Midweek Showdown Preview
By: Corey | September 26th, 2007Real Madrid takes on Real Betis on Thursday as part of a La Liga midweek showdown. Most of Europe is playing in the midweek finally, whether it be league or cup fixtures. I say finally because it is much easier for me to watch midweek fixtures then weekend ones. But of course, as the rest of Spain plays today, Real plays tomorrow, which is my busy day. Steve I assume will have a liveblog for all of you, if he is not busy as well.
Real Betis was always one of those teams I admired for being plucky and low key but always pushing for more. Well not anymore, Sevilla owns Seville now, and Real Betis, like Levante, Murcia and Getafe, are relegation fodder. Did you know that i write this stuff in my boxers every morning drinking orange juice from the carton, singing along to Billy Joel or whatever I feel like hearing for the day. Just thought you should know.
With Betis as relegation fodder, expect them to park everyone and the team bus in front of the goal and be quick on the counter. Real should dominate possesion against a very weak team, with their only goal threats being Edu and Rafeal Sobis, two Brazilians (duh). Sobis scored last weekend in the 2-1 loss to Valencia, so he may be dangerous.
With 2 points from 4 games, Hector Cuper will probably be very satisfied with a draw, so I expect him to use the tactics that won him so much plaudits with Mallorca, Valencia and Inter, but very little in terms of overly awwed spectators. His Mallorca side was dull and boring, defending deep, which is what the Valencia of before Rafa Benitez did, Rafa just made them even more cynical. And who the hell cares about Inter? Cuper is like Capello, he is a winner, well sorta, he sorta loses in finals or semifinals all the time, but he brings teams up to their peak and cant finish, which isnt Capello at all. Hmm, ok well Cuper is like Capello in that he gets the job done, no matter how boring or defensive it has to be done.
Betis has good players sure, David Odonkor and Mark Gonzalez provide pace on the wings, and is mentioned earlier, Sobis is a great striker. Capi and Fernando (ex-Real Madrid) are talented with the ball, while defensively they have the Serb Branko Ilic and the under rated Melli. They also have a long list of injuries, including Marko Babic, Xisco, Lima, Mariano Pavone, José Mari, Arzu and Albert Riera. All important first team players. Expect Somoza to sit in front of the back four with Fernando and Capi ahead of him, and Sobis alone up front. Catenaccio at its finest tomorrow.
Real Madrid’s Squad List:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek.
Defenders: Miguel Torres, Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze, Marcelo.
Midfielders: Robinho, Diarra, Guti, Sneijder, Gago, Robben.
Attackers: Raul, Saviola, Van Nistelrooy, Baptista, Higuain
As for Real, Metzelder (who is my favorite defender right now) and Pepe are still both doubtful, which leaves the jaded Fabio Cannavaro as our only true center back. Expect one of Sergio Ramos or Gabriel Heinze to start in the center. Seeing as how Salgado is out injured, it coul be Heinze in the center and Sergio Ramos on the right. Royston Drenthe is also injured, although I doubt he would have played with Sneijder being restored to the side. Marcelo could get the nod at left back, and maybe Torres will make the bench this game (fingers crossed). Or he could start at right back, put Sergio in the middle and Heinze at left back. The left back spot really dictates what happens for me. With Marcelo there you will probably have Sneijder on the left of midfield, but with Robben on the left you would probably want Heinze. So many permutations for Schuster, id say Torres gets the start though, sorry Marcelo.
Here is the dilemma, with Sneijder back in the lineup, theres no room for Robben unless Sneijder is on the right (??) which is where Robinho or Higuain should play. A central midfield canondrum then Schustie. And who plays on the left of midfield dictates who plays at left back, and like dominoes, who plays at center back and right back. The left midfield spot will dictate who starts this game.
Up front Raul will start, he looks good so far. RUUUUUUUDGOOOOOLLL may not start though, as he has a calf problem. Id say rest him, dont aggrivate the problem. BUUUUT Soldado is not in the squad, so with Saviola looking like partnering Raul, you have Baptista as your back up striker, which he isnt. Glad he is on the bench though, the Beast has been under utilized as of yet. No Soldado in the squad? What the hell Schuster, this boy could have gone anywhere and he came back to Real to fight for a place and now he isnt even in the squad? I dont like this move at all. Rocky Balboa does not make the squad as well, that I have gotten use to.
Ohh, and Diarra and Guti start too, so theres your lineup. Here is Real’s last encounter with Betis (not counting the friendly loss in preseason):
Just kidding, its just an outrageous goal by the young Zinedine Zidane agaisnt Betis in the 95-96 season. Tricked you!
Heres some news for the day:
- Gabriel Heinze is glad to see the sun after a few years in Manchester. He is happy in Madrid, to be training in sunshine once again. And he had some comforting words for the Guahco. Thats nice, next.
- Ramon Calderon had this to say about being detained in NYC, or as we locals call it, the city, yesterday:
They acted appropriately,” said Calderon. “The only bad thing that happened was they refused to listen to me.
“Of course, I told them a thousand times I wasn’t the person they were looking for. I told them I was president of Real Madrid, but they wouldn’t listen.
“I must say I am disappointed by some of the reporting of this. I’ve already seen on the internet some claims I was stopped over ’strange circumstances’. What rubbish! What happened to me, has happened to many people travelling from Spain. You just have to laugh about it.”
Calderon added: “The only concern I had was my wife and I would miss the Opera. But we managed to get to the theatre five minutes before it began. We had dinner with Placido Domingo, a great Madridista, afterwards and joked about the incident.”
Thank god he didnt miss the opera, I would have been devastated for him. Its always funny that the Real Madrid president has dinner with all of the famours Madridistas of the world, yet he has yet to ring my mobile for some home made mac and cheese in my dorm. Im still waiting Ramon…I have lots of beer and vitamin water in my fridge as a bonus.
- Werder Bremen will not block Deigo’s move to Real Madrid. Nope, they will make a killing off the transfer fee then scour Brazil and pick up a kid named Renato Augusto from Flamengo from pennies and he is already better then Diego. This is the way of the world.
He should be in the squad, look at the joy of this Madridista…
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Comments
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which leaves the jaded Fabio Cannavaro as our only true center back
Excuse me? Jaded?
Posted from
United States
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Who’s this Renato Augusto kid? I don’t really follow South American leagues.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Renato Augusto is a tall strong central midfielder with skills a plenty, he starred in an otherwise disappointing u-20 WC for Brazil. In my opinion, he is the best central midfield prospect from Brazil right now.
Cannavaro = Jaded. He has been lets say, average to poor. Fair at best. Like the freshmen girl that calls you all the time so you finally do the deed but it ends up being fair at best.
Also, everyone get their changes made for the Champions League Fantasy League I have rollin. My poor performance last week will not be repeated, so you dudes and betties better be ready.
Posted from
United States -
1. I don’t understand your definition of “jaded.” It generally means either weary/tired or cynical. Weary, perhaps, since he’s played in every match this season, plus Azzurri duty. Cynical I would dispute–he’s an acknowledged leader on the squad, and he certainly didn’t need to step into that role if he didn’t care.
2. I also don’t understand your evaluation of Cannavaro’s performance. Even the last match, without any support on the right and the midfield’s inability to hold the ball, he put in a good performance, including at least 2 interceptions that directly prevented goals. No, he hasn’t been perfect, he was turned inside out a couple of times, but few CBs are always foot perfect, and he’s been generally good in every game except for the one where he was subbed at the half because he was playing on a sprained ankle. Like it or not, Schuster has said in interviews that the defense is going to be based around Cannavaro, so he must be seeing something positive, too. The Spanish papers, which massacred him last season, have also been pretty positive, as have Spanish fans in the forums.
I understand that his performances haven’t put him clear of criticism, but I think even implying “poor” is harsh.
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United States -
I think being awarded the Golden Ball was the worst thing that ever happened to Cannavaro, in a way. I still stand behind him, and think he’s a good central defender, but he doesn’t live up to the expectation of being the greatest in the game. And although it’d be nice for Madrid to have the greatest (especially considering what we paid, but c’mon, it’s Madrid, all of our athletes are overpaid), Cannavaro’s still above average, to say the least, and deserves a starting spot.
As far as the Betis formation, I hope we see Torres on the right, Heinze left, Canna and Ramos center. The midfield has me scratching my head, but I’ll agree with Corey on Snyder left, Guti and Diarra center (with Diarra playing back a bit; some insurance against the counter) and Robinho right. I predict Guti will perform better than usual with Saviola up front, and the combo will be good for at least one goal.
Robben and Higauin are great late in the game subs, their fresh legs can rip apart a tired defense. And along with Corey, I’d also like to see the Beast out there at some point, whether as a starter or sub.
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United States -
Well, to me Cannavaro represents wasted space. His wages and squad spot could be put to better use with other players. I was never in favor of signing him anyways, his form before the WC was nothing spectacular. His form since then has been patchy at best, its really a toss up what you get with him. He makes tackles and interceptions sure, but alot of times the goals we concede are his fault. I will never forget how easily John Carew, Norwegian Peter Crouch, brushed him off while dribbling straigh at the goal. John Carew is not a good striker.
John- I think everyone wants to see Torres start and the Beast come on as a sub, lets hope Schuster makes it happen.
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United States -
While I agree, Corey, that Cannavaro’s performance was less than satisfactory or even poor at times last season, I cannot but doubt whether you’ve watched any matches this season (pre-season games included). So far he has been solid, quick with anticipation and relatively consistent, easily the best - not just fair, but the best - player among the four defenders. I’m not saying he hasn’t made any mistakes, because he has, but hey, can anyone find me a CB who NEVER makes one single mistake? Overally speaking, I think it’d be highly unfair to say he is “wasted space” simply because he didn’t play well last season while ignoring how he has preformed these several weeks.
Posted from
Hong Kong -
his form before the WC was nothing spectacular
For the record, Cannavaro was awarded the best defender in Italy’s Oscar del Calcio before the world cup, a country swamped with quality defender talents. Juventus fans loved him to pieces (before he left the club that is) so I wasn’t sure where did this come from.
For that John Carew thing, EVERY player fucked up once in awhile. Name a top world-class player that NEVER ever had some low point in his career?
That said, Cannavaro started to gradually pick up his form towards the end of last season. He was easily one of the better players so far this season and worked well with any CB partners, be it Pepe, Metzelder or Ramos. Comments on his performance so far have been generally positive also.
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Hong Kong -
I’ll agree with most that it shouldn’t be expected that Cannavaro could match his Ballon d’Or performance of 2006, as he played out of his mind, but the bottom line is, Casillas has to bail out his defense far too often. Cannavaro has played better this year than last, but a central defender almost has less room for error than the keeper, since the centreback really only has to worry about marking his man.
now, a large part of my criticism could also be directed at the midfield, which is defensively poor, at best. Guti is a pylon, and Robinho doesn’t show the same desire for getting the ball as he does keeping it. Maybe that’s a price we’ll just have to pay with the new free-flow style of play.
Nonetheless, Cannavaro could still pick it up a notch. Sergio Ramos has been simply outstanding, and I reckon he’ll go down as one of the best and smartest players ever to don the white shirt.
I will give further credit to Cannavaro who has been better than Pepe or Metzelder. I thought Metzelder would adapt better, he’s played really well for Germany, but he’s also had below-par performances for Real, though he does look very smooth on the ball. Jury’s out on Pepe, I haven’t seen him play enough.
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United Kingdom -
Were talking about the Golden Ball here, a defender winning the Golden Ball means he has to be incredible all year long, not just in the World Cup. He was not incredible all year long, and his numerous awards were given to him after Italy won the World Cup. If they had not won, do you think the flood of awards would have come his way?
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United States -
Sorry Corey, just for the record, Canna won the best defender award in Italy BEFORE the WC. He won it again after the WC of course. Ask any Juventus fans and they would all agree that Canna was in his top form even before entering the WC. And he carried Italy’s defense for over ten years, so it’s not like he just had a great performance in the summer of 2007. Well, just thought we should set the fact right.
Posted from
Hong Kong -
renato augusto in janar coming in Arsenal ….lets go in Gunner club bc they arse very danger..in world
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Serbia And Montenegro -
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