Sunday, 25 September 2011
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Sleepwalking Too Rarly and Sleep-Waking Too Late
No, Real Madrid
is NOT in Crisis. We are merely in a slump. 5 dropped points over 2 games
against La Liga teams whose objective is to stave off relegation is proof of
that. Maybe Jose Mourinho’s sarcastic remarks prior to the Levante game about
just wanting to stay up were taken seriously by the team: prompting them to
play as if we were a team battling relegation.
.
On a more
serious note: I can only speculate that perhaps the team is tired. The team did
have an intensive preseason and looked supremely fit for the Super Copa and the
opening of La Liga. Since the international break however, the team has looked
flat, out of ideas and mentally and physically tired. Is this a case of the
team peaking at the wrong time? Or maybe Mourinho’s fitness regimen really
designed things this way given the lack of top-level opposition at this point
in time in our calendar? (But he didn’t anticipate we’d be bad enough to drop
points)
.
.
Team Selection
On the back of
my hypothesis that the team might be mentally and physically fatigued, I will
not criticize the rotations instituted by Mourinho for last night’s game.
Vanilla Joe (Callejon) did indeed deserve a start while Di Maria clearly
deserved some form of punishment for demonstrating his credentials to join
Argentina’s Diving Team for the London 2012 games. Arbeloa’s entry into the
starting XI is also logical to me – as I’ve always pined for him to start.
Ramos going to the bench might have been a bit curious, but I’m willing to
chalk it up to rotation: after all, it would be 7 games of football every 3
days for the boys (Getafe-Zagreb-Levante-Racing-Rayo-Ajax-Espanyol). It was
however the decision to start Varane as opposed to Albiol to be Carvalho’s
partner that gave credence to the internal Portuguese-vs.-Spanish clique warthat some reporters / conspiracy theorists have been abuzz about. At midfield, the selection of Lass also seemed to be the logical choice
given Khedira’s suspension and Coentrao + Pepe’s injuries.
.
Having said the
above, let me be the first to say that in my opinion, Varane had a good game
and found his performance to be shockingly impressive for a teenager who was playing
in the reserves of a relegation-battling Ligue 1 team at this same time last
season. My clamors to see Arbeloa start were also rightly justified as well.
All in all, I thought we did well in the defensive department. Even the
recently-oft-criticized Carvalho wasn’t bad – nevermind Iker Casillas who had a
signature reflexes were on show for all of us last night. And speaking of the
Captain, I would also like to point out that his ball distribution out of his
penalty box has improved immensely as we have seen his tendency to make
pointless hoofing kicks out of his box less and less and more intelligent
throws to streaking players to start plays instead.
.
Sadly, that’s
about as positive as I can get re: what I have to say from last night’s
performances.
.
.
The First Half – Sleepwalking
Our first half
performance could essentially be described as the Team Sleepwalking. The team
was sluggish, unimaginative and lacking in assertion to seize control of the
game and take the game to Racing Santander. Every Real Madrid supported on
twitter also pretty much noticed how little the off-the-ball movement was from
Real’s players: an ultimate sign of ‘Sleepwalking.’
.
And apart from
being a big bleh in terms of performance, Real Madrid played a very unusual
game tactically in the first half as
well. Mesut Ozil, was frequenoziltly on the flanks while Ronaldo would be in the
‘10’ position – it is a positional arrangement that benefits / maximizes the
capabilities of neither Cristiano nor Ozil.
.
Apart from the
already-mentioned positive performances from Arbeloa + Varane, perhaps only
Xabi Alonso deserves a mention. His midfield partner Lass however did try… to
match Xabi’s passing numbers… but in fouls (uff!). This game was no longer just
about the popular criticism of Real Madrid for not finishing their chances
created – because in the first half there were hardly any scoring chances
created by our Men in Black-and-White.
.
Real Madrid did
find some measure of control of the game late in the first half, but there
would be no goal… or even good scoring opportunities created.
.
.
The Second Half – Waking From Sleep Too Late.
.
Mourinho did try
to change things up for Real Madrid: initiating 2 bold moves meant to intensify
Real Madrid’s attack on the Racing goal. His first move was to convert his
4-2-3-1 into a more conventional 4-4-2 with Pipita coming on to join Benzema in
attack in place of Ozil. The switch to a classic 4-4-2 also involved placing
Ronaldo and Di Maria (who had come on for Callejon) in the Right and Left side
of the midfield respectivel while Xabi Alonso and Lass remained as the pivots
of the match.
.
The second
tactical change Mourinho put late in the second half was the conversion of this
4-4-2 into a diamond 4-4-2 with a single pivot (not the narrow CM-centric
version you see in Serie A nowadays): with Xabi Alonso playing the single pivot
at the base of the diamond while Kaka, who came on for Lass played at the tip
of the diamond. Once again, I thought Kaka looked bright but still lacking in
the ‘final product’ for Real Madrid that it so badly needed but never managed
to get in the game.
.
.
The Truly Worrisome Thing
On the back of
what was visibly an improvement in terms of the team’s performance, I
personally cannot find fault with the IN-GAME adjustments Mourinho made to his
team to get the win – because both ‘degrees’ of tactical modification appeared
to me like they worked in terms of tightening the screw around the neck of
Racing. The truly worrisome thing about was that at the end of the day, the
ultimate objective of scoring a winning goal (nevermind creating adequate
scoring chances), was not achieved. All the signs are now clearly pointing
towards the possibility that Real Madrid have in fact had a massive drop in
terms mental and physical fitness.
.
3 Games. 1 Win,
1 Loss, 1 Draw. 1 Goal Scored. These are definitely not the numbers of a
title-contending team. At this point, then perhaps only the comfort / consolation we can get from
last night was Barca’s lost points (we have Unai Emery to thank for that).
.
.
Injuries and Experiments
Rayo Vallecano
visit us at the Bernabeu this weekend and it’s looking like Ricardo Carvalho
will not be available amidst reports that he may not want to make the match
because of a head injury. With a slew of other injuries and a lengthening list
of players whose forms are dropping off, Perhaps Mourinho should re-think the
tactical options available to him as his 3 options of varying tactical systems
all failed to secure us the win.
.
Maybe Jose
should give a couple of other tactical systems a try too…
.
A voice inside
of me at this time however is just offering up a much simpler solution: That
the team stops Sleep Walking and instead Wakes from their Sleep.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Domino Effect
 |
| Angel DI(VE) Maria. He earned his nickname last Sunday. The Olympics are next year you Jackass |
.
1.0 What have we done?
It just HAD to be the absence of Khedira once again that
made the difference. Only this time, we weren’t talking about the difference
between winning by 4-0 or 4-2. This time, we are talking about actually winning
or losing: 3 points, 1 point or nothing. And as was the case last night, we
ended with zilch: putting to waste the points dropped by Barca vs. Sociedad and
the ones we gained vs.
last week. Now, Barca’s 8-0 massacre of Osasuna feels that much more orgasmic to
the cules thanks to the freakshow we put out last night.
.
Losing points like this regardless of what Mourinho says (“we’re
better of losing 1 than drawing 2”) hurts – because believe it or not, the La
Liga Title is NOT won during the clasicos but in games like this. Last season
we dropped points to teams like Levante, Sporting and
points that would’ve allowed us that tiny advantage to win La Liga: lost
clasicos or not.
.
I’ve always imagined / hoped that our squad, considerably
larger than Barca’s and whose fitness has reached peak levels can rattle off
win after win going into early December for the first clasico. On the other
hand, many in the know, among them cules, anticipate Barca to drop points here
and there till they reach full fitness and go about their annual weekly
massacres by end November-early December heading into the Clasico. I was hoping
our early season fitness advantage would see us 4 – 5 points ahead of Barca
heading into the December clasico: meaning that not even a loss then would cost
us League Leadership. But it was not to be.
.
I would have accepted dropping points to La Liga’s other
top-level sides too: the rejuvenated Diego+Falcao-led Atleti (who hammered
Racing last night), the Soldado-inspired
the Negredo-spearheaded Sevilla or even the Millionaires at
all are legitimate
upsetters. But Levante? Come on!
.
… And none of that Levante-is-a-bogey-team-crap please! I’m
not interested in constructing a reincarnation of the Riazor.
.
.
2.0 Di(ve) Maria
 |
| His Thank-You-Speech: "I would like to thank Sami Khedira for taking a Red Card for me... I will never forget this!" |
The subject of much conversation / irritation / hatred of
course had to be the man who started the Domino effect that led to all this:
Mr. Angel Di(ve) Maria. Was he trying to ‘fit in’ because he mistakenly thought
that he was playing in the
‘Blaugrana Colors’? In a world where
Madridistas rebelliously stand in disgust at Barca and their Biscuit Boy divers
and whiners, Di Maria robbed us of all of the credibility to do so.
.
Although I do partly agree with Mourinho’s statement that
Khedira ‘walked right into the trap’ when he pushed Ballesteros aside to defend
his teammate, I’m having a very difficult time imagining anyone else except for
Di Maria who set that trap. Di Maria owes Khedira and his teammates an apology
for this stunt that cost us the game, Khedira for at least another game, his
other teammates for yellow cards accumulated because of the tempestuous affair
the match had become and of course, the fans given how terrible the game turned
out to be for Madrid after Khedira’s sending off.
.
The sending off of Khedira thanks to Di Maria’s moments of
childish mindlessness triggered the Domino Effect that completely sucked Real
Madrid’s momentum out of the game.
.
.
3.0 Tactics & Personnel
3.1 Pre-Khedira Expulsion
While
press were salivating about what a rich, handsome, great AND brave footballer (the
latter adjective used to describe his insistence to play) Ronaldo was, I was
just happy to see Sami Khedira back. I also didn’t mind seeing Kaka in place of
Ozil.
.
Until Di Maria’s childish antics got the better of the team,
the German panzer made the Real Madrid Midfield robust, and much more effective
and ‘enveloping’ Levante’s goal. His ability to ‘fade away’ from attention but
always be there for a ball recovery, a simple pass, or tackle, gave Xabi Alonso
the perfect platform to do his thing. On the other hand, I totally didn’t mind
seeing Coentrao in Ronaldo’s role. As for Kaka, his starting XI place seemed a
just reward for his standout cameos off the bench in place of Ozil who seems to
need to adjust to life as a player-against-whom-defenses-are-designed-to-stop.
Kaka looked refreshing last night during the first half: confidently using his
acceleration to knife through Levante’s defense and showing us glimpses of the
confidence-applied-to-his-directness qualities that made many a Madridista
dream of seeing him in white during his days with the Rossoneri.
.
While it is true that Levante played reasonably well (I
thought Ballesteros was very good for them) to repel us and ensure that they
weren’t going to get a hiding ala Osasuna, I was pretty confident that we
would’ve walked away with at least a 2-0 on the back of our first 40-mins.
performance.
.
.
3.2 Post-Khedira Tactics
Apart from Di Maria explosion of immaturity last night, what
really drove me up the wall was how the team played post-Khedira. The team came
out in the second half sending Ronaldo in for Benzema, pushing Coentrao to
partner with Xabi Alonso: give us a headless 4-2-3 shape (without the 1). It is
still a fundamentally sound tactic, playing with 10 men: sending in a hybrid
winger-cum-striker (Ronaldo) in for a pure striker (Benzema).
.
Once again however, my problem with the team lay with
Coentrao playing as a CM. Forced by the urgency to score a goal, Coentrao
failed to give us a presence at midfield that we so badly needed without
Khedira. Xabi Alonso played his role heroically – but it wasn’t enough. With
the presence of Lass on the bench as a direct replacement and Arbeloa as well
(to push Ramos to CB and give Pepe the DM role), Mourinho instead opted for his
compatriot to play a role unsuitable for the ‘15’. Kaka got no service (neither
did Ozil when he came on) and the attack went stale. To top it all off, Real
Madrid shockingly began to play long ball soccer in the second half too: with
Pepe, Carvalho and Coentrao hoofing up speculative balls for Ronaldo and Di
Maria to chase. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Route 1 football: I
do have a problem with us playing it, without a proper ‘9’.
.
It was as awful as it was ineffective and ultimately,
dangerous: CBs and DMs hoofing up long balls for Cristiano, Di Maria and the
Fullbacks to chase – leaving space for Levante to strike and threaten with
counters. The cycle repeated itself over and over again – it wouldn’t be long
before they had more chances on goal during the second half than us. Soon
enough, a dagger would find itself into our chests with Kone’s goal.
.
And while Mourinho is predictably ‘protecting his team’:
talking about the state of the pitch, penalties not given, etc. I’m pretty sure
(or hoping at least) that once he watches the DVD of last night’s game, he will
be asking the same question: Why the hell were we playing long ball football to
get back into the game?
.
.
.
Somehow we all saw it coming. bit by bit: Di Maria’s little
tumble knocks over one domino piece after another…
.
… A nasty tackle that earns him a yellow.
… A little poke in the face that gives him the opportunity
to do a Sergio Busquets
… A telling off from Ballesteros that provokes Khedira’s
protective instinct for a teammage
… A second yellow for Khedira. Expulsion
… The game turns ugly for
… Levante find the opportunity to turn the tide and score.
… Real
lose 1-0.
… And Just like that, a not-yet-fully-fit Barca are now a
point ahead of us
.
.
How far does this domino effect go? And when does it stop?
The answer is quite simple: when we choose to grow up, stop
fucking around and play some bloody football.
.
originally posted in Real Madrid Football Blog here
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Rich (Expensive) but Ugly and Not Great…
 |
| There was Benze-cat, and now there's Cris Charming. Yuck. |
.
“He’s
NOT handsome!” was my wife’s instant reply when I read Cristiano’s post-game
comments to her. I can only suppose that this is what happens when you read out
comments that epitomize the arrogance of an ex-Manchester United Player to a
.
"It's surely
because I'm good-looking, rich and a great footballer. They're jealous of me. I
don't have any other explanation," he said after the game, in quotes
published by Marca.
.
Last
Wednesday, Real Madrid was the opposite of Cristiano’s self-description: Rich
(or rather, expensive), Ugly and Not Great.
.
Putting
things into perspective, the game per se, and the outcome, wasn’t that bad. We
always knew that this trip to
was going to be a tricky one. Dinamo was a physical and solid tough nut of a
team to crack. They also had a giant (who had a monster game) in goal.
Considering the fact that Champions League day 1 was largely a letdown for the
favorites (The 2 Manchester Clubs and Barca dropped points while Inter lost),
one can say that perhaps say that Real Madrid managing to eek out a win isn’t a
bad outcome at all.
.
And
this is why Ronaldo’s explosion of arrogance is just disgusting: because it
robs us of the merits of last Wednesday Night’s outcome.
.
.
Tactics
Tactically,
I thought we were ok. Fabio Coentrao started again and played a much more
restrained game: his energy and active-ness was instead used to give Real
Madrid a much stronger presence at midfield. It was much-needed too: with
Dinamo’s Robust midfield game largely backed up by the appropriately named
JERK-o Leko patrolling their midfield, trying to pull off a Mark Van Bommel
performance.
.
Coentrao
did, however interchange positions with Marcelo frequently – drifting to the
left wing, while the Brazilian put in shifts at the
(where he took the opportunity of feeding Di Maria to score). For Coentrao,
playing in Marcelo-mode however, he will need to develop his understanding of
overlapping with Ronaldo when Mr. Prince Charming is attacking on the left.
Without Marcelo’s overlapping runs, Ronaldo was constantly left having to face
2 or 3 defenders rather than just the 1 or 2 when Marcelo overlaps to drag at
least one defender away.
The
big problem however was as Bassam of RMFB had pointed out: our front 4 didn’t do enough
to press the opposing defense. I can distinctly recall that all our periods of
dominance in the game were when our front 4 did this. And this is there we get
to…
.
.
Player Performances
Like
Bassam, I was stunned by how much vitriol is being spewed towards Higuain who
only played 10 minutes in the game. I also feel that Carvalho and Di Maria’s
poor performances in the
game has tainted the opinions of many Madridistas about their performance last
Wednesday. They weren’t great but they certainly didn’t have bad games. In my
opinion, the most off-color performance last Wednesday was from my current
favorite Real Madrid player: Mesut Ozil. And in case Andres is reading this:
No, I have not yet purchased his jersey and jinxed him :P. Maybe it’s because
Ozil is now being singled out by opposing defenses as a man-to-watch for Real
Madrid or maybe it was just one of those nights.
.
After
all, a player who usually supplies the final ball that leads to a goal tends to
go through these ‘phases’ (Ronaldo and Benzema, the team’s 2 primarly goal
threats are the chief benefactors from this). Sometimes it’s due to opposing
teams designing their entire defensive scheme to stop such a player, sometimes
it’s just one of those days when things aren’t clicking and those passes aren’t
quite as inch-perfect on the night… or sometimes it’s just that slight (but
almost fatal) dip in concentration for the night. I can only suppose that this
is the next step for Ozil: taking his performances and his ability to influence
a game to a consistent level. At his age, this is a crossroads period for him:
to learn to assert himself and potentially reach ‘legend-level’ ala Zidane, or
‘could’ve-been-legend-level’ ala Guti. To end up in between isn’t so bad, but
then again, it’s hard not to be one or the other if you have such talents.
.
In
this sense, Bassam was also right in his questioning of why Granero wasn’t sent
into the game. Granero would have been a great possible ‘cure’ to an off color
performance from Ozil. With no Kaka on the bench to stabilize control of the
game when in possession, Granero could have lubricated the team’s creaky
passing gears last Wednesday.
.
Finally,
there is once again, the issue of finishing. A stat came out recently: Real
Madrid had a mind-numbing 65 shot
attempts in their first 2 La Liga games. 10 goals in 65 shots = 15.38% - worse
than a bad baseball batting average!
.
.
This
weekend, we’re off to play Levante. We wiped the floor with them in the Copa
Del Rey last season, but also dropped points there in La Liga. With a 2 point
lead over Barca, it’s now time for the team to get their shooting boots on and
re-introduce Levante to the floor.
.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Dinamo Zagreb 0 - 1 Real Madrid Highlights Video
Real Madrid beats Dinamo Zagreb at the first match of Champions League of this season.
Dinamo Zagreb 0 - 1 Real Madrid Highlights Video
Real Madrid beats Dinamo Zagreb at the first match of Champions League of this season.
Football Lost Again (as Some Might Say)
Some Quick Thoughts on Last Night's Champions League Results:
.
Borussia Dortmund 1 - Arsenal 1
It's hard to recall the glory days of Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera's Arsenal: wonderful to watch but with a strong, rock-solid core. Today's Arsenal strike me as little wimpy boys. Won by a goal thanks to an error fit for a second-division side last weekend... no spine, no character, no poise to secure a lead. This is getting pitifully boring for the Gunners.
.
Chelsea 2 - Bayer Leverkusen 0
Fernando Torres assisted both goals for David Luiz and Juan Mata. "Is that all he's good for now? Just assisting?" was my Liverpool-supporting (and Chelsea-hating) wife's retort when I told her what happened last night. It's obvious that the resentment is still palpable amongst Liverpool fans re: 'Nando. But what the heck, signs of life, right?
.
Barcelona 2 - AC Milan 2
Andres Iniesta got hurt and is out for a month, following Alexis Sanchez to the injury ward. With Iniesta gone, in steps Cesc right into the midfield. Thiago's waiting on the bench too...
.
70%-30% Ball Possession in favor of the Cules. 22 shots to 6 in favor of the Cules. But a 2-2 scoreline. Call it fatigue / lack of fitness / whatever. Somehow I still sense that a few idiots Catalunya are now are saying / thinking: Football has Lost. Tss..!
.
Just wondering aloud: had Barca chosen to spend some of that summer moolah on a Central Defender (e.g. Thiago Silva, who scored last night's equalizer), rather than on striker/wingers (Sanchez) and CM (Fabregas) - both of whom are generally 'bonus additions' to their squad, then perhaps they wouldn't need to have a Biscuit and Masch Potato to play on defense... and very likely - they probably might have won.
.
.
Valencia also turned out to be a dud last night.
.
Villarreal play Bayern tonight while we head to Croatia to play Dinamo Zagreb in our far-from-traditional Red Kits tonight. Being of Chinese descent, I consider red to be an auspicious color - and I very much prefer to perceive our Red Kit as an equally auspicious omen to this season's Champions League Campaign.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Myopia for Breakfast
I had the TV on this morning over breakfast. They had one of those XFL (Xenophobe Football League) a.k.a. English Premier League talk shows.
.
The presenters / pundits had a question of the day (for callers / viewers / etc. to answer to reply to them via e-mail, twitter and on facebook):
.
"Is Wayne Rooney now as Good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?"
.
One of them then went on to say: "I think Chicharito is just as good as Sergio Aguero..."
.
I nearly choked on by Breakfast. I'm having a really stressful day at work now and I'm furious due to work related stuff: the only thing that's cheering me up right now is the thought of what I saw on TV this morning during breakfast and how hilariously and idiotic + myopic people can be.
.
Seriously!?!? Rooney = Messi? Rooney = Ronaldo? Chicharito = Kun Aguero?
.
Some people really are way TOO DRUNK on delusion these days.
.
What did you have for breakfast today?
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Winning despite a Broken Midfield but with a Broken Ketchup Bottle
.
At 12
midnight, after watching Liverpool go down 0-1 to Stoke, I decided to take a
nap prior to Real Madrid’s match which would be at 2am Singapore time: deciding
to give Real Sociedad- Barcelona a miss. Before dozing off though, Barca was
already 2-0 up with just over 15 minutes into the game. Not long after, I woke
to a kick from my 3-month old son who has just awakened: it was as if he knew that I needed to be alerted
to the fact that Sociedad had gotten a goal back. 3 minutes later, Sociedad had
made it 2-2. Late appearances from Messi and Villa didn’t help. Barca are going
through their annual early season fitness struggles again it seems – and Real
Madrid need to capitalize.
.
If anyone
needed any validation that Real Madrid had a totally different fitness
situation, all that was put to rest with out 8 shots in the first 15 minutes of
the game. We’re only talking about fitness thus far though.
.
.
Tactics
and Personnel – Midfield Selections
 |
| Pressing with a 4-2-3-1 |
With Sahin and Altintop looking at a long
spell in the Valdebebas injury ward, and Khedira still injured, Mourinho still
made the choice of not calling up Lass for the game: opting instead for only
Coentrao and Granero as Xabi Alonso’s 2 potential partners. Coentrao of course
got the nod to start with Xabi Alonso in the 4-2-3-1 system - repeating the starting
XI used against Zaragoza.
.
The outcome
however was different: where Zaragoza seemed to capitulate and accept their
fate as cannon fodder to the Real Madrid onslaught after the opening goal, it
was a different story last night after Benzema opened the scoring (predictably
assisted by Ozil), Getafe fought back. They are after all coached by the man
behind Levante’s miracle campaign that saved them from relegation last season.
It was during this fightback where I believe the decision to select Coentrao as
Xabi Alonso’s midfield partner somehow backfired on us.
.
I’ve called
Coentrao plenty of things: the ‘Joker’, the Energizer Bunny, etc. One thing
that I still cannot bring myself to call him though is: Central Midfielder.
Coentrao brings pace and reasonable capabilities as a ball distributor and a
ball winner. But what really stands out is his energy: a lot of it. I’m not
sure whether this is a result of a license given to him by Mourinho, or even an
instruction: but I have to say that I have a huge problem with his tendency to
unhinge himself from his ‘pivot’ position. We after all, not longer live in a
world where a single ‘Makelele-type’ pivot is sufficient. On top of that, Xabi
Alonso is no Makelele.
.
 |
| What happened last night vs. Getafe |
.
Coentrao’s constant
forays to join Ronaldo, Ozil and Di Maria while adding ‘spice’ to our attack,
becomes a recipe for the opposing team to ‘flood’ our midfield (which by then
would be comprised by ONE Xabi Alonso) and overrun it once they win the ball
back. This will not be lost on La Liga managers who have been watching game
tape and it’s clear from last night that Luis Garcia did his homework… and it
wasn’t lost on Mourinho, who said: “El partido del Getafe es bueno. Y el nuestro no lo es” (The
game of Getafe was good, ours, not so). He goes on to say:
.
"I'm not happy with my team tonight. We deserved to win and did,
but we missed many chances to score. We had too many chances with the little
football we actually played. I'm not angry with anyone, but I want to know why
the team didn't do well after having such a fantastic start to the season. I
want to study this match. I like to try to learn why my team didn't do things
right."
.
One might
be able to argue though on the basis that Coentrao, due to his surging runs
from the midfield had a load of wonderful scoring opportunities (including 2
that were easier to score than miss). To which, I would like to point out the
difference between making those runs to help build up play and making late runs
to latch onto balls to score on ala Frank Lampard in Mourinho’s Chelsea.
Coentrao’s goalscoring opportunities were both off rebound opportunities from
late runs rather than from his participation in buildup play.
.
Getafe
looked comfortable getting forward and very stable in the midfield precisely because
of Coentrao’s absence next to Xabi Alonso when Getafe had the ball. Last night,
Getafe midfielders usually received the ball having to face only the
slow-footed Xabi Alonso because his partner Coentrao would be behind, just
trying to run back into position after being part of the attack that lost the
ball. Their midfielders in turn, had little problems getting the ball to their
attackers (among them Sarabia, who I thought looked very good) to put us on the
backfoot. This would not happen with Khedira. Until Sami is fit again, perhaps
Mourinho needs to consider moving Pepe to midfield as Xabi Alonso’s bodyguard.
Ramos at CB and Arbeloa at RB have no impact on the quality levels on the pitch
for the team anyway.
.
.
Signs
on the Wall
Real Madrid
conceded 2 lousy goals last night. Getafe’s equalizer was clearly a result of
poor communication between Pepe and Carvalho on who was supposed to track the
advancing Getafe attacker and who was supposed stay and sit back for anyone
ghosting into the box: both did the former, leaving Miku to ruthlessly punish
us with a goal. The second goal was just down to poor defending. While we may
have kept a clean sheet during our opening game of the season, it’s important
to note that we’ve also let in quite a few silly goals during the pre-season.
Is it time for Mourinho to take a more serious look at our defense? Is Carvalho
losing concentration (or rather, did he lose it during this whole Paulo Bento
feud?)? We have 2 Spanish international defenders sitting on the bench who can
help: Arbeloa and Albiol. If there’s a lack of focus, or a drop in level for
our defenders, we might want to give some of our bench players some game time.
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Goals,
Goals, Goals! (to the tune of Motley Crue’s ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’)
I have of
course, saved the best part for last: the goals. Firstly, I find it refreshing that
Ronaldo is proving me wrong about my theory which states that Ronaldo only
stops playing greedy once he scores. He didn’t give me any ‘pass the f#cking
ball you dick!’ moments last night. His penalty, though a weak call in my
opinion was still a foul, albeit outside the box.
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The star of
the night of course would have to be Karim Benzema. Somehow, the fates have
conspired for him to score twice last night to somehow make up for his standout
performance on opening day. The Frenchman looks sharp, moves and reacts a split
second faster (he wouldn’t have gotten the shot off for his first goal if he
got that chance last season) and is clearly brimming with confidence as seen
from him first-time shot at meeting Ronaldo’s pass for his second goal. All
this wasn’t lost on Mourinho too:
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| Benzema had a well-deserved field day on the pitch last night |
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"Benzema deserves full credit for his transformation. He had small
help from me, from his teammates and from Zizou, but he deserves the credit. He
has a fantastic attitude and he always had quality. People see that…”
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And also finally,
Pipita gets to score a familiar ‘Pipita-style’ goal: latching onto a pass and
using his graft and industry to find an opening to score. He scored for
Argentina this past week too. Does Jose Mourinho now have 2 strikers whose
ketchup bottles have finally fully opened up?*
(*Note to those who
may not follow my Ruud Van Nistelrroy allusion. This was revealed when Pipita
spoke about his ‘tutor’s’ advice: "Ruud told me
that goals are like ketchup… Sometimes as much as you try, they don't come out,
and then they come all of a sudden.'')
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The team
travels to Zagreb to open its quest for La Decima on Wednesday. Let’s hope that
by then, the midfield would be fixed and the ketchup bottle, still broken.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Real Madrid 4 - 2 Getafe (Highlights Video)
Real Madrid won the second game of La Liga beating Getafe with 4 goals.Goals came from Benzema(2),Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo(pen.)With this win Real Madrid has 6 points.
Real Madrid 4 - 2 Getafe (Highlights Video)
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Monday, 29 August 2011
Overdrive and Cruise Control
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| Marcelo shows us what Real Madrid did to Zaragoza: Turn them upside down |
Another La Liga game, another goalfest. Another Ronaldo Hat Trick. If no one paid attention to the fact that the team was sporting new away jerseys (I LOVE the Black Kit while the White Home kit has still failed to grow on me), and the energizer bunny with bleach-blonde hair (Coentrao) = the game might as well have been a continuation of last season’s La Liga Campaign. Well, wait a minute: it IS a continuation of last season.
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This is NOT Real Madrid Mourinho edition version 2.0. This is merely Real Madrid Mourinho edition SEASON 2.0. Same team, just plenty of upgrades.
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Sadly, the same cannot be said of Real Zaragoza. 10 new players – including one which the club spent 8m on (don’t remember who) while they became one of the clubs in question for not paying their players’ wages – resulting in being one of the protagonist clubs of the Liga strike. They are also one of the few La Liga sides who do NOT have a shirt sponsor (including Sevilla!) – a reflection of the sad state of La Liga’s financial affairs.
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So while Real Madrid’s mangling of Zaragoza made waking up at 2-4am a worthwhile experience for me, I went back to sleep pondering: the gap between Real Madrid + Barcelona vs. the rest of La Liga. Or was it a case of Zaragoza being THAT bad and Real Madrid
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Anyways, some further thoughts:
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1.0 Tactics
1.1 Formation and Team Shape
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| SIEGE MODE: Real Madrid looked like something of a 2-1-5-2 when we were on full-attack mode. |
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Real Madrid
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The point to note about ending up with a single pivot with Coentrao (though it’s great to see an attacking variant in its application as we saw last night) is that we must be careful about doing this against other, more offensively-potent teams. Coentrao’s propensity to dart forward or suddenly disengage from his pivot position to go wide while definitely an effective destabilizer of opposing defenses, may turn out to be a weakness than can see Xabi Alonso drowned at the center of the pitch. Mourinho seems to offset this by getting Marcelo to switch into the middle – something I’m uncomfortable to see (though it may actually work).
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1.2 Overdrive vs. Cruise Control
Real Madrid Zaragoza really did look like a deer caught in the headlights. The question is: did we flatten them enough when we were on overdrive? I counted our ‘uptempo’ phase in the first half and I figured it to be till about the 30th minute. We had scored 2 goals by then after creating a boatload of chances.
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In the second half, we came out of the traps once again with our high-tempo football (marked by Coentrao’s ‘running back’ breakaway dribble through the center which did not yield a goal). But, by the time Xabi Alonso scored from his ground-skimming missile at 64’, we were in Cruise Control. Another 3 goals followed soon after including a sweet, Milan-era-Kaka turn-and-strike.
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2 Goals playing on Overdrive. 4 Goals playing in ‘Cruise Control’ (i.e. similar to our pace of playing and attacking last season). The conclusion from this is NOT that playing in ‘cruise control’ is better but that there is still much work that needs to be done when we play on ‘overdrive’. Our boys may be able to create a frenetic attacking tempo that is nearly-impossible to defend, but it is perhaps this same frenetic tempo that frazzles their nerves in the final moments of attack which lead to poor finishing and decision-making during those split seconds prior to a potential “kill” (goal) (Di Maria’s first half miss at a wide open goal directly in front of him comes to mind). These are lessons which we learned from the Super Cup duel that we will have until December to refine and perfect.
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2.0 Player Performances
2.1 Ronaldo
3 Goals for Ronaldo. What else is new? He had some other great chances too, including 2-3 free kicks that were on target but were punched away. His decision making was much-improved, though I would doubt it would have been so had he not scored that early opening goal, which eliminated his obsession to get on the score sheet. After his 40-goal season, I can only hope that he can play this one without the anxiety to necessarily score goals as opposed to helping his team win in other ways.
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Many have highlighted the seeming enigma that he has always brought to Madrid
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2.2 Coentrao
This guy had TOO MUCH coffee before the game. If there would ever be a poster child for the brand of football of this Mourinho Season 2.0’s upgrades, it would have to be him. Last night, his tireless running and livewire act served as the catalyst for Real Madrid’s ‘Overdrive Mode’. I am still however skeptical of the soundness of him playing a full-on Central Midfield role: his tendency to run at the flanks (and leave Xabi Alonso alone in the middle) really needs to be curbed lest Madrid find an opponent who will delight at flooding the center of the pitch to smother and choke the life out of Xabi Alonso. Having said that, what makes him the poster child of this season’s tactical system upgrades is not only his ability to spark the team into playing that now-signtature frenetic uptempo game, but also his ability to give Real Madrid a wide array of tactical options on the pitch.
2.3 Ozil
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| Ozil is seems to be fast-becoming one of the integral parts of the Madrid midfield, regardless of formation |
In this Real Madrid Mourinho Edition Season 2.0 – one of the primary upgrades apart from the newfound tactical flexibility is the strengthening of the team’s spine… and this is where Ozil-in-Madrid season 2.0 comes in. We’ve talked endlessly about Xabi Alonso’s role as the pulse of Real Madrid’s offensive game and as the rock at the heart of its spine. Ozil on the other hand has been a ‘luxury’ in the Madrid midfield, having been kept out of the starting XI of last season’s ‘clasico series’. On the back of his performance during the preseason and in last night’s game though, it looks like Madrid’s ‘spine’ just got another integral component: Ozil. Playmakers in advanced positions usually have a much poorer pass completion rate due to the ‘risk’ of playing around more defenders and Ozil is no exception. His improvement however has been very noticeable: this season he is even more calm on the ball, displays superb awareness and seems to have improved his decision-making. His overall performance last night was in my opinion makes him a legitimate option for Real Madrid Man of the Match, Ronaldo Hat Trick or Not.
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2.4 Marcelo
While Coentrao’s forays into the Zaragoza box via the flanks or through the middle kept me on edge, particularly at the thought of having Marcelo cover for him, the Brazilian however gave me no reason to fret. He defended and attacked on the wing, covered in the middle when Coentrao ‘unhinged himself from position’, scored a goal and did a backflip to celebrate his goal. What else should we ask for from a Real Madrid left back?
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2.5 The Subs
We’re now seeing the logic of Mourinho’s 20+3 system: 20 versatile, multi-functional outfield players and 3 Goalkeepers – 2 less players than the conventional 25 man squad we’ve seen pre-Mourinho. With quality to the last man on the squad, accounting for injuries and suspensions, every player then stands the chance to play significant minutes for the team. Last night, they were Callejon (who nearly scored), Kaka (who did) and Pipita, whose improved state of fitness was seen in his running the half the length of the pitch ending and his match fitness seen in the fluffed goalscoring chance.
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3.0 Keeping up with the Joneses
It was a weekend where Champions League aspirants both in England and in Spain showed their mettle on Saturday Night: with Liverpool handily beating Bolton 3-1 and Valencia pulling off an epic 4-3 comeback win against Racing Santander. Sunday night of course were for aspiring Champions: With both Manchester Teams mangling their North London opponents (5-1 for City over Spurs and 8-2 for United over Arsenal). Real Madrid of course, duly obliged late in the day.
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What about those playing Monday night this weekend? Pretenders I say. (Ha!)
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4.0 Other La Liga News
What the hell happened to what was supposed to be the coming out party of Malaga? Maybe it wasn’t too bad that their much-anticipated encounter with Barca has been ‘postponed to a later date’. Or was it the weekend of the epic performances from the ex-Castilla strikers? Negredo grabbed 2 to undo Malaga, Soldado had a hat trick and heck, even Raul scored!
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It’s sad to see the ‘divorce’ between Diego Forlan and Atletico finally materialize. Best of luck to him at Inter (as they report). Atletico are trading one Europa-League-winning striker for another. Still not the same though… for their sake, let’s hope ‘it won’t be the same’ for other reasons this time around.
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(originally posted at Real Madrid Football blog here)
p.s. for those on twitter, you can follow me: @MadridistaMac
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(originally posted at Real Madrid Football blog here)
p.s. for those on twitter, you can follow me: @MadridistaMac
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