Copa Del Rey second leg today and tomorrow, wont be watching because I'm now a regular on the clubbing circuit and paparazzi favorite, plus no one telecasts copa del rey in India... The furor around Pepe is quite amusing, like Mourinho said. This maniac was born with red mist in his eyes, the Messi-hand stamp is quite likely one of his tamest offences ever, I'm sure even he's quite ashamed to follow up a record of frenzied hacks and gruesome stomps with this tiny little prance on one finger. Banning him from football would rob us of the kind of life Tennis robbed us of when Safin and Jeff Tarango left. Violence! At least keep him here long enough for him to poetically die by the sword, we owe him that much. The post title refers to a stunning revelation by goal.com that he only gets violent if things are going badly for Madrid....WHAAT??? you mean frustration doesn't set in while cruising at 5-0 and already dreaming of the Sangrias???
On to the late Madrid kickoff against Bilbao, yet another night that was done within 2 minutes, and the game was no different either... Frustratingly facile comeback victory after Bilbao really took it to them for the first 28mins, even going ahead. I've always quite hated Karim Benzema, he had that overrated overpriced overpredictable overfrench look about him that made me hate Robben and his fairy prancing onto his left foot to then shoot. But I think I've done him a disservice, the game hinged on him moving from left wing to a FW position, and his touches under pressure in the box are critical to this team. If you've seen Madrid over the last 2-3yrs, you'd know a majority of their goals (those that aren't Ronaldo set pieces or blatant counter attacks where their players outnumber opposing defense I mean) come from quite rapid passing interchange leading to someone bursting into the box clean through on goal. Very rarely do these come from the wings. On paper Benzema starts at FW, with Ronaldo on the wing, but within 3-4mins you'll see Benzema collecting from deep on the left flank and exchanging with Ronaldo who is both further forward and in the middle. This also keeps Ozil pressed towards the right flank, where he is wasted, and Alonso in his own half to balance a central part of the pitch that Ronaldo has hollowed out.
This game turned when Benzema moved back Center, and Ozil tucked in behind him. Their interplay is excellent, and both have a first touch on the ball that Ronaldo would pay dearly for if he were smart enough to know it was important... The equalizer immediately came, and then they just steam rolled their way past a very disappointing Bilbao side, which shot itself in the foot not only with its deep lying DF, but also its diverging attacks from center to the corner flags. RM don't switch too well between Counter Attacking mode and Sustained pressure mode, obviously, since the personnel deployed for each of these is way different. By now, you've read the articles on the radically attacking first team Mourinho fielded this game, and they were in sustained pressure mode. Opposing teams should be smart enough to know this difference, to hence play a higher line. With the FW's only acting as a focal receptacle to draw defense and create the hole for a deeper player to burst in, they play with a lot less pace, and hence should be countered with a much higher defensive line focusing instead on the deeper players. Contrast with their Counter-Attack mode where the defense should probably fall much deeper.
Looking at the RM's attacking set up, I was quite optimistic about Bilbao's chances seeing as how they set up as a 3-4-3. But Javi Martinez neatly slotted into DF and made it a 4-3-3 for as long as they had 11 men, which really rarified the pressure on Madrid's attacks coming from deeper. Herrera had a great game winning possession and exchanging very pretty passes with Susaeta as they played the ball out of dangerous areas into attack very uncharacteristically since I've usually associated Bilbao with more direct outlets onto wide positions, then cutting in towards the final 3rd. Strange to see the opposite this time as they worked into the final 3rd right down the middle especially through De Marcos (who had a great game creatively, a terrible one finishing wise, just like Llorente) and then inexplicably diverged onto the empty wings there on... The start of the season pinned a lot of hopes on Muniain, and Javi - the former didn't see much of the ball, and the latter looks just as uncomfortable with his new hybrid role as Sergio Busquets did.
Barca can't make the same mistakes Bilbao made, since their high defense and MF pressure is the only way they know, but they might not need to. Like I said about Madrid modes, tomorrow's Copa is definitely a Counter-Attack mode game, which on one hand really reduces the impact Benzema can have, but also uses Barca's high line against them. What confuses me is when Mourinho mixes up his personnel when switching modes. Higuain not starting when they set out to play Counter is really strange, as is Kaka starting. But I'm feeling brave enough to predict a Higuain and Ronaldo combo, and a Cesc equaliser for 1-1 draw. Barca through to meet Valencia.
P.S why are all the articles focused on Mourinho-Ramos politics, instead of the hissy fit Ronaldo threw on the pitch after Alonso shoved him off so derisively!! haha that was incredible... Miiiaaowwww!!
On to the late Madrid kickoff against Bilbao, yet another night that was done within 2 minutes, and the game was no different either... Frustratingly facile comeback victory after Bilbao really took it to them for the first 28mins, even going ahead. I've always quite hated Karim Benzema, he had that overrated overpriced overpredictable overfrench look about him that made me hate Robben and his fairy prancing onto his left foot to then shoot. But I think I've done him a disservice, the game hinged on him moving from left wing to a FW position, and his touches under pressure in the box are critical to this team. If you've seen Madrid over the last 2-3yrs, you'd know a majority of their goals (those that aren't Ronaldo set pieces or blatant counter attacks where their players outnumber opposing defense I mean) come from quite rapid passing interchange leading to someone bursting into the box clean through on goal. Very rarely do these come from the wings. On paper Benzema starts at FW, with Ronaldo on the wing, but within 3-4mins you'll see Benzema collecting from deep on the left flank and exchanging with Ronaldo who is both further forward and in the middle. This also keeps Ozil pressed towards the right flank, where he is wasted, and Alonso in his own half to balance a central part of the pitch that Ronaldo has hollowed out.
This game turned when Benzema moved back Center, and Ozil tucked in behind him. Their interplay is excellent, and both have a first touch on the ball that Ronaldo would pay dearly for if he were smart enough to know it was important... The equalizer immediately came, and then they just steam rolled their way past a very disappointing Bilbao side, which shot itself in the foot not only with its deep lying DF, but also its diverging attacks from center to the corner flags. RM don't switch too well between Counter Attacking mode and Sustained pressure mode, obviously, since the personnel deployed for each of these is way different. By now, you've read the articles on the radically attacking first team Mourinho fielded this game, and they were in sustained pressure mode. Opposing teams should be smart enough to know this difference, to hence play a higher line. With the FW's only acting as a focal receptacle to draw defense and create the hole for a deeper player to burst in, they play with a lot less pace, and hence should be countered with a much higher defensive line focusing instead on the deeper players. Contrast with their Counter-Attack mode where the defense should probably fall much deeper.
Looking at the RM's attacking set up, I was quite optimistic about Bilbao's chances seeing as how they set up as a 3-4-3. But Javi Martinez neatly slotted into DF and made it a 4-3-3 for as long as they had 11 men, which really rarified the pressure on Madrid's attacks coming from deeper. Herrera had a great game winning possession and exchanging very pretty passes with Susaeta as they played the ball out of dangerous areas into attack very uncharacteristically since I've usually associated Bilbao with more direct outlets onto wide positions, then cutting in towards the final 3rd. Strange to see the opposite this time as they worked into the final 3rd right down the middle especially through De Marcos (who had a great game creatively, a terrible one finishing wise, just like Llorente) and then inexplicably diverged onto the empty wings there on... The start of the season pinned a lot of hopes on Muniain, and Javi - the former didn't see much of the ball, and the latter looks just as uncomfortable with his new hybrid role as Sergio Busquets did.
Barca can't make the same mistakes Bilbao made, since their high defense and MF pressure is the only way they know, but they might not need to. Like I said about Madrid modes, tomorrow's Copa is definitely a Counter-Attack mode game, which on one hand really reduces the impact Benzema can have, but also uses Barca's high line against them. What confuses me is when Mourinho mixes up his personnel when switching modes. Higuain not starting when they set out to play Counter is really strange, as is Kaka starting. But I'm feeling brave enough to predict a Higuain and Ronaldo combo, and a Cesc equaliser for 1-1 draw. Barca through to meet Valencia.
P.S why are all the articles focused on Mourinho-Ramos politics, instead of the hissy fit Ronaldo threw on the pitch after Alonso shoved him off so derisively!! haha that was incredible... Miiiaaowwww!!
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