Three in a row

It's back to some semblance of order at Real Madrid: the best run of consecutive wins since September, the first away win since October, the best run of consecutive clean sheets since April. This is what Juande Ramos has achieved since he arrived almost exactly one month ago.

Following a widely anticipated loss at Barcelona which was nevertheless tempered by improved, if somewhat over-aggressive, defending, the former Tottenham boss has managed to extract six points from direct competitors (Valencia, Villareal) and win convincingly away from home for the first time in months.

Before getting too excited about the magnitude of that win, it is important to note that Mallorca are a team on the brink. Already in the relegation zone, they did nothing to suggest that they may be able to dig themselves out of that hole come the summer. Nonetheless, after some of the trouble Real Madrid has had this season to subdue allegedly weaker sides, there is no doubt that improvements have been made on Schuster's tactics and team selections.

Real were seemingly not hampered by being unable to train properly on the last day before flying out to Mallorca following the largest snowfall in Madrid for 30 years. Admittedly, scoring a goal after just two minutes does help, and it is Real's man of the moment, Arjen Robben, who grabbed the initiative, latching onto a quick counter-attacking move and squeezing the ball between the Mallorca 'keeper's legs.

Mallorca had set out five men in the defensive line, but, for all they did on the opener, they may as well have still been thinking about Christmas dinner. And they did not get better as, on the quarter hour, Higuaín jinked past several to lay it off for Raúl to cleverly backheel it into the net.

The Real Madrid captain was also celebrating his 500th league appearance, the sixth man ever to do so, and his goal (his 212th) effectively finished off the locals. It's staggering to think that, in his 15 seasons, Raúl has scored 20% of his side's total goal tally.

Nonetheless, that Casillas had so little work to do means that everyone else did their job properly. Lass looks like he has adjusted to his role and position admirably in just two games and ably assisted Gago in the holding midfielder roles.

Their positioning (why was it so difficult for Schuster to get this right?) meant that Pepe and Cannavaro could do their job in central defence, and even meant that the other two defenders, Heinze and Sergio Ramos, could get forward, adding width to the attack.

It was Sergio Ramos who scored Real's third in an offside position and made Juande Ramos comfortable enough with the eventual outcome, that he could afford to rest Robben and Raúl to give some minutes to Huntelaar (who could have scored a fourth) and youngster Palanca.

The result puts Real Madrid up to second in the standings, still twelve points behind runaway leader Barcelona, ahead of a seemingly simply home tie against last-placed Osasuna next Sunday.

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Heavenly Help Required

Mallorca, the team responsible for dumping Real out of the first of three competitions this season, caused motormouth president Calderón to ask for help from on high (presumably the Spanish Federation and referees are not trustworthy enough): "I am afraid of all our opponents. It's very hard to win in Mallorca an I'm very happy with the draw because this point could prove to be very important at the end of the season. I hope that Divine Providence goes easy on me this year".

What he didn't know of course, as Real played on Saturday, is that both Villareal and Barcelona would drop points the following day (losing and drawing respectively), so that Real's lead is now seven points with seven games to go. Mallorca were invoking more earthly reasons for the result, and criticised referee Daudén Ibáñez heavily for a disallowed goal (blowing for a dubious foul just before the goal was scored) and a dismissed penalty appeal for Cannavaro's handling of the ball in Real's area (though this looked to be involuntary).

Real are themselves not altogether that keen on the referee's performance, as Mallorca's equaliser found them with 10 men on the pitch following Sergio Ramos' third dismissal of the season in the league (he's also seen red once in the Champions League). As of the time of writing this, the club are appealing Ramos' second yellow card (with some justification, having seen the replays), which, if successful, would mean the right back would miss the next home game against Murcia, as he was on 4 yellows before the game, and his first booking took him up to the automatic one-match ban limit. If the appeal is not successful, Ramos will still miss the Murcia game and continue to be one card away from a further suspension. Ramos claims that referees seem to have it in for him (much as Cannavaro complained last season), but his frequent dismissals have caused at least one Real Madrid blogger to call for his sale to Milan and to buy Sevilla's Dani Alves with the proceeds.

Schuster must however also face some criticism with his incomprehensible reaction to Ramos' red card. Instead of bringing on the natural replacement of Torres, he substituted Higuaín for Diarra, making the latter play at right back. It was the lack of cover on the right flank that was directly responsible for Mallorca's equaliser. Things could have turned out even worse had it not been for Heinze's excellent work at the back. The Argentine is likely to keep his place, either in the centre or at left back, when Pepe makes his return.

While Sneijder's goal was a simple tap-in after Robben had done all the hard work, it is becoming clear that Real are struggling to score without Ruud van Nistelrooy in the side. Raúl is keeping the numbers up, but he was mostly absent in Mallorca, much like Guti. Higuaín is not a natural striker and misses more chances than not, but as, an article in El País claims that he was signed as a promising 19-year old, not a seasoned veteran, and he has received little in the way of technical direction from the coach. Schuster does not give him any more attention than the other forwards in the squad, which perhaps does not augur well for all the other youngsters (e.g. Marcelo) that the club is hoping to build the next generation from.

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Goal drought continues

Another stumble by Sevilla, who go from being the best football club in the world in 2006 (according to the IFFHS) to not having won a game in 2007, puts Real Madrid level with the Andalusians and with Barcelona (who have a game in hand, at least until Wednesday) at the league's mid-way point. And yet, the manner in which Real Madrid are racking up the points in this championship, especially the lack of goals in the last few matches, is beginning to be a worrying trend.

Capello has stuck to his guns, even as far as giving youngster Torres a starting place as left back. Even when Sergio Ramos had to go off injured, he switched Torres over to the right wing and brought Raúl Bravo on, rather than a straight replacement on the right with Salgado. But the defensive area is not the issue. Diarra is giving sufficient cover in midfield to allow Gago to let the game flow. Gago's performance was far from perfect, but there was enough creativity there for Real to have put away several goals.

Mallorca did not seem to be playing at home, judging by the amount of possession they conceded, but Reyes and Robinho kept crashing, almost as if on purpose, against the Mallorca defence. Reyes had a particularly awful game, possibly his worst in a white shirt so far (but who's Capello going to play, David Beckham?), redeemed only by the wonderful free kick which gave his side the three points.

Van Nistelrooy and Higuaín barely got a couple of shots on goal all evening. It will only take a couple of games without goals for the fans to start baying for Ronaldo to come back. We all know the Dutchman goes through phases, much like Morientes used to, and Higuaín needs some time to adapt, but there's not just enough depth in the squad if the manager's going to ignore most of his strike force (Ronaldo, Cassano) or when injuries hit (Raúl). Where are all these youngsters dying for an opportunity when you need them?

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