Welcoming Valladolid

This Sunday at 1pm eastern time, we will take on Valladolid at the Bernabeu. When we went to Valladolid we were only able to get a draw, and since we lost to Almeria last matchday, it sorta confirms our struggles in taking points off the newly promoted or looking to get demoted. See what I did there, yeah.

The draw was a result of hard work from Valladolid, but it also was because Schuster clearly doesnt spend enough time on set pieces. We rarely score from them, which is a shame, but we cannot defend them for a crap. Both legs of the Mallorca Copa del Rey tie were prime examples, Mallorca looking dangerous on corners and indirect free kicks because we simply couldnt clear the ball. Valladolid leveled because a certain Mr. Guti Haz decided not to trail his man into the box a la Roberto Carlos on Henry in the World Cup, and bam, the ball is in the back of the net.

I think its easy to blame Guti, it was his fault. But it isnt as if Valladolid did not deserve it, they played us well. Almeria played us well and won, and even though we are at home (Unbeaten ring a bell?), this will still be a test for the lads. Besides the suspected parking the team bus in front of the goal, Valladolid has a fresh squad, we on the other hand have a tired one. Example:

Diarra, Salgado, Raúl, Guti, Codina, Balboa, Dudek and Robben trained on the pitch this morning. Soldado missed the session, and Gago and Saviola did recovery exercises in the gym. Gabriel Heinze jogged around the pitch with recovery expert José Luis San Martín.

Dudek and Codina worked out with keeper coach Pedro Jaro. The other six available players were joined by Castilla’s Parejo, Krzystof and Forlín. They trained under the supervision of physical coach Jordi García, jogging together and, later, in groups. This was followed by ball work supervised by Bernd Schuster.

8 available players to train with, sometimes you feel bad for Schuster. He has Thursday and Friday to train with a full, yet exhausted squad for the match. It is not an excuse, we should have enough numbers to compete, but it effects preperations and fitness levels definately. I dont want to make an early excuse that it will cause us to loose or even draw, I am only putting a disclaimer on the game. Do not expect a tremendous performance from the players who were away on international duty, they are a little tired.

It is interesting though that he finally called up three Castilla players. Krystoff Krol, Dani Parejo and Juan Forlin made it to the first team to train. They must have had a good time, I wouldnt mind Parejo on the bench for the game. Krol and Forlin are more question marks. Both are good prospects, but whether they are La Liga ready remains to be seen. Some more training with the first team will whip them into a better shape, but seeing as how Torres, De la Red, Jaunfran, Nieto and Soldado were all just thrown into the mixer and did well, I am not to worried.

This is an important fixture, I have no doubts about it. Barcelona take on Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan. This means there is a good chance they could drop points, so we need to be fully ready to take advantage and extend our lead once more if possible. I am pretty confident we can do that. A little stat attack for you though. Ruud, who will most likely miss this game, has 12 goals in La Liga this season. Joseba Llorente has 10. Now of course Rela gets goals from all over the field while Valladolid is relying heavily on Llorente and Victor Fernandez Gutierrez (I just love that long as name, theres actually more to it).

Valladolid have lost two in a row and have dropped down to 12th, which is not desperation zone, but they are only 4 points off the 4 way tie for 18th place. Its interesting how tight La Liga is beside Real and Barca, usually theres three tiers of the league, this year, a 17 point spread between 3rd and 18th. It means an exciting end of the year, which we all here at the Offside enjoy. Okay, on to teams news.

Valladolid Team News:

Here is an interview with Luis Mendilibar, Valladolid’s coach: http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/valladolid/es/desarrollo/1087118.html

Interesting stuff, I am on a bit of a Spanish reading kick, I am trying to relearn the language after a few years of not using it at all. Im sure goal.com has it in English eventually. As for injuries, I am typically in the dark. Like always, you readers can fill me in on injuries for Valladolid.

Aa far as the tactics, I dont watch Valladolid games ever, so again I am in the dark. I mean know most of the players on there team, so dont ever think I dont know my La Liga players. Basically, dont question me about this stuff. But as far as tactics of each team, that is something that you can only get from watching games very carefully. Or reading someone else’s take on the team, but as one would suspect, this is not the best way to get your information, unless its me, Steve or Phil Ball.

Dead balls and counter attacking is the name of the game here. Every indirect free kick and corner kick is vitale to their chance of winning the game, so I am sure they have practiced that a bit in training. I do not know how much they will counter during the game, Im sure it will waiver through the different stages of the game.

The definite tactic is to keep the back 4 tight and not push them to far forward in their own half. Its pretty obvious the long ball is a preferred tactic when the going gets tough with the size of Llorente, but the speed of Bart Ogbeche is useful for flick ons. But they are not a Premier League team by any means, they can put the ball down and play, probably not as well as Almeria though. The fact is, its La Liga, and besides Levante, all teams have a shot at winning when the game starts. Ooohhh so inspirtational…

Real Madrid Team News:

In English Baxter, you know I dont speak Spanish: http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/real_madrid/es/desarrollo/1087226.html

So Guti’s presence for the game is in doubt, which is not good. It means we will have to rely on a combo of Baptista and Sneijder to get the ball to our attacking trident. But the tip of the trident is missing. Injuries are pilling up for us, who would have though we would have used all our players so frequently except the ones we all here like, namely Soldado, Balboa and De la Red, what a shame. With Guti injured, does Schuster role the dice and put Parejo on the bench? I think he probably should, but I have balls.

Man I sound cocky today dont I? Well, as for a possible lineup, with injuries cutting the pool down, here is what Ive got:

————-Casillas—————
Torres—Ramos—Canna—Marcelo
Sneijder—Diarra—Baptista—Robinho
———Raul——Higuain———

Its to bad Soldado looks like he has reinjured himself, like wise Guti being out. It leaves us with the wafer known as Arjen Robben, Rocky Balboa (dun dah dah dun dah dun dah dun (Rocky Theme)) (Ohh yeah a double elipse), Fernando Gago, Salgado, Dudek, Drenthe and Parejo? Maybe, that would be nice. No backup striker or centerback, thats reassuring isnt it.

As for tactics, we know we will be pressed once we hit the center line, so midfield is gonna have to be quick with moving the ball. Although we will have the majority of the posession, we need to counter when we can. When Valladolid comes out to attack, if we can get the ball back, just run it down their throat. I have noticed the team is always interesting in building up the attack and knocking the ball around, but sometimes you need to just hit a through ball for someone to run on to or just run at them. Not Premiership style, but some quick, fluid attacking.

In that sense, Schuster still doesnt take my calls, but it wouldnt be a bad idea to work on those set pieces. Its pretty obvious its one of our weak points, besides pressing our two center midfielders to starve the rest of the team of the ball. So without much height, proper positioning is needed. Also, Gago could very easily start instead of Baptista, he provides a better passing option but the beast has the phsyicality so its a tought choice.

Okay, a suggested score line? 3-0. Believe in the backlash of last weeks loss to Almeria. The team will get the campaign back on track at home and we will run out big winners, we always do at home against Valladolid.

Training Pictures:

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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