Sporting Gijon Midweek Action

By: Corey | September 23rd, 2008

So after the 2-0 win against Santander we now tackle a promoted team who are a little down on their luck in Sporting Gijon. They have lost all three of their matches so far this season, and on Sunday were hammered 6-1 by Barca. Here is a little history of Sporting for all of you.

They were founded in 1905, with a petition for a “Royal” patronage accepting by King Alfonso in 1912. They did not make it to the First Division until 1944, and have been up and down ever since then. They had a successful period in the 80’s, with UEFA cup appearances and challenges for the league title. They had a 21 year stretch in La Liga, but after what many believe to be one of the worst La Liga campaigns in recent history in 98, they were relegated finally. They finished 3rd last year in the Segunda, securing their promotion, which was some what a surprise given Alaves, Sociedad, Salamanca etc. were all early favorite to be promoted.

They scored 61 goals last year and conceded 40 in 42 games. A decent return, but not exactly numbers that catch the imagination. Kike Mateo, David Barral and Mate Bilic scored 12, 11 and 10 goals last year respectively, making a pretty good attacking line. In fact Bilic already registered a hat trick against Sevilla, even though Gijon did finally loose. Gijon won many a game last year with their goal scoring prowess, not their defensive solidity, and is their first three games are an indication, they will be shipping goals all year long.

Sporting coach Manuel Preciado had this to say about his teams less then convincing start to La Liga life:

”It is too soon to evaluate what Sporting can really do this season because of the rivals we have had so far,” he said. ”But we must definitely improve a lot in defence.

”We will have to improve in every department in order to get a good result in Madrid.”

That seems kind of obvious, but given the fact that Sporting has conceded 12 goals in 3 games, its not exactly the worst thing to point out to his team they need to improve in every area of the field. Besides the fact that they have conceded a very high amount of goals already, their midfield has been bested with only 40% of possession at home to Getafe and 30% against Sevilla and Barca. This points to an obvious weakness, that maybe the defense is not that bad, but that with the midfield unable to hold on to the ball for long enough, the defense is under constant pressure. It was the problem Real faced a few years back, when we did not have a solid defensive midfielder to “carry the water”.

There lineup features a journey man goal scorer in Mate Bilic who will have to be watched all match long. They also feature Francisco Maldonado and David Barral in a rotating attack, with Maldonado scoring against Barca it seems he will retain his place alongside Bilic. They are not really any particular type of forward partnership, but while Maldonado is not a great finisher, he can provide the ball the Bilic tucks away. Barral is of course a former Real Madrid youth product, who came through the Castilla team back in 04. He never made an appearance for the first team, althoug he made the CL list that year. He will start on the bench but will probably make an appearance at some point.

The midfield is a bit of a toss up, as Preciado rotates players in and out often. Andreu and Kike Mateo are the obvious choice for wingers, but Mateo has not started since Jornada 1 and Andreu was indifferent against Barca. Michel also provides an option out wide, along with Carmelo who is used at wing back as well. Matabuena, who played for Santander for years and is highly under rated as a DM, will be doing the dirty work, while Deigo Castro will be his partner in the center. Dont expect to many blazing runs with the ball from this midfield, but they will try to keep it tigth, something they have not yet acheived.

At the back, they have Gracia Torre and Sastre as the fullbacks, and Raul Miguel Camara and Gerard as the center back pairing. I know nothing about these players, so besides they havent been water tight, this is all I can say about them. The keeper is Sergio Sanchez, who has bounced around La Liga a bit, last seeing action with Getafe in 05. He will be put the test at the Bernabeu no doubt. I watched the Barca matches extended highlights, and after getting 20 minutes of the key points in the game, its pretty apparent that 1. They can defend corners and 2. They maintain a deep line that leaves alot of room at the top of the box for someone like De la Red to pop shots all day

Its very possible that Gijon’s comes in with a 5 man defense, with 2 wing backs and a DM in front of the three man CB pairing. Much like the Numancia game, I expect Gijon to counter attack alot, but I dont see them as having the same kind of quality as Numancia. Mate Bilic on Numancia, now theres a combination! Or Numancia’s rear guard with Gijon, already a much better team. Anyways, I guess I should be hesitant after predicting a heavy win against Numancia, or the “ugly” win against Santander, or even the lack of goals against BATE. But hey, this one will be a goal orgy, there, I said it.

Real Madrid News:

Theres been alot of talk today in the press about Schuster and co being under ‘pressure’ due to the slow start Real had. Umm? Three wins, one loss at Deportivo, which by now is a given. I dont see this being a slow start, inconsistent maybe, but its the start of the season, let the team find their feet! Its not like Barca has started any better… And as for playing ugly against Santander. I think that when your away from home you will be a little more conservative, but since its Santander, who I would say is one of the best organized defensive teams in the league and have their fair share of hatchet men, so it was to be expected.

Ruud had this to say about Real’s start to the season:

“The fact that we played well is what I’ll take from this match,” he said. “This is Real Madrid. We saw it with nine men against Valencia (in the Spanish Supercopa), and then two poor matches. We saw the Madrid we want.

“We know that the score isn’t all that counts. We aren’t leaving completely satisfied. We know we must improve and where. It is still September.”

“Racing played well, but we did too,” Van Nistelrooy added: “We saw the Madrid we all want to see. It was a difficult match and the victory should boost our confidence. We must stay on track.

“The team was very solid in defence and took advantage of the opportunities it was given. Our strength in the first third and the team’s mentality proved crucial. Our chances improve when we play like we did.

“It is true that we played two poor matches, but we are improving. We did our job, but it’s time to think about Wednesday.”

I have always lamented how boring and predictable Schuster is when it comes to tactics and formations and then BAM Santander makes him try new things to a good result. So while I have clamored for De la Red against Numancia and BATE, I got him in Santander and to great effect. So I expect to see him again on Wednesday. Given Guti’s injury, couple with Gago being out and Sneijder just beginning to train with the team (although he is way ahead of schedule thank god), the midfield will remain unchanged, and my hope is that VdV has a good game. Because he has been average as of yet.

The backline may feature Marcelo at left back, but Heinze was solid there and given the three pronged attack may be used again, I will give the nod to Heinze. Speaking of the three pronged attack, it worked well, considering it was an away game. Higuain looked great, Ruud was a little subdued but he came up with the goods, and Raul worked his ass off. I really dont know what Schuster will do, because it makes more sense to have Robben provide more width, but it seems a pity to mess around with something that was working.

Given the work Raul puts in, and the fact that Guti is out, I think we will see Raul playing deeper yet again. Which means everyone will get on his case about not scoring, even though he is essentially playing as a midfielder. Although it worked well against Santander in spurts, I just dont think Raul is the best player for the 3 pronged attack, its Robben, so I hope Raul drops to the bench. In a traditional 4-4-2 (well something like it), Raul is the man in the hole, but with Robben out wide and Higuain playing widish on the right with Ruud in the middle, it looks good to me.

I have also pondered the merits of playing Javi Garcia along with Diarra and De la Red, in order to be more secure at the back, but I dont see the need given the opposition. I think VdV can safely step in to Guti’s role, the question is can he perform, because he is not use to playing so far from goal. He would benefit greatly from say Javi Garcia or Gago playing alongside each other allowing him to push forward more, but Schuster does not really seem to favor that, as he likes his play maker to sit back further then most typically do.

So there you have it, not much will change from last game and I used four paragraphs to say that. Anyways, the team sheet wont be out for a few hours, but I will put it up when I see it. Game is at 4pm eastern time tomorrow, and it will be available on the streams we listed for you guys a few posts back. I will see if Dancy or Steve can do a liveblog, but given that its a midweek fixture probably not. Anyways, your comments during the game are much appreciated, Ill be here dropping a line or two. HALA MADRID!