Real Madrid 1-2 Espanyol

I have to say, I lost my voice last night in the club. And I have never done that before and it sucks. Anyways, Real lost their first game of the season to an in form Espanyol team, and to be honest I wasnt surprised. I even said this one probably would go Espanyols way in my preview, they simply have the momentum that Real seems to lack. Espanyol’s Spanish stars Albert Riera and Raul Tamudo got the goals to win it, while our Spanish star Sergio Ramos got a concilation in the 90th.

The game was always gonna be a tough one for Real. The international breaks rob us of half the team, and then half of those players return injured, and all are fatigued. Schuster says he likes to rotate his squad, but I dont really see it. Balboa never made the bench which was horse shit, Soldado finally got on the field which was also horse shit.

Schuster is pissing me off now, he has his team completely unmotivated and has a clear preference for 11 players and that is it. 11 players dont make a team, a sqaud is essentially 23 players with two or three youth players thrown in. So why is it that when Ruud, Sneijder, Diarra, Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Metzelder and Casillas all played internationals, they all still start. Ok well Casillas will always start, but the other guys should have gotten some sort of rest. I mean, we do have a CL game this midweek also, theres no down time for these guys anymore.

Here is what I would have done. Obviously injuries to Heinze and Robben are no good. Robinho and Baptista arriving late didnt help. I would have started Saviola/Soldado over Ruud, left him on the bench. I would have played Hig’s on the right but had Balboa on the bench. Sneijder could do the left side, but id have him in the middle with Gago, with Diarra and Guti on the bench and Drenthe on the left. Torres/Salgado on the right, Sergio Ramos and Metz/Canna (who ever starts this game will sit the CL game) in the middle. And Marcelo at left back.

——————Casillas———————-
Torres—–Sergio Ramos—–Metz—–Marcelo
Hig’s——Gago——Sneijder——Drenthe
Soldado—-Raul

Ideally, these guys are all fresh barring Metz, Ramos and Sneijder. Fresh and motivated because they got starts. This motivation may have been enough to stem the tide of Espnayols form and extreme motivation for an upset over the top team in the league. But then again, if I was coach I couldnt write this for all you adoring fans, so Ill stick to Offside’s writer for now, the call to coach Real can wait.

Game Review

Real started with a pretty much identical formation and set of tactics that they have used all year. Have to mix it up Schustie, look at the Patriots, they lineup with two tight ends, four receivers, no running back etc. You never know what Tom “Dream Boat” Brady and his boys are gonna do, and as I watch them tear apart the sorry looking Miami Dolphins, I think of what Real Madrid should be playing like. I dont condone anything New England Patriots related though, Im a Bills fan. But Dream Boat is an incredible quarter back, he is 11-11 with 220 yards and 4 touchdowns with 6:47 left in the 2nd. Incredible, thats a perfect passer rating…

——————Casillas——————–
Sergio Ramos—-Canna—-Metz—-Marcelo
Hig’s——Diarra——Guti——Sneijder
————Ruud—–Raul—————–

First Half

Ideally thats a good lineup, but I could pick it apart if I had to. Considering how Espnayol lined up, they pretty much swamped us and counter attacked incredibly well. But of course, 90 seconds into the game Albert Riera headed in Luis Garcia’s corner. Crap, bad start.

Real looked life less and unable to create much, and after 7 minutes Tamudo fired wide from a Riera cross. Those two are just on fire right now. Raul and Sneijder headed and shot over respectfully, while Tamudo again was off target with a decent chance as the first half was zzzzz not very entertaining. That may have been my quickest first half wrap up ever.

Second Half

The second half started off with Higuain rushing into Espnayol’s penalty area only to see his cross gathered by Kameni. A few minutes later Tamudo collected a Valdo pass after drifting away from Cannavaro and chipping over Casillas for the 2-0 tally. Pretty goal, nice movement by Valdo and Tamudo did well to score from there.

Luis Garcia sent a shot into the side netting, while Kameni denied RVN a clear chance. As Real pushed forward they became very vulnerable and Tamudo was denied by a good save from Casillas in the 78th. Sergio Ramos then grabbed a late goal from a corner, and even though there was 5 minutes of extra time, the result was never in doubt for Espanyol. A quick note, Tamudo and Riera are looking good obviously, but Marc Torrejon would be a good buy for Real. Just sayin it.

So we finally lost a game, but seeing as how Barcelona lost to Villareal, we are still atop the league. 1 point above Villareal and Valencia, 2 above Barca. Over all, I dont think Real had a decent looking player. Sergio Ramos is always inspirational but the team looked lost today, I cant single anyone out for praise or to be shat upon. I attribute this lost purely down to coaching. Stop the rot with a win in the CL this week Schuster, or your ass is on the hot seat because despite being atop the league, we have played like shit for 6 straight games. That is all:

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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