Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Pepe, Roberto Carlos, & the full back position...
The ACL (diagram included below) is a tricky ligament, and the operation involves replacing the actual ligament tissue with a piece of tendon "borrowed" from one's thigh. In most cases, the knee is never as strong as going into the operation, and even though it is an extremely common injury in footballers, it is one of the most scarring and scaring.
Losing their best defender, and one of the best in the world's
defenders for the entire season, Real' €250 mn spend could be utterly useless if they don't act in the January Transfer Season. The centre of defence seems extremely well covered with: Albiol, Metzelder and Garay. However, the full back positions, as was the concern right at the begining of the season is the main problem. Will it have to be Brazilian veteran Roberto Carlos who returns to the Spanish capital to bring some stability back to the defence? (Did he ever do this in his 10 year spree at the club?)
Even though he has announced his move back to Brazil to play with old team mate Ronaldo; it is evident to most that a move back to Real would be too tempting to turn down for him.
Marcelo has clearly demonstrated his technical and attacking skills in midfield (when covering for injured super star Cristiano Ronaldo). Drenthe is far from being a left back, Arbeloa has proven time and time again, that he is a decent substitute - but not a starting player for Real Madrid.
Ramos is in-charge of the right wing at Real (with Cristiano's consent), but he may be required to participate in the centre of defence with Pepe absent, leaving Lassana Diarra to take over the right back position and opening up his old role to Mahmadou Diarra. That perhaps, may be the best alternative, however, will Pellegrini's engineering degree lead him to an exciting innovation avoiding a new buy in 2010?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
1-0: Zlatan
It was definitely a moral victory for Real Madrid. They probably played their best football all season, and in the toughest stadium to do so...the Nou Camp. Let's not forget that Barça did win the game 1-0 with Zlatan's third touch of the game, however no one leaving the pitch was truly dissapointed.
The game did not transcend like a classic "Clasico". Both teams left out their key strikers in their starting line ups (French international Benzema and game winning Zlatan Ibrahimovic) respectively. It was a slightly cautious approach but both teams started off playing beautiful open football. Pure Spanish football at it's best. Barça's constant and restless triangle passing and Real's more direct, perhaps slightly individualistic and fast-paced possession made it a constant battle in throughout the pitch.
This isn't the norm in such games - there is always usually something that goes wrong. And then it happened. For some reason Barcelona's honest (let's put Thierry Henry aside) players were not exactly on their best behaviour. Keita, Dani Alves and even Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi kept trying to provoke inexistant free kicks, bookings and wrongful decisions. And finally, local talent Sergio Busquets (son of former FC Barcelona's keeper - Carlos Busquets), who coincidentally must have been spending a lot of time with Henry; unprofessionally handled the ball preventing Real's counter-attack, an was rightfully booked. He had been previously been booked for a bad tackle and so was sent off leaving the reigning champions with only ten men.
By then, Real had missed three golden opportunities and Ibrahimovic had two touches on the ball, and third one was a magnificent volley that landed straight in Casillas' net. Dani Alves made the assist, and even though he had a 60 minutes of terrible crosses from his right hand side, this one was perfect. Real did not react in the most aggressive way even though Pellegrini tried to. He replaced right back Arbeloa with captain Rául, and played with three strikers: the captain, Higuaín and substitute Benzema (who came on for an unfortunate CR9).
Real were perseverant, but were not lucky enough to score an equaliser and the reigning champions, and the home side, went home with the 3 vital points. However, as Spanish sports paper "Marca" said, it was a moral victory for Real Madrid - the return leg will definitely be one to watch and a completely different story...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
"El Clásico"
Could it be that the tables are actually finally turning? The ridicule of getting knocked out to a 3rd Division club (Alcorcón) seems like the past, and Pellegrini has led the team to the best start of a season (in the league) in 17 years. Real have obtained 28 out of 33 available points and are the team with fewest goals conceaded (joint).
Barça have just lost Yaya Toure and Eric Abidal to the swine flu, Messi is not currently match fit, and Zlatan's Ibrahimovic is having some physical problems as well. This tied in with mid-week game against Inter (where Barça must at least draw to still be able to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League - they are currently third!), alongside the unavailability of some players, as well as the poor draw agains King Cup challengers Athletic Bilbao over the weekend, means that Barça will not be reaching "El Clásico" at a great moment.
Real on the other hand, have not been as some call it "having fun" with their football - however they have been more consistent than their arch-rivals. The mid week game for them is against a substantially inferior opponent as is FC Zurich. Even though the game will take place in Barcelona, in the Camp Nou - Real will be heading there with not a lot to lose, but a great deal to gain. Even if their 1st position is changed after the game, the season is still very long, and they will have plenty of opportunities to turn this around again. Add all of this to the boost that returning Cristiano Ronaldo will have an impact on the team itself, the football, the individual skills, and the team morale - this simply means that for once, Real could actually stand a chance - and a game like the last one (where Real lost 2-6 at the Bernabeu) will not be repeated.
Ladies & Gentlemen, (actually only gentlemen) place your bets on "El Clásico" - the countdown is on...
And BTW, to all Thierry Henry supporters (after stealing a spot from Ireland for a spot in the World Cup 2010)....
But for those who actually have a sense of humour (specially the Irish themselves) visit:http://www.jeu-de-main.com/
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The ultimate ridicule...
for the first team to redeem itself against the first (surely, of many) ridicules of the season when they lost to third division local club Alcorcón 4-0, two weeks ago.Coach Manuel Pellegrini decided to rest striker Benzema (after 8 full time appearences) and betted on Dutch veteran Ruud van Nistelrooy and captain Raúl to lead the team to victory after a prolonged injury period.
However... After watching the first half, the blood thirsty fans at the Bernabeu had lost all patience with the team and manager. The redemption seemed so ridiculous and further than ever with a 0-0 at half time and no signs of danger created by the local side's attackers.
How could a team that expected to score 5 goals against a very inferior team who beat them 4-0 two weeks ago present itself to the occasion with an incomplete four man defence like: Arbeloa (left back), Pepe, Albiol and talent-full Lassana Diarra as a converted right back - in conjunction with a centre midfield with slow passing and skill-less Mahmadou Diarra and Fernando Gago?
The funny thing is that talented and creative players such as Van de Vaart (on the bench) and Guti (not called up due as a punishment for aggresively trying to encourage the team in the first leg's first half) were not to be seen on the pitch. After Arjen Robben's last minute move to the Bayern Munich, Real was left with no real wingers. However, the few team members who could fit into such a role, Marcelo (on the bench), Drenthe (not called up for technical reasons, even though he hasn't played for a couple of matches, and hence is rested), and Sergio Ramos were nowhere to be seen.
Sergio Ramos' situation, is another ridicule by the club on its own. Ramos had been booked during the previous league match, against local rivals Atlético Madrid over the weekend. Pellegrini announced that Ramos was not called up for the "King's Cup" game against Alcorcón, because of this booking. However, no one, and that is no one, realised that this booking did not apply to another tournament and was on hold at the national league committee. This reminds me of the last season, when Lass Diarra and (now former Real player) Klaas Jan Huntelaar joined the team in the January transfer season, and once again, no one in the club realising that both of them would not be allowed to play the Champions League that season. No one...
After the 15 minute break, with no Guti to cheer the team to victory, Real stepped out to make a difference. Van der Vaart came on as a substitute (finally) for Mahmadou Diarra, who was clearly very rusty in his game and lacks match practice. Van der Vaart was very active, and his contribution meant the team actually started to attack, and believe (not that they could go through) but that they could actually score a goal.
When fans saw Marcelo warming up minutes later, it became clearer that perhaps a light bulb had actually gone on in Pellegrini's head, however, then came the most controversial decision. Pellegrini decided to take Lass Diarra, by far the man of the match at the time, off the pitch to put Marcelo in the pitch. This meant that he maintained a 4-4-2 scheme using Marcelo as a left back (and not as a left winger as in the previous two games). Big mistake, Manuel. The crowd immediately gave up on the manager, and asked for him to be sacked. No surprise at the Bernabeu. One thing is to not meet expectations, but a whole other one is to have €250m worth of transfers one season, and to lose to a club with a transfer budget of less than €100, 000, by 4-1 over 180 minutes. That, Manuel, is way below expectations - and there is definitely a lot of fault to be taken by the manager.
The question is, how long will he last?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Hierro & Alkorta...
It's Pellegrini's time to fight to make Real Madrid a team that knows how to defend again. Being the strategically offensive man Manuel is, it doesn't seem like that man to carry out this terribly challenging objective.
It hasn't been since Rafael Alkorta and Fernando Hierro formed the partnership in central defence that Real Madrid has shown any stability in defence. Even during Fabio Capello's second stint at the club, Real was more solid as a team and it conceived many fewer goals than in other seasons, but the defence was always shaky.
There was a time after Alkorta back to Athletic Bilbao (helping them to become runners' up that first season he was back), that the starting central defenders in Real were of the quality of Julio César, Karanka, Ivan Campo, Pavón and Mejía, the last two from the youth team. It wasn't until Ivan Helguera joined the club that there was slightly more stability in the back two.
Vicente Del Bosque came to a rather unorthodox solution to counter these weaknesses. This was to start with three central defenders rather than two: Julio César, Hierro and Ivan Campo, using Ivan Helguera in centre midfield. This allowed him to win the Champions League, and so could not really be questioned. However, having a defence made up for five men is not something any offensive, creative and fun football team has done.
Let's have a look at what happened season by season then:
2000-01 & 2001-02
Ivan Helguera became the head of the defensive four the most important task was to look for a long term replacement for Fernando Hierro who had a troubled campaign due to several injuries. However, strengths in other parts of the tactical diagram meant that Real won the league in the first of the two season, and then went on to win the Champions League in the last season.
2002-03
This was Fernando Hierro's last season at the club – and President Floren was the one to make this final decision – allowing one of the greatest players to ever wear the Real Madrid shirt, and one of the most courageous players to hold the captain's band, to leave using the Bernabeu's back door. He formed a good pair with Helguera throughout the season, and even though his physical condition wasn't the best, he still proved a vital part of the club to win the League. He left after a successful season alongside Vicente Del Bosque for reasons not many understood, not even Mr. Pérez himself.
2003-04
The fact that Hierro had left the club, left a huge gap in defence. And apparently there was no need to look for a replacement in the market. Instead, a lot of emphasis was placed on two youth team players who were never really ready for the challenge: Álvaro Mejía and Paco Pavón. Avoiding criticism to both these Spanish youths, but years later, it is evident that they were nowhere near the the standard of a starting team member in Real Madrid should have and the defence showed all its flaws in a glamorous way this season with Helguera taking blame for a lot of it.
2004-05
The Argentine Walter Samuel arrived at the Bernabeu having cost the club in excess
of €20m. He came as one of the best defenders in the world and to solve all the problems in defence at the club. He could not face the fans at the Bernabeu, and simply had a terrible season before he left again. Helguera again, took blame for many of the problems in defence, and the levels of stress were extraordinary.
2005-06
The defence was absolutely abismal this season, with an alternation of Mejía, Pavón and Helguera as centre backs, often in Champions League matches against the top teams in Europe, miserably facing them with no chance whatsoever.
2006-07
President Calderón, who then turned out to have rigged his elections, decided to go all out to fix the matter, and sign the best player in the world – or so it seemed from his previous world cup and golden ball experience. Fabio Cannavaro was called to be the man in charge of taking control of the defence and bringing it up to an Italian club's standard. He had Fabio Capello to help him do it, and the club did well and won the League title – however Cannavaro's performance was very far from the Italian's brilliant stray of games as captain of the Azzurri.
2007-08
€30m is what Pepe cost the club. It was evident that Cannavaro was not enough, and forming a pair with the relatively unknown Brazilian born Portuguese defender Pepe seemed like a great solution. Oftentimes, when Sergio Ramos left his full back position and formed a pair with Pepe, the team seemed like it had a more robust back four, however....
2008-09
This year, anything and everything the club did was completely overshadowed by arch rivals, FC Barcelona's extraordinary success. Games like the 0-4 to Liverpool FC showed Real's deficiencies in defence and even though Pepe was deemed by the fans as a great buy – the defence still needed a lot of work.
2009-10
It became evident to most Real fans, that one of the main things that the team lacked was some proficiency in the left back position. Marcelo was talented and young,
but was a very offensive player and simply does not know how to defend. 
Heinze left after another terrible season, and Drenthe had a similar problem to Marcelo, he does not know how to defend. After great signings, like Kaká, Cristiano, Xabi Alonso or Benzema, it seemed Florentino Perez' second ètage will prove a very promising and title-full experience. However after only about 1/5 of the season played, it seems like Real's defence is still a complete mess... With the likes of Ezequiel Garay, Christoph Metzelder and Raúl Albiol, it seems that there is simply not enough completeness in the defence, and leaving the left back areas to Marcelo and Drenthe is simply never going to work.
Did Pellegrini even have a say about this? Surely a man with his experience would realise that a signing of a right back like Arbeloa wasn't going to do anything for the team's defence.
Will there ever be another Alkorta and Hierro- type partnership in the club again?...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
This month's Poll: Title year for Real?
The poll asks the very interesting question as to whether Real Madrid should be expected to win a title this season. Most (the envious) would say something like:
"Of course they must... they spent € 1/4 bn in one season!"
"They have two of the best players in the world in one starting 11: Ronaldo and Kaká - what else do they need?"
or as one of the answers in the poll suggests:
"They have to, otherwise their president and manager will get fired, it's Real Madrid after all..."
This last one is the problematic one. After several years of ridicule in the Real Madrid presidency, Florentino Pérez has returned to try and restore faith in the club's fans and bring joy to Madrid as a football capital.
Now, let's note, that this is the same man that once sacked Vicente Del Bosque after winning a League title because "he seemed exhausted" to replace him with Man Utd's Carlos Queiroz with horrid results. He's also the man that let the last hero of 90's for Real, Fernando Hierro without a grand finale!
However, let's not forget that he did manage to bring the world's best players to the club and to play well together. He also managed to restore the club's finances using an aggressive investment policy and very daring strategic approach to the club's assets.
The first (word not to be repeated again) "Galácticos" phase, with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario & David Beckham, seem to be the aim of the new "Floren Team", but even though this first era had a gradual build up over three years, the new project seems to be compressed into one.This simply means that there must be patience. Let's not forget that even though heavy investment was made this season, there were also many players who left this year (Sneijder, Robben, Cannavaro, Huntelaar, Negredo.... etc) and that nearly €150m was made from the sale of these players leaving the net investment closer to €100m, a figure comparable to some other European clubs (Manchester City, Chelsea other years, Barcelona, Internazionale...). So with a new starting 11 with five new faces: Raúl Albiol, Xabi Alonso, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Benzema - and a new orchestra director, experienced Manuel Pellegrini, who can expect them to play in perfect harmony, have a recognisable style of play and also obtain outstanding results at the same time?
There will inevitably be several surprises on the way, but in my opinion the investment made this season will see its fruits with a slightly delayed effect - but surely the media and public pressure won't let this occur without at least another couple of managers on their way and perhaps a reshuffle in the management board of the team - something ridiculous all Real fans are having to get used to....
The Guardian heavily hits the Best Club in the Century
"The first humiliation of Real Madrid's second galactic age arrived in the Copa del Rey last night, when Manuel Pellegrini's side were hammered 4-0 by Alcorcón from Spain's regional Second Division B, Group II.
Even a second-leg turn around at the Bernabéu will not undo the damage done to a club that spent €254m (£229m) in the summer. During his first spell as president Florentino Pérez went through six coaches in three years. Just eight weeks into his debut season, and with the pressure having already built after a series of disappointing displays, Pellegrini will be concerned for his future.
"There's no explanations. We were focused and the training sessions were very good, but Alcorcón played very well," Pellegrini told Marca after the game. "We hope our fans can forgive us after this defeat."
Madrid did not even have the excuse of having put out a starting XI made up of youth-teamers. Although Iker Casillas was replaced in goal by Jerzy Dudek, Cristiano Ronaldo was injured and Kaká and Xabi Alonso were left out, there was a place in the side for the club's other galáctico, the €35m striker Karim Benzema.
He was joined by the captain Raúl, plus Raúl Albiol, Guti and Rafael van der Vaart. Not one youth team player was included as Madrid travelled to the Municipal de Santo Domingo stadium just south of the capital, where temporary seating had raised the capacity from 3,000 to 4,000.
"It is our goal to win every competition." Pellegrini had insisted before the match. That will take a huge second-leg victory now. Alcorcón had fired three warnings in the opening three minutes alone and were 3-0 up before half-time, thanks to goals from Borja Pérez and Ernesto Gómez and an own goal from former Liverpool full-back Alvaro Arbeloa.
It was 4-0 eight minutes into the second half and Madrid were grateful the scoreline was not even more embarrassing: the home side hit the post and wasted a series of chances, while Dudek was Madrid's outstanding performer.
"Our opponents...we've seen it 3,200 times before," Pelligrini said. "A team who were tremendously motivated and were able to play at their best. I saw them in recent games, we had reports, but they played very well.
"We need to react. We are going to find difficult opponents all over the place. We need to play well everywhere. I am not thinking about my job or about resigning, only the next match.""
The Captain: Always the most important
Part IYear after year Real Madrid's presidents spend millions and millions of Euros to signing the newest, fastest, youngest, most talented, and popular players. And yet, year after year, there is one common thing observed throughout the season.
The captain, the record breaking long living captain, Raúl. It is his 15th season in the Club's first team and has during those 15 years achieved Excellence and seniority, and has always set an example with his professionality.
Year after year he has faced severe criticism, he has been dropped from the national team, and challenged by the likes of Benzema, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo Nazario, Michael Owen, Higuaín, Álvaro Negredo, Javier Saviola, and the list could go on and on...
However, every year the captain has been posting great numbers, with last year at age 31 coming up as the second most scoring player in the team with 18 goals just in "La liga" and many of them vital, game winning strikes.