Euro 2008 have now been eliminated, all of the Real Madrid players who started the tournament have booked their ticket to the quarter finals with varying degrees of brilliance. Rubén de la Red, back from his season-long loan at Getafe, and still a Real Madrid player (it's not yet clear whether he will feature in the transfer market this summer) made his debut in the tournament with a goal against the Greeks.
Pepe (Portugal): Scolari made eight changes to his starting line-up having guaranteed first place in the group after the first two games and promptly went down 2-0 to co-hosts Switzerland, who were playing for honour only. Though Pepe had little blame for the two goals, it was clear the whole squad was not as 'switched on' as in the previous games. Whether this has anything to do with Scolari's announcement that he will be joining Chelsea after the tournament ends, remains to be seen.
Metzelder (Germany): barely any improvement over the previous match, although it has to be said that Germany had a particularly pedestrian game against Austria as a whole. The two German central defenders have been shown up time and again by fast moving opponents, although they seem to be solid from set pieces and aerial balls. They need to take it up a notch or two if they are to progress beyond their quarter final game against Portugal.
Robben (Netherlands): played just over an hour of Holland's inconsequential game against Romania, which they still managed to win 2-0 despite resting most of the starting 11. Arjen Robben wasted a good chance in the first half from a Huntelaar flick-on by poking his shot wide. Somewhat imprecise in some of his passing, he may not have done enough to get a starting spot in the quarter finals.
Sneijder and Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands): were rested and did not play against Romania.
De la Red (Spain): after a fairly unimpressive first half, in which he missed a chance to put Spain ahead against Greece, he picked up his game in the second half with a tremendous strike that gave Nikopolidis no chance. The goal seemed to give him added confidence and his passing improved significantly, although it is unlikely he will be picked over any of the members of the starting 11.
Casillas and Sergio Ramos (Spain): were rested and did not play against Greece.
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Transfer boredom
Given the week-long gap between games at this stage of the season, press reports on Real Madrid during the greater part of the week have been concentrating on possible transfer movements during the summer. I normally don't bother reporting 90% of this stuff as it's more often than not concocted out of thin air, so I tend to wait till it's either officially announced, or the buzz is so insistent that there's a good chance it will happen. But I thought it would be at least amusing to record what is being said and then come back next September, after the transfer window closes, to see whether there was any truth in any of the stories.
The list of possible additions to the squad includes the following:
In terms of those leaving the club, elconfidencial claims there is a "blacklist" of players who will be put up for sale in the summer. This includes Dudek, Salgado, Metzelder, Cannavaro, Diarra, Baptista, Saviola and Soldado. I'd be surprised if both Cannavaro and Metzelder leave, as this would leave the centre of defence rather short of players, even if Garay was signed to replace one of them. Also, from a performance perspective, Cannavaro has had a solid if not brilliant season (regardless of his detractors) and Metzelder has been blighted by injury, so Schuster may give him a chance if he recovers and starts the preseason well. On the striker front, both Saviola and Soldado have been massively underused, so it's almost a given that if clubs are found to take them they will leave.
elconfidencial also claims that an additional four players will be loaned out to let them gain additional experience: Marcelo, Gago, Higuaín and Drenthe. I'm skeptical about this; I think one or at the most two may leave, but not all four.
Sport would have us believe that it is Ruud van Nistelrooy's dream to be a top scorer at each of Europe's main leagues, and thus he is eyeing a move to Italy (more specifically AC Milan) while he can still cut it at the top level. Though the report was published on April 1st, I suspect this is more of a flight of fancy than a April Fool's story (especially since the Spanish "celebrate" this in December).
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Dilemma over Diarra
Mahamadou Diarra captained Mali to a 2-0 victory away to Togo on the weekend, ensuring the national side's qualification for next year's African Cup of Nations in Ghana. The competition, which runs from the 20th of January to the 10th of February will leave Real Madrid without their key defensive midfielder for at least the whole of January, given that players have to be available to join their national sides 15 days before the start of official competitions. During that time, Real Madrid will play nine games, a number that could increase if Mali qualify for the latter stages of the competition.
This is not the first time there's been a clash of fixtures between club and country, although last time FIFA ruled in favour of Real Madrid to ensure Diarra was present (and crucially scored) in league championship decider against Mallorca. This time, despite the protestations of some club presidents, country will win over club, and Real Madrid finds itself with a big problem in midfield.
Schuster, has included Diarra in his rotations policy, mostly, I suspect, because the player could not train as hard as normal during the month of Ramadan (13 September - 11 October). However, his replacement, Fernando Gago, has struggled to be as effective in his defensive coverage (not helped by the fact that there is little assistance from the rest of the midfield).
Hence, Real Madrid is already reported as either scouring the winter transfer window for an alternative or 'repurposing' another player in the squad. The departure of Emerson and De la Red in the summer, means that this could be one of Drenthe (still unsettled), Baptista (not defensive enough) or Sergio Ramos (not a natural midfielder).
Diarra himself narrowly avoided injury in the Togo - Mali qualifier, where the crowd invaded the pitch at the end of the game and assaulted the Mali squad with bottles and knives. His countrymen Kanouté, who plays for Sevilla, and Sidibé (Stoke City) were less fortunate and subsequently needed medical assistance African players in Spain have also been in the news recently due to the Spanish Federation ratifying the 2000 Cotonou agreement and granting citizens of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states the same working rights as EU citizens (as long as they are working legally in Spain).
You can also read this, and other articles, over at Real Madrid Online
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Back to earth with a thump
Let's get the excuses out of the way first: It's only the preseason, the players have only been together for a week and some of them had not yet arrived from their holidays, Hannover kicks off in the Bundesliga in 10 days, whereas there are over 3 weeks to go to the start of the Spanish league.
The above are all valid, but they do not take away from the aptness of the saying pride comes before a fall. The hubristic hype peddled by the usual suspects (As, Marca) heralded a new, more attractive offensive football. Carlos Queiroz remarked in a recent interview that when he managed the squad back in 2004 he played attractive football and lost: "Real Madrid is extremely sensitive to external pressures. It was so in the past, it is the case now, and I don't know if it will continue to be, but it's something they need to address". He pointed to the fact that Manchester United managed to win the Premiership playing the type of football that is both effective and attractive, and expressed his disappointment that di Salvo, the fitness coach, has left Manchester for Madrid, while saying that Real have got themselves an excellent professional.
Valter di Salvo has his work cut out then, to get the squad's fitness levels up to scratch, if the evidence of last night's performance, particularly in the second half is anything to go by. They started the game brightly (and offensively) enough, with De la Red orchestrating in midfield and threading a number of passes through to Higuaín, who was not at his most inspired, missing at least three clear cut chances.
However, the defence, which had attained some measure of robustness under Capello, did a passable Swiss Cheese impersonation, especially Cannavaro, who will have to work hard this year to retrieve any kind of credibility (he hasn't got the excuse of poor preparation last year following a World Cup campaign). The wings were non-existent; this is a problem, especially on the left (Robinho at least should be back on the right, now he's returned from the Copa América), but there's as yet no movement on the reported negotiations for Robben (is he really worth over 30 million to Chelsea?) and Drenthe. Maybe Marcelo will feature in Schuster's plan after all, although his extended holidays have been the subject of some anger back at the club.
It's not a disaster; it was just a preseason friendly after all, but it was a wake-up call: the first real test (Spanish supercup) is a mere 10 days away and there's a hell of a lot of work to do, new signings or no new signings.
Tuesday, 12 December 2006
Looking closer to home...
The excellent Diarios de Fútbol blog argues today that Real Madrid are undervaluing the talent in their youth teams to look abroad for similar players at much greater expense. They take as their example 18-year-old Juan Mata, recently promoted from the 'C' to the 'B' team (also known as Castilla), and playing in the Spanish second division.
Mata had a successful campaign with the Spain under-19 side in last summer's European Championship, scoring five goals on the way to winning the trophy. He's also doing well with Castilla, having scored 6 goals so far this season. However, the club's youth policy seems to be against him. The only three players in the current starting eleven who have come up from the ranks - Raúl, Guti and Casillas - have been there since before Florentino Pérez was in charge.
Contrast this with the reported 10 million euros that River Plate have rejected for their 19-year-old striker Gonzalo (great name) Higuaín, the ongoing negotiations with Boca Juniors over Fernando Gago and the signing of Marcelo, and it seems that Real Madrid are only looking abroad to renew their ageing squad.
Although the poster has a very valid point, I take some issue with the comparisons made. I cannot comment on Juan Mata's abilities, as I've never seen him play. However, you cannot compare a player who has performed well in the Spanish second and third divisions, and with the national under-19 side, with someone of similar age who is currently performing at a high level with one of the top clubs in Argentina. One merely has potential, the other has demonstrated at least some of that potential. Look at Javier Portillo, who broke goalscoring records at every Real Madrid youth team, but never really came up with the goods in the first squad.
Looking though the rest of the Real Madrid squad, there are five other players who have come up through the ranks: Diego López, Pavón, Miñambres, Raúl Bravo and Mejía. None of these is getting a regular spot in the starting line-up, but, other than Miñambres, who is recovering from a serious knee injury, they have all played at some point this season. Add to that the fact that Capello has tried to give 'B' teamers like Rubén de la Red a run-out in relatively low pressure affairs like the recent Champions League game at Dynamo Kiev, and it seems that the club's technical team is at least trying to give these youngsters a chance to prove themselves,even if they don't always take it.
Any chance is, given the pressure for results at Real Madrid, likely to come only from time to time, and not everyone can be a Raúl. Luck has a lot to do with it, so mere talent is no guarantee, and there's no question the club is combing the youth market partly to steal a march on other clubs, but things are no blacker for the youngsters, in my opinion, than they have ever been.
Monday, 27 November 2006
"We were lucky"
Even Capello had to admit Real Madrid had their lucky stars to thank last night after leaving Valencia with another three points under their belt. The lack of any midfield creativity (Guti was both injured and suspended - double whammy) saw Real hand over the initiative to an injury-depleted Valencia.
The locals had by far the best of the first half, but they spurned their chances and lost their main striker, David Villa early on. The inclusion of Villa in the Valencia squad was a gamble that did not pay off, as he'd been carrying an injury from their previous game, and while the chés had the best of the play, they struggled to convert their chances.
In contrast, Real had precious few opportunities, but as is customary under Capello, withstood the barrage, waited patiently and took full advantage of Raúl's clinical finishing. It wasn't pretty, and there were serious doses of luck, as Valencia had a decent penalty appeal turned down (Cannavaro was again all at sea - it's taking him a long time to adapt and he had to be substituted to make sure he didn't leave his side with 10 men on the pitch).
On a positive note, Capello gave youngster Rubén de la Red 25 minutes to show whether he is Guti's natural replacement, and the kid had a decent performance, although his instructions were clearly to help out with defensive tasks in midfield. He did have a shot on goal parried though, so it was a promising debut.
President Calderón, emboldened perhaps by the signing of a multi-million euro TV contract last week, later said that his electoral promise to sign AC Milan midfielder Kaká was not a "lie" and that it "might turn into a reality very soon". If this comes off, it remains to be seen whether it is a solution to the team's current dearth of organisation in midfield.
