David v. Goliath: Racing and Valencia Hold Real Madrid and Barcelona

Si, hay liga indeed. Maybe.
I watched the Madrid game yesterday, and caught most of the Barca game through a combination of Radio Barca and Gol TV courtesy of the Druid in Inman Square. Both teams drew in fixtures to Racing de Santander and Valencia respectively, in what was probably the best set of results for La Liga's PR officers. However, it is very apparent that the top two teams are breaking away in terms of attracting and contracting talent, and there appears to be no end in sight.

For fans of different teams in La Liga the situation looks frustrating and difficult to reconcile.  I am a fan of one of the big teams, Barcelona, but I cannot stand the fact that our spending power and that of our rivals Madrid has reduced the others in the league to mere also-rans. Points differences between the second place finisher (either Barca or Madrid each of the past three years, with the big points jump at the 2009-2010 season) and the third place finisher tell a depressing story.

2010-2011  21 pts between Madrid (2) and Valencia (3)

2009-2010* 25 pts between Madrid (2) and Valencia (3)

2008-2009   8 pts between Madrid (2) and Sevilla (3)  

2007-2008  (Villareal finished above Barca; Madrid won the title)

2006-2007   5 pts between Barca (2) and Sevilla (3)

2005-2006   1 pt between Madrid (2) and Valencia

*In 2009, both Barca and Real Madrid brought in some remarkable players, and a few, in Barca's system at least, seemed to come in to their own at just the right time. Madrid's 2009 shopping spree included Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, Albiol, Lassana Diarra, Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, Esteban Granero, and a goalkeeper called Adan. Ay Caramba!

I like to think that there is hope, but that means some hard decisions need to be made, specifically something on the order of salary caps and/or some sort of redistribution of wealth. Fine to say, nearly impossible to implement. It would require the leaders from Barca and Madrid to pony up to the table and offer to sacrifice a significant percentage of their earnings to create a more balanced league. As things now stand, the big two will continue to bring in the most talented and most expensive ball players, leaving the others to the remaining scraps. While football is a funny game, and one can regularly see examples of Davids beating (or drawing) Goliaths -- reference the most recent match from either Barca or Madrid -- the current course if unaltered is untenable.

The Money League: Group Phase Thoughts

The Champions League 2011-2012 edition has begun. The groups were drawn last week, so it is prediction time:

Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli

This is the group of death -- Manchester City and Bayern Munich are the most likely to advance. Villareal traded Santi Cazorla over the summer, but kept Rossi. Still, they are weaker and will struggle to get to the knock-out round. Napoli are no pushover, though, and might give Bayern or Man City a run for their money.

Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor

This is the snooze group. Inter and CSKA advance, methinks.

Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati

This is too easy for Man United. Benfica should also advance. Swiss side Basel are familiar faces in the Champions League, but have not yet made it out of the group stage. Otelul Galati are a Romanian side I know nothing about. Good for them for making it this far!

Group D: Real Madrid, Lyon, Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb

Such is my loathing for RM that I am hoping for a miracle here in the shape of Ajax or Dinamo. Alas, it is extremely unlikely that either of those will make it through.

Group E: Chelsea, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen,Genk

Genk is such a great name for a football club. They will be the whipping boys here. Should be interesting to see who between Valencia and Leverkusen make it through (along side of Chelsea, of course). My hopes are that Valencia can do the job -- they could use the money to keep up with Barca and RM.

Group F: Arsenal, Marseille, Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund

With the crap Arsenal have been playing lately, it is hard to imagine them making it through. Their new signings might just provide the necessary spark, however. I expect some hard fought matches in this group, and it should get very entertaining. Dortmund were incredible last year in the Bundesliga -- they are my tip to win this group.

Group G: FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit, Apoel FC

I bet this will be closely fought group, but I don't expect any of these teams to make it past the first knock out round.

Group H: Barcelona, AC Milan, BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen

BATE Borisov play their European games at the Minsk Stadium in Belorussia. I am glad Barca plays them in September, rather in December as the temperature must drop brutally. Good to BATE for making it into the CL - I hope they enjoy the experience. Barca's game against Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic should be interesting, but I assume they have both the quality and the depth to get the points from those fixtures. The Milan games should determine who finishes first and second in the group, and they (Milan) are bound to run us close.

Visca el Barca!

Barcelona or Buenos Aires?

Summer is ending here on the East Coast of the United States, and autumn breezes have started to blow in. We will get an Indian summer or two, but it definitely seems like a season change is upon us.

This is great for many fans of futebol, especially fans of European futebol. Seasons have already kicked off in England, Germany and France; this weekend will see the first games of La Liga and I, for one, am eager to watch some competitive games.

I pose the title question as I am rethinking life in New England. I don't have it bad, mind, but have been increasingly ready for a change for some time. So, if I, the missus and our little boy were to move in the near future, which place should I go from a footballing perspective?

Our top three choices, in alphabetical order, are Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. I know from personal experience that football in Rio is great. Pick-up games are easy enough to find, especially in the Parque do Flamengo. Believe it or not, I once played on a team that held the court (you have to win to continue playing) for seven straight games. That is practically the entire time allotted to pick-up groups on the main court in PdF. After that 7th game, two official teams with an official ref began an organized game on the court.

I don't know what it is like to play in Barcelona or in Buenos Aires, but will be doing some research...

Supercopa, the First of the 2011-2012 Clasicos

Last Sunday evening Real Madrid drew 2-2 against FC Barcelona in the annual preseason Supercopa. A two-legged tie pitting the winners of the Spanish Liga and the winner of the Copa del Rey, this is the traditional kick-off to the season in Spain.

The game was entertaining, but it clearly showed, to me at least, two teams in different stages of their development for this season. The Madrid players seemed to be revving at near top speed, building upon a successful preseason. The Barca players, on the other hand, were clearly not running well at all, in part due to a choppy preseason.

Both teams had players out for the Copa America in Argentina this summer. Di Maria, Higuain, Messi, Alves, Mascherano, Milito, Adriano, and Alexis Sanchez all represented their country in the games, altering their training schedules for the summer and preseason. Both teams also acquired a few new players, some of whom will become first team regulars if not starters.

My impression is that this preseason Pep, has been more lax with the most senior players, allowing them more down time and not being so strict about training regimes.

For the game, Madrid started what appeared to be a first choice team. Pep, the FC Barcelona manager, however, sat Pique, Xavi, Pedro and Busquets, all reportedly suffering from minor injuries. Personally, I think they just needed more rest.

In the first half, the irregular squad for Barcelona had a hard time dealing with the speed and diligence of the Madrid attack. When Barcelona possessed the ball, Madrid pressed hard and regularly won the ball back. Barca played a large number of long balls in hopes of relieving the pressure -- a sure sign that the squad was not yet firing on all cylinders.

In the midst of this, four great goals were scored, and it is worth having a look at the highlights.

A couple of positives to note: Alexis Sanchez looks pretty good. He is a definite asset to the team.

Also, even under intense pressure, all of the Barca players kept their cool, defended well (Alves and Mascherano were great) and showed considerable skill in their one touch, twenty-yard passing moves. Once they get settled, which will take considerable time on the training pitch (this strike may be a good thing for this), they should be quite dangerous.

Tonight's game will resolve the Supercup, and it should be a sight to behold.

Come on you Barca!

The Klinsmann Era

So it begins --
Tonight's friendly against Mexico in Philadelphia marks Jurgen Klinsmann's debut as US Mens National Team manager. I have high hopes, but tempered expectations. The problems with the USMNT are easily identifiable, but they are not easily fixed. The two most immediate problems are a lack of technique in the squad, and a lack of unity. Technique is something learned at a young age over an extended period of development. Klinsmann cannot be expected to improve this in his players, especially because he will only work with them for a few days per year. What he needs to do is to uncover the technical gems that we do have, somewhere in the United States, and give them a chance in the national side.

I think he can do something about the latter issue. In Germany in 2006, Klinsmann (JK) was able to successfully galvanize his squad into a incredibly cohesive unit, one that combined work ethic with attacking flair. If JK can find the right combination of players, I belive he can bring them together in common purpose to deliver a reasonably successful World Cup campaign in 2014.

Three Things I Like about the Preseason

There are many fans who couldn't give a toss about preseason friendlies. They say they are meaningless and boring. I disagree.

The three things I like most about the preseason are this 1) we get to see debuts 2) we get to see youth players from a team's academy mix it up with first-teamers and 3) we get the occasional anomaly.

I have watched a lot of preseason games this summer and was lucky to be in the stadium for three of them -- USA vs Spain (ok, technically this was not a preseason game, but a friendly -- I'm still counting it), N.E. Revolution vs. Manchester United and FC Barcelona vs Manchester United. In each game I have seen at least something interesting and remarkable.

New signings are always eager to please and it was no different for Ashley Young when he stepped onto the pitch vs. New England. I think United are glad to have him.

Barcelona brought a large number of their youth academy to the US, and a few have left an impression. Thiago, a regular for Barca B, looks the real deal, though as Sid Lowe argues, he has some developing to do. Fontas, brought into the first team along with Thiago fairly recently, looks a great replacement for Puyol.

Real Madrid have signed multiple players to try to cope with and overrun Barca in La Liga this year. Devastating for Barca's other rivals, Espanhol, Jose Maria Callejon could be even more of a pain in the neck for Barca with Madrid. If the Merengues call upon Spurs striker Adebayor again, they will probably have the deepest attacking bench I have ever seen.

As for anomalies, the one that stands out the most would be Mario Balotelli's attempted back heel from eight yards out vs. L.A. Galaxy. Outrageous and a bit disrespectful, even if it is only a friendly.

The upcoming season should be interesting.

N.E. Revolution 1 - 4 Manchester United

Over 50,000 fans turned up on a Wednesday night in remote Gillette Stadium to watch Champions League finalists Manchester United play the local MLS squad, the New England Revolution. All were treated to a fascinating and competitive match. Man U started the game with a strong side that included Nemanja Vidic, Nani, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and new signing Ashley Young. Young was looking to impress -- he was certainly the most dynamic United player in the first half. Here is how I thought the rest of them did:

Anders Lindegaard: 5
Not much action for the newish Man U keeper. New England's deflected goal was not his fault.
Fabio: 7
Lively throughout. Worked well with Young on his wing.
Jonathan Evans: 6
Didn't have much to do all game with the Revs' toothless attack.
Rafael: 7.5
A bit more adventurous than his brother on the other wing. He had a few good turns and looked dangerous throughout.
Ashley Young: 8
Put in a few good crosses and was willing to take his man on in attack. Solid debut.
Anderson: 6
Created a few opportunities and held possession well.
Michael Carrick: 7
Provided solid protection for the back four whenever the Revs ventured into their territory, and was purposeful in attack.
Nani - 5.5
Didn't create much, but made no errors either.
Dimitar Berbatov - 4
Berba and Rooney were not in sync.
Wayne Rooney - 5
Along with Berba, looked like he'd prefer to still be on vacation.
--
Key Subs:
Park Ji-Sung - 8
Easily cut apart the Revs' subs in the second half. His 1-2 with Giggs at the end was brilliant.
Michael Owen - 7.5
Got a good goal, and put in a decent effort.
Frederico Macheda - 8
Back from loan and eager to please, his goals were very good.
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Several European teams are doing mini-tours of the US throughout the summer. Manchester United played here, FC Barcelona will play in Washington DC, Real Madrid will play in Philadelphia, Juventus will play at Citi Field in New York. For those of us who are unable to make it to Europe to watch these players in action during the regular season, these mini-tours are great, even if each game is technically a friendly.