Racing Santander Preview

By: Corey | November 19th, 2009

racing
Real Madrid vs. Racing Santander
Santiago Bernabeu
11/21/09 20:00 CET, 2pm Eastern
Not on GolTV, ESPN 360

Real Madrid welcomes Racing Santander to the Bernabeu after an international break which saw all of Real’s international players qualify for this summers World Cup. Albeit with “Hand of God” type plays and stubborn defending in the case of Portugal. But they are there, so now attention is turned to the league program, and a struggling Santander side that sit 17th in the table. While it seems like a good tune up match before El Clasico, this will not be an easy contest, with Santander giving teams a hard fight, although they always seem to lose out in the end. If you have followed La Liga for a few years you will know that Santander is one of those teams that flirts with relegation every year, only to bounce back in a big way, either a late run that saves them, or more recently, a mid-season change in form that gets them into a European place.

Racing recently fired Juan Carlos Mandia, whose questionable lineups and tactics got them in to a hole. The management was smart enough to see there was not going to be much of a change in form under Mandia, so they removed him early enough for a new coach to get that change in form going. And that new coach is well known to Real Madrid fans. Miguel Angel Portugal, former technical director (Valdano’s job) of Real Madrid, and also a former coach of Santander, has been put in charge until the end of the 2011 season. Congratulations to him for getting the job, but his first game back will be a bittersweet one I am sure.

Pedro Munitis captains the side and exemplifies the fighting spirit of the side, despite its poor form. The little man runs around the field like a chicken with his head cut off (sound like someone we know?) but also has enough quality to make plays happen, and is usually involved in anything good Santander does offensively. He recently talked to Marca about visiting the Bernabeu and new coach Portugal. Its worth a read if you have the time. Also the official site has put together some interesting statistics if you care to have a look.

At home, Santander has been weak this season. 10 goals in 10 games usually will translate to more then 7 points, but shipping 19 goals will do the trick. The interesting thing to note about Santander is that they are very strong away from home, picking up 6 of their 7 points on the road with a goal differential of 0 (7 to 7). You could look at that as the park the bus when they are on the road, or you could consider the results. They beat Malaga and drew Almeria, Atletico and Zaragoza on the road, which sounds like a team that is fighting off relegation.

Defensively they have been horrendous, despite some big names in the back. On-loan Barcelona player Henrique, former Espanyol player Marc Torrejon, former Huelva player and South African, Nasif Morris, Lazlo Sepsi, Pablo Pinillos and Moraton are all probably names that resonate with La Liga fans. An injured Ze Antonio, Jose Angel Crespo and Christian Fernandez rounds on the defense, but the inconsistency of partnerships and the relative lack of organization from new arrivals has hurt Santander after loosing Eze G to Real in the offseason.

Its hard to say who Portugal will use against Real, but my money is on Torrejon and Henrique as the central partnership. The two have had less then half a season to gel, so they probably still have some communication errors, but Henrique is a classy performer and Torrejon is a hard man, although lacking in some of the positional grace Henrique has. Having not seen them play together, I could only say that neither is particularly strong in the air based on their heights, so crosses in to the box may be the best way to score on them.

Flanking them could be Crespo, Pinillos, Christian Fernandez or Lazlo Sepsi. Sepsi and Christian Fernandez are both left backs, which means its a toss up based on who performs better in training this week. Sepsi has four starts to Fernandez’s 6, so that may be an indicator of who gets the nod, but I know little about either player. At right back, Pablo Pinillos is getting up there in the years at 35, so he is swapping with the Sevilla loanee Crespo when he needs rest. After an international break you would expect Pinillos to be more then rested for the trip to the Bernabeu. I will say that when you are that old, your legs do not have the kind of speed they need to play at a high level, so a Marcelo type could race past him pretty effortlessly in the right situations. He is an experienced campaigner and second captain of the side though, so he will have a majority of the organizing duties.

Santander have statistically allowed very few early goals (0-15 minutes) and late goals (76-90+), but have shipped 8 in the 16-30 minute range, which means that once they get settled in to a game, they get too comfortable and opportunities present themselves. As you can read about a little further down the post, Esteban Granero has commented that Real will be looking for an early goal in this game, which makes sense, but it cannot be to early.

The midfield may be the reason why the defense has had such a torrid time, with the double pivot Mandia preferred often providing little coverage for the defense, but also little going forward. Papa Diop has looked out of his depth after moving up a division in the summer, while Medhi Racen has only shown fits and starts of the solid form he demonstrated last year. Gonzalo Colsa has been a more consistent performer, and is one of those players in La Liga, a dime a dozen I suppose, that is so good at the horizontal passing game that helps maintain possession. He can move forward effectively though, with a cannon of a shot on him, so he would be considered a priority for Xabi and Lass to mark.

Out wide Santander has two players who often flatter to deceive with their undeniable talent but lack of consistency. Oscar Serrano is also one of those stereotypical La Liga geniuses who can turn it on and look like a world beater, but most days looks disinterested in the game, and frustrated by a physical battle. A Capi of Betis or Jesuli of days past for Celta Vigo is the type of player I am referring to. Often disappointing, but when he is one, he is a hell of a player. He showed his considerable talents with a well taken goal against Barcelona, but despite having little pressure on his position he often goes on walk abouts in the middle of matches. Arana is a journeymen, also making the move from the Segunda this summer, and having seen a little of him, I would not consider him to be overly dangerous to the point where Marcelo could probably mark effectively at left back. Maybe Im underestimating Arana though?

Off the bench there is the other temperamental genius in Luis Garcia, he of the phantom goal which took Liverpool to the Champions League final a few years back against Milan. After indifferent form with Atletico, he was very publicly booted out to Santander where he has appeared off the bench 5 times already. He has a nice resume of clubs, but he seemed to have lost his creativity after injuries with Liverpool. I would not consider him all that dangerous either, but you never know. Toni Moral, another journeymen who played with both Barcelona and Real’s B team, also rides the bench often for Santander. A winger with some pace, the only reason his name resonates with me is because he had an obnoxious pony tail in one of the older FIFA games.

Also in support for the midfield are two youth team products with promising futures. Edu Bedia is a Spanish youth international central midfielder who 12 times last season. I believe he is currently injured right now, but he has a handful of caps for the u-20 and u-21 team. Also in the ranks is Sergio Canales, a very promising 18 year old winger/striker who has two substitute appearance for Santander this season. It has been rumored that Real have scouted the player in an attempt to bring him in to the Castilla setup next year. Santander has a fairly productive youth academy, with striker Ivan Bolado also one to watch out for.

Up front Munitis and Tchite had a fearsome partnership going last year, and with Nicola Zigic they were scoring boat loads of goals. Tchite is a quick player with decent feet but his finishing has always been suspect. In two seasons with Santander he has only scored 14 goals, and has two to his name this year. But along with Munitis there is an element of pass and trickery on the counter attack that Real’s back line must be aware of. Munitis himself is a highly skilled playmaker, and his abilities on the ball have not wained with his age. If he is to drop deep and then run at the defense, Lass would have to track back to mark him as this sort of movement could pull a center back to far out of position, leaving gaps for Tchite to run in to and receive the ball at his feet.

In support of Tchite and Munities is Alex Geijo, a Swiss journeymen with a rather paltry goal return from his time with second division outfits Xerez (at the time) and Levante. On-loan striker Xisco (Santander has 5 loan players, not quite as many as Xerez but still a lot) also fills out the ranks for Santander. He has had an up and down couple of years, and so far the move to Santander has not worked out for him.

In goal Santander can count on the always reliable Tono, who has played with Santander since 2005.

Its a crap shoot considering a new coach is getting his first game with the team, but here is my predicted lineup.

—————-Tono—————–
Pinillos—Torrejon—Henrique—Fernandez
Arana——Lacen—–Colsa——Serrano
———-Munitis———————
——————Tchite————–

When attacking, they will look like a 4-2-3-1, but defensively it will be a 4-5-1, with Munitis pressuring the center midfield players just as much as Lacen and Colsa will. Expect fast counter attacks and a heavy barrage of long balls from out the back for the quick strikers to try and get to the end of.

Real Madrid News:

Granero interviewed about the Santander match.

SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Arbeloa, Albiol, Garay, Metzelder, Pepe, Marcelo
Midfielders: Gago, Diarra, Drenthe, Xabi Alonso, Van der Vaart, Granero, Kaka
Forwards: Raul, Benzema, Higuain

INJURIES:

Cristiano Ronaldo: Arthritis-bone edema in right ankle. Training with the team.
Guti: Bruised left quadriceps. Medical treatment and rest. Compression bandage.
Van Nistelrooy: Strained left triceps surae. Medical treatment and physiotherapy. Gym work.
Lass Strained right adductor. Medical treatment and physiotherapy. Gym work.

Albiol hyper-extended his left knee in Spain’s victory over Austria on Wednesday, so he will probably be rested as a precautionary measure. The guy has played a lot of minutes so far this season and he is starting to break down physically, so a rest is in order. He has been past fit for the match, but I would still like to see him rested in favor of Garay and Pepe. I also think Ronaldo will not make this match, as he still needs time to recover physically. A substitute appearance against Zurich in the midweek is not out of his grasp though. Sergio Ramos is suspended for the match after seeing red in the Madrid derbi. Other then that we have no other injury concerns, unless one of the international is carrying a knock.

Lass and Ruud worked out in the gym and they will miss the match due to minor strains.

With a few injuries to account for, the lineup should shake out like this:

————-Casillas————-
Arbeloa—-Pepe—-Albiol—-Marcelo
———-Xabi—-Diarra———-
—–Kaka————Granero—–
——–Higuain–Benzema——–

Id like to see Granero used, and it has been rumored that Guti will be included in the match squad. Since Guti is “injured” again, we will have to wait another week. Both players have had the international break as rest and trained normally, but so has Marcelo so he may be preferred to either of them to start. I would not mind using Marcelo at left back simply to accommodate one of them in the midfield though, with Arbeloa at right back and Albiol in center with Pepe, dropping Garay. Most likely Marcelo will be used at left back and one of VdV, Granero or Guti will be in the midfield though. Id like to experiment with Garay at left back none the less, or give Albiol the rest he deserves and use Garay in the center.

Higuain and Benzema will be the probably starting pair, although both Raul and Ruud had the break to train normally as well so they are certainly in contention. Benzema was hardly used by France and Pipita only played one game with Argentina so both are not overly fatigued. Van der Vaart is also an option of the bench.

In terms of beating Santander, there is no one way to beat them that needs to be highlighted because they are a poor side with a number of frailties. The midfield battle should be won by Real, and their wide players should be easy to contain. Other then limiting chances on the counter, Real may want to lure Santander out of their own area more often by playing deeper the usual at home. Its probably going to be a ten man defense a majority of the time, so varying the approach is a much. Chances need to be created for the strikers, not just the midfielders, so crossing, through balls and little chips over the defense is what will un-do Santander. Varying the attack will keep them on their toes, but something we have not seen much of this season is quality of service.

Other then Guti, can you recount a time when a player fed a striker with a great ball, or presented a clear cut chance? It has not happened all that often in Guti and Ronaldo’s absence, so we need to start connecting with our forwards more. The midfield dominates the game and scores a majority with of our goals, with the strikers getting goals off rebounds or interplay between themselves. Its part of the evolution of the team, but it needs to happen soon because against Barcelona we will have to be better then how we have played recently. The first half of the Milan and Atletico games were promising, but again, chance creation for the strikers is a must.

Im not going to say that its the midfields fault completely that the forwards get not service though. Movement off the ball also needs to be improved in the coming weeks. To often Kaka and Granero/Marcelo end up passing the ball backwards because the forwards are standing absolutely still. They need to make better runs, usually in a horizontal motion in behind the defense, in order to get open for passes. Or they need to find a way to get more involved in the play. Benzema and Higuain do well pulling out wide, but often Benzema drops to deep for his and the teams own good, and Pipita can be to stationary sometimes. The same goes for Raul.

The game is not on GolTV yet again, so we will have to rely on streams from nefarious sources. Am I the only one who has noticed that many of the streaming sources have become increasingly unreliable in the past few months? Is this the death of the illegal streaming community many of us rely on to see games because our moronic cable provides and television stations continue to overlook Real Madrid games, or football as a whole? I dont want to predict a doomsday scenario, but it seems to me that its getting harder and harder to watch an entire match without interruption these days.

None the less, leave your match comments here on Saturday. It has been a long time since we had a live blog, but I assure you when a game is actually on television, I will do my best to provide you with one. HALA MADRID!

And check back tomorrow for the podcast to be posted here as well as on the OwnGoalNetwork and iTunes.