It was Grand Slam Sunday in the Premiership with the top 4 teams battling each other, which ultimately could mean lot of big time changes in the standings at the top. I am planning to write a bit on the Chelsea V Arsenal game that i saw in a separate post. Over in Spain Barca defeated Valladolid at home 4-1, thanks to an inspired performance from their teenager Bojan who hit two goals in the second half.
The Bernabeu was getting all set to welcome Valencia who are definitely in a better shape than Real. Valencia have found a bit of form, especially with David Villa and Baraja back from injury. Real meanwhile made changes of their own as Sergio Ramos was back at RB, Pepe and Cannavaro in the center, Marcelo at the LB position. It was Gago instead of Diarra in the midfield in the holding role. Sneijder was back along with Guti and Baptista in the midfield. Robinho and Raul completed the attacking options. With Van Nistelrooy injured Madrid were really struggling for the goals and the back up options in Higuain, Saviola and Soldado are not match fit and are struggling to produce any quality.
It was a good open game from the beginning except for the part that Valencia was staying deep and defending deep in their half and looking for the counter attack. Raul had the first chance from a Sergio Ramos cross but he was flagged offside. Guti was struggling with a lot of incomplete passes and was even not finding his team mates with most of his passes. Sneijder meanwhile was playing well and almost scored with his eye for goal all the time. Gago was doing well recovering lose balls. Villa had moved into a left sided role, probably to keep Sergio Ramos from making any attacking runs. Pepe was doing alright marking Mata and preventing him to get to any crosses from Silva. Silva and Villa were also switching positions on the flanks and even Cannavaro and Pepe also had to switch positions to counter this. Marcelo was also making some runs on the left and connecting well with Robinho. Schuster for some reason could not figure out that Baptista was so slow that he was not even able to make any contribution. His first touch was letting down and he seemed really clumsy.
Real showed signs of some better control in midfield when Sneijder and Gago were having possession. There was chance after chance that was going begging. Sergio Ramos put in a cross but there was no one in the Valencia box to take charge if it. The following two minutes were full of chances. Valencia were not exactly in a Christmas mood, from a set piece that was cleared partially, Madrid defense pushed forward with no particular line, and Silva threaded in a superb ball to Villa who scored. 0-1 Valencia 35th minute.
It took less than a minute for Real to equalize. Robinho crossed in for Raul who got up ahead of Helguera and scored over Hilderbrand for 1-1 score line. Marchena had to be replaced by Helguera and the former Real Madrid man did not do well against his former Captain. It was to remain 1-1 at half time.
The game started back with the same intensity and Real were creating more chances when their wing backs were able to get forward. Through the middle Baptista finally made his first real contribution of the night when he stole the ball and threaded it to Guti who put in a good through pass in to Raul who scored his second and the second for Real. 2-1 Real Madrid on 55 minutes.
Valencia introduced Baraja as well to add more substance to their midfield and Real introduced Robben for Baptista. There was some immediate effect but it was Silva who made the best of a push from Cannavaro inside the Real penalty box, the ensuing penalty was put away easily by David Villa for his second of the night to tie it 2-2 on 67 minutes.
Real switched gear and went looking for the third goal and were pushing numbers forward. Now it was time to start counting the chances. First Marcelo made a good run on the left cut inside two defenders and floated in a cross which Guti met on the volley in the air but it was drilled into the ground and was collected by Hilderbrand. Robinho right before he was substituted by Higuain received a through ball from Sneijder and with Hilderbrand beaten so his effort cleared superbly off the goal line by Helguera.
Higuain hit the keeper with one shot and hit the bar with another, but he was not be looked at kindly for the next miss. Raul took a shot and the rebound was head height for Higuain who headed straight at the keeper who was on the floor. With everyone attacking Real were made to look stupid when a long ball found Arizmendi free on the right, Cannavaro made a half hearted tackle which was no where near, with a difficult angle Arizmendi scored past Casillas surprisingly at the near post. 2-3 Valencia on 88 minutes.
Real who had the league wrapped up in the winter break is now looking like a team which is confused. They dont know when to attack and when not to. I seriously blame the players and not the coach for being hit by a counter attack towards the end like that. This is league play, you have 38 games and when you have a considerable lead over Barca it is important to collect as many points as possible. 30 attempts at goal and 11 saves by Hilderbrand the Valencia keeper Real leave the pitch with nothing to show for it. OK Real were drawing 2-2 on 88 minutes but at home there is no excuse for being hit on a counter attack when the 1 point would turn out to be absolute crucial. Schuster in his post game interview said that he had warned his players about going all out for the third goal and that his players were naive to think a team like Valencia would defend deep. True but here is my point as a Manager you should know that your team play the football based on the players you have lined up. Why did Schuster not replace Marcelo with Heinze or take out one of the midfielders and bring in Diarra. When Sergio Ramos started making some superb attacking play Villa almost found himself clear of the defense till Pepe made a tactical foul on him. It was a repeat of that when Arizmendi scored, when Marcelo was no where to be found. The first incident should have at least lighted the bulb for Schuster.
Now there is no point jumping around claiming that Real are in trouble and that Schuster needs to be axed. I have no wish to see Schuster go, because Madrid are playing a good system under him, but are making mistakes and are paying for those mistakes. He has created a system, but is not sure who he should use in it. For one season Real seemed to have a superb defense with the likes of Metzelder, Heinze, Pepe coming this term. Both Metzelder and Heinze were gambles as everyone knew the minute they were bought that for them to create wonders at Madrid they have to stay fit. Schuster was thus forced to use Ramos in the center back role for a lot many games. The problem lies in the center midfield. When he plays 4 midfielders he plays one in a defensive role, two in the center and one as a winger. He has used 27 different combinations of players in 29 games. He has too many of the same kind. Three wingers in Robinho, Drenthe and Robben all prefer playing on the left. Sneijder when playing is supposed to be positioned on the right side of midfield, but he has no capacity to play in the wings and put in crosses. He is small and is easily muscled off balls. His strength is in his first touch football, set pieces and his ability to keep the midfield plays going. Guti is never a player to depend on the consistency angle. Baptista is one rare Brazilian i have seen who has a clumsy first touch and needs so much time on the ball. He wants playing time, so where does he play, God know where, some position which is not in the coaching manual i guess. Madrid thus plays with a midfield with no winger on the right. They have looked absolutely superb when they play two wingers like the game against Valladolid.
Madrid' Striker department is a classic example of poor man management. Agreed Van Nistelrooy and Raul are the first choice strikers. I have written this numerous times, Saviola, Soldado and Higuain are not in the team for warming the bench and seeing 10 minutes of playing time per game. Now Van Nistelrooy created some controversy when the press claimed that he decided on his own to go for an ankle surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season and did not consult with Madrid. The reason being that the Dutchman wanted to be fit in time for Euro 2008. Real have later cleared this, Yes the guy was the top scorer in the league in his first year last year, but is Schuster ready for a spell without him.
I have written about the superb tactics from Schuster and because of the good work Real did from the beginning of the season to the winter break, they are still in control but with 9 games left it is time to quickly figure out what has gone wrong. 6 defeats in the last 8 games including exits from the Spanish cup and the Champions League, Schuster better take the team to the La Liga title or it would be more disgraceful and confusing than the loss against Valencia. He is not helping the cause by already claiming that Real are interested in signing Ajax striker Klaas-Jaan Huntelaar, Ya right this is what you should be worrying about now.
Villareal have moved in to 2 points behind Barcelona at 56 and with the lead cut down to 4 points by Barca, i am getting reminded of the 2003-2004 season when Real were cruising till the winter break as leaders and ended up 3rd behind then winners Valencia and runner up Barcelona.
No comments:
Post a Comment