Continuing on with my overview of the Spanish season. From this point, I have to confess my knowledge of the clubs begins to vary a bit, so some of these will be shorter.
Racing Santander
50 points
Things looked so promising for Racing halfway through the season, when their little and large strike partnership of Munitis and Zigic were on fire and they looked on course for an UEFA Cup place. They're a very long-ball team in terms of playing style, leading to mixed feelings from some about the prospect of seeing them representing the not-quite-best of La Liga in Europe. (Kind of like the moaning I saw about the prospect of Bolton in the Champions League earlier in the season.) Racing's season really collapsed towards the end, though, and they ended up with nothing.
Still, compared to previous seasons, the lack of a relegation battle has to be a big plus, and they've got a platform to build on for next season, provided they don't lose any of their better players.
Espanyol
49 points
Ah, our city rivals. A decent season for Espanyol, and it will be a shame not having them in European competition next season, considering their impressive achievements this season in the UEFA Cup, only just losing the final to Sevilla on penalties after playing with a man down for almost half the game. They beat some damn good teams on the way to the final, too.
Considering the circumstances of their European qualification last season, which was through winning the Copa del Rey while fighting relegation in La Liga, the relatively smooth waters of this year's mid-table league finish must come as a relief. Plus, they played a crucial part in denying Barca the title, which must be fairly satisfying. (Note: I'm not blaming anybody but ourselves, but Espanyol played very well in both Barcelona derbies this season, and they deserve credit for that.)
Espanyol have already identified 3 positions in which they need strengthening for next season and started signing players. The first of these is Argentine full-back Clemente Rodriguez, previously of Spartak Moscow, who has just won the Copa Libertadores with Boca (more on which later).
Real Mallorca
49 points
As Tim over at La Liga Loca has pointed out before, the Mallorca of the past 3 seasons has seemingly become one of those clubs who perpetually hover about in mid-table, playing stifling, defensive football and not doing anything particularly interesting. I say past 3 seasons because before that they had the services of one Samuel Eto'o for several seasons, during which they won the Copa del Rey and conjured up several famous defeats of Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, including the rather unbelievable 1-5 thrashing they administered in the 02-03 season.
Those days would seem to be past, and while Mallorca has had a pretty uneventful season at least they spent most of it not having to worry about relegation, unlike the clubs in my next and last round-up post.
Deportivo La Coruna
47 points
Oh dear. (But a different 'oh dear' to Atletico Madrid.) Anybody remember the time when Depor were regularly challenging for the title and a force in the Champions League? Teams used to fear going to the Riazor. Seems rather far away when you see the Depor of today, but it was only about 5 years ago. Now they're facing bankruptcy without an investor to bail them out, and were perilously close to getting dragged into a relegation battle at times during this season.
To be fair, a lot of Depor's problems are the result of careless spending in those glory years, and now the current management have inherited an aging squad that desperately needs renewal and a whole mountain of debt. They started the painful process of renewing the squad at the end of last season, bringing in lots of young players from other clubs' youth systems and attempting to construct a dynamic young team from scratch. It has worked about as well as you'd expect, with the result that coach Joaquin Caparros is expected to move on.
Depor may not have been relegated, but the hole they find themselves in both financially and in a sporting sense is almost as bad, pending some kind of bail-out from a wealthy investor.
Osasuna
46 points
A disappointing result when their spectacular 4th place finish last season is taken into account. However, like other one season wonders, they were never likely to repeat their amazing feat, especially given the departure of their coach Javier Aguirre at the beginning of the season.
The Champions League was always a big ask for a club with the kind of budget that Osasuna have, and a team who mostly relied on grit, organisation and some crunching fouls to achieve their results. They were knocked out in the qualifying round by Hamburg, which was a mixed blessing, really, in that it deprived them of the revenue offered by the group stages of the Champions League, but enabled them to embark on an impressive UEFA Cup run which only ended with them going down to Sevilla in the semi-final.
So not a bad season, all things considered, although in my opinion Osasuna will find it difficult to work their way back into European competition in their present state.
Next up: those who fought relegation successfully and those who didn't
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
the Spanish league season wrap-up: team by team (2)
Continuing with my round-up of the Spanish season, this post covers the teams who finished 5th to 9th in the table.
Villarreal
62 points; UEFA Cup
I spent the entire first half of the season becoming increasingly saddened by going-ons at Villarreal, which culminated in the departure of Juan Roman Riquelme. Happily, the parting turned out well for both parties, although both Roman and Villarreal took a while to get going in the second half of the season. Like many other clubs in La Liga, the Submarines had been hit hard by long term injuries to Nihat, Robert Pires and Gonzalo Rodriguez. The mid-season signing of Chilean wonderkid Matias Fernandez eventually began to pay off and the aftementioned injury victims began to return, which made an immediate difference. Villarreal hold the longest winning streak of this season, which just happened to be their last 8 games, started by - ironically enough - their home defeat of Barca.
So it all ended happily, for once, and it will be great to see Villarreal back in Europe next season. Unfortunately, poor Gonzalo Rodriguez has sustained the exact same injury that kept him out of most of this season yet again, which will keep him out of a great deal of the next campaign. It's a good thing they signed Roberto Ayala from Valencia on a free transfer, then, isn't it? They still have to deal with the thorny question of what to do with the returning Riquelme, since Boca can't afford to buy him and management won't have him back. Watch this space on that one.
Real Zaragoza
60 points; UEFA Cup
It's hard for me to dislike Zaragoza, since they're a bit like the Inter of Spain - Argentine central. The Argentine contingent certainly had a hand in Zaragoza's achievements this season. Captain and central defender Gabi Milito has been excellent (although he's almost certainly leaving the club during the transfer window), increasingly brilliant striker Diego Milito managed to score 23 goals, just 2 less than van Nistelrooy with a far less galactic midfield behind him.
Speaking of which, they may not be galactic, but Pablo Aimar and Andres D'Alessandro are damn fine players. Neither are what you'd call consistent, but they've both had pretty good seasons and played some fine stuff.
Then there are the other fine South American players like Diogo and Ewerthon, although the latter has been sidelined for Barca youth system product Sergio Garcia this season. Speaking of former Barca players, young Gerard Pique - from the same year as Leo Messi and Cesc Fabregas - has had a fine season too.
An UEFA Cup finish is certainly not bad at all, and I'd say they've broadly accomplished their aims for this season. There were times during the season when a Champions League place looked possible for them, but the 4 at the top were always going to be too strong to be overcome.
Atletico Madrid
60 points; entered Intertoto Cup
Oh dear. I'd rather that my comments about Atletico aren't read as bashing; the last thing I want to do is jump on the let's-make-fun-of-Atletico bandwagon. But seriously. As Ray Hudson likes to say, Atletico are a big club, with a budget to match and many long-suffering supporters. They managed to bring in a great coach in the form of the refreshingly honest Javier Aguirre and spent a lot of money assembling an impressive-looking squad. Then disaster strikes in the form of long term injuries to crucial players. That's plain old bad luck, although as I've pointed out above, quite a few Spanish clubs were similarly afflicted.
Still, they started alright, and there were moments in which they dared dream of returning to the Champions League, but in the end they were simply far too inconsistent, especially at home, where they dropped far too many points to teams like Levante and Real Sociedad. I can't imagine how frustrated the rojiblanco supporters must be - they've just been pipped to the last UEFA Cup spot by Zaragoza on head-to-head results (wait, maybe I can...). To put it into perspective, they're only 6 points off Valencia, who occupy the last Champions League place, so it's not really that bad. But that doesn't really help, does it? The Intertoto it is, then.
The good news: when not busy insulting the squad, Atletico's club president has managed to get Aguirre to sign a new deal. He's really a decent coach, so hopefully it's onwards to better things for Atletico.
Recreativo de Huelva
54 points
It may sound strange to be saying this about a team who finished up well outside the UEFA Cup place that looked so attainable to them for large stretches of the league campaign, but Recre are really the surprise package of the season. No one expected the new boys to stay up this season, especially not while playing nice football and challenging for an European place.
Shame about Europe, but it was pretty inevitable late in the season given their lack of depth compared to the teams above them with deeper pockets. The oldest club in Spain worked miracles on a shoestring budget and should be congratulated.
Getafe
52 points; UEFA Cup (Copa del Rey finalist)
Yet another remarkable season from the club that has made their name through defying the odds on a shoestring budget. (They should be the model of every promoted club going through second-season pains, like Recre above most likely will.) After a few seasons of the same, I do wonder if the club's supporters were getting sick of their tendency to fall off the European spots towards the end of the season, but this time they have done tremendously well and qualified for Europe anyway through their place in the Copa del Rey final.
Speaking of which, their campaign in that competition has been incredibly impressive, and should they win the trophy they will be very much deserving. The massive efforts to knock out Valencia and then Barca come to mind.
Much of the credit for their progress has to go to the ever-astute coach Bernard Schuster. He's done very well to put Madrid's 'third' club (speaking in budget terms only) on the map (and now into Europe ahead of Madrid's 'second' club). He says he's going to become coach of Real Madrid. Well, if so, good luck to him. He's a bit of a character, that man, in a league where thankfully most of the coaches don't bother with the verbal warfare, but it's somehow rather endearing coming from the former Barca and Real legend.
(Update: oh boy. If people assumed that Getafe president Angel Torres would be fine with the apparent tapping up of his coach by Real just because he happens to be a card-carrying Madridista, well, they assumed wrong.)
Finally, congratulations to 'keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri (Argentina's no.1) for winning the Zamora trophy (goalkeeper who conceded the least). What a great start to his career in La Liga, and I trust he will be able to play on for a few seasons yet despite his age.
Next post: the also-rans.
Villarreal
62 points; UEFA Cup
I spent the entire first half of the season becoming increasingly saddened by going-ons at Villarreal, which culminated in the departure of Juan Roman Riquelme. Happily, the parting turned out well for both parties, although both Roman and Villarreal took a while to get going in the second half of the season. Like many other clubs in La Liga, the Submarines had been hit hard by long term injuries to Nihat, Robert Pires and Gonzalo Rodriguez. The mid-season signing of Chilean wonderkid Matias Fernandez eventually began to pay off and the aftementioned injury victims began to return, which made an immediate difference. Villarreal hold the longest winning streak of this season, which just happened to be their last 8 games, started by - ironically enough - their home defeat of Barca.
So it all ended happily, for once, and it will be great to see Villarreal back in Europe next season. Unfortunately, poor Gonzalo Rodriguez has sustained the exact same injury that kept him out of most of this season yet again, which will keep him out of a great deal of the next campaign. It's a good thing they signed Roberto Ayala from Valencia on a free transfer, then, isn't it? They still have to deal with the thorny question of what to do with the returning Riquelme, since Boca can't afford to buy him and management won't have him back. Watch this space on that one.
Real Zaragoza
60 points; UEFA Cup
It's hard for me to dislike Zaragoza, since they're a bit like the Inter of Spain - Argentine central. The Argentine contingent certainly had a hand in Zaragoza's achievements this season. Captain and central defender Gabi Milito has been excellent (although he's almost certainly leaving the club during the transfer window), increasingly brilliant striker Diego Milito managed to score 23 goals, just 2 less than van Nistelrooy with a far less galactic midfield behind him.
Speaking of which, they may not be galactic, but Pablo Aimar and Andres D'Alessandro are damn fine players. Neither are what you'd call consistent, but they've both had pretty good seasons and played some fine stuff.
Then there are the other fine South American players like Diogo and Ewerthon, although the latter has been sidelined for Barca youth system product Sergio Garcia this season. Speaking of former Barca players, young Gerard Pique - from the same year as Leo Messi and Cesc Fabregas - has had a fine season too.
An UEFA Cup finish is certainly not bad at all, and I'd say they've broadly accomplished their aims for this season. There were times during the season when a Champions League place looked possible for them, but the 4 at the top were always going to be too strong to be overcome.
Atletico Madrid
60 points; entered Intertoto Cup
Oh dear. I'd rather that my comments about Atletico aren't read as bashing; the last thing I want to do is jump on the let's-make-fun-of-Atletico bandwagon. But seriously. As Ray Hudson likes to say, Atletico are a big club, with a budget to match and many long-suffering supporters. They managed to bring in a great coach in the form of the refreshingly honest Javier Aguirre and spent a lot of money assembling an impressive-looking squad. Then disaster strikes in the form of long term injuries to crucial players. That's plain old bad luck, although as I've pointed out above, quite a few Spanish clubs were similarly afflicted.
Still, they started alright, and there were moments in which they dared dream of returning to the Champions League, but in the end they were simply far too inconsistent, especially at home, where they dropped far too many points to teams like Levante and Real Sociedad. I can't imagine how frustrated the rojiblanco supporters must be - they've just been pipped to the last UEFA Cup spot by Zaragoza on head-to-head results (wait, maybe I can...). To put it into perspective, they're only 6 points off Valencia, who occupy the last Champions League place, so it's not really that bad. But that doesn't really help, does it? The Intertoto it is, then.
The good news: when not busy insulting the squad, Atletico's club president has managed to get Aguirre to sign a new deal. He's really a decent coach, so hopefully it's onwards to better things for Atletico.
Recreativo de Huelva
54 points
It may sound strange to be saying this about a team who finished up well outside the UEFA Cup place that looked so attainable to them for large stretches of the league campaign, but Recre are really the surprise package of the season. No one expected the new boys to stay up this season, especially not while playing nice football and challenging for an European place.
Shame about Europe, but it was pretty inevitable late in the season given their lack of depth compared to the teams above them with deeper pockets. The oldest club in Spain worked miracles on a shoestring budget and should be congratulated.
Getafe
52 points; UEFA Cup (Copa del Rey finalist)
Yet another remarkable season from the club that has made their name through defying the odds on a shoestring budget. (They should be the model of every promoted club going through second-season pains, like Recre above most likely will.) After a few seasons of the same, I do wonder if the club's supporters were getting sick of their tendency to fall off the European spots towards the end of the season, but this time they have done tremendously well and qualified for Europe anyway through their place in the Copa del Rey final.
Speaking of which, their campaign in that competition has been incredibly impressive, and should they win the trophy they will be very much deserving. The massive efforts to knock out Valencia and then Barca come to mind.
Much of the credit for their progress has to go to the ever-astute coach Bernard Schuster. He's done very well to put Madrid's 'third' club (speaking in budget terms only) on the map (and now into Europe ahead of Madrid's 'second' club). He says he's going to become coach of Real Madrid. Well, if so, good luck to him. He's a bit of a character, that man, in a league where thankfully most of the coaches don't bother with the verbal warfare, but it's somehow rather endearing coming from the former Barca and Real legend.
(Update: oh boy. If people assumed that Getafe president Angel Torres would be fine with the apparent tapping up of his coach by Real just because he happens to be a card-carrying Madridista, well, they assumed wrong.)
Finally, congratulations to 'keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri (Argentina's no.1) for winning the Zamora trophy (goalkeeper who conceded the least). What a great start to his career in La Liga, and I trust he will be able to play on for a few seasons yet despite his age.
Next post: the also-rans.
the Spanish league season wrap-up: team by team (1)
This is the first in my series of posts covering the 06-07 Spanish season, including the Copa del Rey and the Primera. This one is just a quick assessment of each club's progress, in the order in which they finished in the Primera table, naturally.
Real Madrid CF
76 points; league champions; automatic qualification for the Champions League
I don't think too many Real fans will disagree with me if I say that they haven't played the best football on the way to winning the title. However, to focus on that would be unfairly taking away credit that is very much due to Capello and his team, who have performed above expectations. They've spent a tidy amount, just like in the last few campaigns, but this time it's paid off. The purchase of Ruud van Nistelrooy in particular was an excellent piece of business. Saint Iker was brilliant and vital as always, and we all know about the resurrection of David Beckham. What a Hollywood ending, and good for him. He deserves it for his years of faithful service.
Capello himself deserves great credit for the discipline, fitness, unity and fighting spirit he has installed, which is no easy feat in a squad as star-studded as Real's. I firmly believe that it's in those aspects that Real beat Barca, and full credit to them for that. Does Capello deserve another season? I think so, but the Real club management seem to disagree.
(Update: The Capello-Calderon-Schuster controversy seems set to run and run, with Getafe president Angel Torres now joining the ranks of those unhappy with Calderon's strong hints that Schuster has a pre-contract with Real.)
A fine season for a great club. Now to reclaim their place in Europe? We'll see.
FC Barcelona
76 points; automatic qualification for the Champions League
A disappointing season by any measure for Barca. I'll be writing at length about the problems and causes in my Barca season round-up posts, but I think us cules can be angry and heartbroken at the missteps of this season while recognising some fine individual and collective performances this season and, as coach Frank Rijkaard said, retaining pride in our club.
We've got a pretty damn good squad, and we still play great football on occasion. And we were hit hard by the long term injuries of Messi and Eto'o. But there are problems that need to be fixed if we're to challenge for all available trophies next season. To start with, on the personnel front, particularly in regards to the back four and defensive midfield, not to mention another striker.
On the management level, I think it is time for the people in charge of the money-spinning to take a good look at themselves and ask some hard questions. Are we a sporting institution or a travelling circus? If it's the former, the commercial activities have got to be cut down, especially in pre-season, and especially in pre-seasons where there has been a major international tournament during the break between seasons.
Finally, questions also have to be asked as to the extent of player power at the club. Does Ronaldinho have to attend training like everyone else? Should ill-discipline be punished in a systematic fashion? And so on.
File under 'needs improvement'.
FC Sevilla
71 points; Champions League qualifiers; European Supercup winners; UEFA Cup winners; Copa del Rey winners
Sevilla have a lot to be proud of. In the end, they didn't have what it took to break the duopoly of La Liga, but as their players have pointed out, they did very well considering the positions of privilege that Real and Barca start out from every season, and played some great football on the way. Who knows how they would have done without the distractions of the long UEFA Cup campaign? Perhaps the valuable experience gained from this campaign will help them challenge for the top again next season, if they resist the temptation to cash in on their top players.
In Europe, they along with La Liga's other entrants into the UEFA Cup helped the league retain some dignity given the ineptness of the big two in the Champion League. The defence of the UEFA Cup is a great achievement, but I for one am glad to finally see them in the Champions League, (they really should have been there this season, IMHO) where they will no doubt surprise a few people.
Great season, and they should be pretty pleased with their 3rd place finish, especially considering their prolonged European and Copa del Rey campaigns.
Valencia CF
66 points; Champions League qualifiers
Sometimes, when I'm getting particularly large headache from the shenanigans of my own club, it helps to take a look at the latest events at Valencia. (Seriously, I recommend this if your club is anywhere near as neurotic as Barca.) Then I end up feeling sorry for their fans, who really don't deserve the constant upheaval. It seems like no season can pass without the players feuding with the club, the club feuding with the coach and so on. All this despite a pretty impressive campaign, all things considered.
Alright, so a 4th place finish is not ideal. But considering Valencia were the only Spanish Champions League entrants not to exit the competition embarrassingly early, which greatly affected their league campaign, not to mention their horrific run of injuries, it's really not that bad. In my opinion, if Valencia have anything to worry about, it's their tendency to collapse towards the end of the season, amidst infighting and the inevitable sight of fans harrassing the players at training and so on.
Speaking of infighting, it seems like a decision will have to be made by the club between technical director (and former playing legend) Carboni and coach Quique Sanchez Flores. Reportedly most of the players are on Flores' side, which is just as well as I personally believe that Carboni's actions in regards to Flores' needs for building his squad have been pretty damn unreasonable. Hopefully Flores isn't the one booted out the door in this power struggle, as he is a very promising young coach who hasn't really made sack-worthy mistakes in his years at Valencia, where he has delivered results despite all the problems.
(Update: looks like the club has decided in favour of Flores and forced Carboni out of the post of sporting director. Good for them.)
For Valencia, this has been a season of what-ifs. What if they didn't have that horrific run of injuries? Some would say that they would have won the league. I'm not so sure, given their other problems, but it would have been close. What if they didn't have to all but throw a couple of league matches in order to prioritize the Champions League? What if they had managed to hold out against Chelsea at the Mestalla?
They've done well despite their problems, a lot of which were not of their own making. Things do need to change, if only to stem the conflict within the club, but like Barca I don't think a revolution is needed. They can challenge for the league next season with the squad they have, and here's hoping for another fine campaign in the Champions League.
Up next: the UEFA Cup entrants and those who just missed out
Real Madrid CF
76 points; league champions; automatic qualification for the Champions League
I don't think too many Real fans will disagree with me if I say that they haven't played the best football on the way to winning the title. However, to focus on that would be unfairly taking away credit that is very much due to Capello and his team, who have performed above expectations. They've spent a tidy amount, just like in the last few campaigns, but this time it's paid off. The purchase of Ruud van Nistelrooy in particular was an excellent piece of business. Saint Iker was brilliant and vital as always, and we all know about the resurrection of David Beckham. What a Hollywood ending, and good for him. He deserves it for his years of faithful service.
Capello himself deserves great credit for the discipline, fitness, unity and fighting spirit he has installed, which is no easy feat in a squad as star-studded as Real's. I firmly believe that it's in those aspects that Real beat Barca, and full credit to them for that. Does Capello deserve another season? I think so, but the Real club management seem to disagree.
(Update: The Capello-Calderon-Schuster controversy seems set to run and run, with Getafe president Angel Torres now joining the ranks of those unhappy with Calderon's strong hints that Schuster has a pre-contract with Real.)
A fine season for a great club. Now to reclaim their place in Europe? We'll see.
FC Barcelona
76 points; automatic qualification for the Champions League
A disappointing season by any measure for Barca. I'll be writing at length about the problems and causes in my Barca season round-up posts, but I think us cules can be angry and heartbroken at the missteps of this season while recognising some fine individual and collective performances this season and, as coach Frank Rijkaard said, retaining pride in our club.
We've got a pretty damn good squad, and we still play great football on occasion. And we were hit hard by the long term injuries of Messi and Eto'o. But there are problems that need to be fixed if we're to challenge for all available trophies next season. To start with, on the personnel front, particularly in regards to the back four and defensive midfield, not to mention another striker.
On the management level, I think it is time for the people in charge of the money-spinning to take a good look at themselves and ask some hard questions. Are we a sporting institution or a travelling circus? If it's the former, the commercial activities have got to be cut down, especially in pre-season, and especially in pre-seasons where there has been a major international tournament during the break between seasons.
Finally, questions also have to be asked as to the extent of player power at the club. Does Ronaldinho have to attend training like everyone else? Should ill-discipline be punished in a systematic fashion? And so on.
File under 'needs improvement'.
FC Sevilla
71 points; Champions League qualifiers; European Supercup winners; UEFA Cup winners; Copa del Rey winners
Sevilla have a lot to be proud of. In the end, they didn't have what it took to break the duopoly of La Liga, but as their players have pointed out, they did very well considering the positions of privilege that Real and Barca start out from every season, and played some great football on the way. Who knows how they would have done without the distractions of the long UEFA Cup campaign? Perhaps the valuable experience gained from this campaign will help them challenge for the top again next season, if they resist the temptation to cash in on their top players.
In Europe, they along with La Liga's other entrants into the UEFA Cup helped the league retain some dignity given the ineptness of the big two in the Champion League. The defence of the UEFA Cup is a great achievement, but I for one am glad to finally see them in the Champions League, (they really should have been there this season, IMHO) where they will no doubt surprise a few people.
Great season, and they should be pretty pleased with their 3rd place finish, especially considering their prolonged European and Copa del Rey campaigns.
Valencia CF
66 points; Champions League qualifiers
Sometimes, when I'm getting particularly large headache from the shenanigans of my own club, it helps to take a look at the latest events at Valencia. (Seriously, I recommend this if your club is anywhere near as neurotic as Barca.) Then I end up feeling sorry for their fans, who really don't deserve the constant upheaval. It seems like no season can pass without the players feuding with the club, the club feuding with the coach and so on. All this despite a pretty impressive campaign, all things considered.
Alright, so a 4th place finish is not ideal. But considering Valencia were the only Spanish Champions League entrants not to exit the competition embarrassingly early, which greatly affected their league campaign, not to mention their horrific run of injuries, it's really not that bad. In my opinion, if Valencia have anything to worry about, it's their tendency to collapse towards the end of the season, amidst infighting and the inevitable sight of fans harrassing the players at training and so on.
Speaking of infighting, it seems like a decision will have to be made by the club between technical director (and former playing legend) Carboni and coach Quique Sanchez Flores. Reportedly most of the players are on Flores' side, which is just as well as I personally believe that Carboni's actions in regards to Flores' needs for building his squad have been pretty damn unreasonable. Hopefully Flores isn't the one booted out the door in this power struggle, as he is a very promising young coach who hasn't really made sack-worthy mistakes in his years at Valencia, where he has delivered results despite all the problems.
(Update: looks like the club has decided in favour of Flores and forced Carboni out of the post of sporting director. Good for them.)
For Valencia, this has been a season of what-ifs. What if they didn't have that horrific run of injuries? Some would say that they would have won the league. I'm not so sure, given their other problems, but it would have been close. What if they didn't have to all but throw a couple of league matches in order to prioritize the Champions League? What if they had managed to hold out against Chelsea at the Mestalla?
They've done well despite their problems, a lot of which were not of their own making. Things do need to change, if only to stem the conflict within the club, but like Barca I don't think a revolution is needed. They can challenge for the league next season with the squad they have, and here's hoping for another fine campaign in the Champions League.
Up next: the UEFA Cup entrants and those who just missed out
Monday, June 18, 2007
La Liga results: last round
Nastic 1 - 5 Barcelona
Real Madrid 3 - 1 Mallorca
Sevilla 0 - 1 Villarreal
Congratulations to Real Madrid for a title race well fought and well won. Condolences to Sevilla, who perhaps deserve a lot more than they're getting. Still, the Champions League ain't bad.
And above all - thank you to my boys for their efforts today, and for much of this season. It has been heartbreaking, but there have still been many moments that will live long in my memory. Much more later, including end of season reviews.
Condolences to the fans of 'Nastic, Celta and Real Sociedad and congratulations in particular to Real Betis and (thank god) Athletic Bilbao. When everything's settled I'll post more on the European places.
I'll leave you now with this lovely quote from a Marcela Mora y Araujo article on Boca Juniors (speaking of which, post on Roman's progress there soon):
We'll be back next season.
Real Madrid 3 - 1 Mallorca
Sevilla 0 - 1 Villarreal
Congratulations to Real Madrid for a title race well fought and well won. Condolences to Sevilla, who perhaps deserve a lot more than they're getting. Still, the Champions League ain't bad.
And above all - thank you to my boys for their efforts today, and for much of this season. It has been heartbreaking, but there have still been many moments that will live long in my memory. Much more later, including end of season reviews.
Condolences to the fans of 'Nastic, Celta and Real Sociedad and congratulations in particular to Real Betis and (thank god) Athletic Bilbao. When everything's settled I'll post more on the European places.
I'll leave you now with this lovely quote from a Marcela Mora y Araujo article on Boca Juniors (speaking of which, post on Roman's progress there soon):
In a wonderful documentary following Boca to Tokyo for the match against Bayern Munich in 2001, Argentinian novelist and devout Boca follower Juan Sasturain witnessed his team's defeat up close. As his parting shot in a film called Thank You For The Game; What We Talk About When We Talk About Football, Sasturain delivers one of the most hopeful sentiments I have heard. Not winning one trophy is not so bad, he says, because we always have next season, next time ... "it's infinite. This game is infinite".And it is. Visca el Barca!
We'll be back next season.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
News round-up: Barca transfers and La Liga title race
Barca transfer news
Edmilson says that he's ready to leave if the club want him to, with Marseille a possible destination. He also has some sober insights about the Liga finale.
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon denies reports that the Saviola deal is done. I really hope he's right, here. This move would be the worst possible outcome, from my perspective.
Undeterred by the angry response from Lyon which greeted Barca's rather low offer for Abidal, we have enquired after Tiago instead, according to the French club. Not sure about this idea. I see what they're trying to do, and yes we do need a defensive midfielder, but we don't need another Motta, as much as I love him. What we do need is someone like Edgar Davids in his prime, who had such an effect when he was signed 3 years ago. (I keep saying we need a Frank Rijkaard, really, but where are we going to get that?) What little I've seen of Tiago doesn't give me much confidence that he's the one we're after. Surely we can spare some cash for such an important position.
Eto'o's not going anywhere, like I keep saying. AC Milan can stop trying to unsettle him any minute now...any minute now. Great friendship between the two clubs and all that. Really.
Title race updates
For those of you who are not living and dying by this title race, the fixtures for the last week of La Liga are:
Real v Mallorca
'Nastic vs Barca
Sevilla v Villarreal
As the table stands now: Madrid 73, Barca 73, Sevilla 71
Differences are decided by head to head results, which are as follows: Madrid 5 - 3 Barca, Barca 4-3 Sevilla, Madrid 4 - 4 Sevilla (Sevilla has the superior goal difference)
Related news items
"The single motive of my life is to defeat Barça." - 'Nastic coach Paco Flores gets just a little carried away. I know they don't like us there, but that's a bit much, isn't it?
Sevilla's Chevanton is not happy about the refereeing, which he says has affected Sevilla's title changes. No doubt he's right, and if the bias towards the big two, especially at home, didn't exist Sevilla would probably have an easier time of it. Although to be fair they've blown their chances almost as many times as Barca have this season. No matter what happens, I think they're going to be my team of the season, just for their accomplishments thus far, which are no mean feat given the domination of the established old order in European football.
Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes (who has had an excellent season, really) still believes in the remote possibility of the blaugranas coming out on top.
The ever-wise Raul says that nobody should believe that the title is already won and urges caution ahead of their game. The Madridista media, for one, don't seem to have heard him, but fair enough given the circumstances.
In related news, Calderon denies celebrating winning the league one game early. Again, I can understand why he was excited - I would have been, too, and as the media are saying, they've got 9 fingers on the trophy. Just one more week. You've waited 3 years (which is I believe about the same length of time as Barca's last drought), surely that's not difficult?
The ever-sensible Juande Ramos of Sevilla isn't too happy about Real's celebrations, but still thinks they'll probably win it. I really like Ramos. He's a good manager who just gets on with the job and is always diplomatic.
The Brazilian national team are adamant that Robinho report for international duty instead of staying for Real's game.
Diarra, on the other hand, is ready to abandon club for country to play for Mali in their crucial qualifer for the African Cup of Nations.
On the other hand, Eto'o's not going to play for Cameroon, but they're doing pretty well anyway with 12 points from 4 games, so unlike Mali they don't have much to worry about. He also has some harsh but very pertinent words regarding the Liga finale in the article linked above.
Just as an aside, I have to say, this entire mess where as many as 27 players could be missing from their final game because of international commitments can be entirely blamed on the ineptitude of the LFP (the Spanish FA). Nice scheduling, guys.
Update: Real claim that they have made deals with both Diarra and Robinho's national federations that will allow them to play in the last round. Dunga still doesn't sound happy, though.
Gudjohnsen has been ruled out for Barca with a knee injury. On the Real side, David Beckham's ankle is still giving him problems and he is racing to be fit.
Controversial Spanish NT coach Luis Aragones wants Barca to win the title. Aragones used to coach both Barca and Real's opponents Mallorca (not at the same time, obviously), where he had a stormy but ultimately successful working relationship with a certain Cameroonian striker with the first name Samuel, who calls him 'grandpa'. Anyway, I really don't know what to add to this weird bit of news. Some part of me wants to say that it's really inappropriate for Aragones to comment on this issue, as there are players from all three title-chasing clubs in his national team and there have been enough controversies over selections and who gets to rest ahead of their club matches as it is. But then I suppose he's free to say whatever comes to his mind, as his record shows. So thanks, Luis - I think.
Barca striker Maxi Lopez, who is on loan at Mallorca, has vowed to do his best to help Barca win the title. That is rather sweet of him, and I dare say that if he manages it his own stock will rise amongst those in charge at the Camp Nou. Talk is easy, but the sentiment is definitely appreciated. Vamos Maxi!
Edited to add: updates on a few of the news items above
Edmilson says that he's ready to leave if the club want him to, with Marseille a possible destination. He also has some sober insights about the Liga finale.
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon denies reports that the Saviola deal is done. I really hope he's right, here. This move would be the worst possible outcome, from my perspective.
Undeterred by the angry response from Lyon which greeted Barca's rather low offer for Abidal, we have enquired after Tiago instead, according to the French club. Not sure about this idea. I see what they're trying to do, and yes we do need a defensive midfielder, but we don't need another Motta, as much as I love him. What we do need is someone like Edgar Davids in his prime, who had such an effect when he was signed 3 years ago. (I keep saying we need a Frank Rijkaard, really, but where are we going to get that?) What little I've seen of Tiago doesn't give me much confidence that he's the one we're after. Surely we can spare some cash for such an important position.
Eto'o's not going anywhere, like I keep saying. AC Milan can stop trying to unsettle him any minute now...any minute now. Great friendship between the two clubs and all that. Really.
Title race updates
For those of you who are not living and dying by this title race, the fixtures for the last week of La Liga are:
Real v Mallorca
'Nastic vs Barca
Sevilla v Villarreal
As the table stands now: Madrid 73, Barca 73, Sevilla 71
Differences are decided by head to head results, which are as follows: Madrid 5 - 3 Barca, Barca 4-3 Sevilla, Madrid 4 - 4 Sevilla (Sevilla has the superior goal difference)
Related news items
"The single motive of my life is to defeat Barça." - 'Nastic coach Paco Flores gets just a little carried away. I know they don't like us there, but that's a bit much, isn't it?
Sevilla's Chevanton is not happy about the refereeing, which he says has affected Sevilla's title changes. No doubt he's right, and if the bias towards the big two, especially at home, didn't exist Sevilla would probably have an easier time of it. Although to be fair they've blown their chances almost as many times as Barca have this season. No matter what happens, I think they're going to be my team of the season, just for their accomplishments thus far, which are no mean feat given the domination of the established old order in European football.
Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes (who has had an excellent season, really) still believes in the remote possibility of the blaugranas coming out on top.
The ever-wise Raul says that nobody should believe that the title is already won and urges caution ahead of their game. The Madridista media, for one, don't seem to have heard him, but fair enough given the circumstances.
In related news, Calderon denies celebrating winning the league one game early. Again, I can understand why he was excited - I would have been, too, and as the media are saying, they've got 9 fingers on the trophy. Just one more week. You've waited 3 years (which is I believe about the same length of time as Barca's last drought), surely that's not difficult?
The ever-sensible Juande Ramos of Sevilla isn't too happy about Real's celebrations, but still thinks they'll probably win it. I really like Ramos. He's a good manager who just gets on with the job and is always diplomatic.
The Brazilian national team are adamant that Robinho report for international duty instead of staying for Real's game.
Diarra, on the other hand, is ready to abandon club for country to play for Mali in their crucial qualifer for the African Cup of Nations.
On the other hand, Eto'o's not going to play for Cameroon, but they're doing pretty well anyway with 12 points from 4 games, so unlike Mali they don't have much to worry about. He also has some harsh but very pertinent words regarding the Liga finale in the article linked above.
Just as an aside, I have to say, this entire mess where as many as 27 players could be missing from their final game because of international commitments can be entirely blamed on the ineptitude of the LFP (the Spanish FA). Nice scheduling, guys.
Update: Real claim that they have made deals with both Diarra and Robinho's national federations that will allow them to play in the last round. Dunga still doesn't sound happy, though.
Gudjohnsen has been ruled out for Barca with a knee injury. On the Real side, David Beckham's ankle is still giving him problems and he is racing to be fit.
Controversial Spanish NT coach Luis Aragones wants Barca to win the title. Aragones used to coach both Barca and Real's opponents Mallorca (not at the same time, obviously), where he had a stormy but ultimately successful working relationship with a certain Cameroonian striker with the first name Samuel, who calls him 'grandpa'. Anyway, I really don't know what to add to this weird bit of news. Some part of me wants to say that it's really inappropriate for Aragones to comment on this issue, as there are players from all three title-chasing clubs in his national team and there have been enough controversies over selections and who gets to rest ahead of their club matches as it is. But then I suppose he's free to say whatever comes to his mind, as his record shows. So thanks, Luis - I think.
Barca striker Maxi Lopez, who is on loan at Mallorca, has vowed to do his best to help Barca win the title. That is rather sweet of him, and I dare say that if he manages it his own stock will rise amongst those in charge at the Camp Nou. Talk is easy, but the sentiment is definitely appreciated. Vamos Maxi!
Edited to add: updates on a few of the news items above
Sunday, June 10, 2007
La Liga title race update
Barca 2-2 Espanyol
Zaragoza 2 -2 Real Madrid
Mallorca 0 - 0 Sevilla
Both Sevilla and Barca blew their chance, while Real march on. In Sevilla's case it was through little fault of their own, having lost crucial players to injury over the international break. In Barca's case...well, Xavi says it best in his post match interview:
(Edited to add: Ruud van Nistelrooy is, in my humble opinion, La Liga's Player of the Season, pending the last round of matches. Sid Lowe is spot on, as always.)
Having said all that, it really was Barca's to lose for long stretches of this season, and pending the last round, we have duly folded. No one to blame but ourselves.
In terms of this game in particular, Barca may have had more chances, but as I always say when big teams moan about this type of thing, we can only blame ourselves for failing to put those chances away. That late equalizer from Espanyol was probably only fair in light of the fact that, as much as I admire Leo Messi, the first goal was a blatant 'Hand of God' style handball.
(We really need to sort ourselves out defensively, having conceded far too many late equalizers this season, but that's another discussion which can wait until the end of the season.)
Lastly, great credit to all three teams who were playing the title chasers. Maybe there were secret payments involved as some insist, but as these teams will tell you, they had enough motivation of their own (okay, maybe not Mallorca) to be getting on with. Espanyol always want to beat Barca, and Zaragoza still needed to preserve their UEFA Cup spot. In any case, a great performance from especially Espanyol and Zaragoza, who've both had pretty good seasons. (I hope poor Pablo Aimar hasn't got yet another long-term injury on the cusp of a major international tournament.)
I feared getting my heart broken today. If Espanyol had beaten us at home, thus handing Real the title, I wouldn't be sitting here calmly, typing this post. Drawing is pretty much the same as losing in this instance, only delayed, but the visceral impact somehow isn't the same. And so it goes on for yet another week.
Final day. We can do all the crying and celebrating then.
Zaragoza 2 -2 Real Madrid
Mallorca 0 - 0 Sevilla
Both Sevilla and Barca blew their chance, while Real march on. In Sevilla's case it was through little fault of their own, having lost crucial players to injury over the international break. In Barca's case...well, Xavi says it best in his post match interview:
"What happened today is basically the summary of the year," he said. "We have breathed life into them [Real Madrid], and we have give them the league...Madrid now have everything in their favour...We will hope that they slip up, but it has been ours to lose. If we do not win this, we will have lost it more than they will have won it."No disrespect intended to Real, who have shown admirable spirit, mental strength, and in the case of Capello, great tactical insight in his often match-changing substitutions. I think he also deserves great credit for discipline he has finally installed in the Real squad, and I'd be very surprised if they move to sack him after this season.
(Edited to add: Ruud van Nistelrooy is, in my humble opinion, La Liga's Player of the Season, pending the last round of matches. Sid Lowe is spot on, as always.)
Having said all that, it really was Barca's to lose for long stretches of this season, and pending the last round, we have duly folded. No one to blame but ourselves.
In terms of this game in particular, Barca may have had more chances, but as I always say when big teams moan about this type of thing, we can only blame ourselves for failing to put those chances away. That late equalizer from Espanyol was probably only fair in light of the fact that, as much as I admire Leo Messi, the first goal was a blatant 'Hand of God' style handball.
(We really need to sort ourselves out defensively, having conceded far too many late equalizers this season, but that's another discussion which can wait until the end of the season.)
Lastly, great credit to all three teams who were playing the title chasers. Maybe there were secret payments involved as some insist, but as these teams will tell you, they had enough motivation of their own (okay, maybe not Mallorca) to be getting on with. Espanyol always want to beat Barca, and Zaragoza still needed to preserve their UEFA Cup spot. In any case, a great performance from especially Espanyol and Zaragoza, who've both had pretty good seasons. (I hope poor Pablo Aimar hasn't got yet another long-term injury on the cusp of a major international tournament.)
I feared getting my heart broken today. If Espanyol had beaten us at home, thus handing Real the title, I wouldn't be sitting here calmly, typing this post. Drawing is pretty much the same as losing in this instance, only delayed, but the visceral impact somehow isn't the same. And so it goes on for yet another week.
Final day. We can do all the crying and celebrating then.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Barca news round-up: good news and bad news
So, good news first. Ronaldinho's had his two-match ban reduced to one, which means he could appear in Barca's last game of the season against 'Nastic.
Moving on to some transfer news, which is either good or bad depending on your perspective, everyone and their dog wants to leave. Edmilson has reportedly issued a come-and-get-me to AC Milan, and Belletti has done the same to anyone who would listen, both citing a lack of playing time. (Have to say, I'm a bit puzzled in Edmilson's case, as he's either been injured or horribly off form this season, with the honourable exception of the last few matches.) Added to other pretty much certain departures like Ezquerro and Saviola, Barca probably need to get a move on in the transfer market in terms of purchases.
Eto'o and Ronaldinho have also been linked with moves incessantly this season, but it's hard for me to see either of them going. Perhaps my judgement of tabloid gossip is biased because of my desire to see the awesome frontline of Messi-Eto'o-Ronnie playing together for at least a couple more seasons, but I have yet to see a rumour with some proper evidence backing it.
There is some concrete evidence that the long-rumoured Eric Abidal move may finally be on, that is if Barca can agree on a price with Lyon. If we're going to buy an expensive full-back I'd much rather have Dani Alves, but apparently the price that Sevilla want for him is pretty astronomical.
Two pieces of bad news. The first concerns the timing of the game this weekend. In their infinite wisdom, the Spanish FA have decided to play almost all the games at the same time, to avoid accusations of match fixing and so on. While this is no doubt a good idea, the time they have chosen is Saturday night. The internationals only get back to their clubs on Thursday. You may begin to see where the problem is for the club with the most internationals on duty. Barca may be the most affected club, but Sevilla and Real also have a considerable portion of their first team away doing the same thing, and I doubt they're happy about it.
Now, so far all the news items I've mentioned will only have short to medium term impact. This next bit of bad news, however, is going to haunt Barca for years to come. You ready?
Barca B have been relegated to the Spanish fourth division. First of all, I have to say that I don't understand how this happened, given the fact that they have some very decent players.
Second, this is absolutely awful news for Barca's youth development program, which has been very successful over the years but is increasingly losing the talent they unearth to other teams more ready to offer these young players first team opportunities. (E.g. Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and so on.)
But it has happened, so the club has to deal with it. The plan right now seems to be sorting through the players and sending the bulk of the decent ones off on loan where they'd be playing at a slightly higher level than that of the Spanish fourth division, to be bought back if and when the rest of Barca B claw themselves back up. The two stars of the team Giovani Dos Santos (18) and Bojan Krkic (16) will probably be integrated into the first team squad next season despite their youth, as they are both very talented and the club doesn't want to lose them.
The likes of Xavi, Puyol and Luis Garcia (the Liverpool player, not the Espanyol forward) once made up an excellent Barca B team which won promotion to the Spanish second division back in the 90s. Ah, how the mighty have fallen.
Moving on to some transfer news, which is either good or bad depending on your perspective, everyone and their dog wants to leave. Edmilson has reportedly issued a come-and-get-me to AC Milan, and Belletti has done the same to anyone who would listen, both citing a lack of playing time. (Have to say, I'm a bit puzzled in Edmilson's case, as he's either been injured or horribly off form this season, with the honourable exception of the last few matches.) Added to other pretty much certain departures like Ezquerro and Saviola, Barca probably need to get a move on in the transfer market in terms of purchases.
Eto'o and Ronaldinho have also been linked with moves incessantly this season, but it's hard for me to see either of them going. Perhaps my judgement of tabloid gossip is biased because of my desire to see the awesome frontline of Messi-Eto'o-Ronnie playing together for at least a couple more seasons, but I have yet to see a rumour with some proper evidence backing it.
There is some concrete evidence that the long-rumoured Eric Abidal move may finally be on, that is if Barca can agree on a price with Lyon. If we're going to buy an expensive full-back I'd much rather have Dani Alves, but apparently the price that Sevilla want for him is pretty astronomical.
Two pieces of bad news. The first concerns the timing of the game this weekend. In their infinite wisdom, the Spanish FA have decided to play almost all the games at the same time, to avoid accusations of match fixing and so on. While this is no doubt a good idea, the time they have chosen is Saturday night. The internationals only get back to their clubs on Thursday. You may begin to see where the problem is for the club with the most internationals on duty. Barca may be the most affected club, but Sevilla and Real also have a considerable portion of their first team away doing the same thing, and I doubt they're happy about it.
Now, so far all the news items I've mentioned will only have short to medium term impact. This next bit of bad news, however, is going to haunt Barca for years to come. You ready?
Barca B have been relegated to the Spanish fourth division. First of all, I have to say that I don't understand how this happened, given the fact that they have some very decent players.
Second, this is absolutely awful news for Barca's youth development program, which has been very successful over the years but is increasingly losing the talent they unearth to other teams more ready to offer these young players first team opportunities. (E.g. Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and so on.)
But it has happened, so the club has to deal with it. The plan right now seems to be sorting through the players and sending the bulk of the decent ones off on loan where they'd be playing at a slightly higher level than that of the Spanish fourth division, to be bought back if and when the rest of Barca B claw themselves back up. The two stars of the team Giovani Dos Santos (18) and Bojan Krkic (16) will probably be integrated into the first team squad next season despite their youth, as they are both very talented and the club doesn't want to lose them.
The likes of Xavi, Puyol and Luis Garcia (the Liverpool player, not the Espanyol forward) once made up an excellent Barca B team which won promotion to the Spanish second division back in the 90s. Ah, how the mighty have fallen.
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