Barcelona, Granero, Ronaldo and Racing aka “Get Your Guns Cleaned, Bassam Is Discussing Ronaldo”

By: Bassam | March 8th, 2011

long post means some music

There has been a lot of talk about the racing game and the reason the team was flowing so much in the first half. The second half was a bit slow, but thats partly due to the team taking a foot off the pedal as they usually do when they are ahead. There has been claims that the reason behind that, is Ronaldo not playing. There has been other claims that it was Granero that made the difference in the game. There has been other claims that say that it wasn’t neither, but rather Racing being poor. So Lets try and break this down, but before we start…

[Start Scene]:

Man X: Did you hear? Ronaldo is out for 10 to 15 days. He might not make it to the Lyon game!

Man Y; Wow! That would suck! He has scored 70% of our goals!

Man X: Yea it would suck to not have him in the biggest game this season.

Man Y: We are doomed if he doesn’t play!!

Man X: We do have a 25 man squad…. Ooooh!! Game has started!!

[90 awesome minutes later]

Man X: Wow that first half was the best football we have played in so long!! Amazing!

Man Y: Yea it was great passing on our part!

Man X: Yea! I feel Granero added something to the midfield.

Man Y: Ozil is awesome!

Man X: It’s interesting that even without Ronaldo, we managed one of the best displays this season. I’m less worried that Ronaldo might miss the Lyon clash.

Man Y: Effff your mom. You idiot. You don’t know foozball!

Man X: but i think Ronaldo is one of the most important…

Man Y: And eff your sista and your father and your mather and your grandmather and your grandpapa and your mather…

Man X: You already said mother… 3 times…

[Man jumps out of bushes that magically grew once Man X uttered Ronaldo's name]

Man Z: I swear, i kill you, Man X. And i will kill your mother and father and sister and grandmother….

[Man X pulls out gun and shoots himself. 5 times]

[At the funeral]

Puyol the poster: Oooooh the grave for Barcelona fans are nicer. Ooooh barca fans die nicer. OOOOOOO MOC MOC OOOOOOO #I.GET.TURNED.ON.BY.MESSI #cannibalcorpe #PleaseComeToLoveBlogAgain!

[End Scene]

*Disclaimer, this was meant to demonstrate a point in a rather not so serious way. Not particularly made to make you guys laugh, although I’m sure you got a crack out of Man X dying.*

So what im trying to say, please don’t have a cow if you disagree with my comments, especially the ones regarding Ronaldo. It is my opinion, and last i checked, just as you guys, I’m allowed to have it and say it! YAY to freedom! If you disagree with me, don’t attack me and say i hate this and im biased that and all that crap. Tell me why you think I’m wrong. I’m always up for a discussion.

So lets start with one point. I don’t believe the claims that Racing are poor. Prior to facing us, Racing was on a 6 game unbeaten record, winning their last 3 games. And if you watch the game again, Racing did pack the midfield a lot. In fact, they were playing with 3 pivots and two attacking mids (hence why we saw no attacks from the middle. Munites, who is supposed to be a second striker was at many times all the way back at his teams penalty box defending. A perfect example of this is the video that Andres made.

If you look at the video and the players, Racing was obviously pressuring our midfielders right after they lost the ball. The reason why this pressurizing didn’t work is because the team seemed on the same wavelength when it came to passing. There is a rule in football that my old coach used to always say, the ball moved fast than the player, so if you want to get it forward the fastest way, you have to pass it there, not run it there. There were three to four players around our players but we still got out of a tight situation very well. I should also note, that the reasons why this happened are two:

First, there was a good passing outlet other than Alonso. Usually, the second the team gets the ball, the pass goes to Alonso, and if Alonso does pass it back to his partner, it gets passed back very fast. Is it the limitation of his partners that leads to that? Maybe, but i personally don’t know. Granero, love him or hate him, offered a huge passing outlet in the game. As reported by Unamadradista, Granero did 75 passes, 62 of which were complete, during the game. As Una also pointed, this was way above the average that Khedira and Lass make ((42/36) and (42/37)). Granero this season has averaged (65/59) during the games he has played. When you have this player adding 20 to 30 extra passes per game, and being sound defensively (Mou’s words not mine), then there is no reason why the play shouldn’t be better. So statistics, the coach and the game show correlation between Granero’s presence and the style that we played yesterday.

Second, there was the Di Maria and Ozil factor. If you look at that video again, you can see how deep Ozil and Di Maria were dropping. Di Maria wasn’t involved in the play per say, but i loved how deep he was playing to help bring the ball forward. Once you have a player like Ozil dropping deep to play the ball, then you have three passing outlets. You have Alonso, Granero and Ozil who are all capable of spotting the pass and getting the ball forward. I discussed this a long time ago, but the more the likes of Ozil, Di Maria and Ronaldo drop back, the more control we have of our midfield and the better we can move the ball forward.

As for the Ronaldo factor, I don’t agree that he is the reason why the team can’t pull these passes together when he is on the field. A player of his quality can not, and should not be allowed to hinder the play of the team, and i don’t think he is. The thing is, what we saw against Racing was the variation in passing outlets. The ball was passed in attack to either Ozil, Di Maria, Benzema or Adebayor. This allowed the team to spread its play all around and not concentrate on one outlet. What happens when Ronaldo plays is not that he doesn’t pass or doesn’t know how to do one touch football, but rather that if the team concentrates on playing its game through him alone, then the other team expects it, and hence anticipated what will happen and close down the options. I don’t know whether this is something the team does, or rather an instruction from the coach, but either way, the Racing game was an indication that we have more than one game changer.

gallery_main-cristiano-ronaldo-biege-irina-shayk-madrid-10052010-10

Ronaldo has improved since the start of the season on his passing and his endless runs/shots from god knows where. I give him credit for that. Of course, i do still believe that there is still room for improvement, as he is currently averaging 43 passes with 30 passes complete every game. This is an increase on last years numbers as he was making 32 passes, 25 of which are complete. I think Ronaldo has really good off the ball movement, and if the team is instructed to not concentrate the play through him alone, then we can always achieve the style of play we played against Racing. So to be clear, so no one confuses this, I think it wasn’t Ronaldo that was the problem (there really isn’t a problem, its just a big big improvement). I think a HUGE part has to do with the 2 points i put up, and for those who are wondering if Ronaldo can play in a system like that, then i think yes. As i said above, we just need to make sure we keep the variation we had against Racing in terms of passing and play.

So those were my thoughts on the game, and for those who are interested, Alonso averages 75 passes a game, 65 of which hit their target. Ozil on the other hand averages 67 passes a game, 55 of which reach their target. What was most interesting to me is that Di Maria averages 52 passes a game, with only 37 reaching their target. Thats a 71% success rate as opposed to 87 % by Alonso and 81 % by Ozil. But he does have a lot of assists to his name. If anyone is interested, towards the end of the season, i will make a post specific to statistics. It does take a lot of work getting the info, but if you guys want it, then you guys will have it .

higuain4

I will end this post by congratulating the dark side (aka Barcelona) on their progression from the round of 16 and hopefully we will be on that same boat next week. Yes the red card on RVP was not fair, but in all due honesty, despite my hate of everything that is Barcelona, they deserved to win. The RVP red card can be argued with the penalty not being called on Messi. I would hate if my team controlled the game, had 19 shots as opposed to the zero that Arsenal had and then didn’t come out with a win. So I will list a few positives that went through my head after Barcelona won and that might help you go to sleep:

1) They get to stay in the CL which means more midweek games and higher chances of them dropping points. \

2) As a fan of football in general, I can’t honestly say Barcelona didn’t play much better than Arsenal even before the sending off. Unless that was the tactic made by Wenger to play crappy for 70 minutes and then kick Barcelona’s ass. Everything is possible, no?

3) We won’t have more EPL representatives than La Liga in the latter stages of the competition. Of course, I’m assuming we will go through.

4) One of my best friends is an Arsenal fan and is as obnoxious as they get. Plus I stopped by the Barca offside yesterday, and they had some troll problems. And they were the worse. As trashy as they get.

5) The RVP trick that Wenger pulled was really stupid IMO and I would hate if another manager did it against us. Knowing which striker is going to start against your team is essential in the tactics. I remember back 6 years ago, some team did that against us in the CL and I was super pissed.

6) Better for Spanish football and i don’t get to hear EPL people say they are better.

7) Me trying to bore you lot with a bunch of made up reasons why we can be happy about Barcelona progressing.

I always try to find positives when something i don’t like happens. The positives are not always that great though. In other news, Higuain is putting 9 hours a day in the gym as proposed by him and supported by Mourinho to get back in shape ASAP. Reports of him returning by the end of the month are rubbish and don’t believe them. He will probably return by May, but if he doesn’t recover fast, then i would say he stays till the end of next season. A hernia is something that is really delicate, and Kaka can vouch for that.

Anyways, those were my thoughts of the game and the whole situation. Hope you enjoyed it. I know a lot of you have talked about this, but what do you think of the whole matter. Tell me again! And please, if you disagree, I know im an SOB, so don’t remind me. Just tell me why you disagree.

The Guard of honor: You will see this video in posts at random points in my posts in the future. It just makes me happy, OOOOOO MOC MOC OOOOOO.

Hala Madrid!!

Some Related Real Madrid Posts:

Category: Team News

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Pyro

Blegh I just puked after watching that pasillo video. Thank god, I decided to go get ice cream instead of watching that game. I wish your team in white luck in the CL next week. Down with the EPL. *faints*
Nyonya Mansoor

That's just football..how many times we've seen the underdogs beat the top teams..Hercules-Barcelona, our very own Osasuna-Real Madrid, Wolves-MU, Spurs-AC Milan etc. So nothing is impossible, anything can happen. That's why we should never ever give up.
Bassam

If we go through the CL tie, here is the schedule we will be facing:

Bilbao (A) – ¼ final UCL (2nd leg) – Barcelona (H) – Barcelona (CdR) – Valencia (A)

ouchy grouchy! Thats a tough one...

So if we go through and draw Barcelona, we might play them 3 times in one week. Something my heart won't handle and i would hate to see!

Aaaaand what also sucks is that after the Lyon game, there is stupid international break! So if we lose, we have to live with not seeing the team for a week and a half before next game :( But we are going to win!!

Hala Madrid!!!
Muna

Not to mention, folks who'll be having end of semester exams that week. It'll be insane
hehe101

Yeah I'm going to die in April. I have exams the first week of May and all of this will be happening when I'm studying for Calculus and Chem intensely a few weeks before. We better do well in that week or I might just die and do poorly on my exams cause I'll be so upset :P
Muna

What I found funny about the Barca-Arsenal game was the fact that Valdes and Abidal were so eager to fight Arsenal's yound boys when just a few months ago, Ramos almost took the whole team on his own, not to mention CR "assaulting" their coach, and all they could do was run circles around him like cowardly dogs. I'm not saying fighting is a good thing, but if you're so eager to fight on the field, why don't you pick on somebody your own size. The last time that happened, they backed down. It just makes them look like the Kevin Garnetts of football. Bully the weak and small, but back down from a fight with someone your own size.

I don't see any reason why we would want to face Raul in the quater finals (if we qualify). It has bad things written all over it. It might look like a sweet family reunion until we find ourselves conceding a 90th minute equalizer to knock us out of Europe on away goals scored by no other than raul himself in front of our home crowd. And then you check out the replays, and see that he was actually miles offside. *sigh* I don't see why we'll want to ruin the love madridistas have for el capitan in such crude fashion. Not to mention how funny we'll look to the world. That said, it doesn't matter because in the end, we have no hand in deciding draws for the next round.

No matter what the stats say, la liga is a terrible league imo. I don't see how the 3rd placed team in Spain could not knock out the 10th place team in Germany, on the same night the 5th placed team in England knocked out the supposedly best team in Italy. It's simply appalling. And woe betide we la liga fans, if we get knocked out by Lyon. I tell you solemnly, this argument will be laid to rest for good.

Bassam, my comment was off topic all through, but it's mainly because I agree with what you said, and even though I took the title of the post quite literally (the clean your guns part) I don't have anything to add or remove. I still don't agree about taking the positives from Barca's victory over Arsenal because quite frankly, there are none. I've said this a million times before, and I'll probably have to say it a million times more. Our successes are their failures, and their successes are our failures; there are no mutual benefits in this game.
Jnice17

"What I found funny about the Barca-Arsenal game was the fact that Valdes and Abidal were so eager to fight Arsenal's yound boys when just a few months ago, Ramos almost took the whole team on his own, not to mention CR "assaulting" their coach, and all they could do was run circles around him like cowardly dogs. I'm not saying fighting is a good thing, but if you're so eager to fight on the field, why don't you pick on somebody your own size. The last time that happened, they backed down. It just makes them look like the Kevin Garnetts of football. Bully the weak and small, but back down from a fight with someone your own size"

The main person involved in the little skirmish was Van Persie. Is he a young boy?

I saw Pedro get in Ronaldo's face by his own.

You act as if Ramos was some heroic warrior scaring off a whole army by himself.

Pick on someone your own size? Is this a serious post?
Muna

You really don't want to go down that road man.
"I saw Pedro get in Ronaldo's face by his own." Oh yeah, just the same way Puyol got in Ramos' face and got clobbered down like a bag of rice ...Seriously, don't get me started on this.
Jnice17

What road? What's wrong with you? You're talking about players picking on players their own size, acting as if Madrid's players somehow intimidated Barças and comparing them to Kevin Garnett like some sort of joker.

And let's not be naive. Puyol could've stayed on his feet if he wanted to. You act as if Sergio Ramos is some superhuman dude everyone is afraid of.

"You really don't want to go down that road" What a joke. Enjoy reveling in some sort of fairy tale battle you've setup in your head.
Bassam

Anyways, my dad is stronger than both your dads combined. Ha!

Or in other words, lets end this debate since its going no where and will only attract trolls. #PuyolYouAreAnException
Bassam

But here is the thing. Yes Valencia got knocked out by the 10th in Germany (who was second last year btw), and top of his group. But then again, Valencia out played Man utd at old trafford and tied with the 1st in the premier league. And then they lost, undeservedly if you watched the game, against the 1st in the premier league at home by one goal. CL knock out stages are a different story. You have one bad day in one leg, and you are doomed.

I do believe that the Valencia's and the Villareal of the league have lost around 10% of their strength, which is coupled with an increase in 20% in the strength of Real Madrid and Barcelona. This is why Barcelona, the 1st in La Liga, made Arsenal, the 2nd (with 1 point behind the first) look like a mid table team in La Liga. Had Barcelona been more efficient, that game would have ended with 5+ for Barca (even before the red card IMO). No shots on target is just horrible IMO.

Let me give you an example. Suppose we get knocked out by Lyon next week (god forbid). Does that mean Lyon are a stronger or a better team than ours? IMO, it sure does not.
adwivedi

Either u believe that teams that qualify are generally better than the losing team or u dont.. u cant shuttle around between the two support an argument.

I follow both the leagues closely and if i have to place a bet on valencia/villareal vs manu/arsenal/tottenham/chelsea/man city i will place it on epl teams.
And if i have to place a bet on barca/real vs any other european team i will bet on liga giants.

Whenever in doubt i think on who will i put my money on because if i cant risk big for it than i am probably not sure.

I hope you get my point.
Muna

But it's been happening for many years now. The last time a la liga team, apart from Barca, actually went far in the champs league was Pellegrini's Villareal team of 2006. We haven't gone past the round of sixteen for almost a decade. So it's not something that started today. It's been happening for years.

I get your point though, about how one bad day could ruin a team's chances in the Ucl, but this is not just one off. it's more than that.
michel

bassam, great post..agreed on almost everythin ure sayin
people should never refer to personal feelings or preferences coz that just makes u silly and ur arguments just get weaker..but seriously great piece of writin man..funny, instructive, objective, fair!!

moving on, i think ur point abt ronaldo is spot on..i get angry and yell at my tv when he embarks on those runs and loses the ball or finally passes the ball when he has no choice..but sometimes he plays really good first touch passes like benz's goal against lyon..and like u said, he brings so much quality u cant just dismiss him..and his stats honestly speak for themselves..somehow he's the central piece to our puzzle yet we can replace him when needed, i think that should be the conclusion from racing's game..its never good to be relying on just one player and forget the team effort

granero was amazing last game..not the flashiest of players but did his job and was a rock in midfield..and i loved mourinho's post-match comments about him..i would love to see him more but the problem remains that against stronger opposition with more attacking threats, having 4 players upfront, u really need ur two central midfielders to up their game defensively..i think granero is good at that, but its not his natural position..he's slowly learnin to play there and is willing to listen (his coach's words, not mine) but id trust khedira or lass more..even though everyone knows they have little creativity..but then again, thats not their role so one cant complain..would be like sayin why isnt pepe or casillas scorin..

but granero will only grow stronger and better coz he has the right attitude and mentality..and if theres something u gotta give to mourinho, its that no one is guaranteed a starting place and if u train well, u play (examples of benz, arbeloa, marcelo who wasnt always startin earlier in the season, lass/khedira, KAKA..)

as for changing tactics and formations, i think its not a bad idea to have some changes but at least not against lyon...we might need that in the 2 classicos coming up in april..we need to surprise those SOBs somehow..

finally, congrats to EL CAPITAN..i wanted him to score so bad but at least, he'll be playin two more matches of CL (lol @ juan mata who spoke waay to early, u still got alot of football to learn abt kiddo) and i hope he comes back to madrid for quarters..shit, it would be like in movies except its reality!!!

btw anyone noticed that if schalke wouldve been 2nd in their group, we would be playin them and not lyon :) maybe its meant to be somehow
Zizou

Well I think Casillas, Ronaldo and Alonso are guarenteed starters :)

Yer we did talk about it a lot :) it was something like Schalke actually lost their last game so if Lyon had won they would've been top aswell, how annoying.
WorstPosterOnRMFB

great write up Bassam ,.i agree with pretty much everything you said well cept being happy for Barca .
regarding Ozil and Di Maria's passing completion rate , they try riskier passes than the likes of Granero , Alonso does as they are always trying theought balls and stuff , ot easy to complete a pass when you are passing the ball to a teammate next to you or passing the ball back to your defenders but its a whole different thing to complete a pass intended to split defenses so ita totally norml that Ozil and Di Maria's passing completion rate isnt as high as the deep lying Mids's . with that said Alonso is a great passer of the ball , one of the best in the world .

as for CR , we tend to forget that we have played a lot of great games with him in the team , the milan game at the san siro , the sociedad game are two example that comes to mind , he can play the game the passing way he sometimes just chooses not to
Paddy

I like your last phrase " he sometimes just chooses not to". I know he can do better with the passing
canterano

Ozil has a passing percentage of 81%, better than everyone playing in attacking positions and who don't try sissy back-passes or square balls (you know who that was aimed at). He's the third most accurate passer in the team, according to this percentage. (Sergio Ramos>Xabi Alonso>Mesut Ozil)

Only Di Maria has to be criticized for not completing passes, I wrote about it in my comment above. Take a look. :)

btw did you make the part 2 of the Granero video too?
adwivedi

also our one match against lyon 2nd half....against atletico madrid... against villareal... and few other one half performances have been quite beautiful
michel

but we still seem to miss the intensity to play whole games like that
i know its practically impossible coz players get tired, u dont need to attack all the time etc etc but sometimes the difference in levels of playin is just woeful..cant have everythin i guess :)
adwivedi

I think its because mou is a bit defensive coach and likes to protect lead more than trying to extend it plus yes sometimes players just decide to conserve energy for future fixtures.
Carvivlie

Ronaldo has become a lot less selfish in his passing lately but I really think it's because he has been struggling to score and knows it and thus is trying to help us win by assisting. Kind of like what Benz was doing when he couldn't seem to score. Just work hard and try to provide for someone else. I have no doubt Ronaldo will be back to his old self once he starts to score again.
labomba

Am depressed that Valencia didn't make it as it would've been a good show for Spanish football, hope that's not an omen for us next week, yes guys the paranoias are well set in, and no amount of rational discussion is going to dissuade me.
I would imagine that Una has mentioned this as she usually translates the Spanish press, but Marca's front cover was a classic ( no I didn't fork out 1 euro, I saw it in a bar) a tiny postage stamp sized square was dedicated to the Barca match, and the whole cover splashed with drawings of all the Madrid players and the nick names they give each other. Ozil's was Nemo which tickled me as much as Bassam's article!
Zizou

The 3rd best team in Spain loses to the 10th placed team in Germany. And the 5th placed English team beats the 1st placed Italian team. Meh!
Although we MUST get Schalke next, Raul returning would make me and so many others very happy, would be something to look forward too.

Although Italian teams are even worse they now have noone left in the CL or EL.
michel

well, out of 4 matches..there have been 3 suprises..i dont know anyone neutral who wouldve bet on shaktar, schalke or tottenham..hope its more predictable next week!!

definitely would be great to see raul in the bernabeu again..i would even like him to score but say overall score 3-1 :)
Zizou

Yer lets hope we get past Lyon and draw Schalke first.
I was fairly confident Spurs would go through in fact i'm suprised they didn't score at home, AC are very un balanced imo, their front 3 from games i've seen don't do enough work at all. Italian teams are in a bit of trouble atm, if Bayern win next week does that mean Germany take the 4th spot as they would then have 2 teams in the 1/4's ( although Inter did win the CL so that must have gotten them a lot of those points)
michel

i meant even before the first legs..indeed milan are very unstable but they were missing key players (pirlo, ambrosini, gattuso..) but yeah i expected tottenham to go thru after beatin them in san siro..and after seein how we outplayed them earlier in 2 games, they're not winning material yet

i think its already been settled that germany will get 4 spots starting 2012-2013 (meanin next season italy will still have 4 teams)
thing is germans have been doing very well in europa league and uefa gives them same coefficients as in CL..doesnt change much to me personally, coz i think 4 teams is alot anyway..old format CL was better with groups in 2nd round instead of direct knockout rounds..more games to enjoy with fewer but more select teams..
Zizou

oh yer fully agree, tbh I like the orginal idea, champions league means champions of each league not teams that come 2nd,3rd,4th. But of course there is far more money involved for eufa and fifa to go back now. And thats good that Germany are getting it over Italy, there league is very respectable in terms of how they manage their money, even if it has been a while since a German team won the CL ( Bayern munich last year than i think it was Bayern leverkusen against us that was the last time they reached the final, i think)
adwivedi

I too think that bundesliga is gonna replace serie a ... it wud have been last year itself except for inter winning the cl
adwivedi

epl vs liga.... these fixtures definitely showed the gap
BarcaJac

Quick two cents: If Van Persie hadn't gotten that ridiculous second yellow (yes, Barca fans can admit that his yellow for continuing play 1 second after the ref's whistle is pretty harsh) he would have eventually gained one soon after. He was being WAY aggressive - illegal tackles, pushing faces... You know, like your boy Ramos. We played hard and earned our spot in the next round. No luck was needed. Just sayin' !
caracoleo

Slow night for Barsa trolls round here. They must be hiding there heads in shame! Honestly, to say NO LUCK was involved requires more than a stretch of the imagination. It's George Orwell and 1984 all over again:

"Whatever the referee decides in Barcelona's favour is for the good for the greater good of the game."

"Shooting at goal even ONE SECOND after the referee has blown his whistle is a heinous crime, far worse than rolling on the floor, clutching your face in mock agony."

"It really doesn't matter if van Persie's sending off was ridiculous as Barcelona were clearly the better side any way."

You guys just continue rewriting history, but people who saw will always say that was one of the most shameful refereeing decisions of all time.

Now just live with it.
BarcaJac

Hey, the headline mentioned Barca, so I checked it out. Did you not read the post? "Yes the red card on RVP was not fair, but in all due honesty, despite my hate of everything that is Barcelona, they deserved to win." Truthfully spoken, and much appreciated. If Real Madrid wins next week and gets it by playing a great game, the congratulations would be returned. The score was 3-1 here. No shame in that.
caracoleo

Deserved to win? Definitely. "No luck needed"? That's ridiculous. Are you honestly saying that Barcelona had NO luck in that game? You don't think that having the opposition's centre forward unjustly sent off at a time when they are winning the tie constitutes an act of God? Because at that moment, that is what Massimo Busacca did: An Act Of God.

It was most definitely a shameful decision. And that is probably why the cules have not been around here to gloat.
phunky

Barca fan here-
It was a bad decision, agreed. But not shameful, not to us atleast. Why would we be ashamed of it? We won the game without Arsenal getting a single shot on goal. You might argue tht the sending off was the reason for their zero shots on goal , but, they had none even whilst he was on the pitch.
Was Barca responsible for RVP's sending off? No. RVP earned his 1st card slapping Alves, and for the 2nd one he got unlucky.
If you take Inter's case last year, it was a good thing Barca din't win, although it hurt, coz had they won we would've been accused of outright cheating. As a Barca fan, I'd taste defeat rather than winning by cheating, and I'm sure that's the case with any fan of any club. When Sergio Busquets played pikaboo, that's when I was ashamed, and coz of Busi I was.
So my friend, please don't pick harsh words.
We've had our share of bad decisions, arguably 3 penalties denied over the coarse of the 2 legs. The referee's job is mighty hard, cut them some slack.
caracoleo

What harsh words? The decision was a ridiculous one. And Barsa luckily benefited from it at a time THEY WERE LOSING the tie. Nothing harsh or extreme there at all.

If it was my team I would not be able to look Arsenal supporters in the eye. Thats why you must feel ashamed by that decision. Not a victory any Barsa fan can feel proud of, unless you rewrite the history books by banging on about how many shots you had compared to Arsenal, bla bla bla.
kaushiklakshman

Lol comparison spot on with 1984!
Muna

Well said.
Jose P

The caption on that pic featuring Ronaldo and his girlfriend should read:
"A man should always walk in front of his lady."
Paddy

yes bro, ronaldo is a real man!!
Zizou

Yes Bassam I can see what you mean actually. Although i'm sure you won't disagree with me then if I say its far more important for the league that Real and Valencia win, because atm its wrong imo to say Real are better than everyone else as we haven't proved that. . when Real lost last year than the debate increases on the fact that Real are so far ahead for everyone in the league yet can't beat Lyon so that proves the rest of La liga are really bad, you can see why people would think that.

Although i'm torn tonight because I really want to draw Shalke...
Marcelo is not so bad

Bassam, in reading this post and reviewing the various comments regarding Granero vs. Khedira or Lass, I was wondering if you might consider doing a post on the evolution of the Makelele role/defensive midfielder position. While I'm sure there were other strong defensive midfielders before Makelele, he definitely helped redefine the position. Makelele's play primarily involved winning back the ball, disrupting counterattacks and the opponent's midfield play, and distributing the ball to the more creative players . Following Makelele's rise to prominence, the Makelele type defensive midfielder became a critical element in many tactical set ups used throughout Europe (consider Gattuso and his contribution to Milan's success in the past decade). One of the drawbacks to a Makelele type defensive midfielder is that you sacrifice some creativity (I didn't agree with FP selling Makelele, but FP was correct in assessing that most of Makelele's passes were lateral or backwards). Similarly, my personal observation is that often times the forwards become overly reliant on the Makelele type defensive midfielder and as a result they contribute very little on defense. In recent years we've seen teams such as Barca succeed using a more lightweight defensive midfielder who has a broader passing repertoire (I hate Busquets but you have to acknowledge what he brings to the game). The result is more of a true double pivot as opposed to one "pass master" and his pitbull. Defensively these teams compensate by playing greater team defense starting with the forwards. For me, Madrid's play against Racing using Granero in the defensive midfielder role showed a similar approach. Other defensive midfielders who have succeeded recently with a broader skill set include Mark Van Bommel (he's a piece of shit, but you have to admit he's been pretty effective in recent years). I know that Mou is unlikely to adopt this approach on a permanent basis as he is generally more conservative when it comes to defensive tactics (similarly, this approach could be a bit naive for Madrid at this point in European play), but it does have me wondering if we're seeing a shift in the definition of this position. Any thoughts?
kaushiklakshman

if you take a look at my Fernando Redondo post months ago, I talk a little bit about this. Not in detail, but the jist of it is similar to what you might be looking for.
Muna

Love the name :DD Great comment too.
adwivedi

nice observation
Bassam

Great comment! I will try to make a post about it either this week or next one, so keep a look out for it.
Zizou

Yes good comment, there was a very good article on Zonal MArking about how the traditional no.10 was going out the game, so combo's like Scholes/ Keane, Zidane/ Makelele were dying out.
caracoleo

As for Barsa last night, I must say they were the better team. But, and how often does this happen to them - they just seemed to get lucky when they needed it. I remember Drogba a few years ago getting sent off for an inocuous challenge on Valdes. The there was the infamous match at Stamford bridge, with not one, but 2 penaltis by Pique not given. The final they won against Arsenal, where Jens Leman was sent off near the beginning of the match. They have the luck of the Irish! The sending off of Van Persie is probably the most ridiculous decision I have seen in the Champions League.
TheAngelOfMadrid

http://eircomsports.eircom.net...
caracoleo

What do you guys think of the new Real Madrid 2012 shirt? I put a link up, but it is still being moderated. But if you do a search on the web it is easy enough to find a pic. I like it. More than this years. Of course it is still pristine white. The collar is quite a novel design. (The collar looks a bit funny this year.) Unfortunately it still sports the Bwin logo - ugh. I think it really demeans our shirt. When I think of the companies who would pay money to be associated with us...
Ramses27

Completely agreed about the BWIN logo, I've never liked it. However, at least it isn't the Qatar foundation. :P

I find the new jersey weird, it feels like the collar is unfinished.
Muna

I saw the home one- it was awesome. I still haven't seen the away jersey yet though.
IceX1992

I like it :)
I actually hated our shirts of last season (the gold was arrogant in my opinion) :)
Lefthog

Another point about Ronaldo: Adebayor, Benz, Di Maria and to a point Ozil all did a great job pressing the racing defenders (the 2nd goal after a winning the ball from a press). We have not seen this when Ronaldo was on as usually stops to do anything except wishing his defenders good luck.

The pressing also kept pressure away from Granero. So his weakness as a central midfielder (positioning and defending) were well hidden.
caracoleo

New Real Madrid 2011 - 2012 has been revealed. Interesting design, especially the collar.
https://lh5.googleusercontent....
Paddy

yeah, i like the shirt we will be defending our champions league trophy with
adwivedi

Bassam the title of the post made me think u were gonna rape cr7 but finally after going thru your post i was impressed with your objectivity.

On the issue i think the team and the coach should try to utilize cr7 and not depend on him. He is a fantastic player. And i think slowly but surely achieve that and the first half you saw yesterday is only going to get more frequent so get ready to enjoy. I feel we have got a very good team with a great potential (knock on wood).

I have faith that mou will realize (sooner or later) whats good for the team.... he is an arrogant person but one of the best.

And bassam why wud u want to think the positives out of barca win.... not saying it is wrong but it was almost certain to happen nothing to ponder about.
Real_7

i have to agree with you on this assestmant Bassam,and disagree with you Zizou(for once).
Racing was a good opponent and we were actually good too,the guys had a lot to proof to show the world they can play with out Thong boy,simple as that.
i watched the match 3 times already,and the first half was just pure class,racing DID try,but we were better,we used to play like this once,and we were the masters of passing football(despite that the ignorant cules thinks that barca have invented that,as they will testify that they invented everything good in the world).
Thing boy does make us a better team no doubt about that,he would make us even better if he just play more with the team,even though he is doing it more and more these days and 100000 times better than last year..
and i am with Barca advancing on the account of any english club despite that most cules are annoying as the EPL fans,specially my 2 brothers(sigh). specially Arsenal fans ...don't get me start on them...anyway let them be..any spanish team is better to advance than any english team,even if it was barcelona...

on a lighter note:
check out the new kit...
***http://www.marca.com/2011/03/0...
adidas say it will be a hit..what do you all think??
kaushiklakshman

TODAY's QUIZ: A Real match once was suspended before the 1st half (Trailing 1-0).When the remainder was played, our lineup had a new player.He was not registered with the squad earlier,& was influential in drawing that match.Name the opponent,the player& why the match took 2 days
caracoleo

I think I remember this. One of my proudest moments (there have so many) as a Madridista. I believe this was against Real Sociedad and the match had been stopped due to a sudden downpour with us losing 1-0 with 6 minutes to go. We brought in a new coach, Luxemburgo, who set about planning the now legendary 6 minute match which was to be his first game in charge. In the Bernabeu, on a January evening after the transfer window had opened, Real Madrid set in motion the nearly impossible mission of getting something out of this game in 6 minutes. Gravesen, recently acquired, won the ball and sent it out to Ronaldo, who on the break characteristically finished off the move.

Fans actually came from far and wide to watch these 6 minutes of magic.
kaushiklakshman

I remember this being what Bassam said, as in Zaragoza and a bomb threat, and not rain. And I belive Zidane scored in the last 6 minutes, not Ronaldo. In any case, my question said the game stopped before the first half, which makes the answer I was referring to, the betis game in 2002 which stopped because the floodlights went out. And Ronaldo was included in the remainder.
Bassam

I remember that. I don't think it was against Sociedad. Wasn't it Zaragoza? My memory fails me. And the game was actually stopped back then because of a bomb threat.

That is not what Kaushik is referring too though. The one he is talking about is Real Betis in 2002 and in which Ronaldo was the new player. I remember that game as well. Funny stuff.
IceX1992

or you got something wrong or kaushik is wrong:

TODAY's QUIZ: A Real match once was suspended before the 1st half

and you said it was stopped with 6 minutes to go.
kaushiklakshman

both of us are right. both scenarios did happen, but like bassam said, the betis game stopped in the first half.
Msalie2

Bassa we have to look at Racing as an opponent and be objective - Racing had been on a good run leading into our game but their quality is not on par with a Villareal, Lyon etc and hence we were able to play the way we did on Sunday - make no mistake - I absolutely loved the interplay and the goals were brilliant but I can't see us being able to play like that against better opposition like your Inter's, Chelsea etc of Europe. We saw how we were pressured by Lyon 2 weeks ago and it shows how difficult it becomes to play beautiful football against a top team.

Like I said : great performance but let's not get too ahead of ourselves - If Real can play like that against Lyon next week then I will become a believer - but until then I have to say that Racing were piss poor.

What I took from the game of last night was the number of opportunities Barca missed and how if Bendtner had done better with the opportunity that presented itself in the 88th minute, Barca could have been eliminated.

This is something that we need to be careful about leading into our game next week against Lyon. When chances come our way we need to put them away and we need to make the most of our opportunities that come our way and decision making will be key.
Paddy

........n what the hell was that referee thinking last night? was he sent?
Paddy

What the hell is wrong with these Madrid press? why do they always have to discourage and humiliate our players by "selling" them in the papers?. I wonder why the big players still want to play for us despite the mal-treatement we give to their fellows. Now "Kaka is for sale". why not pedro leon who hasn't kicked the ball for ages? Why not canales who plays yearly? why not granero who plays quartely? I think Messina and Robinho were right; they always blame the foreigners for our failures. What they are doing to Kaka is total disrespect to the guy who is going through a very tough time. Stupid Press!! Messina was right!!! Mou is very tough to withstand the heat and to have his way around!!
mattrich

actually, rumor has it that hercules have the hots for pedro león
Paddy

Mattrich, they didn't sell him in the papers as they did to van der vart and now kaka. Have you read the interview of Etoire Messina (the just resigned basketball coach)?
Nyonya Mansoor

At a glance it does look like that. For me they just want to sell papers, the integrity of the news doesn't mean a thing to them. Unless they are reporting concrete facts normally I ignore these news.

But one thing for sure, anyone who plays/coaches for Real Madrid must have the highest level of mental strength. It's like being in a pressure cooker, withe cooker being the fans, the rivals, the press and the club itself.
canterano

Nice post Bassam, so sad I missed the match because I was tired and wanted a shut eye before the game, I passed out and slept through the game. Although I did get to see the last 35 minutes of the game. Have to agree with you that Racing were in no way poor and them being poor wasn't the reason that we got the victory, the catalan loving media is telling people otherwise. (The Highlight show from Mediapro which is in Barcelona said Canales didn't come on in their highlights when I clearly saw him in the match where their cule loving commentators were saying he ruined his career, LMAO), the highlight guy said Adebayor might be offside, the penalty didn't exist when Di Maria was brought down clearly.......oh how I hate the cules.

I'm so happy that Granero has matured from last season. Last season when he was benched, he was trying ridiculous things to catch Pellegrini's eye, it's good to see he has his brain intact and is playing his natural game.

Nice to read that Ozil is dropping deep again, poor alien gets tired when he does that a lot in games. That is the only criticism I had of him. I was criticizing him a lot for not working at all in the Barcelona game, he would just not put any pressure.

As for Di Maria, he just has a passing percentage of 68.91% in all his league games, I just don't think the boy has the brains to pass the ball yet, he keeps on trying his fancy passes, like the one over the top of the defense, they look good when they come off but they don't, mostly the weight on the pass is off. Di Maria would be even more dangerous, if he developed his brain and knew when to try a fancy pass and when to keep it simple. Scary thought, He's just 22, he's so dangerous right now, he will be so much better as he matures.

Now Granero vs Khedira: Before jumping on the topic I would like to point out that people are so many times wrong about Khedira, they just don't notice the work he puts in defense, so many times I've seen him make last ditch tackles (cleanly as opposed to a certain French guy) and cover at left back when Marcelo is horsing around, imo Khedira doesn't get much credit for what he does.

Now the debate on Granero vs Khedira. Yes, Granero can play the one touch football better and is a better passer of the ball and is confident on it, but the question is, "Is THIS Mourinho's style?"

I don't think it's easy to comment on the Khedira-Granero topic, and choose between the two because:
1. Last season, Granero was very inconsistent. Yes, he has played well so far in CdR and in the league, but has he completely matured?
2. This is Khedira's first season and he has been injured way too often and that has disrupted his flow.

But I will say this, Granero should be ahead of Lass and Gago in the pecking order for sure and if he doesn't start he should come off the bench more often and for longer periods.

Just a fun fact, we know that Xabi has to commit fouls, and his are technical so we can cut him some slack. Xabi commits a foul every 61 minutes, Khedira every 73 minutes and...........Lass every 25 minutes. GET LASS OUT!
smurf_ette

I totally agree. Khedira does a great (if very often unnoticed) job. But that's his role and he is very comfortable playing it (per his interviews).

I think Granero, Lass, and Khedira all offer a different and useful partnership to Xabi. My preference is for Khedira and Granero to alternate partnership depending on the game but there are moments when you need a guy like Lass. He has also played quite well recently. The problem is all three of them are good players who need and want to play, and you can't have the three chilling on the bench (especially with Gago also there but nowhere in sight).

So... clearly I want Granero on the team and I like what Khedira offers, but Lass offers something neither of the two do - which is pace and sheer bulldog tenacity.

If all three were happy to play bench roles, rather than starter, with each getting a reasonable amount of games (and also substituting for when Xabi can't play - I'd actually like to see a Granero-Khedira partnership in one or two games, but unlikely as right now EVERY game is critical) then I'd like to keep them all, since that's unlikely... Lass would cause me the least concern if we sold him because his attitude is not as good as the other two and Pepe (have we renewed his contract yet?!) and Ramos have enough pace and crazy to spare! Gago for me is also somebody who at this point is completely spare. Not his fault, but his injuries this season have made him invisible and more importantly he has not been missed. Granero and Khedira more than cover for him.
canterano

I agree with you, Lass and Gago are surplus to the team, and are not required, we would do well to get rid of them and get some money for them.

I wouldn't comment much on Lass, except for saying he's more of a headless chicken who can't tackle fairly for the sake of his life than a bulldog. Yes, last couple of games have been good for him, but he's bad more times than he is good.
Scarbonera

Concerning Granero. He averages more passes because he plays fewer games and usually against weak sauce sides which let Madrid pass exerting pressure only when the attackers get the ball. And that goes for the Racing game as well. When he can do it consistently against a few proper sides not in Segunda, bound for it, or lower then we will see.
Real Real

"And please if you disagree, I know i'm an SOB, so don't remind me"And please, if you disagree, I know im an SOB, so don’t remind me."
LOL. What's that term they use to describe the condition where a kidnap victim thinks like he's one of the kidnappers? LOL.
smurf_ette

Stockholm syndrome.. but he doesn't think he like he is one. Rather the kidnapped sympathizes and feels positively towards the kidnappers. If this is the one you mean... not sure it's quite the same. More like Bassam just accepting what we all know to be true ;-p

(lol and just kidding!)
labomba

Scuse my English ignorance but what's an SOB - sad old bastard/bugger/boy??
WorstPosterOnRMFB

Its " son of a bitch "
Nyonya Mansoor

Bassam..two big thumbs up for you! Very good critical 'objective' writing..please don't stray from this path no matter how big is the temptation.

I agree with the 'Cristiano outlet' thing that you mentioned. But I have this nagging feeling that sometime it looks like the concentrated passes to Cris' outlet are somehow just to make sure that we are seen as having utilizing him, making him looked involved because that is expected and he is supposed to. As oppose to because of it's part of an actual tactical plan. So that when we go to the other alternative outlets he looks like he's missing in the game. Fortunately though he is a good player and most passes don't go to waste. I hope this is just a foolish feeling.

For your first reason I admit I'm on the fence. (I don't think anyone here dislikes Esteban Granero right?). Because my problem is with the passing game. Tactically speaking, is it a must we make passes like that? I'm prejudiced since I don't want Real Madrid to play like Barcelona, it's exasperating to watch, no offense to anyone, just my personal preference. I like fast game, with many passing to and fro it will slow the game down. I would say that Granero brings a different touch to the game and it works. If this contributes to the 'glimpses' (remember that) than I'm all for it. Though again I have doubt if this is a CL game, not because of his ability, but more of style of play. We need experiments!

Your second point, nothing to add nor comment. A proven fact, well said. But I have always want to ask this question with regards to dropping deep, is it the coach's instruction or it depends on the players themselves? And another one, why Cristiano never seems to fight for the ball back once he loses it? (No immature answers please for those who want to give comments).
Bassam

Let me point out, that passing style does not make us play like Barcelona. Look back 10 years man, this is how we used to play all the time and Barcelona were struggling to pull a few passes together. Plus there is a huge difference between the Barca philosophy and the Madrid philosophy of football. Here is the difference:

Barca's philosophy is that the longer you hold on to the ball and the more you pass it around, the less time your opponent will have with the ball and hence less chance of them scoring. Not only that, but when you hold on to the ball longer, and pass it around, the opponent is bound to step out of his place to get the ball, which opens up spaces that they take advantage of that.

Our philosophy is nothing like that. Our philosophy is that of the one touch, direct passing offensive football. If you bring the philosophy that Barca has to Madrid, it won't work. The fans demand direct attacking football. If you want an example of that then you have the first half against Racing. I don't know if you watched the Madrid from 1996 till 2004, but that is the football that you saw played every game. Villareal play that football.

Both are very different styles, and to be honest, both are a delight to watch, depending on your preference. And yes, passing is essential to get that style, which is our style.