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Given the packed nature of Real's fixture list in September (they face Betis on Saturday and then Zenit on Tuesday in the Champions League), Bernd Schuster decided to give Ramos, Heinze and Van Nistelrooy a rest. With Guti injured, De la Red and Van der Vaart took over the offensive midfield, and the Dutchman took his chance with gusto.
After a tentative first quarter of an hour, Van der Vaart latched onto a delicate header from Raúl to put the first goal past the hapless Sergio Sánchez. He followed this up fifteen minutes later with a spectacular backheel as De la Red's pass had ended up too far behind him. He completed his hat-trick two minutes into the second half, with Raúl once again providing the assist, and is now the league's leading goalscorer with four.
In between these goals, Higuaín notched up his second goal of the season, courtesy of a great cross from Robben. The Dutch winger got Real's fifth of the night himself and then had his shot off the bar picked up by Raúl for a simple tap-in for the sixth.
The captain celebrated his first goal in official competition since last May by scoring another, this time with a beautiful lob while running full-tilt at the keeper. It was noticeable that in both his goal celebrations he kissed his wedding ring, as he used to do before last season, when he decided to point to his shirt number (7). Given that this did him no favours in getting picked for the Spanish national team in the summer, perhaps he's wisely decided to go back to a more subdued type of celebration.
The 1,500 Sporting supporters in the Bernabéu did not cease to support their side all the way to the final whistle. They certainly get a '10' and must be lauded as an example to the vast majority of the football fans in Spain, most of whom never travel to see their side play.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Lucky Seven
Monday, 15 September 2008
5000 goals, but still too many holes
The worrying thing for the home side was that their defence, which it was felt needed the least tweaking, was at fault in the three (yes, three) goals that Numancia managed to put past Iker Casillas. To be fair, a back four composed of Salgado, Metzelder, Pepe and Marcelo would not perhaps be Schuster's first choice. With Sergio Ramos nursing a knock from his international appearance in midweek for Spain and Cannavaro still not fully fit, this was something of a second-string defence. I suspect, however, that Schuster was not expecting Numancia to play as offensively in the Bernabéu as they did.
The two central defenders did not seem to be able to cope with Numancia's tactics on the pitch and were frequently caught out of position, and the whole of the back four were all at sea on set plays. It was thus no surprise that Numancia's first came from a corner, as Moreno was allowed a free header just 6 minutes into the game.
However, where Numancia were tough on attack, they were equally soft on defence. They managed to shut out Barcelona on their first league game, but Los Pajaritos is a very small pitch where it's relatively easy to close down spaces. In the Bernabéu there was plenty of room for the likes of Guti, Van der Vaart and Robben to get the ball through to Van Nistelrooy and Higuaín. It would be Guti, however, who would get the equaliser, with the help of a deflection from Boris. It was also a landmark goal, Real Madrid's 5,000th in the Spanish league.
Just three minutes later, in the 21st minute, Numancia edged ahead again with a spectacular strike from Barkero, who had easily beaten Metzelder for speed. The scoring was not over in this half characterised by poor defending, as Higuaín levelled the scores, followed by two more goals from Van der Vaart and an own goal by Cisma to put Real 4-2 ahead before the break.
Real Madrid may have thought this would put paid to the upstarts from Numancia, but 10 minutes into the second half, Moreno got his second from a free kick that Casillas may have been able to deal with a little bit better. Guti seemed to lose his way a little and Numancia even got close to an equaliser in the dying seconds, but Real managed to hold on to their three points.
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."
Friday, 25 July 2008
Mijatovic makes a move
The 25-year-old Dutchman, who has a Spanish mother, joined Hamburg from Ajax in 2005 for €5.5 million as midfield playmaker and has since been given the captaincy of their squad. He was instrumental in Hamburg's performance in last season's Bundesliga and has been linked with a number of clubs even before the summer transfer window, among them Chelsea, Inter, Valencia, as well as Real Madrid. Though he signed a 5-year deal with Hamburg, his contract terms state that from the end of the upcoming season, he can leave the club for a "mere" €1 million, hence the upsurge in interest in his services.
The German club's website noted in a brief announcement yesterday evening that they had received and rejected an offer from Real Madrid, as "unworthy of discussion". The value of the offer was then disclosed in German newspaper Die Welt as €6 million, coming in the form of a fax sent to Hamburg Thursday evening by Real Madrid sports director Predrag Mijatovic.
Van der Vaart could potentially be seen as a medium-term replacement for Guti, as he has played alongside Sneijder in that position both at Ajax and in the Dutch national side. The Real Madrid vice-captain, though indisputably talented, suffers from erratic form (and questionable temper) and has finished many of his 14 seasons at the club as a substitute. Nonetheless, he had a pretty regular season under Schuster last year and back in April signed a 'life contract', which saw his previous deal extended until 2011 with an annual renewal clause if he plays 30 games every season.
Hamburg's outright rejection of the offer is seen as a first step in the negotiations between both clubs, who are expected to revisit the matter when they meet in London for the Emirates Cup at the beginning of August.
