We watched Wednesday’s Clásico in its entirety with spirited company at WoodworkBK. We had the sense then that Barcelona slowly took control after the early goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, and that Pepe was terrible. Watch this extended highlight clip, which should reinforce the conclusions that (a) Barcelona completely dominated after about the 25′ mark, and (b) Pepe was a complete embarrassment–and not only for the already-infamous Messi hand stamp:
Pepe actually hurt Madrid with his play, and his theatrics yesterday matched those of Busquets last spring. He got that an yellow (~16′) for a gratuitous and cheap foul on Busquets deep in Barcelona’s half, and should have got a 2nd yellow for either his playacting at 64′ after Cesc outplayed him for the ball (listen to the Sky Sports commentators), and then of course the handstamp at 67′. So really Madrid should’ve been a man down for the last 25mins. Mourinho finally had to sub him off a little after that.
Even more significantly, he was completely rooted to the ground while Puyol streaked past him to score Barça’s first goal on that diving header at the beginning of the 2nd half.
It seems like he lost it mentally b/c he was getting outplayed all over the field–he’s just not that good on the ball, and not quick enough to contain Barcelona in midfield..
It will be interesting to see if Mourinho sticks with him after this.
Also: it looks like Carvalho was a fraction of a second pulling forward and kept Abidal onside for Barça’s 2nd goal. And then the Portuguese central defender had two really bad tackles in the final minutes of the match: one on Messi that got him a yellow, and a 2nd on Adriano in extra time that prob should’ve seen him ejected.
After a month’s hiatus (due primarily to an extended internet-free trip to India–see below), we’re back with a TV guide to the weekend. As usual, we provide US TV listings with ET kickoffs, since that’s where we reside. For our non-US readers, we’ve included a link to livesoccertv.com for each match.
Check back in over the course of the weekend, as we’ll post our Saturday and Sunday selections. But since our first selection kicks off in less than an hour, we’re posting now:
Friday, Jan 20
Germany,Borussia Moenchengladbach-Bayern Munich (2:30pmET GolTV): A good matchup in the Bundesliga’s Friday Night Lights offering. They’re just returning to action this weekend in Germany, after the longest holiday break in Europe. In fact, Bayern Munich took a little training trip to Asia earlier this month–some training and a friendly match in Doha, followed by a friendly in India–and they happened to land in Delhi while we were there. We’ll write that up in a separate post. For now, we’ll note that Munich is back to full strength–Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to the lineup in their friendly against the Indian national team, with Heynckes playing his top XI against the Indians (with the sole exception of Ribery, who came on in the 2nd half): Neuer, Boateng, Badstuber, Lahm, Kroos, Robben, Tymoshchuk, Schweinsteiger, Rafinha, Gomez, Muller.
On the other side, the only Moenchengladbach player we’ve heard of is Marco “Rolls” Reus–read this column by Guardian Bundesliga correspondent Raphael Honigstein: ‘Rolls Reus’ is the latest star off Germany’s production line. He’s definitely a player to watch. Since the fall all Bundesliga-watchers were well-aware it would be difficult to for Moenchengladbach to hang on to him. Wrote Honigstein back in October: “Reus, or ‘Rolls Reus’ as Bild has started calling him, was being genuinely targeted in the spring by Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United.” And in doing our pregame research for this match, we just learned he will move to the other Borussia this summer, after having spurned Bayern.
Actually we also just came across mention of another Moenchengladbach player to watch: Brazilian defender Dante, who was just praised by Bayern’s Heynckes. Uh oh..
Yet another Clásico–the two Spanish superpowers meet again today, in what will be their 8th battle in the past 9 months (see table below). Real Madrid hosts Barcelona at the majestic Estadio SantiagoBernabéu, for the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal tie. Kickoff is at a very Spanish 10pm in Madrid, which corresponds to 4pmET/1pmPT here in the US (where ESPN Deportes and GolTV will be televising the match, and ESPN3.com will be streaming it live; see livesoccertv.com for additional TV listings).
But the “yet” is telling–after all those intensely anticipated and intensely played matches over the past year, even we have Clásico fatigue. It does seem like the buildup to this one is muted compared to the previous matches, perhaps because it’s a Copa del Rey quarterfinal. The domestic cup competition is certainly a distant third in importance to these teams, far behind the Champions League and La Liga titles. It’s one thing if these two were meeting in a one-off final for the Copa, as they did last April, in what turned out to be a thrilling match (see our detailed breakdown of the film from that match here and here). But for them to have to meet twice more in the quarterfinals just seems a bit..unseemly.
That Copa del Rey victory was Madrid’s sole sucess in recent memory in this rivalry. Consider the run of results over the past few years, stretching back to the beginning of Pep Guardiola’s reign, which started in the summer of 2008, when Barcelona let Frank Rijkaard go and promoted Josep up from managing the B team (annotated with links to previous CultFootball posts about certain of the matches):
Confirming that Clásico fatigue has set in, on this past Monday’s Guardian Football Weekly podcast Sid Lowe called in from Spain to the crew in London, as he usually does to commentate on all matter relating to Spanish football. Listen from the 29′ minute mark–he first reports on Madrid and Barcelon’s recent less-than-stellar recent form. Madrid came from behind last weekend to win 2-1 against lowly Mallorca, via goals from Higuain and Callejón (more on Callejón below). Meanwhile Barcelona were down 2-0 at home against Real Betis before ultimately winning 4-2 (and that after they’d points earlier this month in a yet another draw against local rivals Espanyol in the Catalan derby), and slips in this interesting analysis: “Betis were great..Betis really went for Barcelona. I think they showed that if you put pressure on Barcelona high up, and you get at those players who quite aren’t so good at bringing the ball out and maintaining possession, in particular because Pique wasn’t playing, then you can actually cause Barcelona some problems.” We’re curious who “those players” refers to–Mascherano? In any case, Pique is expected to be back in the traditional center back pair with Puyol, so it’s a moot point for today’s match–but something to keep in mind.
He’s then asked about today’s Clásico, and replies that even in Spain there’s a bit of weariness with respect to this match: “there is a very slight sense of–I don’t if I’d call it boredom, I don’t think it’s quite boredom–but a sort of tiredness of the Clásico.” Then Sid says–just as his dog starts barking, as it curiously almost always does at some point during his calls from Spain–that Casillas was quoted as saying the rivalry has become “decaffeinated when the teams play each other too often.”
Will Casillas compañera Sara Carbonero need a (caffeinated) café con leche to stay awake for today's Clasico?
Well, today’s decaffeinated match, most eyes will of course be on Messi and Ronaldo. As well they should be. But a soccer team is really a complex system. Certainly there are moments of individual brilliance, especially, as we’ve seen, from players like Messi and Ronaldo. But those moments have to happen within the context of the team. So watch Messi–but watch his movement off the ball as well as on it, and watch his combinations with Xavi and Iniesta especially. Further deep, watch Busquest–probably the least-liked Barca player, but an essential one. He’ll drop deep at times, into the center of defense with Pique and Puyol (especially when the wingback, Dani Alves and likely Adriano, get forward for width in attack); he’ll be called on to intercept and tackle to break up the opposition’s attack; and he’ll initiate the Barcelona moves forward, combining as well with Xavi and Iniesta in the center.
On the opposite side, it sounds like Sami Khedira (defensive/holding midfielder) and Angel di Maria (attacking winger) are out for Madrid due to injury. They are key players for Madrid, but the Galacticos have talent in reserve. We’ll likely see Ozil in the center ahead of Lass Diarra and enforcer Pepe (they’ll be tasked with trailing and tackling Messi), with Ronaldo on one wing and youngster José Callejón on the other. Callejón slipped into the starting lineup in Madrid’s latter, largely meaningless Champions League group stage matches–and started scoring at such a clip that he’s continued to start. He’s 24 years old, came up through the Madrid youth system, but then went to Catalonia for a 3-year stint with Espanayol, before returning to the fold this summer.
Another fantastic match between two teams near the top of the table Thursday at White Hart Lane–Spurs hosting crosstown nemeses Chelsea.
Gareth Bale gets wide for Spurs vs Chelsea
First from Sean, written in real-time during the first half:
What a low camera angle at the Lane. Used to seeing the camera a little higher in the stands for more of a top down look – I think this may have been a switch over the last decade or so in camera placement, where english clubs used to have more ground-level camera placement, while league like serie a have had higher placement. THe later was useful when coming up as our coaches would show us those games to watch the tactical formations. This low-to-the-ground look make sit harder to appreciate the shift of all players across the ptich.
Spurs have come out flying, dominating the first 5 minutes and setting up in chelsea’s half. A loose pass gives them a touch for the first time it seems but that didn’t last very long. Always a problem with this sort of domination against a team with drogba up front — counter attack very possible with the slightest complacence on spurs part….and as I wrote that Bale motors up the left and adebayor touches in the cross bravely. At this point my 3-1 prediction seems a little conservative.
Kyle Walker is a mystery to me, how has he done this season? Is he in for King? He had one good run up the right but otherwise I’m not sure what his deal is. Oh there is he rushing up the ptich and barging into Cole at the 36′. Doesn’t look like Cole has done much except handle the ball into a position to cross for that goal, and can’t blame Walker for that, so credit to him so far.
Tuned out for a second while I talked to the father in law about who everyone is on the pitch. and in that time Chelsea have leveled, and missed a great chance to go ahead. Spurs have taken their foot off the pedal, but considering Bosingwa is not in centerback I imagine they’ll get back on the attack soonish.
Oof and another sub needed from a muscle pull on the Chelsea side.
Got to get off for now… might return for second half action!
Coach Larry sent along some of his thoughts post-game:
Thought it was a good game, but the 1st was better than the 2nd. felt far more even to me. you feel Spurs had run of play, but at one point, ESPN showed Chelsea ahead in “chances” (whatever the hell that means) by something like 14-3. Spurs had way more possession early, but Chelsea settled in, especially once Ferreira came in and did pretty well with Bale, as pointed by Zonal Marking (i think).
Lally’s line about Spurs being both lucky and unlucky sums it pretty well. Considering Chelsea’s goal, the ball clearly struck Cole’s arm and bounced perfectly for him to run into space. Was it intentional? No way. Should it have been whistled? I think so. My recollection (I’m too lazy to look this up) is an INTENTIONAL hand ball is cardable offense, while an INADVERTANT one is a foul when it provides an advantage. Ball strikes your arm when it’s right in front of your body? who cares, it would have hit your body anyway. Ball ricochets off your arm, straight into your path, behind the other team’s defense? Foul.
JT of course had a fine match as he does when everyone feels he should be in jail. Taking off VdV really discombobulated Spurs, as they seemed far less dangerous with fewer midfielders. Still love wathcing Adebayor play, especially his clumsy fouling which would have had many other players sent off. Chelsea cleared nearly every corner with a header just in front of the near post.
While it’s still up, this 20min highlight clip is well worth watching:
Update: See also our friend & lifelong Spurs fan John’s PoliticalFootballs post on the midweek matches and a look ahead at the Boxing Day fixtures. Here’s what he had to say about his team drawing Chelsea at home (which gives you some context to Larry’s great line above):
In similar news [to the Suarez-Evra controversy], John Terry found out he was going to face criminal charges over his alleged racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand in Chelsea’s match with QPR in October – his teammates did not wear t-shirts in support of their captain, but he did put in a fantastic defensive performance in his side’s 1-1 draw away at Tottenham. Spurs had dominated the opening exchanges in that game and were deservedly 1-0 ahead after Bale’s great work on the left-wing set up Adebayor for the opening goal – but their defence went to sleep for Sturridge’s equaliser and the second half was dominated by the away team. Both teams had excellent chances to win it – Ramires had a free header six yards out for Chelsea, but (thankfully) directed it wide of Friedel’s goal – and in the end the draw ensured Tottenham are London’s top club at Christmas for the first time since the city was called Londinium and being sacked by Queen Boudica and the Iceni.
A big game–especially in the world of CultFootball, which seems to be heavily populated by Gunners fans–took place this past Sunday in Manchester. Arsenal visited Etihad Stadium to take on the league-leading, Qatari-funded, completely stacked Manchester City. The result was a tense but exciting match, which ended 1-0 for City.
Some commentary from one of the CultFootball head honchos:
City deserved the win, though Arsenal had their chances and maybe the game would’ve tipped if Arsenal had scored first or at all. I wanted Arshavin in earlier after Walcott did nothing in the first half, only to wish the Russian had stayed at Zenit to begin with. Arsenal just don’t have any game-changers they can bring off the bench (though maybe they should’ve tried the Ox) [i.e., Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain]
The difference for Man City, not surprisingly, was a slight Spanish man named David Silva, who scored the goal in the 53rd minute (Alhough a great deal of credit also goes to “the flamboyant Italian” Mario Balotelli, who created the chance by running into acres of space on the right flank, taking the wide pass (can’t tell who provided it from midfield), squaring up Alex Song on the end of the box near the touchline–and then bursting back and in, creating just enough space to take a hard low shot that was just too difficult for Szecesny to handle–Kun Aguero got a head on the rebound, which fell to David Silva, who did well to half-volley into the open goal.)
Take a look at the highlights–not only the goal, but also two sitters that Man City flubbed (an early one by Kun Aguero, a late one when former Arsenal star Samir Nasri mishit an easy square cross just out of reach of both Balotelli and Silva); a fantastic play by Balotelli to bring down a high ball in between two Arsenal defenders while falling down and turning to get a good shot off; and Arsenal’s late chance to equalize via a curling shot by Thomas Vermalaen that Joe Hart did well to tip over the bar:
You don’t see it in the highlights, but we saw it during the telecast–a banner up in the Etihad stands emblazened with the words “Silva es magico.” Even though we’re more Gunners fans, we can’t dislike Silva. He’s a beautiful player to watch–perhaps the quintessential example of the attacking, creative midfielder who plays “in between the lines”: who drops back into midfield to pick up the ball, who provides the pass to “unlock” the opposing defense, and who often moves up into the box to score himself.
Silva is another example–as if there weren’t enough already of La Liga stock–of what the Spanish call the ‘media punta‘. This is an interesting term, which translates non-literally to the English concept of the man ‘in the hole’, or the one who plays behind the striker. This player has also been called the ‘false number 9’ but that epithet gives the (false) impression that the player is nevertheless a striker. The media punta is nothing of the sort in Spain, and there is a whole doctoral thesis waiting to be written on this one. Perhaps, in years to come, someone will look back and realise that this present period in Spain was a golden age of this type of player, and that such a proliferation of talent in this position is unlikely to ever re-occur.
In fact, Silva is a player who would (have) fit right into a Wenger squad. Indeed, 5 years ago he (and/or another Spanish media punta who recently moved from Valencia to England–Juan Mata) probably would’ve ended up in north London instead of east Manchester (and west London, respectively). Just as yet another Spanish media punta moved from La Masia to Arsenal back in 2004–Cesc being the previous great media punta in England. Of course, now he’s back in Barcelona, who have he’s perhaps only the 3rd best player who plays that sort of position–behind Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, who just happened to be 2 of the 3 nominees for last year’s Balon d’Or (the 3rd being of course Barcelona midfielder Xavi, who plays a little deeper, scores less).
More from that Phil Ball column, specifically about Silva:
Who knew there’s a full slate of games in the Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, Spain (Copa del Rey)? Though to tell the truth, not a whole lot of must-see TV today. Actually the one match today that we will try to watch just kicked off, so this will have to be a very quick post:
Udinese-Juventus at Stadio Communale Friuli (12pmET, Fox Soccer Channel, RAI Internazionale, ESPN3 USA, FOX Deportes): 3rd vs 2nd – Udinese with 31 points, two behind Juve, who are in turn a point behind table-toppers Milan. Neither team was really expected to be competing for the Scudetto, but here they are. Udinese had a great season last year, but sold off three of their best players (Alexis Sanchez, Gokhan Inler, and a defender whose name escapes me right now). They failed to get past Arsenal in Champions League qualifying, but that may have been a blessing in disguise, as they’ve been able to concentrate on the domestic league.
Juventus is perhaps even more surprising–still undefeated in the league (9W 6D 0L). We finally got to watch Juve play (thanks to the fact we flew cross-country on JetBlue, and so were captive with GolTV for 10 hours), specifically the rather dramatic Coppa Italia match they played against Bologna. Players to watch on Juve: holding midfielder and Milan transplant Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, Paraguayan Marcelo Estigarribia, ageless trequartistaAlessandro del Piero; we also like to see Dutchman Eljero Elia, whose been somewhat lost in the shuffle since coming over from Hamburg in August.
Fulham-Manchester United at Craven Cottage (3pmET, Fox Soccer Channel, FOX Deportes): Fulham has had success against MU at home: 2 wins and a draw in the past 3 seasons, according to the honorable Barry Glendenning (“purveyor of ‘lazy journalism’ and ‘anti-[insert name of your favourite team here]’ bias”) on this past Monday’s Guardian Football Weekly pod. Although he doesn’t rate them to repeat that success today. Raphael Honigstein, on the other hand, said he thinks Fulham could very well earn a point from this match, and cites two players to watch: Costa Rican attacking midfielder Bryan Ruiz, who arrived from FC Twente over the summer, and seems like he’s only now adjusting and fitting in; and Belgian striker Moussa Dembele, who also came over after success in the Eredivisie, with AZ Alkmaar, the previous summer. We wrote at the time that perhaps Fulham might have to choose between playing him and American Clint Dempsey–but they combined rather well last year, and from what we saw in their draw versus Liverpool a couple weeks ago, Bryan Ruiz is starting to combine well with the two of them.
Remember how yesterday we wrote about our friend that we’re aiming to initiate into the cult of football? (No? Read this real quick.)
Well, we emailed that link to him–not only did he read the post, when we asked if he clicked through and read the three links we posted (one each for Messi, Balotelli, Dempsey) he replied via email (and gave us permission to blockquote):
i just read them all.
i definitely like your cross-section.
i had no idea messi is only 22 … looks and plays like a wise old owl. as you predicted, i instantly fell for the dempsey story of a gifted (texan?) american cutting his teeth until finding success in the premiere league. as for the italian/african UPPERCASE!! phenom from grantland, all i can say is awesome. i cant wait for his highlights to live up to his hype.
awesome post.
You can tell the guy knows sports, and sounds like he’s up for our little project. This will be fun.
I promised him a YouTube clip in this post. I’ll do one better and offer up two
The 1st is a compilation of highlights from Mario’s short stint at Inter Milan (2007-2010, i.e., when he was 17-20 years old); that one is titled, oddly, “|►|Mario Balotelli-The Indisciplinate boy” (something lost in translation from Italian perhaps?). The 2nd is from his current tenure at Manchester City (Aug 2010 – ), titled “Mario Balotelli | The good, bad and funny | 2010/2011”:
We’ve got a good friend who’s a big sports fan, but mostly of the traditional American variety: primarily basketball and football, both college and pro.
We asked him if he’d ever thought about watching some soccer, and he said what it would take would be a compelling player for him to follow.
Which obviously got us thinking which one(s) we’re going to pick for him to watch.
Here are our preliminary picks–one obvious choice, one a bit less so, and one American:
1) Lionel Messi
2) Mario Balotelli
3) Clint Dempsey (Not only is our friend American, but he’s got an affinity for Texas–the teams he follows most closely are the Dallas Cowboys and UT football. Also the Lakers.)
We’ll be back with a followup post giving some context as to why these three, including some links to background articles and YouTube clips–not least for the friend in question. But we also welcome additional suggestions and/or feedback on these choices. Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.
