Mourinho Returns / For Good Or For Bad?

Good morning.

I tried writing this article last night, but nothing came out how I wanted it to. Originally, I planned on running through Jose Mourinho’s managerial career since his first spell at Chelsea, highlighting his record of six trophies in three seasons (if you include the Community Shield) and five in two seasons with Internazionale. Finally, I’d move on to his spell in Spain, managing Real Madrid, which wasn’t that great by Mourinho’s standards or that of the club. One La Liga, one Copa Del Rey and a Supercopa de Espana in three standards is well below Real Madrid’s requirements.

Throughout the written documentary of Mourinho’s managerial career to date, I was going to lace his successes with the undercurrent of controversy that has followed Mourinho everywhere he has been.

Famously, Roman Abramovich and Mourinho never saw eye-to-eye and their relationship wasn’t the best, made even worse by Abramovich demanding that Andriy Shevchenko be signed and played in every match. It was this disagreement of characters that would eventually see Mourinho leave by mutual consent, after he had spent his years picking fights with managers, referees, players and anybody else he could get his hands on in England. Mourinho’s poor treatment of Shaun Wright-Phillips sticks out in my memory. I can’t remember who Chelsea were playing, but unhappy with how Chelsea were performing in an away fixture against Fulham, Mourinho hauled Wright-Phillips off 25 minutes into match, thus publically humiliating a player suffering with fragile confidence.

Wherever Mourinho goes, he divides stakeholders of the club. Players, supporters, directors, managers of other clubs; there is always a war where Mourinho is.

In his final game as Real Madrid manager, Pepe, Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo are reported to have refused inclusion for Mourinho’s final match day squad. Mourinho lost the league, got beaten by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and suffered defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey final, just one season after forcing the league title from Barcelona’s firm grip. The additions of Luka Modric, Michael Essien and Fabio Coentrao should have taken Real Madrid further ahead of Barcelona as they seemingly weakened with the departure of Pep Guardiola, but they regressed.

Why is that? Because Mourinho divides opinion and mentally challenges his players. Real Madrid’s players, the majority of them, were not behind Mourinho and it follows the pattern of wherever he goes, there is trouble.

However, there is also success. Mourinho wins trophies and Chelsea will probably manage that next season, but it will be a short term fling, not a long term relationship that Mourinho and Chelsea enjoy. The long term is what Chelsea need to start placing a greater emphasis on and Mourinho isn’t going to develop a young squad and leave them in good stead for years to come.

Chelsea and Mourinho is not a relationship that will work second time round in my opinion. There needs to be a vision for the long term at Stamford Bridge and Mourinho is not the man to see that vision through.

Right, that’s all I have time for today. I know this article isn’t a great piece of work, but I’ve left it late this morning. I’ll do more tomorrow when I’m not so knackered for time.

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Posted on June 4, 2013 by Craig in Chelsea, England, Premiership Leave a comment

Mourinho Leaves Real Madrid / Is He So Special?

Good morning.

Real Madrid have officially announced what we’ve all been expecting since about November: Jose Mourinho is leaving Real Madrid after three years in charge, in which time he won the league and Copa Del Rey. Mourinho will take charge for the final time against Osasuna on June 1st, at the Bernabeu.

Nobody in Barcelona will miss his mind games, that much is for sure. Constant barbs in the press and provocative behaviour, paired Mourinho’s quality for coming straight into a new club and making an impression, meant that he eventually overhauled Barcelona last season and won the La Liga title. In the final weeks of last season, Barcelona had looked weak, while Real Madrid were strong and dominant. From that moment of winning the league, Real Madrid were expected to march on this season and win it again. Pep Guardiola had departed, Tito Vilanova took charge of Barcelona and they looked there for the taking.

As many people questioned just why Real Madrid were performing so far below standard, it became quite apparent as this season aged. Fights with players and mind games lead to factions of the dressing room opposing Mourinho, none more so than Iker Casillas, a pivotal character at the club who had been cast aside. Other dressing room leaders, such as Pepe, had also turned against their manager. Cristiano Ronaldo had already turned against his compatriot months, if not years ago.

When appointing Mourinho as club manager, there has to be an acceptance on all parties concerned as to what this divisive character brings. It can’t be argued that Mourinho doesn’t bring success, as he will win trophies. He was with Inter Milan for two years and won four trophies. In three years, he claimed five trophies for Chelsea.

If so successful, why does Mourinho not stay anywhere for more than four seasons? Because after a certain time, his methods become psychologically straining. There are always players who work for and against Mourinho and it’s when in his second or third season at a club, where he needs players to fight and back him after some negative press, or a string of poor performances, that Mourinho is found wanting, for his players won’t back him. Or at least, not all of them.

Mourinho isn’t going to be the type of manager who stays at one club for seven years and nurtures youth players, for he has no time for that. Nurturing youth is a risk because of their inexperience and there are no “guarantees” as to whether they will play well from match to match. Losing matches and missing out on trophies hurts Mourinho’s CV, meaning young players won’t be risked in important matches under Mourinho’s charge.

For me, the best managers recalibrate and adjust to their external and internal surroundings. They are always great at being able to judge the landscape in which they work and alter their methods slightly to adapt, yet still continue to win as normal. Jose Mourinho is not that type of manager. For all of his trophies, he remains under a certain band of managers whom he cannot compare to.

That’s all from me today. See you tomorrow!

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Posted on May 21, 2013 by Craig in Europe, La Liga, Spain Leave a comment

Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal / Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester City

Olivier failed to score against his former employers.

Morning.

I’m going to start with Manchester City this morning on the premise that I didn’t watch the game, as being an Arsenal fan, I was glued to Sky Sports 2 and our match with Montpellier. Naturally, my report on City is going to be a little shorter based on the fact I saw nothing of that match.

Real Madrid have made a torrid start to the new La Liga campaign, Cristiano Ronaldo is ‘sad’, as he puts it, and Jose Mourinho is acting like a manager with the weight of the world cascading on his shoulders. If Manchester City were to have a great chance of defeating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, then last night was as good a chance as anybody is going to get, and having taken the lead twice, they’ll be kicking themselves for weeks that they let such a good opportunity slip. Despite Real Madrid’s failings so far in La Liga however, Manchester City haven’t looked so convincing themselves, despite churning out the results. Read more

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Craig in England, Europe, France, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premiership, Spain Leave a comment

GUEST POST: How Mourinho Has Succeeded At Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho – Looks like a ‘Thunderbirds’ villain.

Despite his remarkable record of success with Porto, Chelsea, and Inter Milan, many pundits wondered whether the Real Madrid hotseat would be a job too far for managerial firebrand Jose Mourinho. The club’s recent track record of boardroom meddling and frequent managerial changes did not bode well, and many thought that Mourinho’s pragmatic playing style would be at odds with Madrid’s free-flowing football philosophy. For the latest football betting odds, visit Skybet.com.

Upon arriving in Madrid, he set about radically overhauling the first team with a clutch of new signings, including Argenine winger Angel di Maria, German playmaker Mesut Ozil, teutonic midfield enforcer Sami Khedira, and former Porto and Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho. For many years, Real Madrid had been weak in defence, partly because of a transfer policy that favoured big-name attacking players, and partly because of the playing style enforced on successive managers by the Madrid top brass.

The defensive side of Madrid’s play was the first thing that Mourinho looked to address, forcing them to play a tighter, more organized game based around pressing and possession. This drew criticism from some quarters, with many feeling that he had somehow betrayed Madrid’s heritage by placing so much emphasis on defence. However, the strategy proved to be effective, and once the team had adapted to Mourinho’s philosophy, the results started to come thick and fast. Read more

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Craig in Europe, La Liga, Spain Leave a comment

The Adam Moss Column: La Liga 2011/12 Season Review

What if?

It’s fair to say that through the 2011/12 season, La Liga has thrown up a few major surprises. Villarreal’s relegation, coupled with the rise of Malaga, has made it a very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable division this season. Of course, it has had its predictability, such as the top two being Barcelona and Real Madrid yet again, but it has thrown up some major talking points which I would like to look at.

The first is the surprise relegation of Villarreal. I pose to you this, exactly eight months ago, they were in the Champion’s League playing Bayern Munich and Manchester City, yet next season, they face trips away to Xerez and Alicante. It’s been a rapid decline for such a well run club with such a rich European history of recent years. Many fans will remember they were a penalty conversion away from forcing Arsenal into extra time in the 2006 Champions League semi finals. Six years ago, that famous night may have seemed the pinnacle of what would happen to such an understated club, but no, it got better. Read more

Posted on June 14, 2012 by TheMoss in Europe, La Liga, Spain Leave a comment

Individualist Real Madrid Beaten By Methodical Bayern Munich

I love Philip Lahm.

Good morning!

The photo displayed to your left has nothing to do with the lovely blonde lady posing dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing. No, this picture is all to do with giving you an insight into the life of Philip Lahm.

Whilst we’re on the subject of Lahm, does the German captain ever put a foot wrong? Last night Lahm recorded 64 successful passes out of 67, with 18 attempted in the attacking third and 16 proving accurate. 4 out of 6 tackles were successful and Lahm created two chances to boot. That’s not a surprise for me to hear such efficiency from Lahm, as he’s ‘Mr Consistent’.

As most German teams are, Bayern Munich are methodical in their work, always striving for optimum efficiency. Last night versus Real Madrid, that quality eventually prevailed against a supremely talented, yet individualist Real Madrid side. It shouldn’t be any shock to learn that a team boasting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil, Marcelo and Angel Di Maria are individualistic.

Although so talented, said talent has to be harnessed in such a way that it’s effective and last night, an inability to harvest such collective talent proved to be Real Madrid’s downfall.

Playing at the Santiago Bernabeu for this return leg, (Bayern Munich won the first leg 2-1) Real Madrid started like a house on fire and in just the 4th minute were awarded a penalty when Di Maria struck a shot on goal from inside Bayern’s penalty area, when a fully committed David Alaba dived in front of the Argentine winger’s shot. The ball smashed against Alaba’s flailing arm and Real Madrid were awarded a penalty. To add insult to injury, Alaba found himself booked and will now miss the Champions League Final (maybe Geoff Shreeves could console him?).

Predictably, Cristiano Ronaldo converted his 25th penalty in a row to Real Madrid 1-0 ahead and level on aggregate. For me, Ronaldo should never had the chance to score from the penalty spot. Alaba had gone in feet first to block Di Maria’s shot, it was never an intentional hand ball and to yellow card a player is incredibly harsh.

Eight minutes after Ronaldo had converted his penalty, the Portuguese international stroked home his second of the evening. Unlike the penalty, Real Madrid’s build-up to this goal was powerful, unstoppable and ultimately, fateful. Bayern Munich’s midfield couldn’t steal the ball off of Real Madrid as they played it around at speed and when Ozil received possession 25 yards out, Holger Badstuber inexplicably stepped up from his position, leaving Ronaldo in acres of space. Ozil simply passed to Ronaldo who was never going to miss and from just inside Bayern’s area, rolled his shot past Manuel Neuer.
Real Madrid were now leading 2-0 and on the verge of a May 19 date with Chelsea at Bayern’s Allianz Arena. Real Madrid were also ahead on aggregate for the first time in this tie, winning 3-2. At that point, the scoreline alone would have suggested Real Madrid were cruising to a comfortable win, but the scoreline was miles away from the truth.

Going forward, Bayern Munich were finding plenty of space in Real Madrid’s defensive third. Mario Gomez, Arjen Robben and Toni Kroos all tested Iker Casillas from range and even at 1-0, Arjen Robben had managed to miss a sitter after good work from David Alaba.

Eventually, Bayern found a way back when Mario Gomez was felled in the Real Madrid penalty area when contesting a Toni Kroos cross with Pepe. Unlike the first incident, this penalty was justified in its decision, but had Pepe denied Gomez a clear goalscoring opportunity? For me, yes, if Gomez had have planted his head on the ball, he’d have scored, instead, Pepe pulled him down to deny Gomez that opportunity. For me, Pepe should have been sent off, though I am blinkered by the fact I can’t stand the dirty, cheating weazel.

Arjen Robben converted the penalty and Bayern Munich were now level on aggregate and there was nothing to seperate the two sides.

In the second half, Real Madrid seemed to tire as Bayern Munich grew stronger, Alvaro Arebloa in particular looked a mentally destroyed man every time Franck Ribery flew at him. Bayern Munich’s rhythm was going stronger and stronger as Real Madrid grew weaker. Everything Real Madrid attempted going forward was stopped in an instant, their play had become disjointed and long since lost any fluency.

No goals in the second half brought about extra-time and a very lethargic thirty minutes lead to a penalty shoot-out.

Real Madrid missed their first two penalties, Cristiano Ronaldo and then Kaka were thwarted by Manuel Neuer when he guessed correctly, diving to his right for what were identical penalties. Bayern Munich scored their opening two courtesy of David Alaba and Mario Gomez, before Toni Kroos and then Philip Lahm then missed their penalties for Bayern Munich. In between Kroos and Lahm failing to score, Xabi Alonso had converted his penalty to peg Bayern Munich back to 2-1 and next up was Sergio Ramos for Real Madrid to equalise on penalties scored.

Whatever happened to Ramos’ shot is beyond me, I think that ball is orbiting the Sun as we speak, as Ramos lashed his shot, high, wide and into the night.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, a player who bleeds Bayern’s red colours, stepped up to take the deciding penalty and present Bayern Munich the opportunity to play in a Champions League Final at their own ground. The combative midfielder was never going to miss such a penalty and Schweingsteiger converted to send Bayern Munich to a March 19 date with Chelsea in the Champions League Final.

Earlier I spoke of Real Madrid being too individualist and I would post more graphs like the one above, but WordPress is playing up and won’t let me put pictures where I want them, so I’ll explain. When attacking, Real Madrid players opted to beat their man a combined total of 37 times. In a top 7 list of players who opted to ‘take-on’ their opponent, five of those players in the list are of a white shirt. Marcelo enjoyed a high success rate of ‘take-ons’ beating his man eight out of nine times, but the success rate for the rest of his team-mates was not as successful. Kaka only beat his man 50% of the time (4/8) and Cristiano Ronaldo got less than that (3/8). Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil also recorded a 50% success rate, each succeeding in two out of four take-ons.

The other two representatives in the ‘take-on list’ top seven are Arjen Robben and Toni Kroos. Robben recorded 4/9 successful take-ons and Kroos 2/6. Placed eight and ninth are David Alaba and Franck Ribery. Alaba got 2/3 right whilst Ribery, closely marked all game by at least two players, only recorded one successful take-on out of eight.

Although there are more Bayern players on the list than Real Madrid, the attacking players of Madrid are shown to attempt a take-on much more than most Bayern players. Madrid’s highes success rate comes from left-back with Marcelo whilst Ronaldo has a very weak success rate, probably due to forcing the issue of trying to score a goal in unlikely circumstances.

This was Real Madrid’s main problem last night, with every player trying their luck when in possession, rather than making a pass, then another, then another, in order to earn a better position from which to shoot. More often than not, Madrid were guilty of being speculative rather than efficient.

Bayern Munich’s highest take-ons only play in certain areas. Schweinsteiger, Gustavo and Mario Gomez know they don’t possess individual skills of Arjen Robben, Toni Kroos and Franck Ribery, so instead work to supply the latter trio, who then aim to create opportunities through their own talents. That is the way a lot of top teams work and whereas Bayern have a trio to do that work, Real Madrid have seven or eight who are liable to do things on their own and as such, their play loses rhythm, much like it did in the second half of yesterday.

An inability to harvest their talent properly and efficiently cost Real Madrid dearly yesterday and instead of Jose Mourinho taking his side to the Allianz Arena, it will be Jupp Heynckes taking his Bayern Munich side to a Champions League Final on their own territory.

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Posted on April 26, 2012 by Craig in Bundesliga, Europe, Germany, La Liga, Spain Leave a comment

Real Madrid End Barcelona’s Reign…Bar A Miracle

Good morning!

There are four matches left to play in La Liga, with seven points seperating Real Madrid from Barcelona. Los Blancos have Sevilla to play at the Bernabeu in their next league match, followed by a potentially tricky away trip to face Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday 2nd May. Madrid’s penultimate match comes away to 17th place Granada before Madrid seal off their season at home to Mallorca.

Apart from their trip to Bilbao, Real Madrid have a smooth run-in. I don’t see them slipping up to an awkward Sevilla side, nor do I see Madrid falling to Granada.

Barcelona’s remaining fixtures represent a similar sense of ease, with matches to come against: Rayo Vallecano, Malaga, Espanyol and Real Betis. Like Real Madrid, I don’t see Barcelona slipping up in their remaining fixtures, only Real Betis away offers any kind of threat.

Able to boast a seven point gap with four matches left to play, it will take a miracle for Barcelona to retain the title this season.

Had Pep’s Dream Boys beaten Real Madrid last night, the seemingly impossible hope of retaining La Liga when Barca were 10 points behind just two months ago, would have seen that optmistic dream potentially realised, for a win last night would have cut Barcelona’s deficit to just a point behind Madrid, with all to play for.

Barcelona were favourites to win last night. Pep’s Dream Boys were unbeaten in 54 home matches before last night, they employ Lionel Messi and had won their last eleven league matches.

We dub Barcelona as the greatest football team in world football, a tag they richly deserve, but the strength in depth of a squad is what will win titles and having played too many matches, travelled the length and breadth and suffered injuries to key players, Barcelona’s tiny squad is catching up on them and never was it more evident than last night.

Barcelona started the match with a back four consisting of: Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Adriano. What’s the problem there? Well two of them – Mascherano and Adriano - are midfielders. I acknowledge that Adriano can play at left-back, but he was signed from Sevilla as a midfielder and plays at left-back due to the absence of Eric Abidal. Mascherano, signed from Liverpool as a holding midfielder, as rarely played in his preferred role, instead used at centre-back when deputising for Gerard Pique and Puyol. A top side should not be plugging round holes with square pegs.

In midfield, Guardiola opted for the supremely talented, Thiago Alcantara. As talented as he is, should Barcelona be relying on a young midfielder, who has played just 25 league games for Barcelona, to face Real Madrid? I understand leaving out Cesc Fabregas as he’s lost his form, but to replace an experienced midfielder with Thiago and expect the same job? Purr-lease.

As a front three, Barcelona again fielded more inexperience, opting for Cristian Tello. Again, as talented as he is, should a player who had previously started two matches for Barcelona in La Liga, be lining up to face Real Madrid in the hope of catching them in a title race?

Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona’s two big summer signings, started last night on the bench. Although great players and will no doubt enjoy glorious careers at Barcelona in the years to come, could Barcelona have spent their money more wisely on two defenders to deputise for Pique and Puyol? Why was a traditional left-back not signed, likewise at right-back where there is no cover Alves. Since David Villa’s injury, Barcelona have had to plug the gap and field Alexis in his place.

There is very little room for manouvere at Barcelona, a couple of hamstring injuries could ruin their season.

Strength in depth is a quality that Real Madrid have addressed and they will never experience the problems Barcelona could potentially face after a few injuries. Kaka, Marcelo and Raul Albiol never got on to the pitch to face Barcelona last night, as a trio of Jose Callejon, Gonzalo Higuain and Esteban Granero were called upon by Jose Mourinho. That’s quite a scary plethora of players to be able to fall back on. Big names such as Nuri Sahin, Hamit Altintop and Lassana Diarra didn’t even make the journey to Barcelona, such is the strength in depth of Real Madrid’s squad.

Real Madrid fielded a very strong team, none of them void of experience, all players at the top of their game. Could you say the same about every last one of Barcelona’s first XI last night? Nope.

It took Real Madrid 17 minutes to open the scoring last night when Barcelona failed to deal with a set-piece. Pepe won a header to send a cross back across the six-yard area, where Sami Khedira managed to wrestle home Real Madrid’s advantage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erIwjAPBbE0

Typically, Barcelona enjoyed the majority of possession but a trend has emerged of late. I saw it when Arsenal played Wigan and then again against Chelsea yesterday. Barcelona were also victims of this latest trend when they Chelsea at Stamford Bridge during the week. Rather than allowing themselves to be stretched open by Barcelona’s passing game, Real Madrid stayed compact in the middle, not allowing for Barcelona to stretch them and then find emerging gaps in their defence. Unable to create anything from the wide areas due to their lack of height, Barcelona had to cut inside for a more realistic opportunity of scoring, only to find the central areas were saturated with white shirts, making it impossible for chanes to be fashioned.

Having plugged away for 72 minutes, Barcelona finally got their rewards when Tello sent a scuffed shot into the area. A Real Madrid defender blocked the Spaniard’s shot and deflected the ball into Alexis’ path, whose initial effort was saved by Iker Casillas. On the follow-up, Casillas stood no chance and Alexis bagged Barcelona’s equaliser.

Rather than implode as they have done in this fixture over the years, Real Madrid met Barca with a magnificent response, as Mesut Ozil sent Cristiano Ronaldo through for a one-on-one with Victor Valdes. Had Valdes maintained his ground and not rushed out to face Ronaldo, the second best player in the world wouldn’t have had the angle to score.

Barcelona could barely respond after that, the Nou Camp was silent but for Madrid’s jubilant fans and bar a miracle, Real Madrid will snatch La Liga out of Barcelona’s inexperienced hands.

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Posted on April 22, 2012 by Craig in Europe, La Liga, Spain Leave a comment

Bayern Bat Madrid Out Of Bavaria / Chelsea v Barcelona Preview

Bavaria, home to Bayern Munich.

Good morning!

I do love this time of year for football. No longer do we have to put up with boring group matches featuring Olympiakos and Standard Liege, we’re now at the stage where only the best teams can make it and if you’re a neutral watching everything unfold now, then consider yourself the luckiest man in the world.

Last night, Bayern Munich met Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena, a gigantic arena (capacity of 69,000) which will be used for this years Champions League Final. Oh, the stadium also changes colour as can be witnessed below…

The sub-plots for this match was unreal. First, Howard Webb (last night’s referee) was referee for the 2010 final between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, and now Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, was in charge of Inter Milan for that 2-0 victory, which also took place at Santiago Bernabeu, home of Madrid. In that match, Howard Webb denied Bayern Munich a clear-cut penalty when Walter Samuel handled in the penalty area. In 1998, Jupp Heynckes, now manager of Bayern Munich, was in charge of Real Madrid and that year won the Champions League with Real. Unfortunately for Heynckes, his Madrid side also finished fourth in La Liga, so the German was booted out of Madrid, possibly the only manager in history to be sacked after winning the world’s most prestigious trophy. (yes I include the World Cup in that)

Despite an early flurry of half-chances and possession, it was Bayern Munich who largely manipulated the flow of the first half, controlling the ball. In spite of Madrid’s early superiority on the ball, it was Bayern Munich who would strike the first blow, through Franck Ribery. In the 17th minute, a corner was taken and Real’s defence were presumably on sabbatical. The ball broke free to Ribery who needed no invitation to shoot from close range, through a see of legs and past a helpless Iker Casillas.

It was a shock lead considering the dominant start Real Madrid had enjoyed and Bayern Munich started to build on their goal, becoming more influential on the match and using the ball better than Madrid. No real chances of note ensued however and Real Madrid went in at half-time looking frustrated.

A near-farcical goal in the 53rd minute gave Madrid a crucial away goal though Mesut Ozil. Cristiano Ronaldo had broken through on goal one-on-one with Manuel Neuer, who expertly blocked Ronaldo’s effort. Karim Benzema acted before Munich’s defence and spread a ball back to the far post for Ozil, who had the easiest of jobs bundling the ball home from all of a couple of centimetres. One of Badstuber, Boateng, Alaba and Lahm should have done a much better job in snuffing out the danger.

Mario Gomez was guilty of missing big chances as Bayern re-applied the pressure. Firstly, Gomez lifted a chance over the ball over the bar having been unwittingly teed up by Sergio Ramos, before firing straight at Casillas when through on goal.

Finally, in the 90th minute, Gomez prevailed and gave Bayern Munich a 2-1 lead which they will hold going into the second leg. Phillip Lahm beat his man (Esteban Granero, I think) far too easily and with all the time in the world, simply passed the ball into space at the near post where Mario Gomez was lurking to smash home to make it 2-1.

This game is far from over, as Bayern have yet to travel to Spain and a second leg at the intimidating surroundings of Santiago Bernabeu will prove to be Bayern’s acid test.

Chelsea v Barcelona

In yesterday’s pre-match press conference, Cesc Fabregas declared that Chelsea had gone back to their former ways of direct football, sending long balls into Didier Drogba and playing largely on the counter. Fabregas went on to note that you could completely out-play Chelsea, but Drogba would score on Chelsea’s first counter-attack.

I recognise that Chelsea play this way and I have no problems with it. Andre Villas Boas tried to change too much in his time at Chelsea. As I noted on Twitter yesterday, a transition period between teams should be gentle, not as explosive as the changes AVB was intent on making at Chelsea. You can’t teach an old Dog new tricks and all that. I believe AVB’s vision was the right one, but he maybe wasn’t the man to oversee such a transition, such a period needs a softer touch. Can you imagine established players such as Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole and John Terry being told that everything they knew was wrong and that they needed to play a different way? Nobody reacts well to such a declaration.

I’m glad Chelsea have reverted back to what they know, as this is the only way in which they can beat Barcelona. Under AVB, Chelsea might have tried to meet fire with fire, passing the ball, playing attacking football and generally leaving themselves desperately exposed to Barcelona’s attacking force.

Normally I’d encourage teams to play attacking football against Barcelona, but this isn’t Chelsea, that’s not what we’ve come to expect of them and they can beat Barcelona by fighting a war of attrition, by sending long balls into Drogba and playing on the counter. It isn’t pretty and I discourage that brand of football, but that is how Barcelona can be beaten and for 180 minutes over the next two legs, football snobbery should be put to one side as we watch Chelsea fan Barcelona’s fire by bypassing the midfield.

To beat Barcelona, Chelsea need to be direct and full of intent every time they get the ball, they must not hide within themselves. I fully expect them to set up defensively and man the barracks, but they must show enthusiasm getting forward when getting forward, that is the only way in which they will taste success.

Right, that’s your lot from me today. See you tomorrow.

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Posted on April 18, 2012 by Craig in Bundesliga, England, Europe, Germany, La Liga, Premiership, Spain Leave a comment

Liverpool Through To Wembley / Barca Beat Madrid…Kind Of

Morning!

First of all I need to issue an apology in light of no article being posted yesterday. The simple reason as to why there was no article posted, was due to the ‘publish’ button not working, for some reason. That particular button is damn crucial in displaying what we write and since Mat wasn’t able to access WordPress at the time, there was no post.

On a rosier note, here I am now, typing and publishing away like a man possessed, happy days.

First on the chalk board, is this amazing knack that Kenny Dalglish possesses for putting together a bang average squad which plays to the exact standard of ‘average’, endures a season up till which point, is only two points better off than Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool side last season and yet, remarkably, has a Wembley appearance in the bag as Liverpool drew 2-2 with Manchester City, putting Liverpool through 3-2 on aggregate as they prepare to face Cardiff City in the final.

In all likelihood, Liverpool should win that. Luis Suarez will be available and Kenny Dalglish must fancy that his side can beat Cardiff City, regardless of how well the Welsh side is performing in the Championship. Of course, shocks do happen, but it looks extremely unlikely for me and thus, Dalglish will have won a piece of silverware despite his side performing to a mediocre level in the Premiership. It’s quite amazing that a side so average can win a trophy and then have the manager lauded by British media for being a Messiah for Liverpool.

At the start of this season I claimed Liverpool were a side in transition, not quite yet the complete article and I was laughed at, my opinion merely cast aside on to a big pile of rubbish. A side lying seventh in the league is the hallmark of a team trying to find it’s way and they won’t do for some time, despite what an appearance in the Carling Cup Final may tell you.

For Manchester City, was winning the Carling Cup important? Yes, it was indeed. Having emerged victorious in the FA Cup, it is so important Manchester City keep that winning momentum going for as long as possible whilst they establish themselves. Being knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup so early on was disastrous and yes, there is the Europa League and Premiership title yet to be decided, but that’s not for a while yet. City needed to keep all of their hopes alive to keep the engine going and now, I believe they will face their biggest challenge yet, in full knowledge they only really have the Premiership left to play for.

Don’t be fooled by people saying that being knocked out of these competitions will help City, as it won’t. Being in different tournaments, in various situations, keeps the squad fresh, giving everybody a chance to stay on their toes. A big slog toward the end of the season to decide the title winners won’t benefit City, they would have wanted different tournaments to occupy themselves, to keep their minds working, not have themselves focused on winning one thing as it’s highly stressful knowing it’s win or bust for sixteen games or so.

Moving on to the continent, Barcelona to be precise, and if you want to be exact, then we’re moving to the Nou Camp, where despite more of Jose Mourinho’s efforts, Real Madrid still found themselves beaten by a Barcelona side who at times in the first half, rode their precious luck. Madrid started like a house on fire and could/should have been 3-0 up at half time.

If you don’t take your chances however, Barcelona will always create and more often than not, will put theirs away. First, Lionel Messi ran at the Real Madrid defence, frightening the life out of three defenders who all rushed to tackle Messi, leaving Fabregas and Pedro unmarked to Messi’s left. Messi duly poked the ball to his left, Fabregas left the ball for Pedro, who had a more favourable angle and predictably, Pedro scored to make it 1-0. Minutes later, Dani Alves scored from a half volley after a free-kick had been cleared by Madrid to the edge of their own box. It was an immense goal from Alves and I doubt he’ll score many better than what he did for the remainder of his career.

With Barcelona leading 4-1 on aggregate, Real Madrid must have found themselves punch drunk, but on they battled in the second half. First, Ronaldo pulled a goal back for Madrid having been released down the right by Mesut Ozil. Ronaldo feigned to shoot, committing Pinto to a shot that wasn’t to be, before taking another step and rolling into the net.

Minutes later, Karim Benzema found a ball hoofed to him, which he flicked over Puyol’s big mess of hair, who then slipped (Puyol, not the hair) thus allowing Benzema time to bring the ball down to shoot past Pinto. 2-2 and 4-3 on aggregate meant that if Madrid scored once more in the remaining twenty minutes, then Real Madrid would have secured a win against all the odds.

Sadly, Madrid couldn’t muster another effort on goal. Barcelona were clearly flapping about, ignoring their normal passing game and hurridly passing without a real purpose. Similarly, Real Madrid tried rushing everything, meaning they too were barely able to create.

My question is, now that Real Madrid have once again failed to topple Barcelona, will this become a bit of an obsession for Jose Mourinho? Much in the same way that Brian Clough wanted to beat Leeds United, Mourinho seems obsessed with bringing Barcelona down and if he’s not careful, Mourinho will begin to lose sight of all that’s important and that, would not be a good thing to happen.

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Craig in England, Europe, Premiership, Spain Leave a comment