Wasteful Madrid fails to punish an off-colour Barça

The first 'Clasico' of the season is behind us. Here are my thoughts on the game

1. As the title suggests, Real Madrid missed a golden opportunity to beat an off-colour and off-pace Barcelona playing with a lot of players with either little are no preseason action.
2. Real Madrid started brightly with a very high tempo and pressing Barça asphyxiating them.
3. Barça started without Xavi, Pique, Busquets and Puyol. And surprised everyone with Alexis in the starting lineup. My theory on this is that, Pep started the eleven that he thought had the best chance to last 90 minutes.
   
4. It was only a matter of time before Real Madrid went ahead with the beautiful inter play between Özil and Benzema with the former scoring from assist from the former
5. After taking the lead around the 20th min, Madrid took the foot off the pedal, inexplicably.
6. Barça didnt have a shot on goal until David Villa curled an absolutely unstoppable right footer from the edge of the box on the left side.
7. While the game started without incident, it has gotten nastier as the time passed by with the tackles getting more rough and at times reckless after the equalizer.
8. The ref had a decent game in the first half, although he should have given a yellow or two for both sides.
9. Barça continued having problems in controlling the game and Madrid had various opportunities to go ahead.
10. Until the 45th minute when Messi in his first meaningful contribution to the game left Pepe and a few others in their wake and slotted in the 2nd.
    
11. 1-2 half-time, surprise scoreline because Madrid completely dominated the half with ample chances. Valdes was sharp and Benzema, not as much.
12. Barça started the 2nd half much better than the 1st half but Madrid equalized very soon through a well placed shot by Xabi Alonso
13. From here on the game got worse in terms of discipline. More cheap fouls, exaggerated reactions..the usual nastiness that accompanied the Clasicos of last season.
    
14. Both teams had a good penalty shout denied in the process.
15. Every foul is protested by everyone, even the throw-in decisions were not accepted without a protest.
    
16. The referee Texeira Vitienes lost control of the game at this point. Had he shown the early yellow cards in the first half, it would have been a different story.
    
17. Madrid created numerous chances again but failed to finish them off against a superhero-esque Victor Valdes.
18. Barça looked slightly better with Xavi, Pique and Pedro coming on in the 2nd half but Messi looked rusty.
    
19. Alexis had a great debut considering that he is playing just after two practice sessions with Barcelona.
20. Coentrão looked lively in the 15-20 minutes he played but by then both teams were in chaos as far as formations are concerned, a typical phenomenon in the dying moments of the early season games.
    
21. In the end, Barça will be more happy with the result than Real Madrid.
    
22. Madrid needs to try and win in Camp Nou and Barça can lift the cup with a 0-0 or even 1-1.
23. Mourinho excused himself from the presser and consequently the media is talking about this more than the great game overall from Real Madrid. Unfortunate but somethings dont change.
24. It will be interesting if Madrid can play another full press at Camp Nou where the pitch is wider and Barça will start with more regulars and with more minutes of practice.
    

Man of the Match Real Madrid : Özil
Man of the Match Barcelona : Victor Valdes

2nd leg in Camp Nou on Aug-17 at 2300 CET 1700 Eastern/1400 Pacific

Why Adebayor? Why not Morata?

Santiago Segurola, one of my favourite sports writers in Spain and one of the few voices of reason at Marca has written a piece titled "¿Por qué Adebayor? ¿Por qué no Morata?"(why Adebayor?Why not Morata?) after the Spain-Serbia U19 Euro game in which the Spanish youngster and Real Madrid Castilla player Alvaro Morata scored a hat-trick.
It is a great piece highlighting the growing debate in some sections of Spanish fans in general and Real Madrid fans in particular. The debate between buying players vs promoting and nurturing the youngsters from the clubs' youth teams (or canteras). He takes the example of Alvaro Morata and how his progress could be stunted abruptly because Jose Mourinho would rather have Adebayor on his bench as the 3rd or 4th option in a system that only employs one centre-forward than use that roster spot to nurture and grow Morata.

Here is a slightly adapted english version of Segurola's article in Marca.


The triumph of the Spanish U21 side at the Euros last month followed by the brilliant start of the U19 side at the Euros in the past week seriously begs the question as to why, Spanish youth players are not rated as highly has some of the foreign imports signed by both big and small clubs alike in Spanish league. In yesterday's game against Serbia U19, Morata had a hat-trick in addition to stellar performances from Deulofeu and Sarabia. While it is a fact that the Serbia U19 side is weak defensively, it doesn't hide the fact that the Spain U19 is is a well rounded side with quality players at every position.

Spanish national team coach Vicente Del Bosque expressed similar concerns recently that he sees a certain level of disdain towards the young Spanish players in the transfer market. There is a lot of truth in what he said because Spanish football is going through a purple patch and has at its disposal a lot of highly talented players at all levels and age groups. A lot of these players at U19, U21 and even a few at U17 have the craft for playing in the Primera Division. These players deserve chances to play in top flight to improve and mature. On the positive side of the story there are the cases of Sarabia, who will play in Getafe and the U17 phenom, Isco Alarcon who moved from Valencia to Málaga in search of first team action. However there are a lot many like Morata, Dani Carvajal, Ruben Pardo etc.. who aren't as lucky. They are losing out to players with equal or sometimes lesser credentials in the transfer market due to its peculiar and nebulous nature and the power of the agents.

Morata's case speaks volumes about the current situation. In a perfect world he would be promoted to the Real Madrid first team and nurtured carefully by managing his playing time and giving opportunities to learn from playing with some of the best in the game. At 18 he is still green but his skills as a centre-forward are indisputable. He is a rare combination of an eye for the goal and a great ability with the ball. Most teams would be crazy to blood him into the first team but Real Madrid seems to have consigned to the third division Castilla, where the risk of him stagnating and even fall into bad habits technically and tactically is very high.

Mourinho recently said that he is one forward short in a team that has Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo Higuain. He hinted at a possible return of Adebayor to fill the gap, while the Neymar saga gets resolved. This puts Morata in a very delicate situation. Although he has renewed his contract with the club, he has no realistic chance of breaking into the first team. Sarabia has worked around this problem with a move to Getafe, a move that reminds of Callejón, De la Red and Parejo, wonderful players who weren't given the same amount of chances as many foreign midfielders who were clearly inferior to them were given. Starting with the likes of Thomas Gravesen the list is long and disappointing for the young promises of Real Madrid.

No one seems to be betting big on the talented youngsters in various Spanish youth sides. It is not difficult to imagine how these same players would be treated if they belonged to Germany, France or Serbia. These would have been the crowning jewels of the transfer market, and rightly so because they are excellent players.

Does Morata have a chance at Real Madrid? How important is Adebayor as the 3rd option because his return will effectively rule out opportunities for Morata with the senior side. Morata has some qualities that would make any coach happy. But he needs someone to trust him and gives him the opportunities in the right competition for him to progress and not fall into mediocrity or bad habits.Real Madrid does not seem to offer this possibility. Neither was it offered it to Sarabia, and surely not to Carvajal. In the meantime, the team continues to sign foreign players for spots 17 to 25 on the roster, while the Spanish youngsters who demonstrate that they are among the very best in Europe are being neglected.

Ronaldo has left the building

His latter years were a bit of a caricature, the fatnomeno, the exposed belly on a too tight kit, wheezing after sprints at the Santiago Bernabeu, crumbling in a heap after his ultimate, decisive knee injury at the San Siro or shambling around in a Corinthians kit at the Estadio do Pacaembu, but in his prime he was electric.


He was the fastest player I had ever seen. He could take a ball midfield and the defenders would converge and he had some other gear, like rocket fuel, and he would blow past them, awe-inspiring as it was, but then he would set his sights on goal and he would slow down, something that only those truly great forwards have, and he would calmly, brilliantly slot it in past the already committed keeper. He was an assassin at goal and there were few that were better than he was in the grand scheme of things.

He was an awkward kid when he was spotted by PSV Endhoven. Light on his feet, looking unfinished, he still had two fruitful years in Holland netting 42 goals in 46 appearances and drawing notice from many of the top clubs in Europe. He would join Barcelona, rejoining Sir Bobby Robson and entering the heights of big time European football. He would play for both Inter Milan and AC Milan which sandwiched a long stint as lead striker at the Santiago Bernabeu.


He retired today at the age of 34, a shadow of his former self, wracked by injury and pain but with the glittering memory of an unbelieveable career. How then will we remember him? For his perseverance, returning to play for Inter after many had written him off? We called him a mercenary for repaying Moratti's loyalty by taking Real Madrid's money and leaving for Spain. We the called him a destabilizing force, a poor teammate, undedicated, and the posterboy for the worst of Florentino Perez's Galacticos: rich, fat and lazy. We add that he never won the Champions League and that his clubs often struggled to win league titles with him. We remember him for the weird soul-patch haircut on his forehead, the epileptic seizures that took him before the 1998 World Cup final against France, and the devastating knee injuries that robbed him of most of his pace, but none of skill and panache on the ball.

Whatever you remember him by is irrelevant. The facts are plain. He was one of the greatest players ever to play the game. One of the most dominant forwards his or any era. He almost single-handedly won the 2002 World Cup, winning the Golden Shoe scoring eight goals, and lifting the trophy for the selecao. He was called up for 4 consecutive World Cups (94, 98, 02, and 06), playing in the last three, becoming the greatest goal scorer in the history of the World Cup. He trails only Pele and Zico as the greatest international goal scorers in the history of the Brazilian national team. In 11 years playing on the biggest stage, for three of the biggest clubs in the world (Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid), Ronaldo scored 166 goals.

Ronaldo Luis Nazario da Lima. Ronaldinho before Ronaldinho. Truly O Fenomeno.

THE BEST OF THE DECADE. Real Madrid XI.

The last ten years have seen the Los Blancos at it's highest and lowest points. The club has been at the top of it's game in such a way that their biggest rivals (on the local and Continental stage) are envious. Real's dominance was so powerful that it inspired teams such as Barcelona (to go back to the drawing board). But who were the players that took Madrid to the top and survived the black days? Who were the best of the bunch? Who are those who would play come rain or shine? Whenever these players took to the field in the past 10 years, Madridistas were always happy to see them. I did a little survey amongst some Madridistas and supporters of rival teams and here is my best eleven of the decade.

Iker Casillas Fernandez (GK): St. Iker was the easiest choice to make, he has been the number 1 goalie since the 98-99 season to date (although he lost it briefly to Cesar Sanchez in 2000). Iker's claim to fame is not his performances when Los Blancos where on top of their game, it has been his performances during their darkest years that has taken him into legendary status. How many goalies have suffered 6-1, 5-1, 5-0 loses and can hardly be blamed for such scores? Instead they are praised for their performances that prevented the score line from being even worse. That's the Iker effect for you. A Master of one on one saves and making impossible saves almost every week. How many goalies do you know that are Saints?

Michel Salgado (RB): Who can forget the blond long haired guy, running on the right side of the field like a wild man. A strong tackler and swift in launching counters and running at opposing defenders. His dominance on the right side of defense was unquestionable until old age started catching up with him and Ramos was moved to the right back position. He is still going strong at Blackburn though not as crisp as before. His dynamics and style is still missed in the current Madrid cause. We are yet to see a RB as dominating as he was.

Ivan Helguera Bujia(CD): One man whose rise up the ladder was so against the odds. A utility man whose partnership with another member of the team was purely magic. He was fantastic in the air and great in one on one tackles. Helguera was a threat in defense and attack (esp. from set pieces). He also had an eye for a long neat pass from time to time.

Fernando Ruiz Hierro (CD): Without any doubt one of the greatest players to ever put on the White Jersey for Los Merengues. A player who love or hate Real, you couldn't afford not to admire. A world class Leader on and off the pitch. His leadership qualities were greatly missed after the Management thought it wise to kick him off the team. A central defender (who also played in the midfield similar to Helguera), he was very deadly from direct free kicks and a threat from every set piece. How many central defenders were leading scorers for their national teams when they retired? Words from myself cannot do enough praise for this great man. He is responsible for one of my nicknames, Fernando.

Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (LB): if you didn't have an updated health insurance before facing Madrid, you were advised to except when Roberto Carlos had an injury or was suspended. He packed a cannon (maybe 5 cannon balls) in that left foot of his. He redefined the LB position and influenced a whole generation of left backs like Gareth Bale (who actually started as a LB), Marcelo, Coentrao amongst others. He was the best in the world at his peak in this position, no questions asked.

Claude Makele Sinda (DM) : One Man who since the day he left Real Madrid, life has never been the same for the Whites. A player whose departure ranks amongst the sins of Fiorentino Perez and will never be forgiven by many True Madridistas. I would quote what Zidane said after Makelele's departure, "Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley, when losing the entire engine?" He was quite the work horse in the team. He was a beast , not the glamorous one. He was the oil in that made the Real engine tick.

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (CM): What words can be used to describe the Master of the Game? The man who is widely considered the best of his generation and in the Maradonna class? I can't remember how many times I had heard the commentators say, "Only Zizou could have seen that player and made that pass". He had the eye for the killer pass, could hold up play and score amazing goals. He could predict the next two plays on the pitch. His vision or soccer IQ was immense. He could also tackle. He was the Man on every team. Even after he retired Coaches still begged him to play for them. Ruud Van Nistlerooy once said he regretted not been able to play with Zizou on the same team. I'm sure Ruud would have scored more than 30 goals in a season, if he had.

Luis Filipe Madeira Caerio Figo (RM): One player who shook La Liga. His arrival from FC Barcelona began the "Galactico Era" of Madrid. Best right winger of this decade. He has a unique way of delivering his crosses that made it so easy for Forwards like Fernando Morientes (remember when he scored 5 goals in a single game, all headers?). Figo's set piece delivery was fantastic. He was also a master at penalty kicks. Luis Figo was the best right winger of the decade, not just for Real Madrid but in Europe.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (LM): CR9 before he became CR7 after Raul's departure. 60 goals in 61 games in only his 2nd season at Los Blancos. He has a record better than club legends such as Di Stefano, Pahinho and Ronaldo, O Fenomeno. Funny thing is, he is still not an out and out striker. He was inspired by Luis Figo and was supposed to be the "Next Figo" at Sporting Lisbon. Sir Alex Ferguson bought Cristiano to replace David Beckham at Manchester United. But he evolved into such a goal scoring machine that all the strikers on his teams started to look like midfielders. One can only imagine if he had played with the likes of Zizou and Figo? That team would have scored like crazy. Good with both feet and very strong in the air. He clearly is the best in his position in the world.

Raul Gonzalez Blanco (SF): He is Real Madrid and Real Madrid is Raul. Thats how fans of Real Madrid described Raul in Nigeria. Raul was master of not just goal scoring, but also of scoring some majestic goals. He was such a hard worker for the team. He was even willing to play a much deeper role and in effect reduced his goal scoring output for a few seasons. In the survey I conducted, some Madridistas choose Ruud Van Nistlerooy over him. I strongly believe that no true Madridista would drop Raul, whose blood flows with Real Madrid in it, for anyone.

Ronaldo Luis Nazario de lima (F): El Fenomeno was and is the greatest striker ever. He may not have been a 100% at his best s during his days with the whites, but his record speaks for itself. 104 goals in 177 games was no mean fit. The likes of Higuain benefited from training with the great one, despite his weight issues. He was not one to shy away from the big games.


                                   Casillas

Salgado-Hierro-Helguera-Carlos
                   
Figo-Zidane-Makelele-C. Ronaldo

Raúl-Ronaldo
    

Honorable Mentions: Steve McManaman, Fabio Cannavaro, Ruud Van Nistlerooy, Pepe, Santiago Solari (huge Favorite of mine), Esteban Cambiasso and Miguel Torres.


Article by Rapheal Harry for Forza Futbol

You Can Make How Much Money Playing Soccer?

The Kaka and Ronaldo deals are good for soccer in the United States. The minimum salary in the NHL is $450,000, in the NFL $310,000, in the NBA $442,114  and in the MLB $390,000. In the MLS the minimum salary is $34,000. There is a huge difference between the lowest paid player in the MLB and the lowest paid player in the MLS. Players in the NHL, MLB and NFL do not need to have a second job so they can survive a professional athlete. In the MLS so called "professional" soccer players need to have a second job just to get by.

What does this all have to do with Kaka and Ronaldo? Your average 12 year old playing AYSO does not know you can make money and a very good living playing soccer. But you can, there is more money in soccer than in baseball, basketball, hockey and American football. But in the USA this is not well know to kids playing. Your average 12 year old is usually told you cannot make the same about of money you can playing other sports. Lots of kids stop playing soccer when they get to middle school and high school. But what if they didn't? What if they didn't give up soccer and kept with it instead of moving on to other sports such as baseball, football, basketball and hockey? How much better would our American born players be? Would we have more of a drive to stick with the sport and improve? I think so. Money turns heads, sports that can make you a millionaire turn heads. Instead of having those heads turn towards base, basketball, hockey and football how about more kids look toward soccer. I think it has started, I think as of the first week in June when ESPN and ESPN News were covering Real Madrid splashing the cash to sign Ricardo Kaka more people especially kids in the US payed attention. $94 million is a lot of money. Money that is now going to be turning more heads toward European soccer. $111,000,000 million is even more money being shown about on ESPN and other sports stations for Ronaldo. Those news wires and newspapers that never mention the sport are now talking about it causing the casual sport fan to think about a huge amount of money for a soccer player. Now you know kids, now you know that you can be a millionaire playing soccer.

A lot has been said over the years about soccer is un-American. I don't believe that. I believe soccer is American. I believe it becomes un-American when mommy and daddy don't think Johnny or Timmy will make them enough money for their retirement or Johnny isn't going to buy them a big enough house. Soccer is a sport where being the number one draft pick is not important but there are plenty of endorsement deals to be had. So money really isn't a problem. I think it's time to come up with another excuse why your kid should stop playing soccer and calling it a girls game won't work either because those women probably make more money than you do.

Maybe Johnny or Timmy will think twice before giving up soccer to go play basketball or baseball.

Football Slavery? I don't think so.

'I think in football there's too much modern slavery in transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere,' Sepp Blatter.

'I agree with the comments of the president of FIFA. What he said is right,' he told Portuguese channel TVI. Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo believes he is being treated like a slave? Last time I checked slaves didn't get paid. I am appalled anyone would make such a statement, not surprising it comes from Blatter. That is utterly ridiculous and extremely offensive. You might want to check yourself Cristiano, you get paid to do a job, no one holds a gun to your head or chains you to a post. Last time I checked you get paid a nice penny for your job and are under contract which apparently means nothing to you, FIFA or UEFA.

Yes, Sepp Blatter first made the analogy but I think it is absolutely ridiculous for the statement in the first place and then for the comment by Ronaldo agreeing with him. I'm sick of the run around about is he going is he not. If Manchester United are smart they will sell Ronaldo to Real Madrid and soon. Get as much as they can for him and stop this circus of crap coming out of everyone's mouth.

Blatter quote taken from http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=554472&sec=england&cc=5901

Ronaldo quote taken from http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=554655&sec=england&cc=5901