Grapevine and Huelva Preview

By: Corey | October 5th, 2007

Real Madrid take on Recreativo Huelva this weekend in what can only be described as another game in a long line of not so interesting encounters for Real. Almeria, Valladolid, Betis, Getafe. Snoor. Thank god for the CL which breathes some life into me, I am not pumped for this game either, as I expect more of the same from Schuster’s men. Which means winning by a goal but not looking like defending champs at all.

I was thinking about Schuster’s tactics and style of play against these lsser teams while I was at work today. I have two jobs at school, the one I am at right now I dont do anything, I am in charge of a freshmen dorms technology needs, so basically I have staff members that go around to all the dorm rooms and update freshmen laptops. And I just make sure my staff does what I tell them too. Management is a good major and future job for me.

I have plenty of time to write this column everyday, and I got to thinking about how Schuster is well aware of Real’s lack of conviction and struggles against the lesser teams in Spain. Are the lesser teams better compared to the lesser teams of Serie A or the PL? Maybe. Not the time to debate that, the point is, Schuster may be holding back against the lesser teams, preferring to secure the points and wait for the big games to turn the style on. Well, this can be true with a thrashing against Villareal or not so obvious with less then stellar performances against Lazio or Sevilla in the Super Cup. I dont know, just a thought, debate it if you would like.

Grapevine

HAHAHAH, my mouths watering just thinking about those balls. HAHAHAH im so immature

- Deportivo is batting its eyelids at Roberto Soldado for the winter mercato. Deportivo officials were in Madrid yesterday to talk to Atletico about some loan deals, and the press assumes they met with Real as well. Soldado is getting shafted, so maybe a quick 6 month loan would be good, but then again I want him around cause I think Saviola has been balls so far. Haha, shweaty balls

- FIFA 08 is coming out on Tuesday, I for one am pumped. Im buying it for my ps2 intially, as my PS3 is at home, but ill get the game for PS3 over Christmas. Heres a review of it:

For me, FIFA’s career mode is like an orgasm, I love it. It lacks the in-depthness of Footballs Manager by a long shot, and the gameplay is not up to the standards of Winning Eleven, but its sort of the best of both worlds. Id be lieing if I said I dont buy FM and WE along with FIFA every year.

- Ruud is getting a contract renewal, probably the last big one of his career. And its well deserved, he has been awesome for us, I didnt expect him to be this good to be honest. A Real ‘insider’ ahd this to say about the renewal “Ruud is an exemplary sportsman, at the very same height of Raul. He trains as he plays, has never given us a problem and is helping to integrate the Dutch that arrived in the summer.”

“Van Nistelrooy was key in the Liga that we won and this year returns to be the most effective forward. This renewal is deserved.” It is, congrats RVN.

- Fabio Capello is unimpressed with Schuster’s team.

“When they play away from home they have problems and we saw a very different Real Madrid compared to mine.”

“This team doesn’t have an identity, although I know Schuster is trying to give it one. They gave the opposition too many chances to score and I must admit they failed to convince me

Well I am not either, but im still more content then I was with you in charge last year.

- Wesley Sneijder has finally come off his intial debut high and is now beign weighed down by the pressures of expectation. Ill tell him this, dont worry about it, do what you do and the applause will come. You were great when you didnt worry about doing everything right, so stick with that. You have not been bad as of late, but not as good as you started out. Keep your chin up kid (He is older then me by 4 years which is sad).

- Aragones did not call up Raul or Guti. Guti I can see, Raul, thats inexucsable. He also left out Jesus Navas and still calls up Angulo and Capedvilla while leaving out Angel. I wrote a post about Aragones’ selection snafus and I wont harp on it anymore, I simply dont like it. Three strikers! Old fool…

- Samuel Etoo would not welcome a transfer back to Real. He is supposively “locked” out of the Barca side, even though he is injured currently. He can displace Henry and he can keep Bojan out of the team too. More fluff from the press

Match Preview

Real is pretty much full strength, with Metzelder returning to training and Robinho shaking off his ankle knock from the Getafe match. Pepe is still out but is training, while Robben and Robinho were declared fit for the match. Expect a pretty much unchanged starting eleven, except on the right. Schuster must not trust Torres in Europe, but he will most likely start against Huelva.

——————Casillas——————-
Torres—Sergio Ramos—Cannavaro—Heinze
Higuain—–Diarra—–Sneijder—–Robben
———–Raul———RVN—————

I cant beat a dead horse here, so I wont get into tactics and such, you all know what to expect. With the whole squad rotation thing Schuster is using I really never know who will play, and it seems the players dont either. With a constantly changing list of personnel, the players look out of sorts on the field and there is not much chemistry.

Creativity with the ball is lacking, as well as maintaing posession in the center of the park after more then 3 passes. Maybe Guti will start, maybe Marcelo, maybe Gago? Who knows, Schuster pulls rabbits out of holes, we will leave it at that. I want to see some inspired football for once though, im craving it. Lyon is letting me down, Roma isnt finishing off games, and Arsenal, well actually they are doing well. No Bills game on Sunday means I am devoted to La Liga and whatever football happens to be on in the apartment. The Bills get to host a Monday night for the first time in 13 years. Yeah, no bias to big market teams or anything.

Recreativo Huelva

The old club, Huelva did well last year but lost their coach. This year they are still doing well, and no one has forgotten how they beat us in the Bernabeu last year. A little payback may be in the offing here, although Real did win the away game last year with Roberto Carlos putting a ball in for Raul to slot home. Huelva got stuffed by Sevilla as of late, but dont expect a 4-1 scoreline on Sunday, mainly because of Real’s play but also because Munoz has the team playing a more defensive game then last year.

Last years tormentor Sinama Pongolle is out injured for awhile, but he traveled to with the squad to Madrid so he may see time on the pitch. Carlos Martins is suspended, which is good cause I think he is a tidy player, most ex-Sporting players are. Zahinos, ex-Atletico douche will probably partner Jesus Vazquez in the center, with Guerrero up front and Varela either partnering him or flanking him with Marquitos. Edu Moya, Beto, Alvarez and Caceres should round out the lineup. Ohh and Sorrentino in goal.

They could go with Javi Guerrero all alone, which he is very adept at. He is the danger man, and I hope Cannavaro shackles him when Huelva counter-attack, because trust me they will in force. With Martins out of the centre, I think they will go for a 4-2-3-1 just so that they stay solid with his absence.

I predict a score of 3-0 to Real, and Im hoping for a much better perfomance from the whole team. Munoz has a touchline ban and will watch from the stands, and he will have plenty of time to see Raul notch up 2 and Sneijder get another. I have dropped to .400 on my predictions unfortunately, lets hope this is a better weekend.

Training Pictures

Its 7:00pm on a Friday night in college, I must be going, theres much beer to be drank and other fun stuff to do. Adios

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT
SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Salgado, Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Metzelder, Heinze, Marcelo
Midfielders::Diarra, Gago, Guti, Robben, Higuaín, Sneijder
Forwards: Raúl, Van Nistelrooy, Baptista, Saviola
Next training session: Tuesday 9 October @ 11:00 CET at Real Madrid City.

MEDICAL REPORT:
Pepe: Mild right hamstring tear. Medical treatment and physiotherapy. Gym and field work.
Robinho: Sprained left ankle. Training with the team.
Arjen Robben: Bruised right knee. Training with the team.

Hey guess what, its Saturday night and I still have alot of beer to drink. 11am may be to early for me to wake up for this game…