This season is unprecedented in terms of spending: 477 million euros in total, breaking the previous record of 2000 by quite some distance. And the transfer window's not even closed yet. Whether all that spending will produce good football and an exciting league remains to be seen. But hey, it's not my favourite league for nothing, and the season ahead looks insanely exciting.
I'm not going to do predictions, because I'm superstitious that way. What I will offer is a question for each of the 20 teams in this season's Primera Liga.
Club: Almería
Coach: Unai Emery
In: Ortiz (Pol. Ejido), Felipe Melo (Racing), López Rekarte (Real Sociedad), Natalio (Castellón), Corona (Zaragoza), Dimas (Barcelona), Negredo (Real Madrid Castilla), Pulido (Getafe), Cobeño (Sevilla), Juanito (Real Sociedad), Diego (Atletico Mineiro), Julio dos Santos (Bayern)
Out: Valerio, De Palmas, Rodri, Larrea, Mena
My question: can the new signings help them stay up? Almeria have been tipped by many to go straight back down, and it's hard to argue with that. The list of signings certainly doesn't inspire confidence.
Club: Athletic Bilbao
Coach: Joaquin Caparrós
In: David López (Osasuna), Muñoz (Osasuna), Aitor Ocio (Sevilla), David Cuéllar (Nàstic), Gorka (Espanyol)
Out: Urzáiz (Ajax), Javi González (Hércules), Iturriaga (Salamanca), Lafuente (Espanyol), Sarriegi (Panathinaikos)
One to watch: midfield wizard Yeste needs to have a good season to help the team stay out of trouble
My question: Will Caparros lift them out of the hole they've been in for the past few seasons? They've lost a few important players, and while the enforcements are useful, they're not going to solve all of Athletic's problems. I see there's been a couple of impressive performers from their youth system (one of the best in Spain) during pre-season, who can hopefully help the club avoid another relegation battle.
Club: Atlético Madrid
European commitments: UEFA Cup via Intertoto Cup
Coach: Javier Aguirre
In: Raúl García (Osasuna), Diego Costa (Sporting Braga), Christian Abbiati (Milan), Luis García (Liverpool), Diego Forlán (Villarreal), Cléber Santana (Santos), Simão (Benfica), Jose Antonio Reyes (Real Madrid)
Out: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Gabi (Zaragoza), Galletti (Olympiakos), Molinero (Mallorca), Martin Petrov (Manchester City), Pichu (Éibar)
One to watch: after all the hype, this could be Sergio Aguero's time to come good
My question: as with every season when they spend big - is this their year to push on and get into the Champions League? Atletico are the masters of the false dawn, but having managed to keep their admirable coach and spent wisely, they might benefit from the having the spotlight shifted off one person (the dearly departed Torres). Still looks a bit fragile in defence, but a midfield of Raul Garcia, Maniche, Simao and Maxi Rodriguez and a strike force of Aguero and Forlan ought to keep things ticking over nicely.
Club: Barcelona
European commitments: Champions League
Coach: Frank Rijkaard
In: Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Yaya Touré (Monaco), Eric Abidal (Lyon), Gabi Milito (Zaragoza)
Out: Gio van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Javier Saviola (Real Madrid), Ludovic Giuly (Roma), Maxi López (FC Moscow), Juliano Belletti (Chelsea)
One to watch: it's hoped that talented canterano Gio Dos Santos will follow the path of Messi circa 04-05 and be gradually eased into the first team.
My question: will dressing room infighting or fitness issues stop us from playing the way we did 2 seasons ago? If not, then we can talk about winning things.
If you have a season in which you're top of the league for 24 of the 38 weeks, score the most, concede the least, lose the least, and finish equal on points with the champions but still fail to win the league, you can draw one of two conclusions. One, that nothing is fundamentally wrong with the team, it was just luck that meant you lost out, and therefore big changes are unnecessary. Alternatively, you can see it as a signal that change is needed if a team who are evidently pretty good still failed to bring the title home. Those in charge at Barca seems to have staked out the middle ground by buying some players to bolster the current system. It remains to be seen how well they'll bed in.
Club: Real Betis
Coach: Héctor Cúper
In: Mark González (Liverpool), Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen), Mariano Pavone (Estudiantes), Ricardo (Sporting Lisbon), Lima (Atletico Minerio), Leandro Somoza (Villarreal)
Out: Romero, Robert (PSV), Dani (Cádiz), Contreras (Cádiz), Maldonado (Nástic), Juanlu (Córdoba), Lembo (Danubio), Assuncao (Al Ahli)
One to watch: Young Argentine striker Mariano Pavone earned rave reviews when winning the title with Estudiantes. If he can adapt well, then Betis may have the marksman they need and haven't really had since the departure of Ricardo Oliveira.
My question: Can Cuper turn things around at an internally chaotic club? They've bought quite well, but I'm not sure the defensive problems have been fixed. Good to see that they've finally got a better 'keeper than Doblas though.
Club: Deportivo La Coruna
Coach: Miguel Ángel Lotina
In: Pablo Amo (Recreativo), Rubén Castro (Nàstic), Xisco (Vecindario), Antonio Tomás (Racing), Momo (Racing), Andres Guardado (Atlas), Manu (Sporting de Gijon), Lafita (Zaragoza), Aythami (Las Palmas), Filipe (Rentistas), Jairo (Sporting de Gijon)
Out: Capdevila (Villarreal), Duscher (Racing), Juanma (Tenerife), Arizmendi (Valencia), Estoyanoff (Valladolid), Jorge Andrade (Juventus)
One to watch: if talented Mexican midfielder Andres Guardado can adapt well to the league, then he could help solve Depor's problems going forward
My question: with the departure of the defensive bedrock that allowed them to stay out of trouble despite a dismal scoring record, can Depor maintain their solidarity? If not, they could be in trouble, since the club doesn't really have the funds to buy the attacking players they need to improve.
Club: Espanyol
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
In: Kiko Casilla (Real Madrid Castilla), Valdo (Osasuna), Clemente Rodriguez (Spartak Moscow), Lola (Partizan Belgrade), Lafuente (Athletic)
Out: Velasco, Robusté (Levante), Walter Pandiani (Osasuna), Costa (Gremio), Ito (Córdoba), Gorka (Athletic), Sergio Sánchez (Racing)
One to watch: as ever, moody but highly talented midfielder Ivan De La Pena is key to their success. Hopefully he'll be back from injury soon.
My question: do they have what it takes to push for an UEFA Cup place? As they showed last season, Espanyol under the admirable Valverde are a fine side in the league, and without the distraction of a (very good) UEFA Cup run, they could conceivably aim higher this time around.
Club: Getafe
European commitments: UEFA Cup via Copa Del Rey final
Coach: Michael Laudrup
In: Pallardó (Valencia), Uche (Recreativo), Mario (Recreativo), Pablo Hernández (Cádiz), Daniel "Cata" Díaz (Boca Juniors), Kepa (Sevilla), Oscar Ustari (Independiente), Signorino (Nantes)
Out: Alexis (Valencia), Paredes (Zaragoza), Verpakovskis (Dynamo Kiev), Pulido (Almería), Pachón (Rayo Vallecano), Vivar Dorado (Valladolid), Dani Güiza (Mallorca)
One to watch: they've gone out and bought Argentina's next big thing in terms of goalkeepers to go with the current no.1, so who's going to play? Ustari is truly promising, so hopefully he won't waste away on the bench.
My question: can Laudrup maintain the good work done by Schuster? As ever, the club have lost some key players but bought smartly to compensate. I think Laudrup will do fine, but Getafe will have trouble improving on their finish from last season given a distracting UEFA Cup run.
Club: Levante
Coach: Abel Resino
In: Savio (Real Sociedad), David (Sevilla), Geijo (Xerez), Viqueira (Recreativo), Kujovic (Roda), Cirillo (AEK), Arveladze (AZ Alkmaar), Robusté (Espanyol), Pedro León (Murcia), Javi Fuego (Sporting), Storari (AC Milan)
Out: Zé María, Déhu, Molina, Salva (Málaga), Kapo, N´Diaye (Tenerife), Diego Camacho (Valladolid), Reggi (Castellón), Carmelo (Numancia), Alexis (Valladolid)
One to watch: La Liga veteran Savio has still got the occasional magic, and Levante really do need some spark.
My question: after a season in which they stayed up based largely on defensive solidarity, can they do the same again? Many people are tipping them for relegation, and it's hard to argue that they look like they're going to be in trouble.
Club: Mallorca
Coach: Gregorio Manzano
In: Valero (Castilla), German Lux (River), Webo (Osasuna), Molinero (Atlético Madrid), David Navarro (Valencia), Dani Güiza (Getafe), Gonzalo Castro (Nacional)
Out: Prats, Diego Tristán (Livorno), Maxi López (Barcelona), Jankovic (Palermo), Jordi López (Racing), Delibasic (Real Sociedad)
One to watch: forwards Guiza and Webo will be looking to replace the goals scored by previous top scorer Jankovic.
My question: having lost the aftementioned goalscoring midfielder, will they cope? The early signs look good (and they've still got their other goalscoring midfielder Arango), and Manzano's an old hand at this midtable finish thing by now.
Club: Murcia
Coach: Lucas Alcaraz
In: Íñigo (Éibar), Arzo (Recreativo), De Lucas (Alavés), Goitom (Udinese), Regueiro (Valencia), Carini (Inter), Pablo García (Real Madrid), Mejía (Real Madrid), Curro Torres (Valencia), Fernando Baiano (Celta)
Out: Juanmi, Emerson, Capi, Lledó, Aranda, Carrera, Pablo Ruiz, Antoñito, Pedro León (Levante), Ramón González (Xerez)
One to watch: Fernando Baiano, the undoubtedly talented forward who scored 15 for relegated Celta last season. Having broken their club transfer record to get their man, Murcia will be looking to him for the goals they need to stay up.
My question: They've got some useful players in, and if they bed in well, Murcia could stay up. Will probably be a close call, though.
Club: Osasuna
Coach: Cuco Ziganda
In: Margairaz (Zúrich), Hugo Viana (Valencia), Javier Portillo (Gimnàstic), Walter Pandiani (Espanyol), Carlos Vela (Arsenal), Medina (U. Chile), Dady (Os Belenenses), Jaroslav Plasil (Monaco)
Out: Robert Soldado (Real Madrid), Raúl García (Atlético), Muñoz (Athletic), Valdo (Espanyol), Milosevic, David López (Athletic), Cuéllar (Glasgow Rangers), F. Moreno (Albacete), Webó ( Mallorca), Mikel Arruabarrena (Tenerife)
One to watch: Arsenal's tremendously talented young Mexican Carlos Vela, who's only on loan because he can't get a visa for England. Osasuna should enjoy his services while he's here.
My question: will the losses in midfield and defence hurt the traditionally solid team? Osasuna lost their entire strike force in the transfer window, but they've done very good work in replacing the likes of Milosevic and Soldado, in the case of the latter by swapping one Real Madrid Castilla product for another (Javier Portillo, who is a decent player). Pandiani proved last season that he's still useful, and Dady has done very well in the Portuguese league. But Raul Garcia was very important for them, and I'm not sure they've worked out how to replace him.
Club: Racing Santander
Coach: Marcelino García Toral
In: Jonatan Valle (Málaga), Ayoze (C. de Murcia), Samuel (Sporting), Trevi, Duscher (Deportivo), Jorge López (Valencia), Jordi López (Mallorca), Sergio Sánchez (Espanyol), Brian Sarmiento (Estudiantes de la Plata), 'Ebi' Smolarek (Borussia Dortmund)
Out: Matabuena, Alfaro (retired), Balboa (Real Madrid), Lionel Scaloni (Lazio), Felipe Melo (Almería), Antonio Tomás (Deportivo), Momo (Deportivo), Rubén (Celta), Zigic (Valencia), Vitolo (Celta)
One to watch: Polish forward Smolarek, who just arrived. Racing will be looking to him to replace the goals that the departing Zigic scored.
My question: can they stay out of trouble having sold their best player from last season? Goalscoring young Argentine centerback Ezequial Garay is still there, which is good news, but it's easy to see them struggling without Zigic.
Club: Real Madrid
European commitments: Champions League
Coach: Bernd Schuster
In: Robert Soldado (Osasuna), Balboa (Racing), Metzelder (B. Dortmund), Julio Baptista (Arsenal), Pepe (Porto), Jerzy Dudek (Liverpool), Javier Saviola (Barça), Schorch (Hertha Berlín), Royston Drenthe (Feyenoord), Wesley Sneijder (Ajax), Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Chelsea)
Out: Roberto Carlos (Fenerbahçe), Beckham (LA Galaxy), Diego López (Villarreal), Miñambres (Hércules), Pavón (Zaragoza), Raúl Bravo (Olympiakos), Pablo García (Murcia), Mejía (Murcia), Ivan Helguera (Valencia), Jose Antonio Reyes (Atlético Madrid), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Emerson (Milan), Cicinho (Roma)
One to watch: is Wesley Sneijder the 'brain' Real have been looking for since Zizou left the building?
My question: will all that spending come together to make a good team? Real were the biggest spenders in Spain and indeed Europe yet again, and as El Pais wrote, 'the most expensive team in the world' and in the history of Spanish football. But having done their spending so late on, whoever is in charge of technical decisions at Real have given Schuster a very untenable situation. He's under a lot of pressure to win games, and win them well, but to be still bedding in new players in the first few games of the season is not the ideal preparation.
(By the way, the four most expensive players in the history of La Liga: Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo and now Robben. All by Real, of course.)
Club: Recreativo
Coach: Victor Munoz
In: Varela (Sporting), Martins (Sporting), Camuñas (Xerez), Beto (Bordeaux), Sorrentino (AEK Athens), Quique Álvarez (Villarreal), Marcos (Villarreal), Cáceres (Villarreal), 'Pampa' Calvo (Boca Juniors), Mariano Barbosa (Villarreal)
Out: Pablo Amo (Deportivo), Uche (Getafe), Mario (Getafe), Viqueira (Levante), Arzo, Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Guerrero, Merino, Cheli, Laquait
One to watch: Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who proved such a surprise success last season. His partners in attack have all left, though, so it's up to him alone now.
My question: with the amount of change at Recre, will they be afflicted by second-seasonitis? Early signs do not look good. They lost their manager and many of their best performing players, and while some of the replacements look okay, the rest are of dubious quality.
Club: Sevilla
European commitments: Champions League (from qualifiers)
Coach: Juande Ramos
In: Tom De Mul (Ajax), Khalid Boulahrouz (Chelsea), De Sanctis (Udinese), Keita (Lens), Mosquera (Pachuca)
Out: David (Levante), Kepa (Getafe), Aitor Ocio (Athletic), Cobeño (Almería)
One to watch: this may be Jesus Navas' breakthrough season if he can overcome his psychological problems. The dictionary definition of 'brilliant but brittle'.
My question: will last season's amazing feats go up in smoke because of that dreaded beast, internal unrest? The way things have gone in the last few weeks with the separate sagas involving Chevanton, Dani Alves and coach Ramos himself have not boded well, but hopefully they can put all that behind them and perform well again, both in the league and in the Champions League.
In the transfer window, the club have bought well and cheaply yet again. Here's an amazing statistic, courtesy of El Pais: the Sevilla first 11 that defeated Real in the Bernabeu to win the Spanish Super Cup cost 26 million euros in total. Now that's a great achievement.
Club: Valencia
European commitments: Champions League (from qualifiers)
Coach: Quique Sánchez Flores
In: Arizmendi (Deportivo), Mata (Real Madrid Castilla), Alexis (Getafe), Timo Hildebrand (Stuttgart), Sunny (Pol. Ejido), Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid), Zigic (Racing), Manuel Fernandez (Benfica)
Out: Pallardó (Getafe), Jorge López (Racing), Roberto Ayala (Zaragoza), Tavano (Livorno), Regueiro (Murcia), Hugo Viana (Osasuna), Butelle (Valladolid), David Navarro (Mallorca), Aarón (Xerez)
One to watch: Youngsters Mata and Sunny had pretty good tournaments at the U20 World Cup and will be looking to get some minutes this season.
My question: will this be their season? Valencia have a sensible coach, an enviably large squad which is to their credit filled with Spanish players and finally now seemingly no more potential for internal unrest. They are difficult to beat and can play some great stuff. So what's stopping them from challenging for the title and for the Champions League? If they can avoid injury problems and more internal unrest, the sky's the limit.
Club: Valladolid
Coach: José Luis Mendilíbar
In: Sisi (Valencia), Butelle (Valencia), Alberto, Vivar Dorado (Getafe), Estoyanoff (Deportivo), Diego Camacho (Levante), Ogbeche (Alavés), Sesma (Cádiz), Cifuentes (Real Sociedad), Alexis (Levante)
Out: Chema, De la Cuesta, Gonzalo Vicente, Mario Suárez, Toché, Manchev
My question: will their imperious procession to the Segunda division title translate into the kind of form that will ensure them survival? I think they'll do well enough to stay up, but it is early days yet.
Club: Villarreal
European commitments: UEFA Cup
Coach: Manuel Pellegrini
In: Vidangossy (Unión), Cáceres, Capdevila (Deportivo), Diego López (Real Madrid), Rio Mavuba (Bordeaux), Santi Cazorla (Recreativo), Tomane (Sporting), JD Tomasson (Stuttgart), Giuseppi Rossi (Manchester United), Angel Lopez (Celta)
Out: Alessandro Tacchinardi, Quique Álvarez (Recreativo), Arruabarrena (AEK Athens), Arzo (Murcia), Diego Forlán (Atlético), Peña (Celta), Marcos (Recreativo), Cáceres (Recreativo), López Vallejo (Zaragoza), José Enrique (Newcastle), Leandro Somoza (Betis), Mariano Barbosa (Recreativo)
One to watch: American-Italian Rossi has the potential to be a great striker in La Liga, and if he settles well Villarreal will look very smart indeed having made so much money off Forlan and bought Rossi for what will then look like a very small sum (around 10 million euros).
My question: can they continue their great form from the end of last season given all the personnel changes? (And will the presence of a sulking Juan Roman Riquelme at training disrupt team spirit?) What seemed like the spine of the team left, and despite reinforcing well in some respects I still worry that they're short of a few defenders, especially given the serious injury suffered by Gonzalo Rodriguez yet again. I'm sure Pellegrini will mold the newcomers into a unit soon enough, but with an UEFA Cup run injuries at the back could be a problem.
Club: Zaragoza
European commitments: UEFA Cup
Coach: Víctor Fernández
In: Gabi (Atlético), Paredes (Getafe), Ricardo Oliveira (Milan), Generelo (Nàstic), Roberto Ayala (Villarreal), Pavón (Real Madrid), Matuzalem (Shakhtar Donetsk), López Vallejo (Villarreal)
Out: Gerard Piqué (Manchester United), César Jiménez (retired), Corona (Zaragoza), Aranzábal, Ewerthon (Stuttgart), Gabi Milito (Barcelona), Lafita (Deportivo), Longás (Tenerife)
One to watch: Matuzalem is a tremendous talent and will add even more South American flair into a team already packed with it.
My question: will an UEFA Cup run affect their league form? Zaragoza have enforced very well indeed, especially on the somewhat murky and yet ingenious move that bought Roberto Ayala as a more than adequate replacement for Gabi Milito. Losing Gerard Pique is a shame, but one can understand him wanting to play for Manchester United. Bringing Ricardo Oliveira in on loan now looks very smart indeed given the dubious state of fitness of last season's top scorer Diego Milito. Oliveira may have been useless in Serie A, but he's a goal machine in La Liga.
Here's Sid Lowe's (always entertaining) season preview, and here's Tim of La Liga Loca's for his blog and for Football365. Phew. It's certainly good to have proper football back in La Liga again.
Showing posts with label recre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recre. Show all posts
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
La Liga news round-up: we love loan deals!
Lots of news this time, so little to no commentary.
Barcelona
Rafa Marquez has opted to sit out Mexico's Copa America clash with Uruguay for third place (which they won 3-1) in order to start preparing for the club season early and make sure that the injury problems which plagued him in 06-07 don't return.
President Laporta talks about Barca's movements in the transfer market (ignore the headline as usual from the geniuses at goal.com), blaming inflating for the amount of money we've had to spend.
The purchase of Yaya Toure has filled up Barca's 3 non-EU player spots (the other two being Eto'o and Ronaldinho). This will complicate the integration of Gio Dos Santos into the first team squad until his application for Spanish citizenship comes through. Hopefully, that will be done before the beginning of the season to avoid another fiasco like the Messi row in 05-06. He (Dos Santos will probably not be leaving on loan, contrary to what that article says.)
Real Madrid
Defender Miguel Torres signs a contract extension after a decent first season in the first team squad.
New forward Javier Saviola is presented.
Valencia
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores can't wait to get Asier del Horno and Curro Torres out the door. Valencia has done some brisk spring cleaning already, with David Navarro joining Racing on loan, and Miguel Pallardo and Pablo Hernandez signing for Getafe.
Hugo Viana heads to Osasuna on loan.
Goalkeeper Butelle joins Valladolid on loan with the arrival of Timo Hildebrand limiting his chances.
Uruguayan forward Regueiro goes to Real Murcia on loan.
Sevilla
Boulahrouz joins on loan.
The club claims that contrary to press reports, there have been no bids for Dani Alves.
President Del Nido with a feeble attempt at topping all the other priceless statements made by other club presidents in this transfer window: "Boulahrouz has left the second best team for the first."
Goalkeeper David Cobeno goes to Almeria on loan after refusing to play for Sevilla's B team.
Zaragoza
The club explain that they had to sell Gabi Milito because the player had asked for a move and pays tribute to his years of service.
Former Real Betis striker Ricardo Oliveira will arrive on loan from AC Milan for a year.
In a shock move, Zaragoza have stolen a march on Villarreal by paying up for the 6 million euro release clause of Roberto Ayala and snatching him from the Submarines before he'd even played a game for them. Villarreal get a nice bit of cash, having gotten Ayala for free from Valencia, but they've also been left scratching their heads and one defender short. It's kind of fitting, because Zaragoza and Villarreal do sometimes look as if they're competing for the title of Most Argentinean Club in La Liga. Round 1 to Zaragoza - Ayala is definitely a good short term replacement for Milito.
Athletic Bilbao
Joaquin Caparros has been named the new coach after Fernando Macua won the club elections.
Sevilla's Aitor Ocio has signed for the club as they begin the scramble for players in order to reinforce the squad.
The Barcelona press reckons that the club would let Santi Ezquerro go for free if he wanted to rejoin Athletic, which would be very nice for everyone concerned.
Others
Atletico's young forward Braulio doesn't want to be loaned out anymore. He demands either a first team place or to be sold. Looking at their forwards list, maybe they could use him as backup if he's any good at all, especially since Mista seems to have misplaced his scoring boots.
Espanyol announce the signing of midfielder Milan Smiljanic from FK Partizan.
Hector Cuper has been officially confirmed as coach of Real Betis.
Newly released former Villarreal captain Quique Alvarez signs for Recreativo.
Racing Santander are participating in the Peace Cup in Korea. Unfortunately, they're not doing very well. (Thrashed 5-0 by Chivas? Really?)
Finally, I fully agree with this post from Sideline Views. I hate diving, but I hate deliberate, dirty fouls more. At least the former doesn't put one's victim in the hospital and amount to a criminal offense.
Barcelona
Rafa Marquez has opted to sit out Mexico's Copa America clash with Uruguay for third place (which they won 3-1) in order to start preparing for the club season early and make sure that the injury problems which plagued him in 06-07 don't return.
President Laporta talks about Barca's movements in the transfer market (ignore the headline as usual from the geniuses at goal.com), blaming inflating for the amount of money we've had to spend.
The purchase of Yaya Toure has filled up Barca's 3 non-EU player spots (the other two being Eto'o and Ronaldinho). This will complicate the integration of Gio Dos Santos into the first team squad until his application for Spanish citizenship comes through. Hopefully, that will be done before the beginning of the season to avoid another fiasco like the Messi row in 05-06. He (Dos Santos will probably not be leaving on loan, contrary to what that article says.)
Real Madrid
Defender Miguel Torres signs a contract extension after a decent first season in the first team squad.
New forward Javier Saviola is presented.
Valencia
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores can't wait to get Asier del Horno and Curro Torres out the door. Valencia has done some brisk spring cleaning already, with David Navarro joining Racing on loan, and Miguel Pallardo and Pablo Hernandez signing for Getafe.
Hugo Viana heads to Osasuna on loan.
Goalkeeper Butelle joins Valladolid on loan with the arrival of Timo Hildebrand limiting his chances.
Uruguayan forward Regueiro goes to Real Murcia on loan.
Sevilla
Boulahrouz joins on loan.
The club claims that contrary to press reports, there have been no bids for Dani Alves.
President Del Nido with a feeble attempt at topping all the other priceless statements made by other club presidents in this transfer window: "Boulahrouz has left the second best team for the first."
Goalkeeper David Cobeno goes to Almeria on loan after refusing to play for Sevilla's B team.
Zaragoza
The club explain that they had to sell Gabi Milito because the player had asked for a move and pays tribute to his years of service.
Former Real Betis striker Ricardo Oliveira will arrive on loan from AC Milan for a year.
In a shock move, Zaragoza have stolen a march on Villarreal by paying up for the 6 million euro release clause of Roberto Ayala and snatching him from the Submarines before he'd even played a game for them. Villarreal get a nice bit of cash, having gotten Ayala for free from Valencia, but they've also been left scratching their heads and one defender short. It's kind of fitting, because Zaragoza and Villarreal do sometimes look as if they're competing for the title of Most Argentinean Club in La Liga. Round 1 to Zaragoza - Ayala is definitely a good short term replacement for Milito.
Athletic Bilbao
Joaquin Caparros has been named the new coach after Fernando Macua won the club elections.
Sevilla's Aitor Ocio has signed for the club as they begin the scramble for players in order to reinforce the squad.
The Barcelona press reckons that the club would let Santi Ezquerro go for free if he wanted to rejoin Athletic, which would be very nice for everyone concerned.
Others
Atletico's young forward Braulio doesn't want to be loaned out anymore. He demands either a first team place or to be sold. Looking at their forwards list, maybe they could use him as backup if he's any good at all, especially since Mista seems to have misplaced his scoring boots.
Espanyol announce the signing of midfielder Milan Smiljanic from FK Partizan.
Hector Cuper has been officially confirmed as coach of Real Betis.
Newly released former Villarreal captain Quique Alvarez signs for Recreativo.
Racing Santander are participating in the Peace Cup in Korea. Unfortunately, they're not doing very well. (Thrashed 5-0 by Chivas? Really?)
Finally, I fully agree with this post from Sideline Views. I hate diving, but I hate deliberate, dirty fouls more. At least the former doesn't put one's victim in the hospital and amount to a criminal offense.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
La Liga news round-up: more transfer market insanity
Transfer insanity continues apace, with the rich clubs splashing the cash like there's no tomorrow and the less rich clubs trading players like a particularly demented version of Wife Swap. If you speak Spanish, reputable newspaper El Pais has a good list of all the transfer activity so far.
Barcelona
Our 4th and last signing of this transfer window, barring any unforeseeable events, has finally been officially confirmed: Argentinean central defender Gabriel Alexander Milito is now a Barca player for a cool 17 million euros, with an additional 3.5 million conditional on trophies. The Real Zaragoza captain will arrive after the conclusion of the Copa America, where he is currently preparing for the final against Brazil, and sign a 4 year deal.
Most Barca supporters seem quite happy with this move, although some are wincing at the price tag. Given the currently ridiculous levels of inflation in the transfer market, though, I'm not sure we could have done much better. If you've been watching the Copa America, you'll have noticed that Milito's pretty slow. But having said that, he's also got a fantastic sense of positioning and I've been particularly impressed with the way he copes with high balls.
Welcome, Gabi.
The club have indicated that having achieved their signing objectives of a forward, a centerback, a leftback and a defensive midfielder at considerable expense (65 million euros total, and that's not counting the trophy bonuses), they will now turn their focus towards ushering those deemed surplus to requirements out the door. Rijkaard's preference for a small squad of 23 players or less is well known, so we can expect at least 3 more players out of the current group of 26 (including Gio Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic, who are being promoted to the first team, with both expecting to agree professional terms with Barca) to leave.
For those of you who were concerned about the various transfer rumours surrounding Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Deco, president Joan Laporta has promised that none of them are for sale. Although, frankly, if Milan really were crazy enough to shell out for Ronaldinho's buy-out clause, I could see the logic in letting him go, much as I admire the Brazilian's skills. That buy-out clause? 125 million euros. Some second division teams' entire first XIs aren't worth that much money. More to the point, that much money could fund Barca's transfer spending for a good 3 seasons.
Laporta also spoke his mind on Javier Saviola joining Real Madrid as a free agent, more on which later on in this post. He didn't condemn the move, but he didn't exactly sound approving, either. Not that Saviola will care what Laporta - who, it must be said, was the cause of some of Saviola's problems at Barca - thinks.
Confusingly, Belletti's agent claims that his client isn't looking to leave Barca, despite having complained loudly about lack of playing time at the end of the 06-07 season and having threatened to look elsewhere for opportunities. He also confirms Roma's interest. So let me get this straight: he's definitely leaving, and you're just trying to drive down the price so he can get a decent deal. Great.
Lastly, Yaya Toure speaks about his desire to win the Champions League with Barca (join the club, lad, you're far from the only one thinking that) and his admiration of Frank Rijkaard.
Real Madrid
Real shocked everybody by announcing the prompt signing of Porto's young Brazilian-born defender Pepe for - allegedly - a whopping 30 million euros. At first glance, this is a puzzling bit of business, although the quiet efficiency with which the deal was done is very impressive. Real are probably in need of a defender, but they just signed the highly rated Christopher Metzelder for free. Surely 30 million euros is a bit much to be spending on an uncapped young player who's unproven in Spain. I have no doubt that Pepe is very talented and will prove useful for Real, who've had trouble with the centerback position in the past. (For more discussion of Pepe's signing and issues associated with Real's defence, see the recent posts by Gonzalo at All In White.)
Iker Casillas has already come out in defence of the price tag. He makes a lot of sense, as always, although my personal theory regarding the price tag is that the 'blame' can be laid squarely at the door of the Porto chairman, who has done some very good business in the past: 30 million euros for Ricardo Carvalho, 20 million euros for Paulo Ferreira, 15 million euros for Maniche (!) and so on.
More boardroom business: Sergio Ramos has got himself a much deserved pay rise after his impressive performances of the last few seasons and striker Roberto Soldado has earned himself a nice five year contract after having a good season on loan at Osasuna.
I'm going to remain in denial about the latest Real signing until he's presented in a white kit, but it seems to be official: Javier Saviola has joined as a free agent. Isaiah over at the Barcelona Offside and most of the commenters there are taking it much better than I am. It's not that I dislike him - far from it. I'm quite fond of Saviola. But I'm cringing in anticipation of his first visit to the Camp Nou now.
It wasn't a wise move in that sense, in my opinion, although it's nowhere near a Luis Figo-type case, but also I can't see how he's going to get regular playing time, which is a concern of mine because I support the Albiceleste. This is Real's current striker list: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Raul, Robinho, Gonzalo Higuain, Antonio Cassano, Roberto Soldado. So how many of those are Schuster going to play in his formation? 2 or 3, most likely, and you'd think van Nistelrooy and Raul will be default starters. We'll see, I suppose. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this, Madridistas.)
Sevilla
(Allegedly) batty president del Nido has reacted predictably to Freddie Kanoute's frank request for a (probably deserved) pay rise - I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a massive contract right now - by pretty much flipping him the metaphorical finger. Kanoute has already had a 15 million euro price tag slapped on him, so watch this space.
Meanwhile, the club have signed Malian international Seydou Keita from Lens on a four year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Atletico
Atletico presented young Brazilian striker Diego Costa da Silva, but confusingly enough he's probably not going to play for them in 07-08.
Their failure to qualify directly for the UEFA Cup in 06-07 has seen Atletico's players 'punished' with having to cut their vacations short and start pre-season early to get ready in time for the Intertoto Cup. Coach Javier Aguirre held his first press conference of the season and discussed the impending campaign.
Others
New Recreativo coach Victor Munoz spoke about the difficulties he anticipates for the club in their second season, and having had a glance at that list of departing players at the end of that article, I agree with him. Yikes. They need some signings, alright.
In departures, having already lost captain Arruabarrena to AEK Athens and Diego Forlan to Atletico Madrid, Villarreal have also lost influential midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi, who has ended his loan period and returned to Juventus, where he's looking to join another Italian club.
Relegated Real Sociedad have let midfielder Mikel Alonso - brother of Xabi - go on loan to Bolton. I promise I'll stop writing about La Real soon, but they've just been relegated after all.
Lastly, Depor, Mallorca and Betis can give themselves a pat on the back for one excellent signing each. Betis have secured themselves a replacement for dodgy 'keeper Toni Doblas in Sporting Lisbon's Ricardo Pereira - yes, that Ricardo, and he only cost 3 million euros. I'm looking forward to having the Portuguese no.1 in La Liga.
Mallorca have signed Cameroonian forward Pierre Webo, who just left Osasuna on a free transfer. They do need a goalscorer, especially after selling one of their only decent attacking players in the form of Bosko Jankovic (the other one is the Venezuelan Arango) and Webo's a fairly good one who knows La Liga.
In my last round-up post, I wrote about the hole Depor have found themselves in. They avoided a relegation struggle in 06-07 chiefly because they could defend a bit, and now they've sold several of their best defenders (Capdevila to Villarreal, Andrade to Juventus) and are looking to flog another decent one in the form of Fabricio Coloccini to Zaragoza.
Not sure how they're going to line up defensively in the new season, but at least they've started splashing some of the cash they got from those sales in order to solve their attacking problems. Signing promising young Mexican Andres Guardado from Atlas for around 7 million euros is a good start. He's a fine midfielder and I'm very much looking forward to seeing him play in Spain. Depor fans must feel slightly better about the next season now - although they're not out of the financial doghouse yet.
Barcelona
Our 4th and last signing of this transfer window, barring any unforeseeable events, has finally been officially confirmed: Argentinean central defender Gabriel Alexander Milito is now a Barca player for a cool 17 million euros, with an additional 3.5 million conditional on trophies. The Real Zaragoza captain will arrive after the conclusion of the Copa America, where he is currently preparing for the final against Brazil, and sign a 4 year deal.
Most Barca supporters seem quite happy with this move, although some are wincing at the price tag. Given the currently ridiculous levels of inflation in the transfer market, though, I'm not sure we could have done much better. If you've been watching the Copa America, you'll have noticed that Milito's pretty slow. But having said that, he's also got a fantastic sense of positioning and I've been particularly impressed with the way he copes with high balls.
Welcome, Gabi.
The club have indicated that having achieved their signing objectives of a forward, a centerback, a leftback and a defensive midfielder at considerable expense (65 million euros total, and that's not counting the trophy bonuses), they will now turn their focus towards ushering those deemed surplus to requirements out the door. Rijkaard's preference for a small squad of 23 players or less is well known, so we can expect at least 3 more players out of the current group of 26 (including Gio Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic, who are being promoted to the first team, with both expecting to agree professional terms with Barca) to leave.
For those of you who were concerned about the various transfer rumours surrounding Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Deco, president Joan Laporta has promised that none of them are for sale. Although, frankly, if Milan really were crazy enough to shell out for Ronaldinho's buy-out clause, I could see the logic in letting him go, much as I admire the Brazilian's skills. That buy-out clause? 125 million euros. Some second division teams' entire first XIs aren't worth that much money. More to the point, that much money could fund Barca's transfer spending for a good 3 seasons.
Laporta also spoke his mind on Javier Saviola joining Real Madrid as a free agent, more on which later on in this post. He didn't condemn the move, but he didn't exactly sound approving, either. Not that Saviola will care what Laporta - who, it must be said, was the cause of some of Saviola's problems at Barca - thinks.
Confusingly, Belletti's agent claims that his client isn't looking to leave Barca, despite having complained loudly about lack of playing time at the end of the 06-07 season and having threatened to look elsewhere for opportunities. He also confirms Roma's interest. So let me get this straight: he's definitely leaving, and you're just trying to drive down the price so he can get a decent deal. Great.
Lastly, Yaya Toure speaks about his desire to win the Champions League with Barca (join the club, lad, you're far from the only one thinking that) and his admiration of Frank Rijkaard.
Real Madrid
Real shocked everybody by announcing the prompt signing of Porto's young Brazilian-born defender Pepe for - allegedly - a whopping 30 million euros. At first glance, this is a puzzling bit of business, although the quiet efficiency with which the deal was done is very impressive. Real are probably in need of a defender, but they just signed the highly rated Christopher Metzelder for free. Surely 30 million euros is a bit much to be spending on an uncapped young player who's unproven in Spain. I have no doubt that Pepe is very talented and will prove useful for Real, who've had trouble with the centerback position in the past. (For more discussion of Pepe's signing and issues associated with Real's defence, see the recent posts by Gonzalo at All In White.)
Iker Casillas has already come out in defence of the price tag. He makes a lot of sense, as always, although my personal theory regarding the price tag is that the 'blame' can be laid squarely at the door of the Porto chairman, who has done some very good business in the past: 30 million euros for Ricardo Carvalho, 20 million euros for Paulo Ferreira, 15 million euros for Maniche (!) and so on.
More boardroom business: Sergio Ramos has got himself a much deserved pay rise after his impressive performances of the last few seasons and striker Roberto Soldado has earned himself a nice five year contract after having a good season on loan at Osasuna.
I'm going to remain in denial about the latest Real signing until he's presented in a white kit, but it seems to be official: Javier Saviola has joined as a free agent. Isaiah over at the Barcelona Offside and most of the commenters there are taking it much better than I am. It's not that I dislike him - far from it. I'm quite fond of Saviola. But I'm cringing in anticipation of his first visit to the Camp Nou now.
It wasn't a wise move in that sense, in my opinion, although it's nowhere near a Luis Figo-type case, but also I can't see how he's going to get regular playing time, which is a concern of mine because I support the Albiceleste. This is Real's current striker list: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Raul, Robinho, Gonzalo Higuain, Antonio Cassano, Roberto Soldado. So how many of those are Schuster going to play in his formation? 2 or 3, most likely, and you'd think van Nistelrooy and Raul will be default starters. We'll see, I suppose. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this, Madridistas.)
Sevilla
(Allegedly) batty president del Nido has reacted predictably to Freddie Kanoute's frank request for a (probably deserved) pay rise - I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a massive contract right now - by pretty much flipping him the metaphorical finger. Kanoute has already had a 15 million euro price tag slapped on him, so watch this space.
Meanwhile, the club have signed Malian international Seydou Keita from Lens on a four year deal for an undisclosed fee.
Atletico
Atletico presented young Brazilian striker Diego Costa da Silva, but confusingly enough he's probably not going to play for them in 07-08.
Their failure to qualify directly for the UEFA Cup in 06-07 has seen Atletico's players 'punished' with having to cut their vacations short and start pre-season early to get ready in time for the Intertoto Cup. Coach Javier Aguirre held his first press conference of the season and discussed the impending campaign.
Others
New Recreativo coach Victor Munoz spoke about the difficulties he anticipates for the club in their second season, and having had a glance at that list of departing players at the end of that article, I agree with him. Yikes. They need some signings, alright.
In departures, having already lost captain Arruabarrena to AEK Athens and Diego Forlan to Atletico Madrid, Villarreal have also lost influential midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi, who has ended his loan period and returned to Juventus, where he's looking to join another Italian club.
Relegated Real Sociedad have let midfielder Mikel Alonso - brother of Xabi - go on loan to Bolton. I promise I'll stop writing about La Real soon, but they've just been relegated after all.
Lastly, Depor, Mallorca and Betis can give themselves a pat on the back for one excellent signing each. Betis have secured themselves a replacement for dodgy 'keeper Toni Doblas in Sporting Lisbon's Ricardo Pereira - yes, that Ricardo, and he only cost 3 million euros. I'm looking forward to having the Portuguese no.1 in La Liga.
Mallorca have signed Cameroonian forward Pierre Webo, who just left Osasuna on a free transfer. They do need a goalscorer, especially after selling one of their only decent attacking players in the form of Bosko Jankovic (the other one is the Venezuelan Arango) and Webo's a fairly good one who knows La Liga.
In my last round-up post, I wrote about the hole Depor have found themselves in. They avoided a relegation struggle in 06-07 chiefly because they could defend a bit, and now they've sold several of their best defenders (Capdevila to Villarreal, Andrade to Juventus) and are looking to flog another decent one in the form of Fabricio Coloccini to Zaragoza.
Not sure how they're going to line up defensively in the new season, but at least they've started splashing some of the cash they got from those sales in order to solve their attacking problems. Signing promising young Mexican Andres Guardado from Atlas for around 7 million euros is a good start. He's a fine midfielder and I'm very much looking forward to seeing him play in Spain. Depor fans must feel slightly better about the next season now - although they're not out of the financial doghouse yet.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
La Liga news round-up
My take on Argentina v Paraguay will have to wait until I've had time to see the game again, but meanwhile here's the latest on the shenanigans of La Liga's clubs, most of whom have gone transfer crazy. A Barca, Real and Sevilla heavy round-up this time around.
Barcelona
The first story isn't transfer related at all, surprisingly. An announcement from Barca's website states that club management have asked for the first game of the new season to be played away. You might think this is a really stupid idea, given that surely everyone wants to start the season well with a nice cozy home win, and you'd be right. However, there is (some) reason behind the club's madness, as such a change would enable the fixture on the 4th match day to be played at home. That day happens to be the 23rd of September, which is the 50th anniversary of Camp Nou. Fair enough, I suppose.
Barca's search for a central defender continues, with the rumour mill now focused on Gabi Milito of Real Zaragoza. The latest statement from Milito's agent indicates that Barca have yet to speak to him, and there's no agreement with Juventus either. Hopefully this won't drag on too much. Given Soriano's preferred way of doing business - quickly and quietly - we should expect an announcement within the next week if there's to be a deal at all.
Moving from arrivals to departures, Barca are apparently trying to off-load part-time striker Maxi Lopez to Sporting Lisbon on a loan deal. That article may make it sound like the deal's done, but apparently Sporting are still understandably reluctant, given Maxi's less than stellar record for Barca and Mallorca.
Lastly, Xavi expresses his admiration of Thierry Henry and looks back on a disappointing season. By the way, my understanding of the 'tour' of Scotland mentioned in that article is that it's not really a tour - we're basing the pre-season there instead of in Denmark where we usually go.
Real Madrid
The Schuster saga rumbles on, with Real apparently unwilling to play ball with Getafe, who are understandably a bit miffed about their coach being apparently tapped up and want Schuster's buy-out clause to be paid. Ramon Calderon's behaviour in this debacle has led to understandable frustration from Real supporters (see Gonzalo's take). As Tim from La Liga Loca informs us, even Marca are getting annoyed with the lack of certainty with the pre-season looming and transfer business to be done.
According to Calderon, though, everything's just fine and Schuster will be unveiled soon. From the way he phrased his answer, it seems he's under the impression that Schuster will pay the compensation fee that is under dispute. Along with some routine transfer talk, the article also features a charming turn of phrase regarding his stalkerish pursuit of Kaka:
Speaking of Real and transfers, apparently talks with Roma defender Christian Chivu have stalled over his apparently extravagant wage demands. Roma must not be very pleased about this development, given that fact that they've already agreed satisfactory terms with Real over this transfer.
Lastly, former Racing Santander coach Migual Angel Portugal is back at Real Madrid, having been named their new technical secretary. It's unclear how his job will intersect with sporting director Predrag Mijatovic's at this point. (For a bit of discussion on this, see Gonzalo's post, linked above.)
Sevilla
Sevilla president Del Nido has named his price to any would-be suitors for multi-purpose Brazilian rightback Dani Alves: 30 million euros.
The same article also reports that talented but troubled young winger Jesus Navas has signed a new contract, quashing rumours of a transfer to Lyon.
A few days after the above statement, Del Nido spoke to the press again and denied that there had been any bids lodged for Alves, as well as confirming that Kepo Blanco was off to Getafe.
Sevilla have also allowed Real Murcia to exercise their purchase option on Paco Gallardo, who has been on loan there. He signed a two year deal with the newly promoted side.
One player who's not going anywhere is Italian Enzo Maresca, despite rumours in Italian papers which have linked him to various Serie A clubs.
Getafe
Despite the ongoing wrangling involving Bernard Schuster I discussed above, Getafe have already got themselves a new coach lined up - and it's yet another former Barca and Real legend in the form of Michael Laudrup. Everything's done, they just have to wait for the Schuster mess to be sorted out to put pen to paper.
Undeterred by their lack of coach, Getafe have also been signing players, recently landing Argentineans Oscar Ustari from Independiente and Daniel Diaz from Boca Juniors. Diaz is a solid centerback who just had a decent game playing for Argentina against Paraguay in the Copa America. If he adapts well to the Spanish league, he could go some way towards filling the hole left by the departure of Alexis to Valencia.
Ustari's case is a bit more complicated. I'd hoped for the longest time that Barca would sign him, because he's a very talented young keeper who just missed out on going to the Copa America through injury and who is going to be Argentina's no.1 someday. However, Getafe already have the current Argentinean no.1 Roberto Abbondanzieri who had a fine season for them in 06-07, so I'm not sure what they mean to do with Ustari. Perhaps loan him out to a club where he'd be playing regularly? That would be good for his development.
Real Sociedad
Yeah, I know they're no longer a 'La Liga' club, but I wanted to cover these two pieces of news. The first is rather sad, but I suppose it's inevitable for a relegated club to lose their best players. Veteran striker Darko Kovacevic, who has been with the club for many years, some of them glorious, has finally left the club under murky circumstances (he claims the club didn't contact him about a renewal) and joined Olympiacos. In his last 2 seasons at La Real he was frequently plagued by injury, but before that he was once one of La Liga's best strikers, who gave his best years to the Basque club.
Second, La Real have confirmed the appointment of Chris Coleman, formerly of Fulham as coach. Good luck to him.
Others (no discussion, just other interesting headlines)
Valencia's garage sale list: Asier del Horno, Curro Torres and David Navarro.
Villarreal's new signing Roberto Ayala was impressed by their winning streak near the end of the season.
Deportivo La Coruna's website claims that Jorge Andrade has been sold to Juventus.
Recreativo have appointed Victor Munoz (formerly of Villarreal and Zaragoza) as their new coach.
Osasuna have let centerback Carlos Cuellar sign for Rangers, pocketing 2 million euros.
Argentinean wingback Clemente Rodriguez of Boca Juniors is going to be on loan at Espanyol for a season and will be aiming to win himself a transfer to the club.
Barcelona
The first story isn't transfer related at all, surprisingly. An announcement from Barca's website states that club management have asked for the first game of the new season to be played away. You might think this is a really stupid idea, given that surely everyone wants to start the season well with a nice cozy home win, and you'd be right. However, there is (some) reason behind the club's madness, as such a change would enable the fixture on the 4th match day to be played at home. That day happens to be the 23rd of September, which is the 50th anniversary of Camp Nou. Fair enough, I suppose.
Barca's search for a central defender continues, with the rumour mill now focused on Gabi Milito of Real Zaragoza. The latest statement from Milito's agent indicates that Barca have yet to speak to him, and there's no agreement with Juventus either. Hopefully this won't drag on too much. Given Soriano's preferred way of doing business - quickly and quietly - we should expect an announcement within the next week if there's to be a deal at all.
Moving from arrivals to departures, Barca are apparently trying to off-load part-time striker Maxi Lopez to Sporting Lisbon on a loan deal. That article may make it sound like the deal's done, but apparently Sporting are still understandably reluctant, given Maxi's less than stellar record for Barca and Mallorca.
Lastly, Xavi expresses his admiration of Thierry Henry and looks back on a disappointing season. By the way, my understanding of the 'tour' of Scotland mentioned in that article is that it's not really a tour - we're basing the pre-season there instead of in Denmark where we usually go.
Real Madrid
The Schuster saga rumbles on, with Real apparently unwilling to play ball with Getafe, who are understandably a bit miffed about their coach being apparently tapped up and want Schuster's buy-out clause to be paid. Ramon Calderon's behaviour in this debacle has led to understandable frustration from Real supporters (see Gonzalo's take). As Tim from La Liga Loca informs us, even Marca are getting annoyed with the lack of certainty with the pre-season looming and transfer business to be done.
According to Calderon, though, everything's just fine and Schuster will be unveiled soon. From the way he phrased his answer, it seems he's under the impression that Schuster will pay the compensation fee that is under dispute. Along with some routine transfer talk, the article also features a charming turn of phrase regarding his stalkerish pursuit of Kaka:
The Real chief reiterated the club's desire to sign AC Milan playmaker Kaka despite the fact that the Serie A side have said repeatedly that the Brazilian is not for sale.That's not a 'problem', Ramon. It's called 'clubs have the final say on under-contract players', also known as one of the fundamental rules governing club football. No offense, Real supporters. It's just that your president is just as much of a moron as ours.
'We've got a problem because Milan have taken a strong line on him but we have to see if he really wants to come and is prepared to tell his club president that he wants a change. From what I've been told he wants to come.'
Speaking of Real and transfers, apparently talks with Roma defender Christian Chivu have stalled over his apparently extravagant wage demands. Roma must not be very pleased about this development, given that fact that they've already agreed satisfactory terms with Real over this transfer.
Lastly, former Racing Santander coach Migual Angel Portugal is back at Real Madrid, having been named their new technical secretary. It's unclear how his job will intersect with sporting director Predrag Mijatovic's at this point. (For a bit of discussion on this, see Gonzalo's post, linked above.)
Sevilla
Sevilla president Del Nido has named his price to any would-be suitors for multi-purpose Brazilian rightback Dani Alves: 30 million euros.
The same article also reports that talented but troubled young winger Jesus Navas has signed a new contract, quashing rumours of a transfer to Lyon.
A few days after the above statement, Del Nido spoke to the press again and denied that there had been any bids lodged for Alves, as well as confirming that Kepo Blanco was off to Getafe.
Sevilla have also allowed Real Murcia to exercise their purchase option on Paco Gallardo, who has been on loan there. He signed a two year deal with the newly promoted side.
One player who's not going anywhere is Italian Enzo Maresca, despite rumours in Italian papers which have linked him to various Serie A clubs.
Getafe
Despite the ongoing wrangling involving Bernard Schuster I discussed above, Getafe have already got themselves a new coach lined up - and it's yet another former Barca and Real legend in the form of Michael Laudrup. Everything's done, they just have to wait for the Schuster mess to be sorted out to put pen to paper.
Undeterred by their lack of coach, Getafe have also been signing players, recently landing Argentineans Oscar Ustari from Independiente and Daniel Diaz from Boca Juniors. Diaz is a solid centerback who just had a decent game playing for Argentina against Paraguay in the Copa America. If he adapts well to the Spanish league, he could go some way towards filling the hole left by the departure of Alexis to Valencia.
Ustari's case is a bit more complicated. I'd hoped for the longest time that Barca would sign him, because he's a very talented young keeper who just missed out on going to the Copa America through injury and who is going to be Argentina's no.1 someday. However, Getafe already have the current Argentinean no.1 Roberto Abbondanzieri who had a fine season for them in 06-07, so I'm not sure what they mean to do with Ustari. Perhaps loan him out to a club where he'd be playing regularly? That would be good for his development.
Real Sociedad
Yeah, I know they're no longer a 'La Liga' club, but I wanted to cover these two pieces of news. The first is rather sad, but I suppose it's inevitable for a relegated club to lose their best players. Veteran striker Darko Kovacevic, who has been with the club for many years, some of them glorious, has finally left the club under murky circumstances (he claims the club didn't contact him about a renewal) and joined Olympiacos. In his last 2 seasons at La Real he was frequently plagued by injury, but before that he was once one of La Liga's best strikers, who gave his best years to the Basque club.
Second, La Real have confirmed the appointment of Chris Coleman, formerly of Fulham as coach. Good luck to him.
Others (no discussion, just other interesting headlines)
Valencia's garage sale list: Asier del Horno, Curro Torres and David Navarro.
Villarreal's new signing Roberto Ayala was impressed by their winning streak near the end of the season.
Deportivo La Coruna's website claims that Jorge Andrade has been sold to Juventus.
Recreativo have appointed Victor Munoz (formerly of Villarreal and Zaragoza) as their new coach.
Osasuna have let centerback Carlos Cuellar sign for Rangers, pocketing 2 million euros.
Argentinean wingback Clemente Rodriguez of Boca Juniors is going to be on loan at Espanyol for a season and will be aiming to win himself a transfer to the club.
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.
Monday, April 09, 2007
State of the Primera and Spanish teams in Europe
It's another weird and wacky weekend in La Liga, leaving the title race hanging in the balance. Fortunately everyone's played the same number of matches, which makes analysis a bit easier.
Barca (1 - 0 loss to Zaragoza) showed once again just how vulnerable we are without Eto'o in attack. Hopefully he'll be back soon, and thankfully our next game is at home. The good thing is that our fate is still in our own hands, but I'm really worried about that trip to Atletico, who we're traditionally bad against. We can't slip up from now on.
Zaragoza did their own hopes of Champions League football good by moving into 4th place with this victory on the same points but with superior goal difference over Valencia. I would still bet on Valencia to get into the CL places ahead of them in the long run, but there aren't that many games to go. Both of these teams can be wobbly, so we'll see who blinks first. Still, Zaragoza are now only 6 points off Barca. Incredibly, they're in the title race, which I'm sure not many people anticipated at the beginning of the season. A CL place, maybe, yeah, but the title race? Good for them. (I can't help but like any team with such a talented group of Argentinean players. Not to mention old Barca boys Sergio Garcia and Gerard Pique.) Diego Milito for pichichi this season would be delightful.
Also good for Barca, but bad for their own title hopes, Sevilla drew yet again (0 - 0) against Racing at home. If they won they would have been lone leaders, so this was a really bad result especially since they still have trips to the Bernabeu and the Mestalla coming up. Can't really blame them, though, since they had such a mid-week workout against Spurs. Personally, I would like them to retain the UEFA Cup, but it's a crying shame they weren't in the CL this season instead of Osasuna. You never know, maybe Spain would have a few more representatives left in the CL at this point if that was the case.
Racing are doing their own hopes of European football no harm at all. They're only 3 points off sixth-placed Atletico, which is pretty incredible going for a club so used to being mired in mid-table mediocrity. It's going to be interesting to see if they can sustain that to the end of the season.
Real Madrid won (2 - 0 against Osasuna) and are back in the title race, within 2 points of leaders Barca. They still have some tough matches coming up at home against both Sevilla and Valencia, not to mention a visit to Zaragoza which is never fun for them. One advantage Real do possess is that they have a superior head-to-head result against Barca, unlike Sevilla. It remains to be seen if Capello's team has what it takes to grind out the final stretch. I think they're pretty tough, but just grit isn't going to work with the hard matches they have coming up. Still, they along with Zaragoza have the least distractions of any of the top 4 (and Valencia).
As for Osasuna, there's not much to say. They only need 5 more points to reach the magical survival barrier of 40, which I'm sure they'll manage if only by mugging teams at home. However, bravo for that mid-week European performance. You know what would be great? An all-Spanish UEFA Cup final - very possible at this point.
Valencia lost to Athletic away (1 - 0), which left them in 5th place. Not a good position in their push for the title, although they're still only 6 points off Barca. Remember when they were ahead of Real in the table? Can't really blame them though, after the mid-week adventure against Chelsea. On which I have to say, great work. If anyone can take Chelsea on at their own type of game, it's Valencia. I would really like them to win the CL this year - it's about time more than 2 Spanish clubs did. It would also heal some wounds from their two successive final appearances (and defeats) while under Cuper, which I'm sure still smarts.
Athletic helped their chances of survival a great deal by picking up 3 points, which let them climb out of the relegation zone. They're still not out of trouble - Celta are only 2 points off them, and they're only ahead of Levante by goal difference, but there are some rays of hope. Athletic might struggle to get 40 points, given that there are only 9 games left and some of those are against top teams, but if they keep battling they might just make it. A dramatic end of the season looks very possible with that last game against fellow relegation battlers Levante. I like Athletic and hope they do manage to survive, not least because having some representatives of Basque football in La Liga is nice (given the debate over whether Osasuna counts, I'll leave them out), since Real Sociedad look doomed.
Atletico had an impressive away victory against Villarreal (0 - 1). Well, I say that, but Atletico's away form this season has been better than their home form. They're still looking good to qualify for Europe, but CL may be a step too far. They're only 3 points of Zaragoza (and Valencia), but I'm not sure they're going to be anywhere near consistent enough to pull through in the end. My money's still on Valencia out of them, Zaragoza and Atletico, but it's going to be a frantic last few matchdays.
Villarreal are just depressing this season. I read an article saying that getting rid of Riquelme has revitalized them, but they still have the same problems. The team was built around Roman, and when he was brilliant that worked out just fine. But the rebuilding after him leaving is going to take a while. It looks like they're going for a change of guard at the end of this season, which is probably a good way to go. This season is a total write-off. They'll make 40 points, and then there will be nothing to play for - I don't think they have a shot at a European place.
Recreativo played out an exciting game against Celta which they ultimately won (4 - 2). They're still in the running for an UEFA Cup place (only 2 points off Atletico), which is incredible given that most people didn't even give them a chance for survival this season. Great stuff.
Celta on the other hand are in big trouble. The 2 teams below them probably won't catch them, but they still have to haul somebody down to be safe. They do have an easier fixture list than Athletic and probably Levante, but that doesn't really say much since the really key games will be against other relegation battlers. The way they're going, I'd be worried.
Espanyol beat strugglers Real Sociedad (1 - 0) at home. They've had their usual up and down season, but thankfully for the nerves of their fans they're doing much better than last season's frantic scramble to avoid relegation. They've already got 40 points, and although an UEFA Cup spot looks a bit far off they're going strong in the competition this season. Good win over a good team in Benfica (3 - 2), and although I'm a bit worried about their away form and those 2 away goals they conceded, they've still got a good chance of going through to the semi-finals.
As for La Real, I really don't think they're going to beat the drop this year. They've been struggling for a few seasons now, and it's a shame given how great they were not too many years ago, when they nearly won the league. 21 points with 9 games to go is simply not enough, especially given the fixture list they've got. A shame for Basque football in general, but it looks like there's no way back.
Getafe were beaten away by Mallorca (2 - 0). This result is a bit of a surprise. Getafe are strongest at home, but they're no mugs, and I didn't think Mallorca were capable of getting through their defence. This does seem to happen to them every season, though - when they're on the threshold of the 40 point barrier, those last few points take forever. They'll finish comfortably mid-table, which will be another season's good work from everybody involved given the budget of the club but they've got to be disappointed at letting a shot at an UEFA Cup place slip away.
Mallorca are (probably) safe for another season of mid-table mediocrity with short, intense periods of relegation-related terror. They've done the same thing for several seasons now, by being very very stingy at the back and squeezing out a few goals here and there. So no surprises there.
Deportivo beat bottom of the table Nastic at home (1 - 0). This season is a bit of a write-off for Depor, which is understandable given that they're bedding in so many new youngsters who've come in from other team's youth teams. It's just unfortunate that the club itself is run so badly in a way that actually affects the proper operation of the team. They've nearly gone bankrupt how many times now? They're the only club I can think of in the league who have problems paying players their salary. Sad, really, given their status just a few seasons ago.
Nastic are struggling valiantly against the drop, but they're pretty much doomed. Like I said about La Real, 21 points with 9 games to go isn't enough. Their run-in isn't that bad, but I'm afraid their season-ending game at the Camp Nou may be meaningless by the time they get there.
Betis drew (1 - 1) away to Levante, which is a result that doesn't really help either of them. Betis look alright for this season - they might even make 40 points before the last day, if they're really lucky. Still, this has not been a good season for a club with some pretty good players who beat Chelsea just last season in the CL. They should be doing much better.
Levante are still in trouble. They're not too far off the last 3 and even if they do ultimately survive it will probably be by the skin of their teeth. I don't think they were quite ready for the trials of the Primera, to be honest, although they have done well with their meager resources.
Barca (1 - 0 loss to Zaragoza) showed once again just how vulnerable we are without Eto'o in attack. Hopefully he'll be back soon, and thankfully our next game is at home. The good thing is that our fate is still in our own hands, but I'm really worried about that trip to Atletico, who we're traditionally bad against. We can't slip up from now on.
Zaragoza did their own hopes of Champions League football good by moving into 4th place with this victory on the same points but with superior goal difference over Valencia. I would still bet on Valencia to get into the CL places ahead of them in the long run, but there aren't that many games to go. Both of these teams can be wobbly, so we'll see who blinks first. Still, Zaragoza are now only 6 points off Barca. Incredibly, they're in the title race, which I'm sure not many people anticipated at the beginning of the season. A CL place, maybe, yeah, but the title race? Good for them. (I can't help but like any team with such a talented group of Argentinean players. Not to mention old Barca boys Sergio Garcia and Gerard Pique.) Diego Milito for pichichi this season would be delightful.
Also good for Barca, but bad for their own title hopes, Sevilla drew yet again (0 - 0) against Racing at home. If they won they would have been lone leaders, so this was a really bad result especially since they still have trips to the Bernabeu and the Mestalla coming up. Can't really blame them, though, since they had such a mid-week workout against Spurs. Personally, I would like them to retain the UEFA Cup, but it's a crying shame they weren't in the CL this season instead of Osasuna. You never know, maybe Spain would have a few more representatives left in the CL at this point if that was the case.
Racing are doing their own hopes of European football no harm at all. They're only 3 points off sixth-placed Atletico, which is pretty incredible going for a club so used to being mired in mid-table mediocrity. It's going to be interesting to see if they can sustain that to the end of the season.
Real Madrid won (2 - 0 against Osasuna) and are back in the title race, within 2 points of leaders Barca. They still have some tough matches coming up at home against both Sevilla and Valencia, not to mention a visit to Zaragoza which is never fun for them. One advantage Real do possess is that they have a superior head-to-head result against Barca, unlike Sevilla. It remains to be seen if Capello's team has what it takes to grind out the final stretch. I think they're pretty tough, but just grit isn't going to work with the hard matches they have coming up. Still, they along with Zaragoza have the least distractions of any of the top 4 (and Valencia).
As for Osasuna, there's not much to say. They only need 5 more points to reach the magical survival barrier of 40, which I'm sure they'll manage if only by mugging teams at home. However, bravo for that mid-week European performance. You know what would be great? An all-Spanish UEFA Cup final - very possible at this point.
Valencia lost to Athletic away (1 - 0), which left them in 5th place. Not a good position in their push for the title, although they're still only 6 points off Barca. Remember when they were ahead of Real in the table? Can't really blame them though, after the mid-week adventure against Chelsea. On which I have to say, great work. If anyone can take Chelsea on at their own type of game, it's Valencia. I would really like them to win the CL this year - it's about time more than 2 Spanish clubs did. It would also heal some wounds from their two successive final appearances (and defeats) while under Cuper, which I'm sure still smarts.
Athletic helped their chances of survival a great deal by picking up 3 points, which let them climb out of the relegation zone. They're still not out of trouble - Celta are only 2 points off them, and they're only ahead of Levante by goal difference, but there are some rays of hope. Athletic might struggle to get 40 points, given that there are only 9 games left and some of those are against top teams, but if they keep battling they might just make it. A dramatic end of the season looks very possible with that last game against fellow relegation battlers Levante. I like Athletic and hope they do manage to survive, not least because having some representatives of Basque football in La Liga is nice (given the debate over whether Osasuna counts, I'll leave them out), since Real Sociedad look doomed.
Atletico had an impressive away victory against Villarreal (0 - 1). Well, I say that, but Atletico's away form this season has been better than their home form. They're still looking good to qualify for Europe, but CL may be a step too far. They're only 3 points of Zaragoza (and Valencia), but I'm not sure they're going to be anywhere near consistent enough to pull through in the end. My money's still on Valencia out of them, Zaragoza and Atletico, but it's going to be a frantic last few matchdays.
Villarreal are just depressing this season. I read an article saying that getting rid of Riquelme has revitalized them, but they still have the same problems. The team was built around Roman, and when he was brilliant that worked out just fine. But the rebuilding after him leaving is going to take a while. It looks like they're going for a change of guard at the end of this season, which is probably a good way to go. This season is a total write-off. They'll make 40 points, and then there will be nothing to play for - I don't think they have a shot at a European place.
Recreativo played out an exciting game against Celta which they ultimately won (4 - 2). They're still in the running for an UEFA Cup place (only 2 points off Atletico), which is incredible given that most people didn't even give them a chance for survival this season. Great stuff.
Celta on the other hand are in big trouble. The 2 teams below them probably won't catch them, but they still have to haul somebody down to be safe. They do have an easier fixture list than Athletic and probably Levante, but that doesn't really say much since the really key games will be against other relegation battlers. The way they're going, I'd be worried.
Espanyol beat strugglers Real Sociedad (1 - 0) at home. They've had their usual up and down season, but thankfully for the nerves of their fans they're doing much better than last season's frantic scramble to avoid relegation. They've already got 40 points, and although an UEFA Cup spot looks a bit far off they're going strong in the competition this season. Good win over a good team in Benfica (3 - 2), and although I'm a bit worried about their away form and those 2 away goals they conceded, they've still got a good chance of going through to the semi-finals.
As for La Real, I really don't think they're going to beat the drop this year. They've been struggling for a few seasons now, and it's a shame given how great they were not too many years ago, when they nearly won the league. 21 points with 9 games to go is simply not enough, especially given the fixture list they've got. A shame for Basque football in general, but it looks like there's no way back.
Getafe were beaten away by Mallorca (2 - 0). This result is a bit of a surprise. Getafe are strongest at home, but they're no mugs, and I didn't think Mallorca were capable of getting through their defence. This does seem to happen to them every season, though - when they're on the threshold of the 40 point barrier, those last few points take forever. They'll finish comfortably mid-table, which will be another season's good work from everybody involved given the budget of the club but they've got to be disappointed at letting a shot at an UEFA Cup place slip away.
Mallorca are (probably) safe for another season of mid-table mediocrity with short, intense periods of relegation-related terror. They've done the same thing for several seasons now, by being very very stingy at the back and squeezing out a few goals here and there. So no surprises there.
Deportivo beat bottom of the table Nastic at home (1 - 0). This season is a bit of a write-off for Depor, which is understandable given that they're bedding in so many new youngsters who've come in from other team's youth teams. It's just unfortunate that the club itself is run so badly in a way that actually affects the proper operation of the team. They've nearly gone bankrupt how many times now? They're the only club I can think of in the league who have problems paying players their salary. Sad, really, given their status just a few seasons ago.
Nastic are struggling valiantly against the drop, but they're pretty much doomed. Like I said about La Real, 21 points with 9 games to go isn't enough. Their run-in isn't that bad, but I'm afraid their season-ending game at the Camp Nou may be meaningless by the time they get there.
Betis drew (1 - 1) away to Levante, which is a result that doesn't really help either of them. Betis look alright for this season - they might even make 40 points before the last day, if they're really lucky. Still, this has not been a good season for a club with some pretty good players who beat Chelsea just last season in the CL. They should be doing much better.
Levante are still in trouble. They're not too far off the last 3 and even if they do ultimately survive it will probably be by the skin of their teeth. I don't think they were quite ready for the trials of the Primera, to be honest, although they have done well with their meager resources.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Quick comments on Barca v Recre
That was 2 days ago, you say? Through an unfortunate set of circumstances I only saw the match today, so a late report as well as some comments about the Chelsea game to come.
The match
Match reports I'd read prior to seeing the game made it sound like a very difficult win indeed, but in my opinion we played quite well in the second half. Not so much for the first 20 minutes or so, but neither were we disastrously bad.
As for the penalty call, there are two things that need clarifying. One, Gudjohnsen's shirt was pulled in the penalty area. Sometimes that's given, sometimes not. But the action was there. Two, Guddy decided in his infinite wisdom to dive after the shirt-pull. There's no question about that. The shirt-pulling may have been a factor in him going down, but it was a very small one. If there was any force, he still exaggerated contact. A lot. So that's enough of that, Guddy. We've already got one former Mourinho apprentice as our resident Chief Diver (Deco for the uninitiated), it would suck to have another.
The other two goals were great, though. What are the chances of Ronaldinho scoring a header? What are the chances of Xavi scoring 2 in official games so far this season? (His first was in the return leg of the Spanish Super Cup vs Espanyol.)
The defence
Great work over all. They started out shaky, but quickly improved. Valdes was immense. Great opening save, and even some good tackling (!) outside the box. The full-backs were brilliant. Belletti and Sylvinho got an assist each, and both were richly deserved. Sylvinho still has trouble defensively, but his attacking work is as great as ever. Belletti had a good game both going forward and defending. Well done.
Marquez was great. Seemingly everywhere the team needed him, insane precision with his long-range passing, and many crucial clearances. His free-kicks are as good as ever. I'd like to see him take the long range ones on a regular basis from now. Not all the time, but at least give him some chances. Wonderful game by him. Puyol was just as good. After a bit of bother with injuries, he seems to be getting back to his best. The spirit he showed out there was as great as ever. You know what Barca need? A team of Puyols. If everyone worked like him, we'd beat anybody.
The midfield
Much improved over the somewhat chaotic performance in Madrid. Defensively, there was a lot more pressing of the opposition and tracking back, which is always good to see. Deco still isn't back to his best, but he's looking better. Before this he was getting worse with every game, which was very alarming for those of us who love the little schemer despite his antics. Good work in defense, and not too bad going forward either.
Xavi had a brilliant game, also a nice contrast to his somewhat indifferent form as of late. He pulled the strings in midfield and provided a string of great passes forward. Edmilson also followed the theme of improvement, with more intelligent efforts this time around, especially where positioning is concerned. Shielded the back four well, and also contributed going forward.
Iniesta made his customary substitute appearance and was brilliant. As soon as he came on, Barca's game sped up. At that point he was one of the few guys willing to have a run at and try to beat opposing players. Great work tracking back, too.
The forwards
With everyone else improving, this is the one area that we're still having problems that don't look like resolving themselves yet. Let's start with the good...and go on from there.
Giuly looks like he's hitting a spot of form again. The wonderful but inconsistent Frenchman has had some good games this season (Racing, Levski) and some indifferent ones (Celta, Real). In this game he was very good indeed, and probably the most threatening forward for most of the game, always looking to beat his marker, put dangerous balls into the box and help out the team. Long may it continue.
Ronaldinho still looks a bit lacking in fitness. He's running again, which is good, and increasingly tried to beat his marker as the match went on, which is also good, but he didn't having that much success with it. Scoring from open play will have helped his confidence. By the way he played after scoring, it really gave him a boost. He was much more active, even in defense. His set pieces are also looking much better. Baby steps, Ronnie.
Gudjohnsen worked hard. There's no doubting that. His willingness to work for the team does him great credit. Being compared incessantly with Eto'o is not easy, but that's the position he's in, and he still doesn't look quite integrated into the system - or able to finish enough chances. However, he did exchange positions with Ronnie a bit in this game, so maybe they're getting used to each other.
(I'm hoping for him to score against Chelsea so damn much. If only to get back at Mourinho, who seems to have the personal loyalty of...well, something unpleasant. Nice work throwing poor Guddy to the wolves just to perpetuate his line about diving.
By the way, I don't have anything against Chelsea. Their players are great. I saw Ricardo Carvolho speaking on Champions League Weekly and he was very nice about the whole Barca thing. Lampard is pretty sensible too. Drogba, Joe Cole and Robben are very talented. Boulahrouz is a wonderful defender. I'm just not fond of Mourinho.)
Saviola came on and looked useful, as ever, if in need of more playing time to click better with the rest of the team. He did some good work going forward and tracked back eagerly. Also good for winning free-kicks, I notice. Defenders love having a go at him.
Poor Ezquerro made his first appearance in La Liga this season to play out time. He did look fit and eager, which is nice, and it's good to know that we have him as an option. What a guy, though - he never complains about being on the bench all the time. Although, if you're benched for 85% of a season and end up winning the League and CL double at the end of it, I guess that's not so bad.
Recreativo
They looked good. Well-organised, but they didn't come to Camp Nou to park the bus, which is refreshing. I think they'll definitely stay up if they can keep this form going. A mid-table finish looks very possible.
the Chelsea game
I'm unspeakably nervous. My only consolations are 1) our great home record and 2) majority of the team getting some kind of form back. But from the first game it was clear just how tough and well-organised this Chelsea side is, and how hard they are to break down. And they have the winning mentality that makes a team difficult to beat, the kind that Barca usually wear on their sleeves.
Sylvinho, Oleguer, and Ezquerro are the ones left out of the squad, along with the injured Eto'o (insert wailing sound here). That means Rijkaard probably won't get the full-backs to fly forward at every opportunity (since Sylvinho is the more attacking left full-back), which is a shame, because I think with the way Chelsea are playing this season, their lack of width means attacking down the wings would work.
For that reason, I kind of hope Belletti plays, even though we all know what happened last time Belletti faced Chelsea (conceding 3 goals in 20 minutes, anyone?) A Barca fan remarked that his game against Recreativo was better than anything Zambrotta has produced so far for us, and as much as I love Zambro, I have to agree. Belletti has improved a lot.
Anyway, Messi will start, and I'll be hoping for the same kind of display as the one he gave at Stamford Bridge last season, and against Real Madrid (both this year and last). If Ronnie doesn't fire on all cylinders, then we really need Messi to have a big game. It's a lot to ask of a 19 year old, but as he has shown before, he has got what it takes.
In midfield, I'm hoping Rijkaard will have learned from the last game and actually use some physical defensive midfielders this time round. At least one of Edmilson, Motta or even Marquez will need to play in the holding role to counter the physical Chelsea midfield. Maybe even two - playing both Edmilson and Motta worked last season.
Lastly, let's hope for a better game than the last one. Don't get me wrong, Drogba's goal was great, but the rest of it wasn't champagne fare. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want Barca to win above all else.
So allow me a moment of complete partisanship: Visca el Barca!
The match
Match reports I'd read prior to seeing the game made it sound like a very difficult win indeed, but in my opinion we played quite well in the second half. Not so much for the first 20 minutes or so, but neither were we disastrously bad.
As for the penalty call, there are two things that need clarifying. One, Gudjohnsen's shirt was pulled in the penalty area. Sometimes that's given, sometimes not. But the action was there. Two, Guddy decided in his infinite wisdom to dive after the shirt-pull. There's no question about that. The shirt-pulling may have been a factor in him going down, but it was a very small one. If there was any force, he still exaggerated contact. A lot. So that's enough of that, Guddy. We've already got one former Mourinho apprentice as our resident Chief Diver (Deco for the uninitiated), it would suck to have another.
The other two goals were great, though. What are the chances of Ronaldinho scoring a header? What are the chances of Xavi scoring 2 in official games so far this season? (His first was in the return leg of the Spanish Super Cup vs Espanyol.)
The defence
Great work over all. They started out shaky, but quickly improved. Valdes was immense. Great opening save, and even some good tackling (!) outside the box. The full-backs were brilliant. Belletti and Sylvinho got an assist each, and both were richly deserved. Sylvinho still has trouble defensively, but his attacking work is as great as ever. Belletti had a good game both going forward and defending. Well done.
Marquez was great. Seemingly everywhere the team needed him, insane precision with his long-range passing, and many crucial clearances. His free-kicks are as good as ever. I'd like to see him take the long range ones on a regular basis from now. Not all the time, but at least give him some chances. Wonderful game by him. Puyol was just as good. After a bit of bother with injuries, he seems to be getting back to his best. The spirit he showed out there was as great as ever. You know what Barca need? A team of Puyols. If everyone worked like him, we'd beat anybody.
The midfield
Much improved over the somewhat chaotic performance in Madrid. Defensively, there was a lot more pressing of the opposition and tracking back, which is always good to see. Deco still isn't back to his best, but he's looking better. Before this he was getting worse with every game, which was very alarming for those of us who love the little schemer despite his antics. Good work in defense, and not too bad going forward either.
Xavi had a brilliant game, also a nice contrast to his somewhat indifferent form as of late. He pulled the strings in midfield and provided a string of great passes forward. Edmilson also followed the theme of improvement, with more intelligent efforts this time around, especially where positioning is concerned. Shielded the back four well, and also contributed going forward.
Iniesta made his customary substitute appearance and was brilliant. As soon as he came on, Barca's game sped up. At that point he was one of the few guys willing to have a run at and try to beat opposing players. Great work tracking back, too.
The forwards
With everyone else improving, this is the one area that we're still having problems that don't look like resolving themselves yet. Let's start with the good...and go on from there.
Giuly looks like he's hitting a spot of form again. The wonderful but inconsistent Frenchman has had some good games this season (Racing, Levski) and some indifferent ones (Celta, Real). In this game he was very good indeed, and probably the most threatening forward for most of the game, always looking to beat his marker, put dangerous balls into the box and help out the team. Long may it continue.
Ronaldinho still looks a bit lacking in fitness. He's running again, which is good, and increasingly tried to beat his marker as the match went on, which is also good, but he didn't having that much success with it. Scoring from open play will have helped his confidence. By the way he played after scoring, it really gave him a boost. He was much more active, even in defense. His set pieces are also looking much better. Baby steps, Ronnie.
Gudjohnsen worked hard. There's no doubting that. His willingness to work for the team does him great credit. Being compared incessantly with Eto'o is not easy, but that's the position he's in, and he still doesn't look quite integrated into the system - or able to finish enough chances. However, he did exchange positions with Ronnie a bit in this game, so maybe they're getting used to each other.
(I'm hoping for him to score against Chelsea so damn much. If only to get back at Mourinho, who seems to have the personal loyalty of...well, something unpleasant. Nice work throwing poor Guddy to the wolves just to perpetuate his line about diving.
By the way, I don't have anything against Chelsea. Their players are great. I saw Ricardo Carvolho speaking on Champions League Weekly and he was very nice about the whole Barca thing. Lampard is pretty sensible too. Drogba, Joe Cole and Robben are very talented. Boulahrouz is a wonderful defender. I'm just not fond of Mourinho.)
Saviola came on and looked useful, as ever, if in need of more playing time to click better with the rest of the team. He did some good work going forward and tracked back eagerly. Also good for winning free-kicks, I notice. Defenders love having a go at him.
Poor Ezquerro made his first appearance in La Liga this season to play out time. He did look fit and eager, which is nice, and it's good to know that we have him as an option. What a guy, though - he never complains about being on the bench all the time. Although, if you're benched for 85% of a season and end up winning the League and CL double at the end of it, I guess that's not so bad.
Recreativo
They looked good. Well-organised, but they didn't come to Camp Nou to park the bus, which is refreshing. I think they'll definitely stay up if they can keep this form going. A mid-table finish looks very possible.
the Chelsea game
I'm unspeakably nervous. My only consolations are 1) our great home record and 2) majority of the team getting some kind of form back. But from the first game it was clear just how tough and well-organised this Chelsea side is, and how hard they are to break down. And they have the winning mentality that makes a team difficult to beat, the kind that Barca usually wear on their sleeves.
Sylvinho, Oleguer, and Ezquerro are the ones left out of the squad, along with the injured Eto'o (insert wailing sound here). That means Rijkaard probably won't get the full-backs to fly forward at every opportunity (since Sylvinho is the more attacking left full-back), which is a shame, because I think with the way Chelsea are playing this season, their lack of width means attacking down the wings would work.
For that reason, I kind of hope Belletti plays, even though we all know what happened last time Belletti faced Chelsea (conceding 3 goals in 20 minutes, anyone?) A Barca fan remarked that his game against Recreativo was better than anything Zambrotta has produced so far for us, and as much as I love Zambro, I have to agree. Belletti has improved a lot.
Anyway, Messi will start, and I'll be hoping for the same kind of display as the one he gave at Stamford Bridge last season, and against Real Madrid (both this year and last). If Ronnie doesn't fire on all cylinders, then we really need Messi to have a big game. It's a lot to ask of a 19 year old, but as he has shown before, he has got what it takes.
In midfield, I'm hoping Rijkaard will have learned from the last game and actually use some physical defensive midfielders this time round. At least one of Edmilson, Motta or even Marquez will need to play in the holding role to counter the physical Chelsea midfield. Maybe even two - playing both Edmilson and Motta worked last season.
Lastly, let's hope for a better game than the last one. Don't get me wrong, Drogba's goal was great, but the rest of it wasn't champagne fare. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want Barca to win above all else.
So allow me a moment of complete partisanship: Visca el Barca!
Monday, October 16, 2006
Spanish League Round-up: week 6
An interesting round with some great games and a couple of surprise results, leaving Barcelona alone at the top, 3 clear of Valencia and Atletico Madrid, 4 ahead of Sevilla and 5 clear of Real Madrid - a very good place to be heading into next week's El Clasico.
Barcelona 3-1 Sevilla
Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes; Belletti (28' Zambrotta), Marquez, Thuram, Sylvinho; Motta, Xavi, Iniesta; Messi, Gudjohnsen (83' Saviola), Ronaldinho (73' Giuly)
Sevilla (4-4-2): Palop; Puerta (46' Dragutinovic), Escude, Navarro, Alves; Adriano, Renato (85' Kepa), Poulsen, Navas; Fabiano (46' Marti), Kanoute
Like most Barca fans, I was really pleased and more than a little relieved at this result. Less pleased about being unable to watch what was from all reports a cracking game because of Sevilla's TV contract problems, but that's only a minor complaint in the scheme of things. The win has really put us in a good position heading into two more tough games this week, especially with almost all Barca's rivals dropping points. Shorter analysis this week, since I only got to see highlights.
the game
The general consensus seems to be that Barca are finally finding some semblance of the form that saw them going on that 18-match winning streak last season, and of course Sevilla have been on fire since before the start of the season. Apparently played at a furious pace with both teams really going for it, especially in the first half. Barca attacked with abandon, as usual, but were also careful to not give away possession cheaply in the middle of the park. Things died down a little in the second, but there was still no lack of desire for more goals. The scoreline is fair if one looks at the possession enjoyed by Barca, but a bit harsh on Sevilla if chances are compared instead. It was really a very close game that both sides could have won.
Sevilla
They are a very well organised team who defend brilliantly and are lethal on the break. Kanoute's goal was a brilliant piece of teamwork. Most teams come to Camp Nou to play in the same way they do, but few succeed at it. The reason Valencia, Atletico and Sevilla are able to employ a counterattacking strategy effectively against Barca is that they have real quality and pace in the attacking third. Sounds obvious, but it's not easy to achieve. Excellent pacy wingers like Navas, Vicente, Maxi (or, say, Robben and Joe Cole) combined with strong fast full-backs like Miguel and Alves will always give the Barca defence trouble. The likes of Gio and Puyol have real trouble coping with speedy opponents.
I agree with some newspaper reports that Mourinho will probably have been heartened by Barca's inability to contain Sevilla down the left, but that has to be tempered with the realization that Rijkaard will no doubt ring the changes for that game. This starting XI was designed to suit the opponent, and it worked brilliantly, proving that the coach isn't nearly as tactically inept as his detractors suggest. Chelsea will require a different response. For starters, Gio will probably play on that wing instead of the attacking Sylvinho. The midfield will probably also be beefed up from the comparatively light-weight one put out against Sevilla. I would also suggest that Chelsea need to get their own defensive house in order first, since Ferreira isn't likely to contain Ronaldinho and who knows how Wayne Bridge would do against Leo Messi?
the ref
I thought Sevilla coach Juande Ramos made some very fair comments about the referee, despite being sent off for dissent during the match. He basically said that common mistakes had been made, and it was just unlucky that Sevilla were on the end of those mistakes, which is an attitude I wish more coachs would take. The referee in question has never impressed me. This is the man who insisted on booking Messi for diving inside the box last season in the game against Osasuna at the Camp Nou despite there being a clear trip from the opposing defender. After the match, said defender admitted to the trip and declared that it should have been a penalty. Sevilla fans may feel less aggrieved if they know that this guy isn't a Barca fan intent on robbing them of the game - he's simply a bit incompetent and clearly in need of an eyesight check-up.
While the call disallowing Sevilla's goal was very dodgy indeed, I find claims that Belletti dived to win the penalty questionable at least, given the circumstances. Firstly, the challenge was laughably crass, and second, Belletti sustained a dislocated shoulder from the incident, meaning he has to miss at least the Chelsea and Real games. Maybe not a clear-cut penalty, but certainly not a dive.
In the end, at least this ref wasn't as bad as the man who 'refereed' Atletico vs Recre. More on that below.
Barca
defence
A good game overall, despite the aftementioned defensive problems of Sylvinho. The new boys are finally being integrated properly into what can actually be a very stubborn and well-organised defensive unit. Thuram was by all reports a rock as usual, Marquez's tackling crucial and his passing still insanely accurate - he was involved in the build-up to Messi's goal - and Zambrotta is settling in better as time goes on. Here's hoping Belletti's injury isn't too serious, though, because he offers a potent attacking option either starting or coming in from the bench.
midfield
All credit to Rijkaard here, even though he insisted on heaping praise on the midfield trio themselves after the match. Many thought he would go with the Deco-Xavi-Iniesta combination, but he surprised everyone by starting Xavi and Iniesta together for the first time (!) with Motta providing the steel. It worked like a charm. Rijkaard rightly gave credit to the disciplined performance by all three, both offensively and in defence. This young midfield trio - average age of 24 - managed to control the game without being muscled out of proceedings by a physically strong Sevilla side.
Iniesta linked frighteningly well with Messi, the 22 year old and the 19 year old setting each other up numerous times. Now there's a partnership for Barca's future. (Memo to Laporta: can we renew Iniesta's contract now, please? You know other clubs will start fighting over him soon. Memo to Iniesta: please stop going down so easily. You're getting a reputation, and it's stopping you from getting legit penalty calls.) Xavi was Xavi - Barca's beating heart, the most efficient midfielder around, never wasting a pass, always managing to move the ball with great pace and precision. A great assist as well for Messi's goal.
But Motta deserves special mention here. He gets a lot of flack from Barca fans, many of whom cannot understand why Rijkaard likes him so much. I've wondered the same thing myself sometimes. However, when he has a game like this, all doubts are dispelled, at least temporarily. Defensively it was a very effective performance, with the young Brazilian popping up everywhere he was needed at the right time. Offensively too he contributed with aplomb. He still makes the odd clumsy tackle, like the one that got him booked this time, but that was the only blemish on a great performance. Good news for Barca at a time when Edmilson perhaps isn't in the best of form. More of the same, please.
forward line
I did say that people were being ridiculous about Ronaldinho. 'He's back' is the cry, yet to me he returned before the international break. Still, a great performance, universally hailed, has got to be good for his confidence. Finally getting the Spanish press off his back is a big bonus as well. Good to see his free kicks, threaded passes and crazy runs back to their most threatening. The best part for him personally, though, must be the vindication of winning his battle against fellow Brazilian Alves on the left wing, a battle he lost spectacularly last time around. I hope he didn't throw a tantrum at being substituted as some reports have suggested, because as one of the captains and an example to the younger players he really shouldn't be doing that. Plus, Rijkaard was simply resting him for the next game.
Not sure how his substitute Giuly played as part of an unfamiliar frontline. I think I'm right in saying that an attacking axis of Messi-Gudjohnsen-Giuly have never played together before. Looking at the attributes of the players, I can't see it working. Messi and Giuly rely on pace and penetration, two things Gudjohnsen is comparatively lacking in.
Speaking of the Icelandic international, I'm still not convinced by him. His strengths are obvious, and they should probably ensure that he starts against old club Chelsea, but he just seems to fit less comfortably into the Barca frontline's mode of attack. Maybe as he plays more with Ronaldinho and Messi they'll click together better.
His substitute Saviola only got about 10 minutes against his old club, but made the best of them, threading a great pass through to Giuly, who was unfortunately caught offside. Those two have a good understanding already, which could come in very useful. To me, although he offers less strength and ability to hold up the ball, Saviola's pace and skill, not to mention his familarity with the Barca system means that he could start ahead of Gudjohnsen in league games to good effect. Hopefully he will get more minutes to reflect his great form.
Pride of place goes to Messi, who scored a superb goal. Readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of the youngster who will vehemently defend him from unfounded accusations. Thankfully I can take a break now. His goal was astonishing, gliding through the entire Sevilla defence as if it didn't exist and finishing well into the top corner. Even before that, though, he was directly responsible for both of Ronaldinho's goals. The penalty came about after he threaded a perfect pass through to Belletti, who was bought down inside the box. Similarly, he was brought down for the free kick which Ronaldinho converted - a common combination last season, and one I hope to see more of, although it would also be nice if defenders hacked at Messi less. But, of course, that's not going to happen.
Throughout the entire game he gifted threatening balls to team mates as well as running at the Sevilla defence himself. The Argentine was a surprise inclusion after most people expected Giuly to start. Frankly, I was hoping for the same after Messi's miserable showing against Sevilla in Camp Nou last season and in the Super Cup this season. But no, he played the entire game and did very well.
Atlético de Madrid 2-1 Recreativo de Huelva
What a hilarious game, although not so much if you're a Recre fan. First, though, the not at all funny news is that Atletico will be without both of their first choice wingers for six months after Martin Petrov also fell victim to a knee injury. The signs from this match are that the very capable young Argentine Sergio Aguero will step into the role. Even so, Atletico are sure to miss someone who has been one of their best players so far this season.
Moving on to the hilarity, most of it courtesy of a truly poor referee. New boys Recre will no doubt feel robbed after yet another fine performance, but the lousy penalty calls, at least, hurt both sides. Recre's opener was a very soft call, to say the least. I'm not saying that Viqueira dived, but he went down very easily. Galletti did a good job replacing compatriot Maxi Rodriguez, marring his performance with a dive for Atletico's equalizer. Not content with just those lousy calls, the ref proceeded to wave away better cases for penalty calls on both ends of the pitch.
But the controversy wasn't complete just yet. Aguero proved that he perhaps deserved the pressure of the New Maradona tag by scoring Atletico's winner...with his hand. At least Maradona used his hand because he couldn't reach the ball with his head. Aguero all but jabbed the ball home with a punch at about chest height. It was an incredibly comical sight - in fact, I laughed myself silly watching it, but Recre are right to feel aggrieved about that one. Some sign of contrition from Aguero would also be nice.
Getafe 1-0 Real Madrid
Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. The result itself isn't disastrous for Real, since I'm right in saying that they've never won away at Getafe. It was more the manner of defeat which concerned Real fans - 0 shots on goal says it all, really. Ronaldo got 45 mins and showed that his suspension for the Barca match might not be a bad thing for Real. However, let's put things in perspective.
Real had an almost entirely make-shift backline, with Sergio Ramos suspended, and Cannavaro, Salgado and Cicinho injured. Roberto Carlos was the only first-choice defender left. In attack, they were deprived of their best performer so far this season in the form of Reyes, who was also injured. So that's 5 injuries to key players. Given the patched together defence, one would expect them to have problems in that area. It's the offensive woes that I don't understand. Van Nistelrooy is a classy finisher, Beckham can still send in the crosses, Guti is underrated as a creative force, and Cassano has shown signs of revival since the beginning of the season. So what's going wrong?
My own theory about Real's problems - beyond Capello's tactics - is that the squad is too small. Yes, you read that right. I know they had one of the most bloated squads in the league last season. But how many of those were good enough to start for Real? If we break down Capello's version of the team, defensively they lack cover in almost every position. Helguera is alright, but Raul Bravo was never good enough for the Real first team. They face a crisis at left-back with Salgado injured.
The two holding midfielders have no back-ups should either of them be injured. Van Nistelrooy is irreplaceable right now. I'd say the same thing about Guti. Real have lacked the options that would allow proper rotations for the past 2 seasons, and the problem hasn't been fixed this time round. Much as I admire Capello for his relative honesty about Real's performances - 'horrifying' was the word this time - there's not much he can do about this particular problem.
Getafe, on the other hand, must be very pleased indeed. They're a formidably organised team. Perhaps no real star players, but they defend as a unit and break very quickly. Schuster would probably have been a great choice as Real coach, if only for the entertainment value to be derived from his utterances. But what he's done with few resources at Getafe - which started as a bit of a Real fan club - has been nothing short of amazing.
Betis 1-1 Deportivo
Both teams finished with ten men, and Betis continue their run of poor results, but the signs are at least encouraging this time against a fairly good Depor side. Betis' late equaliser was richly deserved, and hopefully it will spur the team on. Maybe Rafael Sobis will start scoring again. After a brace against Sevilla, he seems to have forgotten how.
Villarreal 0-0 Espanyol
Yet another frustrating result for Villarreal after it looked like they were finally getting back on track. To be fair, the Espanyol keeper Kameni played a blinder, letting nothing past him as the Yellow Submarines peppered the goal. Still, file under 'need to do better' for a team with European ambitions facing a side in supposed disarray.
Levante 0-1 Mallorca
A huge result for Mallorca. This is exactly the type of match they should be winning, against a side on a similar level. They were a bit lucky, scoring with their only shot of the match, but deserve credit for holding on for the win. I thought they'd be in relegation danger this season, but if they continue to grind out results like this, that obviously won't happen.
Real Sociedad 1-3 Zaragoza
Poor Sociedad. They've had rotten luck with injuries, but 1 point out of a possible 18 is just dire. Zaragoza aren't an easy side to play when they're clicking, which they definitely were here, the two Argentine playmakers Pablo Aimar and Andres D'Alessandro gradually coming into their own. Real Madrid reject Diogo was outstanding in defence, scoring the second, while striker Diego Milito continues to make his case for a place on the Argentina squad with a classy brace that leaves him joint top scorer in La Liga.
Nástic Tarragona 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic badly needed this result, their first win of the season. Nastic were probably the perfect opponents to get it against, since the newly-promoted Catalan team aren't exactly striking fear into the hearts of their enemies. Still, Athletic had to work for it. Yeste, who is a fantastic player, at least from what I saw against Barca, got a brace to carry his side through.
Celta 3-2 Valencia
A great win for Celta, who haven't had the best start to their season but performed brilliantly to overcome Valencia. It was an exciting game, full of incident and some lovely football. Baiano was very impressive for the home side, while Fernando Morientes cannot stop scoring for Valencia at the moment. Before the match Celta's coach was busy talking up Valencia, and maybe that did get to them, because they performed below their best - as pointed out by Valencia coach Flores, who was scathing in his post-match assessment.
That said, Celta have two blunders from opposition keeper Canizares to thank for their victory, and Flores has no one but himself to blame for fielding an unfit David Villa. The worst news for Valencia fans must be the ankle injury suffered by winger Vicente, who is so crucial to the team. Valencia don't play nearly as well without him, and what seems like a recurrence of the injury that ruled him out of the World Cup, not to mention a big chunk of last season will no doubt be worrying Flores.
Osasuna 0-1 Racing Santander
Osasuna won't be too pleased to lose the points to a dodgy penalty, but this is a huge result for Racing. Their first win of the season, and about time too. The most notable thing about this fixture, for me, was the surprisingly excellent performance of former comedy Argentine defender Lionel Scaloni. He performed very well starting out wide on the right wing. Perhaps Scaloni just wasn't cut out to be a defender and never found his real calling all this time. I know I've written scathingly about his qualities as a right-back before, but this is definitely great to hear. Good for him.
Coming up, a Champions League preview.
Barcelona 3-1 Sevilla
Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes; Belletti (28' Zambrotta), Marquez, Thuram, Sylvinho; Motta, Xavi, Iniesta; Messi, Gudjohnsen (83' Saviola), Ronaldinho (73' Giuly)
Sevilla (4-4-2): Palop; Puerta (46' Dragutinovic), Escude, Navarro, Alves; Adriano, Renato (85' Kepa), Poulsen, Navas; Fabiano (46' Marti), Kanoute
Like most Barca fans, I was really pleased and more than a little relieved at this result. Less pleased about being unable to watch what was from all reports a cracking game because of Sevilla's TV contract problems, but that's only a minor complaint in the scheme of things. The win has really put us in a good position heading into two more tough games this week, especially with almost all Barca's rivals dropping points. Shorter analysis this week, since I only got to see highlights.
the game
The general consensus seems to be that Barca are finally finding some semblance of the form that saw them going on that 18-match winning streak last season, and of course Sevilla have been on fire since before the start of the season. Apparently played at a furious pace with both teams really going for it, especially in the first half. Barca attacked with abandon, as usual, but were also careful to not give away possession cheaply in the middle of the park. Things died down a little in the second, but there was still no lack of desire for more goals. The scoreline is fair if one looks at the possession enjoyed by Barca, but a bit harsh on Sevilla if chances are compared instead. It was really a very close game that both sides could have won.
Sevilla
They are a very well organised team who defend brilliantly and are lethal on the break. Kanoute's goal was a brilliant piece of teamwork. Most teams come to Camp Nou to play in the same way they do, but few succeed at it. The reason Valencia, Atletico and Sevilla are able to employ a counterattacking strategy effectively against Barca is that they have real quality and pace in the attacking third. Sounds obvious, but it's not easy to achieve. Excellent pacy wingers like Navas, Vicente, Maxi (or, say, Robben and Joe Cole) combined with strong fast full-backs like Miguel and Alves will always give the Barca defence trouble. The likes of Gio and Puyol have real trouble coping with speedy opponents.
I agree with some newspaper reports that Mourinho will probably have been heartened by Barca's inability to contain Sevilla down the left, but that has to be tempered with the realization that Rijkaard will no doubt ring the changes for that game. This starting XI was designed to suit the opponent, and it worked brilliantly, proving that the coach isn't nearly as tactically inept as his detractors suggest. Chelsea will require a different response. For starters, Gio will probably play on that wing instead of the attacking Sylvinho. The midfield will probably also be beefed up from the comparatively light-weight one put out against Sevilla. I would also suggest that Chelsea need to get their own defensive house in order first, since Ferreira isn't likely to contain Ronaldinho and who knows how Wayne Bridge would do against Leo Messi?
the ref
I thought Sevilla coach Juande Ramos made some very fair comments about the referee, despite being sent off for dissent during the match. He basically said that common mistakes had been made, and it was just unlucky that Sevilla were on the end of those mistakes, which is an attitude I wish more coachs would take. The referee in question has never impressed me. This is the man who insisted on booking Messi for diving inside the box last season in the game against Osasuna at the Camp Nou despite there being a clear trip from the opposing defender. After the match, said defender admitted to the trip and declared that it should have been a penalty. Sevilla fans may feel less aggrieved if they know that this guy isn't a Barca fan intent on robbing them of the game - he's simply a bit incompetent and clearly in need of an eyesight check-up.
While the call disallowing Sevilla's goal was very dodgy indeed, I find claims that Belletti dived to win the penalty questionable at least, given the circumstances. Firstly, the challenge was laughably crass, and second, Belletti sustained a dislocated shoulder from the incident, meaning he has to miss at least the Chelsea and Real games. Maybe not a clear-cut penalty, but certainly not a dive.
In the end, at least this ref wasn't as bad as the man who 'refereed' Atletico vs Recre. More on that below.
Barca
defence
A good game overall, despite the aftementioned defensive problems of Sylvinho. The new boys are finally being integrated properly into what can actually be a very stubborn and well-organised defensive unit. Thuram was by all reports a rock as usual, Marquez's tackling crucial and his passing still insanely accurate - he was involved in the build-up to Messi's goal - and Zambrotta is settling in better as time goes on. Here's hoping Belletti's injury isn't too serious, though, because he offers a potent attacking option either starting or coming in from the bench.
midfield
All credit to Rijkaard here, even though he insisted on heaping praise on the midfield trio themselves after the match. Many thought he would go with the Deco-Xavi-Iniesta combination, but he surprised everyone by starting Xavi and Iniesta together for the first time (!) with Motta providing the steel. It worked like a charm. Rijkaard rightly gave credit to the disciplined performance by all three, both offensively and in defence. This young midfield trio - average age of 24 - managed to control the game without being muscled out of proceedings by a physically strong Sevilla side.
Iniesta linked frighteningly well with Messi, the 22 year old and the 19 year old setting each other up numerous times. Now there's a partnership for Barca's future. (Memo to Laporta: can we renew Iniesta's contract now, please? You know other clubs will start fighting over him soon. Memo to Iniesta: please stop going down so easily. You're getting a reputation, and it's stopping you from getting legit penalty calls.) Xavi was Xavi - Barca's beating heart, the most efficient midfielder around, never wasting a pass, always managing to move the ball with great pace and precision. A great assist as well for Messi's goal.
But Motta deserves special mention here. He gets a lot of flack from Barca fans, many of whom cannot understand why Rijkaard likes him so much. I've wondered the same thing myself sometimes. However, when he has a game like this, all doubts are dispelled, at least temporarily. Defensively it was a very effective performance, with the young Brazilian popping up everywhere he was needed at the right time. Offensively too he contributed with aplomb. He still makes the odd clumsy tackle, like the one that got him booked this time, but that was the only blemish on a great performance. Good news for Barca at a time when Edmilson perhaps isn't in the best of form. More of the same, please.
forward line
I did say that people were being ridiculous about Ronaldinho. 'He's back' is the cry, yet to me he returned before the international break. Still, a great performance, universally hailed, has got to be good for his confidence. Finally getting the Spanish press off his back is a big bonus as well. Good to see his free kicks, threaded passes and crazy runs back to their most threatening. The best part for him personally, though, must be the vindication of winning his battle against fellow Brazilian Alves on the left wing, a battle he lost spectacularly last time around. I hope he didn't throw a tantrum at being substituted as some reports have suggested, because as one of the captains and an example to the younger players he really shouldn't be doing that. Plus, Rijkaard was simply resting him for the next game.
Not sure how his substitute Giuly played as part of an unfamiliar frontline. I think I'm right in saying that an attacking axis of Messi-Gudjohnsen-Giuly have never played together before. Looking at the attributes of the players, I can't see it working. Messi and Giuly rely on pace and penetration, two things Gudjohnsen is comparatively lacking in.
Speaking of the Icelandic international, I'm still not convinced by him. His strengths are obvious, and they should probably ensure that he starts against old club Chelsea, but he just seems to fit less comfortably into the Barca frontline's mode of attack. Maybe as he plays more with Ronaldinho and Messi they'll click together better.
His substitute Saviola only got about 10 minutes against his old club, but made the best of them, threading a great pass through to Giuly, who was unfortunately caught offside. Those two have a good understanding already, which could come in very useful. To me, although he offers less strength and ability to hold up the ball, Saviola's pace and skill, not to mention his familarity with the Barca system means that he could start ahead of Gudjohnsen in league games to good effect. Hopefully he will get more minutes to reflect his great form.
Pride of place goes to Messi, who scored a superb goal. Readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of the youngster who will vehemently defend him from unfounded accusations. Thankfully I can take a break now. His goal was astonishing, gliding through the entire Sevilla defence as if it didn't exist and finishing well into the top corner. Even before that, though, he was directly responsible for both of Ronaldinho's goals. The penalty came about after he threaded a perfect pass through to Belletti, who was bought down inside the box. Similarly, he was brought down for the free kick which Ronaldinho converted - a common combination last season, and one I hope to see more of, although it would also be nice if defenders hacked at Messi less. But, of course, that's not going to happen.
Throughout the entire game he gifted threatening balls to team mates as well as running at the Sevilla defence himself. The Argentine was a surprise inclusion after most people expected Giuly to start. Frankly, I was hoping for the same after Messi's miserable showing against Sevilla in Camp Nou last season and in the Super Cup this season. But no, he played the entire game and did very well.
Atlético de Madrid 2-1 Recreativo de Huelva
What a hilarious game, although not so much if you're a Recre fan. First, though, the not at all funny news is that Atletico will be without both of their first choice wingers for six months after Martin Petrov also fell victim to a knee injury. The signs from this match are that the very capable young Argentine Sergio Aguero will step into the role. Even so, Atletico are sure to miss someone who has been one of their best players so far this season.
Moving on to the hilarity, most of it courtesy of a truly poor referee. New boys Recre will no doubt feel robbed after yet another fine performance, but the lousy penalty calls, at least, hurt both sides. Recre's opener was a very soft call, to say the least. I'm not saying that Viqueira dived, but he went down very easily. Galletti did a good job replacing compatriot Maxi Rodriguez, marring his performance with a dive for Atletico's equalizer. Not content with just those lousy calls, the ref proceeded to wave away better cases for penalty calls on both ends of the pitch.
But the controversy wasn't complete just yet. Aguero proved that he perhaps deserved the pressure of the New Maradona tag by scoring Atletico's winner...with his hand. At least Maradona used his hand because he couldn't reach the ball with his head. Aguero all but jabbed the ball home with a punch at about chest height. It was an incredibly comical sight - in fact, I laughed myself silly watching it, but Recre are right to feel aggrieved about that one. Some sign of contrition from Aguero would also be nice.
Getafe 1-0 Real Madrid
Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. The result itself isn't disastrous for Real, since I'm right in saying that they've never won away at Getafe. It was more the manner of defeat which concerned Real fans - 0 shots on goal says it all, really. Ronaldo got 45 mins and showed that his suspension for the Barca match might not be a bad thing for Real. However, let's put things in perspective.
Real had an almost entirely make-shift backline, with Sergio Ramos suspended, and Cannavaro, Salgado and Cicinho injured. Roberto Carlos was the only first-choice defender left. In attack, they were deprived of their best performer so far this season in the form of Reyes, who was also injured. So that's 5 injuries to key players. Given the patched together defence, one would expect them to have problems in that area. It's the offensive woes that I don't understand. Van Nistelrooy is a classy finisher, Beckham can still send in the crosses, Guti is underrated as a creative force, and Cassano has shown signs of revival since the beginning of the season. So what's going wrong?
My own theory about Real's problems - beyond Capello's tactics - is that the squad is too small. Yes, you read that right. I know they had one of the most bloated squads in the league last season. But how many of those were good enough to start for Real? If we break down Capello's version of the team, defensively they lack cover in almost every position. Helguera is alright, but Raul Bravo was never good enough for the Real first team. They face a crisis at left-back with Salgado injured.
The two holding midfielders have no back-ups should either of them be injured. Van Nistelrooy is irreplaceable right now. I'd say the same thing about Guti. Real have lacked the options that would allow proper rotations for the past 2 seasons, and the problem hasn't been fixed this time round. Much as I admire Capello for his relative honesty about Real's performances - 'horrifying' was the word this time - there's not much he can do about this particular problem.
Getafe, on the other hand, must be very pleased indeed. They're a formidably organised team. Perhaps no real star players, but they defend as a unit and break very quickly. Schuster would probably have been a great choice as Real coach, if only for the entertainment value to be derived from his utterances. But what he's done with few resources at Getafe - which started as a bit of a Real fan club - has been nothing short of amazing.
Betis 1-1 Deportivo
Both teams finished with ten men, and Betis continue their run of poor results, but the signs are at least encouraging this time against a fairly good Depor side. Betis' late equaliser was richly deserved, and hopefully it will spur the team on. Maybe Rafael Sobis will start scoring again. After a brace against Sevilla, he seems to have forgotten how.
Villarreal 0-0 Espanyol
Yet another frustrating result for Villarreal after it looked like they were finally getting back on track. To be fair, the Espanyol keeper Kameni played a blinder, letting nothing past him as the Yellow Submarines peppered the goal. Still, file under 'need to do better' for a team with European ambitions facing a side in supposed disarray.
Levante 0-1 Mallorca
A huge result for Mallorca. This is exactly the type of match they should be winning, against a side on a similar level. They were a bit lucky, scoring with their only shot of the match, but deserve credit for holding on for the win. I thought they'd be in relegation danger this season, but if they continue to grind out results like this, that obviously won't happen.
Real Sociedad 1-3 Zaragoza
Poor Sociedad. They've had rotten luck with injuries, but 1 point out of a possible 18 is just dire. Zaragoza aren't an easy side to play when they're clicking, which they definitely were here, the two Argentine playmakers Pablo Aimar and Andres D'Alessandro gradually coming into their own. Real Madrid reject Diogo was outstanding in defence, scoring the second, while striker Diego Milito continues to make his case for a place on the Argentina squad with a classy brace that leaves him joint top scorer in La Liga.
Nástic Tarragona 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic badly needed this result, their first win of the season. Nastic were probably the perfect opponents to get it against, since the newly-promoted Catalan team aren't exactly striking fear into the hearts of their enemies. Still, Athletic had to work for it. Yeste, who is a fantastic player, at least from what I saw against Barca, got a brace to carry his side through.
Celta 3-2 Valencia
A great win for Celta, who haven't had the best start to their season but performed brilliantly to overcome Valencia. It was an exciting game, full of incident and some lovely football. Baiano was very impressive for the home side, while Fernando Morientes cannot stop scoring for Valencia at the moment. Before the match Celta's coach was busy talking up Valencia, and maybe that did get to them, because they performed below their best - as pointed out by Valencia coach Flores, who was scathing in his post-match assessment.
That said, Celta have two blunders from opposition keeper Canizares to thank for their victory, and Flores has no one but himself to blame for fielding an unfit David Villa. The worst news for Valencia fans must be the ankle injury suffered by winger Vicente, who is so crucial to the team. Valencia don't play nearly as well without him, and what seems like a recurrence of the injury that ruled him out of the World Cup, not to mention a big chunk of last season will no doubt be worrying Flores.
Osasuna 0-1 Racing Santander
Osasuna won't be too pleased to lose the points to a dodgy penalty, but this is a huge result for Racing. Their first win of the season, and about time too. The most notable thing about this fixture, for me, was the surprisingly excellent performance of former comedy Argentine defender Lionel Scaloni. He performed very well starting out wide on the right wing. Perhaps Scaloni just wasn't cut out to be a defender and never found his real calling all this time. I know I've written scathingly about his qualities as a right-back before, but this is definitely great to hear. Good for him.
Coming up, a Champions League preview.
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