That sinking feeling

With talk of this game being make or break for Bernd Schuster, you would think that both coach and players would make that extra effort to show everybody that they are worthy holders of the league championship they conquered last year. None of this was in evidence as an extremely poor Real Madrid fell to a not particularly inspired Valladolid. Not even their goalscoring prowess came to the rescue this time, as they failed to score for the first time this season.

Perhaps they were really missing Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was earlier this week diagnosed with a serious knee injury that could keep him out for up to nine months. The players wore tee-shirts with messages of support to the Dutch goal-magnet as they stepped onto the pitch.

Schuster's approach to this game was visibly cautious, with the more defensive Javi García in for Wesley Sneijder in midfield, waiting for openings in the Valladolid defence, instead of taking the initiative. Guti, often the player others look to, was totally uninspired and Real felt flat, with no depth or width, and none of the self-belief that has got them out of trouble in other games this season.

Though Valladolid have not been prolific in their scoring thus far, they had one chance just after the half-time break and took it well through Canobbio.

The expected reaction did not come. Sure, they had a couple of chances to put the game level, and perhaps they should have taken them, but did they look like a winning team out there? No, they looked like little lost sheep, scared to show what we have seen they are capable of.

Frankly, the fixture list for November is not as complicated as the one that closes out 2008, and yet Real Madrid are making a meal of every game. You have to wonder whether Calderón and the board will have to get rid of Schuster sooner rather than later, especially given the fact that no reaction seems forthcoming from the players.

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Magnificent Seven

The league championship, while not quite sown up yet, is slowly wending its way to the trophy cabinet in the Bernabéu museum. Real Madrid took full advantage of Barcelona's late draw in Sevilla on Saturday night to stretch their lead to an impressive eight points. For the seven goals, these are seven keys to last night's "festivities":

1. Valladolid's defence: brave? foolhardy? suicidal? They played right into Real's hands with a defensive line pushed so far forward that the local midfielders, especially Guti, picked them off at will. Not one of the Valladolid back four picked up a booking all night. 'Nuff said.


2. The mercurial midfielder himself, Guti, had a dream of a game (though he was allowed to play, rather than hindered, by the opposition), finding the perfect pass time and again, scoring two exquisite goals (OK, one was a bit of a fluke) and provising three assists.


3. Raul's nose for goal is till there. Forced to play further up front due to Van Nistelrooy's injury, the captain scored a signature goal to open up his tally, and picked up his second by converting a penalty. Valladolid is now the league club he has scored most goals against: his 2 on Sunday night contributing to a grand total of 14.


4. Robben's speed and versatility have not been adversely affected by all his injuries. He started off on the left wing, but looked equally comfortable on the right when Robinho had to go off injured and Drenthe was brought on. His goal will have given him some confidence.


5. The Bernabéu is proving to be an invincible fortress; this game was Real's eighteenth consecutive league win (11 of them this season). The fans are not the most vociferous or passionate, but the players seem to be very comfortable. Contrast this with the situation just over a year ago with just four wins in eight games at home.


6. Baptista's strength, playing just behind Raúl (in Raúl's usual position), showed once again why he's a player that has a place in this Real Madrid squad. He harried and fought, was brought down for a penalty and his enthusiasm when given an opportunity should be an inspiration to those who are struggling to get into the side.


7. Bernd' Schuster's team choice, with seven players injured, produced a balanced side that made the most of its virtues (interestingly, Valladolid had a comparable number of shots on goal tto Real's, but look at the difference in effectiveness). In a curious piece of trivia, Schuster himself was on the scoring sheet for Real Madrid in a 7-0 demolition of Castellón back in 1990.

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Paying the price of rotations

"We have to think about every player's physical condition in every match", said Bernd Schuster ahead of Sunday's game against newly promoted Valladolid. While not in Rafa Benítez's league when it comes to squad rotations, Schuster was as good as his word and left out Sneijder (replaced by Drenthe). Injuries to Pepe and Metzelder forced Ramos to join Cannavaro in the centre of defence, with Salgado on the right and Marcelo on the left (why not Torres?). Since the start of the season (including the Spanish Supercup), the only players still to get some time on the pitch are Soldado and reserve keepers Dudek and Codina. however, if Sneijder was in no condition to play (and he didn't come on when things turned sour), why was he on the bench? Why not Soldado, or better yet, Baptista?

Valladolid started very strong, putting the Real defence under a great deal of pressure in the first 20 minutes of the first half. Drenthe was ineffective on the left and Guti was not getting enough deliveries to feed to the front line. Diarra thankfully, was strong, despite his Ramadan-induced fasting, but he's not the type of player to link up with the forward players. Robinho was perhaps the most aggressive in the first half, with several jinking runs nearly undoing his markers. Salgado gave away two handballs in the area and Valladolid can count themselves unlucky neither of them turned into a penalty. He is really off form (I'm not the only one who thinks so), and Schuster should consider giving youngster Torres a run out.

The second half was more even, particularly when Robben came on for Drenthe on the one-hour mark. Things can only improve when he's fully match fit. However, first blood was for Valladolid, with a tremendous strike by Pedro López which Casillas, with his soon-to-be insured hands, had no chance of reaching. Casillas later claimed this was the second best goal ever scored against him.

With five minutes to go, Schuster decided to throw caution to the wind and brought Saviola on for Salgado. The little Argentine had only had a couple of touches when a through ball from Guti to van Nistelrooy beat Valladolid's offside trap. The Dutchman unselfishly laid the ball off to Saviola who merely needed a tap-in to score Real's equaliser. On the balance of play, a point was probably more than Real deserved and they'll be much happier with the outcome than Valladolid, who, like Almería, so far have shown they have what it takes to stay up this year.

In other news, the New York immigration service mistook Ramón Calderón, travelling on leisure, with a similarly-named criminal and detained him at the airport for over two hours while they checked him out. Unfortunately, telling tall stories to the press about the football club you run does not warrant a custodial sentence in the U.S., so they had to let him go.

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