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More importantly, it illustrates why the recent mini-run of two 1-0 victories (against Recreativo and BATE) was a mirage and bodes extremely badly for the next lot of league games against the top-placed teams.
The week has been somewhat overshadowed by Ramón Calderón's announcement that a couple of "young, promising" players will be signed in January when the transfer window opens, plus two top stars in the summer. Given that he's clearly trying to shield himself from the ire of the socios at the upcoming Annual General Meeting next Sunday, this really does very little for the current squad in the current season.
Add to this the plague of injuries decimating the side (Sneijder and Torres had to be substituted in the first half hour) and the next few weeks, or even months, look very bleak. The medical staff and physios have been added to the close scrutiny everyone else is under.
The Spanish league this season has been likened to the Tour de France, and December sees the Alpine stages as many of the "top" teams face each other. Next week, it's Sevilla, followed by Barcelona, Valencia and Villareal. Barcelona have already made short work of Sevilla with a 3-0 away win and look to be running away with the Championship. The shape that Real Madrid is in means that they'll struggle to compete for a Champions League place come next May.
Things have got so bad that Casillas had possibly his worst game in years. He looked insecure every time he came out for the ball and was particularly uninspired in Getafe's second goal. He even conceded a penalty that the referee did not see (or maybe he took pity on him).
And yet, even after going two down at the beginning of the second half, Real might have got back in the game as Guti found Saviola for his first league goal for his team. Getafe looked shaken for all of five minutes when Raúl could have equalised.
It was not to be (nor would it have reflected the relative merits of both sides). Eight minutes from time Uche made it 3-1 and means Real Madrid is losing sight of the leading rider as they are slowly absorbed into the ranks of the peloton.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
It's all uphill from here
Monday, 24 November 2008
Much needed win is scant consolation for more injuries
It was also the first clean sheet since the 2-0 away win at Racing back in September, and, surprisingly, Real Madrid is now the best home side in the league, with sixteen points out of a possible eighteen. Aside from the purely statistical though, there is little joy to take from this game, and the patient is still languishing in intensive care.
There was so little football that there is barely any need to recap the game, if only to note that Sneijder's goal, six minutes before half-time, was the only one of a handful of chances to go in, helped in some measure by the wicked deflection it took on its way into Riesgo's goal.
Injuries to Cannavaro end Heinze forced Schuster to make Pepe and Ramos his pair of central defenders, and, to be fair, the squad looked a little more solid at the back than in recent weeks. Whether that was also because the opposition was not particularly ambitious in their attack is another matter. Miguel Torres, returning from injury, was an able substitute on the right flank and even Marcelo was less accident prone than thus far.
However, the lack of a true centre forward forced Raúl into a position he's uncomfortable in, and it showed. Even Higuaín managed to miss an open goal before having to be stechered off with an ankle injury that may keep him out for up to ten days.
To the already large injury list Real also added Sneijder's name. He was replaced by Van der Vaart, who will likely start in Tuesday's Champions League game against BATE Borisov. He is also likely to be joined in the starting line-up by either Saviola or youngster Alberto Bueno, both of whom had a few minutes late in the game.
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Bye Bye Brazil, Hello Holland
There could be two factors at play in this changing trend: the most plausible one is that, Marcelo aside, all of the other Brazilian players were signed before Ramón Calderón's ascent to power at Real Madrid. And, apart from Roberto Carlos, they were all signed in Florentino Pérez's era. Calderón has not bothered to hide his dislike for his previous boss and has even gone so far as to accuse him of meddling in the affairs of the club following his resignation. He may be thinking of putting his own stamp on the squad by getting rid of those who arrived under Florentino. The second possible factor is the growing perception at Real Madrid of Brazilians as "problematic". In other words, a fondness for the party life and complaints when not selected in the starting 11.
It is no secret that Robinho is unsettled at the club. Marca goes so far as to suggest that he has told Calderón in person that he wants to leave, although the president has so far refused to entertain any offers from Chelsea. This contrasts interestingly with some of his statements during the Cristiano Ronaldo saga to the effect that he would never keep anyone at the club who was unhappy there.
The focus at the club, quite possibly heavily influenced by Bernd Schuster, has now shifted towards players perceived to be more solid, more reliable. This has resulted in an unprecedented number of Dutch players being signed. Van Nistelrooy was signed in 2006 (under Capello), followed by Robben, Sneijder and Drenthe last summer. The recent addition of Van der Vaart to the squad brings the total number up to five. The only nationality with a larger representation is, obviously, Spanish.
The Dutchmen have all, so far, integrated well at the club, and there are no obvious cliques being formed. Without generalising about national traits (a futile exercise, in any case), there is a feeling that these signings are contributing to building a more compact, resilient squad. More of a team than a bunch of talented individuals, in other words. And that can only be a good thing in the long run.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Emirates Cup Review and Van der Vaart
Real defeated Hamburg on Saturday with goals from Van Nistelrooy and Parejo. Yes, that's one of the youngsters Schuster has decided to take with him for the preseason and who the following day announced his deal with Championship side Queen's Park Rangers (QPR) for a one-year loan (which could be extended to two). Parejo had already had a decent performance against Linz in Real's preseason opener. His winner was a header from a cross by another one of those youngsters, Juanmi Callejón.
The following day Real faced up against the tournament hosts Arsenal, and found themselves on the back foot for most of the game. They did not look as fit or sharp as their London counterparts (whose league championship kicks off two weeks earlier than the Spanish one) and succumbed to a well-taken penalty by Adebayor. More important than the result was the serious injury sustained by Wesley Sneijder following a nasty (or clumsy, depending on your viewpoint) tackle by Abou Diaby. It was initially feared that Sneijder's cruciate ligament was affected, with an estimated recovery time of 6 months. Subsequent tests showed that the Dutchman will avoid surgery, but will still be away for an estimated three months, a serious blow to Real Madrid.
Coincidentally or not, Real then moved very swiftly to secure the services of another Dutch midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart, making the official announcement on Monday. Real had already reportedly offered €6 million for him and the fact he did not play for Hamburg in their Emirates Cup game against Real Madrid hinted that the deal was very close. In the end, and perhaps because of Sneijder's injury, Hamburg managed to extract €13 million for the transfer plus two more million depending on results. Not a bad deal for a player who could have left at the end of the season for €1 million, and whose transfer from Ajax originally cost Hamburg in the region of €5.5 million. Van der Vaart signed a five-year contract with Real on Tuesday. I think this is an excellent signing, potentially better for the team structure and balance than a 'star' like Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a shame we won't see him play with Wesley for a few months yet, but perhaps this will for Schuster to use him from the beginning and give him the confidence he needs to gel properly with his new team-mates.
On Monday, Ruud Van Nistelrooy announced his retirement from international football: "Given the physical effort you need to perform at this level, I had to make a choice," he said in a statement released by the Netherlands' Royal Soccer Association. "The combination of Real Madrid's competition, cup and Champions League games on the one hand and the Netherlands team on the other, would be too heavy a burden for me."
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Madridistas in Euro 2008 (IV)
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.
Robben (Netherlands): on the substitutes bench, but was not used by Van Basten against Russia.
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)
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.
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Madridistas in Euro 2008 (II)
Pepe (Portugal): no goals this time (though he did come close on one occasion), but another solid performance in central defence alongside Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho. However, the Portuguese back four did look uncomfortable dealing with the balls crossed into the area by the Czechs; one such action resulted in Sionko's equaliser, though ultimately it proved irrelevant.
Metzelder (Germany): missed a good chance to put Germany back in the game against Croatia with a header from close range that went just over the bar. He was not particularly at fault in either of Craotia's goals although the whole German back four looked slow and pedestrian in this game and a lot less impressive than following their opener against Poland.
Cannavaro (Italy): though he's injured for the whole of the competition, it is clear Italy are missing him, after conceding an almost unprecedented four goals in their first two matches and teetering on the verge of elimination.
Sneijder (Netherlands): man of the match once more for his contribution to the Duthc midfield dominance, Wesley once again found the back of the net with a top drawer finish from outside the area. If the Dutch get far in the knockout stages, as most pundits are predicting based on their form thus far, Sneijder may win the Player of the Tournament award.
Robben (Netherlands): though he was expected to be off for a few days longer following his pre-tournament injury, Arjen Robben came on as a cubstitute at the start of the second half against France and helped his team-mates turn the tide decisively in their favour. First he provided the assist for Van Persie's goal which doubled the Dutch lead, and then he followed it up with a goal out of nowhere to make it 3-1 and take the wind definitely out of France's sails.
Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands): no goals against France, but plenty of chances, and his constant incursions in the opposition area gave the defenders plenty of headaches and his team-mates more room to manoeuvre. Still a key piece of the Dutch attack, though he may be rested in their third group game as they have already secured first place.
Casillas (Spain): precious little work to do all game (and virtually none in the second half), Iker had little chance to stop Ibrahimovic's strike which put the sides level.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Madridistas in Euro 2008 (I)
Pepe (Portugal): scored his first international goal in his first major championship and opened up a potentially tricky tie against Turkey, momentarily taking everyone's attention away from Cristiano Ronaldo. Pepe and Carvalho are probably the best pair of central defenders in the competition and gave the Turks few options.
Metzelder (Germany): sporting a dense beard, Metzelder showed that he's still a long way from full match fitness. Had Podolski not made the match safe, Metzelder's slowness part way through the second half might have cost Germany dear.
Cannavaro (Italy): Alas, though Fabio made the team, his ankle injury in pre-competition training meant he is ruled out for around two months as he recovers from surgery. Watching his team-mates lose 3-0 to Holland made painful viewing from the sidelines for il bello.
Robben (Netherlands): Though he was his country's most consistent performer in the run-up of friendlies to the tournament, Arjen Robben limped out of training on Saturday with a groin injury that will keep him out for around a week to 10 days. This may not see him join the fray until (and if) Holland reaches the next stage.
Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands): Gave the Italian defence all sorts of trouble, and, although his opener for Holland was thought at the time to be offside by most observers except the referee, UEFA General Secretary David Taylor later confirmed that, according to the rules, he was actually played on side by Panucci, though the Italian was off the field when the goal was scored. In fact, Van Nistelrooy could argue that he was unlucky not to add to his tally, as he had a couple of decent penalty appeals waved off by the referee.
Casillas (Spain): Did not have a lot of work against Russia for the most part, although the two shots that hit the woodwork would have beaten him. Looked unsure on some of the high crosses, although he was not helped by his defenders in this area, and there was little he could do in Russia's goal.
Sergio Ramos (Spain): Probably one of the worst performers on the Spanish side, though the final result made that irrelevant. He looked nervous and lost a lot of balls. He will have to improve to make an impact on the tournament, although there is no natural replacement, so Aragonés is unlikely to bench him.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Party night
Levante played with more verve and vigour than might be expected of a squad not just worried about where their next paycheque could be coming from; they also did not train all week, as they made it clear they would not be deflected from their intention to refuse to play if no agreement was reached. In fact, the kind of spirit they showed against Real Madrid makes one wonder if their results were more conditioned by their psychological state than by any intrinsic lack of talent compared to the other sides in the Primera División.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Epic Finish
A few minutes earlier it had looked like Real would have to wait at least one more week to clinch the title, after Heinze had been judged to handle the ball in the area, and Puñal converted the resulting penalty. The handball was unarguable; the ball hit Heinze so hard that his hand started to bleed and he had to leave the pitch for a few minutes to seek treatment. Though Schuster had said in his press conference before the game that he'd like to win the Championship at home to Barcelona next week, his players still looked like they wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.
The first half was edgy and tough ("muscular", some would say), with few chances and an extremely hostile crowd, but the game opened up after Cannavaro was sent off seconds after the restart for a misjudged tackle from behind, which forced Schuster to bring off Saviola, in his second start in as many games, and bring on Torres. Osasuna sensed they had a chance to win at home to Madrid for the first time in five years, and yet it was Real who had the better chances, with Sneijder hitting the bar from a looping deflected shot.
Puñal's converted penalty had some of the faithful leaving Cibeles, when Higuaín, having come in for Raúl, floated a perfect free kick right to the side of Robben's head which left the keeper no chance. It's Robben's first headed goal for Real and something of a rarity elsewhere. It's hard to say whether he looked more surprised than elated. But there was no time to waste. Real scooped up the ball from Osasuna's goal and piled on the pressure in the dying seconds. Diarra powered towards the Osasuna area but found his way blocked by one too many defenders; the loose ball found its way to Sergio Ramos, who threaded it through three Osasuna defenders to Higuaín. The Argentine chested the ball down, let it bounce once and connected with a powerful volley inside the near post and scored his third goal in as many games, though this one was worth the league. The game was all but over. A couple of minutes later the celebrations began and continued until the early hours when the players returned to the capital and the captain dressed the Cibeles fountain with the obligatory Real Madrid scarf.
Real will miss both Heinze and Cannavaro through suspension in the Clásico against Barcelona (who'll be missing Deco and Eto'o for the same reason) on Wednesday, but the game is likely to turn into one big celebratory party that the Catalans will try their best to spoil, as they fight Villareal for that elusive second place and automatic qualification for the league stages of next season's Champions League.
Monday, 21 April 2008
Within striking distance
Despite Racing's initial onslaught, it was Real who would score first when Raúl got the merest of touches on a goal-bound Robinho cross. The captain, who is almost certain to get a break from international duties this summer despite being the second-highest Spanish goalscorer in the league, increased his personal tally against Racing to thirteen goals, making it his second-favourite team to score against, after Valladolid.
The other element of Real's success on the night was the excellent work from the back four, in particular Heinze, who is giving Sneijder a run for his money as Real's most valuable signing of the season. The Argentine was not only exemplary in his defensive duties but also linked up well with Sneijder to relieve the pressure when most needed. Added to the back four, the excellent performances of Gago and Diarra meant that Racing could only reach Casillas's area with aerial balls from set plays.
The only fly in the ointment was that, despite Raúl's early goal, the forward line was not as effective as it could have been, and a couple of clear chances, one each from Robinho and Robben, went begging. The Brazilian is not showing the sparkling form of earlier in the season (is it fitness, or is it confidence?) and was substituted by Higuaín in the second half. Robben, while showing an excellent level of fitness, also struggled to make an impact, and Schuster decided to bring Balboa on for a few minutes at the end of the game.
The youngster played his part in Higuaín's goal, which, coming as it did in the third minute of injury time against an exhausted Racing side, was probably too much reward for Real's efforts. However, this now means that Real Madrid can mathematically win their thirty-first league title next week at home to Athletic Bilbao if both Barcelona and Villareal fail to win.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Learning to park the bus
Refereeing blunders aside (apart from the sending-off, Iturralde González did not cover himself in glory, waving away several possible penalty decisions for either side), Real with 10 were better than Murcia with 11, but it still took about 40 minutes for the first shot on goal. Raúl is not the best choice for centre-forward, especially with the opponent's area as crowded as it was.
After the sending off, Schuster decided not to replace him with another defender to try to maintain an attacking formation. Though proved right, it was clearly not Robinho's day: he looked uninspired and even occasionally drifted from his wing to the centre, where he just got in the way. Guti, who earlier in the week joined the other 'lifers' in the squad, provided some class in the midfield, ably assisted by a much better performance from Sneijder, who not only raced back to prevent a rare Murcia shot on goal, but also took advantage of a defensive error to coolly put away the winner. At this point Schuster took off the ineffectual Robinho and brought Salgado on to assure the final result.
Real knew in advance that Barcelona had stuttered on their visit to Recreativo (with their minds more likely focused on the Champions League than the championship), and the win increased their lead to nine points. Following Villareal's loss away to Almería, this points difference remains and it will take a disaster of epic proportions for the league title to be won by anyone else.
Monday, 7 April 2008
Heavenly Help Required
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.
Monday, 31 March 2008
Back on top
Although much is being made of Higuaín scoring at last, he only managed to put away one of at least three clear-cut chances, and his team-mates seemed to be losing confidence in him. Another much-mentioned anecdote is Raúl scoring his 290th goal for the club, putting him neck-and-neck with 70s and 80s legend Santillana and second only to the great Di Stefano (307). Howerver, the keys to yesterday's triumph lie in the great display from the back four (especially Cannavaro, who's come in for a lot of criticism in recent days) and the return of creativity in midfield from the likes of Guti and (yes, it's true) Sneijder.
Real had to start without Pepe through injury, but they barely missed him, and his replacement, Gabriel Heinze, not only ably supported Cannavaro in the rear, but also opened the scoring for Real with a header off a Sneijder free kick. The Dutchman added a second assist when he found Raúl in the area. The captain controlled the ball, jinked around two defenders and blasted it far from the hands of Sevilla keeper Palop. This came barely two minutes after Kanouté, in a rare attack for Sevilla in the first half, hit a beautiful volley to put the scores level.
On past performances, a one-goal lead wasn't going to be enough, even if it didn't look like it was going to be Sevilla's night. Half-way through the second half Sneijder found Guti, who played it back Higuaín, who finally managed to put the ball, and the game, away.
Real's 6-point lead over Villareal means the boys from the "Yellow Submarine" will need to accumulate at least 7 points more than the men in white, given the head-to-head results between both teams.
Monday, 28 January 2008
Breaking away
Real Madrid showed a refreshing lack of complacency and bags of self belief to beat Villareal and extend their lead at the top of the standings to 9 points. Contrast this with their closest rivals, Barcelona, who failed to hold onto their one-goal lead in Bilbao and ended up dropping two points. All the participants agree that the championship is not yet over (Real had an even bigger lead over Barcelona in 2004 and ended up throwing the league title away), but the way the players pick themselves up when things don't go their way is very encouraging.
Guti had a day to remember, providing added verticality to an already aggressive attack; however Robinho was the true star of the team with his clinical finishing on two occasions. Villareal for their part never flagged, giving the encounter added flavour and excitement, and they managed to pull the scoreline back twice, setting up a frantic last quarter of an hour.
Gago has benefited from Diarra's absence in the African Nations Cup and picked up his game impressively in recent weeks. Aside from his defensive efforts, which were many, he was also responsible for the assist to Sneijder which ended up in Real's winner, barely a minute after Villareal's second. The Dutchman had only just come on for Baptista, and the goal must have done his confidence no end of good, given the lacklustre string of performances in the past few months, following a very bright start to the season.
Simon Baskett, over at Reuters, argues that Real's successes this season are largely due to the 'old guard' and that the new signings have not yet made a significant contribution.
Villareal demonstrated that the 5-0 result earlier in the season was a mirage and they are worthy occupants of the 3rd spot in the league, but the 15 points separating them from the leaders are almost unprecedented at this stage of the season.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
The dangerous legacy of attacking football
A fascinating tactical analysis in today's El País uncovers some of the historical reasons for Real's defensive woes, typified in recent games by the squad's inability to maintain possession. This is aggravated by the fact that the midfielders do not push back to help defend and the central defenders stay too close to Casillas's goal. The Real Madrid technical team is trying to rectify the situation but "it is not easy because this squad is accustomed to have possession. When a team is constructed for attack, the players get out of the habit of also performing defensive duties."
Back in 1999, the then Real Madrid captain and central defender, Fernando Hierro (confirmed on Tuesday as the new sporting director of the Spanish FA and officially presented earlier today), perhaps conscious of the fact that his speed was not one of his best attributes, argued with the defensive midfielder of the day, Fernando Redondo, about how far back the central defenders should stay. With the arrival of Florentino's era and the emphasis on attacking galáctico signings, Hierro found an ally in Iván Helguera (not a particularly fast footballer either), who argued that "with so many players attacking, you have to be very coordinated at the back to push forward. If you leave too much space behind you, they can hurt you on the counter."
That worked fine when Real with Zidane owned the midfield and kept control of the ball, but three trophyless years brought Capello back to the Bernabéu and a renewed rigour to the squad's defensive duties. This was mostly accomplished by keeping defenders and midfielders in the Real half waiting for the opportunity to counter-attack. This also explains why Real Madrid had a much worse home than away record, given the fans' expectations when playing at the Bernabéu.
The new manager now finds that he has a problem. He wants to be able to play attacking football, but still be solid in defence. This poses problems for the midfield, who have far too much ground to cover, as the defenders play too close to Casillas. Diarra complains that "The space between defenders and midfielders is too great. When we lose the ball it is very hard to get it back."
Schuster's challenge is to convince his defenders that they can play further forward and not put additional pressure on Casillas to perform his usual heroics. Barcelona, who have been playing the same way for five years, have far better defensive statistics: Touré steals a ball every 12 minutes, compared with 18 minutes for Diarra. Similarly, Iniesta has better numbers than Guti, and Xavi is far more effective defensively than Sneijder. The transition won't be easy, if it happens at all, but it may go some way to explain the curse of the central defender which has plagued Real Madrid for years. Continue reading this article »
Monday, 17 September 2007
Sneijder shows his worth
Saviola, in for Van Nistelrooy who was presumably not 100% after his international duty for the Netherlands, had a goal disallowed for a clear offside before picking up a rebound off the post from a Raúl strike and neatly putting it away. In the second half, Schuster brought Drenthe in for Heinze and Higuaín in for Robinho, like-for-like substitutions which preserved the tactical line-up. Almería, however, were uncowed and rightly protested a disallowed goal soon after the restart, as Higuaín was clearly playing Uche onside.
In fact, Almería are to be congratulated for their fighting spirit, which should be rewarded with retaining their top division status at the end of the season. After Sneijder doubled Real's lead with a sublime free kick worthy of David Beckham (his fourth goal in three matches), Almería received a further blow when Crusat was sent off for bringing down Saviola as the last defender. Still they kept on coming, harassing the Real defence, making Casillas look shaky on the high balls, and finally getting their reward with a fabulous finish by Uche, after he got the better of Cannavaro. They even had a penalty appeal turned down (it looked like an accidental clash between Metzelder and Natalio, rather than a deliberate trip). This is the sort of stuff that will have Sport and El Mundo Deportivo claiming biased refereeing, while Marca and As will say it was just human error, the opposite of what either side said after Barcelona's last game. Naturally.
Higuaín made it safe a few minutes later, with Saviola in an offside position (was he or wasn't he interfering with play? You decide) and Real are now the only side with three wins out of three, although Sevilla are 2/2 with a game in hand and looking as good as last season.
The Champions League group stages kick off this week, with Real hosting Werder Bremen on Tuesday, and the fixture list is starting to look its usual congested self at this stage of the season.
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
This is no time for euphoria
Coming back from a week's holiday to find that your team is the best thing since sliced bread (which, let's face it, was never that great an invention) always brings out the cynical side in my nature. Granted, winning 5-0 away from home doesn't happen every week (last time was over 11 years ago, on 24th January 1996 against Athletic Bilbao), and Villareal had not lost in 18 games.
Perhaps Bernd Schuster has it right, calling for an attitude balanced between joy and caution: "I'm not worried about the feeling of euphoria because there's a 10-day gap until the next game and in that time nobody will remember what happened here. That's why we're going to enjoy the result, which is a thing that happens only rarely. What I liked the most was the team's attitude; they're all working together at the highest level. We can undoubtedly improve on certain things because not everything was that great." Real Madrid looked good, balanced and playing more exciting football than under Capello, but let's not forget the 120 million euros that have been spent building this squad and all the jogo bonito in the world will not save Schuster from the chop if the trophies don't come his way.
There are some positives to take away, of course. Guti and Sneijder seem to be complementing each other in midfield better than could be expected (though of course it's still early days and Guti has a propensity for 'disappearing' from a number of games every season). Phil Ball argues that Drenthe and Sneijder have given the side the balance they sorely needed and Diarra is doing all the dirty work behind Guti and the little Dutchman. Heinze debuted at left back, coming in for Raúl(!), and freeing up Drenthe to roam further up the pitch, where he prefers to play. Cannavaro and Metzelder were solid in the centre of defence all evening, especially in the first half when Villareal had most of the possession and the attacking play. Ramos continues to impress on the right wing and his tribute to the late, lamented Antonio Puerta, who collapsed during Sevilla's opening game of the season, suffered a number of cardiac arrests and finally passed away a few days later, was spoiled by an officious yellow card from the otherwise fine refereeing of Medina Cantalejo. In a rare display of humanity, the Spanish Federation annulled the yellow card as they considered the tribute to be "sincere" and made in "exceptional circumstances".
However, some of the other news of the past week have not been so positive. Schuster took six canteranos with him to Austria for preseason training: Granero, Balboa, De la Red, Adrián, Codina and Bueno. None have any room in the current squad, given the influx of players, and in the hours before the closing of the transfer window on August 31st, De la Red and Granero moved to Getafe (transfer and loan, respectively) and Adrián was loaned to Celta for a year. Soldado does not seem to feature highly on Schuster striker list and may opt for a move at Christmas. Continue reading this article »
Monday, 13 August 2007
Going Dutch
- Johnny Metgod (1982-1984) - currently assistant coach at Feyenoord, so he knows Drenthe's game well.
- Clarence Seedorf (1996-2000) - only player to have won the Champions League with three different clubs (Ajax, Real Madrid and current club AC Milan)
- Ruud van Nistelrooy (2006-) - most expensive Dutch signing when he signed for Manchester United for PSV Eindhoven in 2001 for 30 million euros
- Royston Drenthe (2007-)
- Wesley Sneijder (2007-)
If Robben also arrives, there'll be almost a many Dutchmen as Spaniards in the starting 11! Sneijder will be the second most expensive Dutch signing ever, at 27 million euros, according the the Ajax website, and 25.5, according to As (the devil will be in the detail, I expect with additional payments for trophies won, goals scored, or other such things).
Last week, Ajax publicly announced that negotiations had stalled at around 24 million euros, when they were looking for 27 (after initially asking for 30), and that if Real wanted the player, they had better hurry, or he would be cup-tied in Ajax's upcoming qualifier Champions league tie. Real responded with an ultimatum and a withdrawal of their offer on Friday. Clearly this was just a bit of posturing, as Mijatovic travelled to the Netherlands over the weekend to finalise terms and give Schuster the playmaker he's been asking for. Sneijder has, at 23, already several Champions League ties under his belt, quality and technique, scores goals (18 last season) and is a specialist free-kick taker. On paper, he's probably the best signing so far this summer, in my opinion. He should also alleviate some of the Guti-dependency that Real has had in the preseason, which can be no bad thing. Hopefully he will adapt to the new league, team-mates and language quickly enough to make an impression.
Both Drenthe and Sneijder will be officially presented later today. They are both reportedly potential starters in next Sunday's Spanish Supercup 2nd leg at the Bernabéu against Sevilla. It may be too soon to expect them to fit in; however, given the Dutch season starts earlier than the Spanish, they should at least be physically ready. Continue reading this article »
