I Called The Goal Orgy

By: Corey | September 25th, 2008

Who said Real Madrid were playing ugly? Please, raise your hand cause that was a silly statement. What a cracker that was! I was jumping up and down, screaming for 90 minutes, it was so exciting. They played some great stuff today, and it was a pleasure to watch. VdV hit a hat trick, stepping up when I had called him out, while Raul showed he still has the predatory instincts that had won him so many accolades before. It was such a solid performance, with the Bernabeu fan into it up until the 80th when they started to poor out (hey, a little drink before work tomorrow never hurts especially when Real has cruised to victory!) and Bernd was so passionate on the touch line, being warned by the 4th official to tone it down.

Dancy has a great play by play game blog here, which is right below this post. We all know that I like to do a brief play-by-play in my review, but I dont need to because Dancy did such a great job. Check it out, it gives you a great idea of what happened in the match. So I am gonna give my post match thoughts and do something I always try to do but never have the time, player ratings. But first, the highlights:

Real Madrid 7 - 1 Sporting Gijon Highlights

Lineups

Real Madrid
Casillas
Torres
Pepe
Cannavaro
Marcelo
Van der Vaart Goal 18′, 33′, 48′
De la Red
Diarra
sub Javi García 56′
Robben Goal 53′
sub Drenthe 70′
Raúl Goal 60′, 66′
Higuaín Goal 37′
sub Saviola 63′

Sporting de Gijón
Sergio Sánchez
Colin
Raúl Cámara
sub Neru 47′
Iván Hernández
Míchel
Camacho
Kike Mateo Goal 55′
Pedro
sub Luis Morán 59′
Canella
David Barral
Maldonado
sub Diego Castro 47′

Player Ratings:

Casillas: 4

He looked bad today. He flapped at a cross late in the game that Torres blocked from being an easy tap in, he could have cut the angle down for the Gijon goal and his distribution was awful, he often would be the defense under pressure with a poor kick to Gijon or isolate a player with a throw to them while they were under pressure. He did not have much to do so it may seem the rating is harsh, but what he did have to do he didnt do well. The only blight on last nights performance.

Miguel Torres: 8

Excellent. Great game by Miguel who was restored to his natural position since Sergio had a slight niggle. He defended brilliantly, with great headers away even! Hopefully he plays there more often, because playing Salgado at right back when Ramos needs a rest is not an option anymore. Did I mention he is #2 on my man crush list, right behind a certain Ruben.

Pepe: 8

He was strong in the tackle, and I mean strong in the tackle on his feet. He often slides in haphazardly, but this game he stood his ground, with a few delightful stops coming to mind. If he can just stick his foot out and take posession off people like that every game, play him at DM! His forward runs are always interesting, even though he will loose posession and have to scurry back. But it was a good game from him, he is on form this year definately.

Canna: 7

Did not have much to do, but he was still solid. His ability to direct the other players is his greatest attribute at this point, as he is no doubt on the decline. But he was racing over to the left so often to cover for Marcelo, and he did that very well. Stays healthy too, thats always a plus.

Marcelo: 7

Still caught woefully out of position far to often, with Gijon’s goal squarely on his shoulders, but even that did not hurt his overall rating, because he played well going forward and when he was positioned correctly, he defended well too! He got a few headers away, and he looked good in the tackle, but his positioning is still so awful, he needs to concentrate more.

Diarra: 9

Owned the Gijon midfield. Owned. He was terrific today, chasing down players, winning balls, and yes, passing well too. He has realized that the greatest attacking contribution he needs to make is short passes in the center, coupled with him moving forward as an outlet, but never to far from the center circle. Very Makelele-esque, lets hope he continues the good form he is in.

Javi Garcia: 6

Congrats on his La Liga debut with Real! I was not able to really distinguish his play as good or bad, but he was doing a good job harrassing the Gijon players, and he was making simple passes. I would like to see more of him at DM. I think Diarra and Javi Garcia as DM, Gago and De la Red as CM and Sneijder and Guti as AM with VDV thrown in for good measure is all we need in the midfield. Of course Gago is a DM, Javi probably will play as a CB for the rest of his career (anyone smell a Hierro? I hope so) and Sneijder and De la Red are the true CM. Oh well.

De la Red: 8

Thoughtful distribution, threatening forward runs, an assist on the VdV back heel which earns him a place in goal highlight films for the next 20 years, and a bit of a mean streak in his defending summed up what all of us here have been waiting for. Ruben is a complete player, and he will only get better the more he plays. He had some great chip passes, one of which landed on Raul’s head for the first goal. He also, if you notice, was usually the guy who got the ball to the other guy who would set up a goal, a second assist man, which is important. We didnt see any trade mark long distance strikers from him but it didnt matter, he played exceptionally well, and I for one am still in heaven that he is on the team. Next objective, bring back Granero!

Van de Vaart: 9

He looks like he enjoys the confines of the Bernabeu, something that will help him in his career no doubt. He did the business today, with a superb hat trick, showing off his vast array of abilities. The first goal was a great piece of play, and his half-volley was sublimely tucked into the net. The second had be going crazy, and my room mates telling me to shut up, as that back heel was incredible. The third showed his great ability to shoot, while he had an assist with a great ball with the outside of his boot which sent Robben in. Great game, lets hope he keeps it up, he seems to have benefited from playing further forward with Ruben and Diarra behind him.

Robben: 8

He was a little frustrating in the earl going of the match, but once he broke free to setup Higuain for his goal, he came to life. His shooting was poor but, he did nail the post for Raul’s first goal, and he took his goal very well, so as the game progressed he got better. I still want to see some more crossing from him, but with the lack of height we have it seems pointless doesnt it? Good game, lets hope he continues his form as well, his width, which featured predominately on the right tonight, is important. Notice how with Marcelo on the left and Torres on the right, Schuster points the winger in front of Torres. Great tactical move, it will be the opposite when Ramos is playing and Heinze is behind Robben on the left.

Drenthe: 6

Didnt show much, but he looks pretty determined to do so. Keep easing him in slowly, he is getting better on the ball, and he will eventually make a play that wows us. Patience is key with our high price youngsters, as evident with Higuan, Gago and Marcelo.

Higuain: 8

Another strong showing from the Argentine, who is really making it hard to argue that he should not start. He is the striker for the future, and if he keeps scoring, I will have nothing to criticize him for. Will he surplant Ruud in the attack? Probably not this year, but its coming. Likewise for Raul.

Saviola: 5

Only thing he did is give an assist to Raul for the final goal. He really needs to be offloaded, his massive wages are ridiculous for a player who does nothing for the team.

Raul: 8

He hustled and bustled through the first half, and looked lively at times. An assist on the first goal, with a deft header to VdV. His first goal was Raul-esque of the past few years, but his second brought back memories of his glory days. He is not out of the woods yet, but if he keeps it up all the “the King is dead” talk will go away. And it should.

Bernd: 9

Tactically, he has brought a new, fluid look to the team given the injuries/fatigue his forward line is facing, but given we have one true winger in the squad and three good forwards, will the 4-3-3 last? I dont know, with the midfield options it seems the 4-4-2 will return at some point, but I applaud him for changing it up, becaue its got teams a little confused as to how we will play them. Until the 4-3-3 is found out, use it and abuse it baby.

Schusters Post Match Comments

“The game unfolded as it had to. Everything was in our favour in the first half and we had ro continue exploiting that. Many people wanted to watch football tonight.”

“I greeted Quini. I am glad he travels with the team. It’s important for him because it’s his life. I hope to see him many more years.”

“I wasn’t disappointed by Sporting. They had a bitter defeat against Barcelona just before playing at the Bernabéu. We knew we had to put pressure on them from the start in order to grow confident. Sporting couldn’t have had an uglier start to the season; their schedule pits them against Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal in the first weeks of the competition. The league is very long and it’s only just started.”

“Raúl, Van der Vaart, Robben… Saviola was practically the only one left to score. Strikers live off this. This result is good for them. I hope our goal-scoring streak continues.”

“I didn’t think about our match with BATE. I said I wanted my team to play differently once they are winning 3-0 and tonight they scored four more goals. I wanted them to do that against BATE, but at least we learned from the mistake of not doing so.”

“We are aware of the large number of games we have this year and everyone will have to play. Javi García, Torres and Saviola feel that way and they are ready to play. We have another game on Saturday and yet another on Tuesday. We keep an eye on the shape our men are in and find the best solution for this. I think we have done so for now.”

Robben
“It’s been a beautiful match for us and the fans. We missed many chances on goal against BATE Borisov, but we fixed that tonight.”

“I’m happy with how the game unfolded. It was incredible. We had many chances and scored seven goals in 70 minutes. I try to do a good job in every game. That’s all I think about. I notice fans like my style and that they have faith in me. I like that.”

“I think the team has been more confident in the last couple of games. We didn’t have a good start to the season, but we are in great form now and we want to carry on this way.”

“The whole team is happy for Raúl because he is our captain and therefore very important to us. He did a good job.”

“The match against Betis will be hard. They are a strong team, but we want to take the three points.”

Higuain
“The goal I scored tonight is a reward for my work and I’m glad people acknowledge it. We were solid against Sporting and we used our chances on goal well. That’s very important.”

“All of us 24 players have to be fit all the time because we have many games this year and we will all have a chance to play. The good thing is many of us are scoring the team’s goals, as opposed to just one or two players.”

“Raúl had a great game and scored two goals. we are happy about that. He deserved it.”

A great win, but lets keep our feet on the ground, we have a tough game in Seville on Sunday. Im gonna do a preview, but this marathon of games is wearing my fingers down to nothing. Until then, here are some match pictures. HALA MADRID!!!