Why Watch The Copa del Rey?

By: Corey | October 29th, 2008

Awhile back I asked readers for some content for me to post. The reason being all of you have such great comments that I thought it would be nice to see what you had to see in a full post. Well here is the first in, I hope, a long line of user-written content. Without further ado, an excellent piece from John Staunton on the Copa del Rey.

Why Watch the Copa del Rey?

Like the Carling Cup in England, the Copa del Rey (“King’s Cup” in english) is the kind of competition that rarely garners more than a shrug from the general public, and a half hearted “Yip!” from the fans of the winning side. There are reasons for this. Most of the larger clubs in Spain view this tournament as a bit of a sideshow, or at best, like Valencia last year, a consolation prize. There is no doubt that the top teams – the clubs with lots of money pouring in and out of the front offices – look first to either European success or domestic league dominance before giving the Copa del Rey much thought. At the beginning of the tournament, teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Atletico de Madrid and et cetera usually rest their key players for what they deem more important competitions. They let their bench warmers get a run out, along with some players from their youth academies. If they happen to find themselves in the quarter finals, or semi-finals, then they’ll figure, “What the heck? Might as well really give this thing a go, right? I mean, silverware is silverware, right?” But they won’t risk anything major until they’ve made it at least that far. In the meantime, it’ll be B squad players and bench warmers for the big shot clubs. From a spectator’s perspective, however, this is part of what makes this competition so interesting.

Though I’m not as faithful to Madrid’s Castilla as Corey is (who has an incredible wealth of knowledge about Madrid’s youth system: hats off) I would still much rather watch players from our academy succeed than a team full of hired guns, a la Florentino Perez and the Galacticos. (There are – completely unfounded – rumors that Flo-Per might be after the presidency again; this particular Madridista’s thoughts on it? Keep him the hell away.) At the moment, I think we’re all enjoying the services of Ruben de la Red and Miguel Torres, even if we occasionally argue about old guard players Castilla products such as Guti, Raul and Salgado. And the only thing greater than Casillas’ skills is the fact he’s a blanco through and through. I also think most of this forum’s readers would agree that players like Esteban Granero, Alvaro Negredo, and Juan Mata would be welcomed back warmly to the Bernabeu, and given their chances to earn a spot on the starting XI. Well, for our young cadets, the Copa del Rey is exactly when and where those chances do come. Players like Javi Garcia will most likely get plenty of action at the beginning of this competition, and perhaps we’ll see some call-ups from the Castilla get their first starts for Real, namely Chema Anton and Alberto Bueno. Seeing as these players may one day be deciding the success of the club, this is a valuable opportunity to see them in action. Furthermore, the other big clubs will be taking a similar approach. Yesterday, Sergio Busquetts was given charge of Barcelona’s midfield (with Yaya Toure’s help) and players like Victor Sanchez and Abraham were given the keys to Laporta’s catalan car. We can expect to see some of the promising youths of the lower leagues strutting their stuff, and that’s reason #1 why I, personally, will be watching as many matches as I can.

Reason #2 is only slightly different, and concerns the bench warmers. I fully expect to see Royston Drenthe starting a majority of these early Copa fixtures. Not only is it imperative that Big Bernd keep Arjen Robben healthy, but it’s time to start making some decisions about Royston. I was excited as anyone about this kid’s arrival to the Bernabeu, but he still has yet to impress. Recently, he’s seen a bit more playing time, but he seems unsure of himself, constantly loses possession, and makes a list of foolish mistakes. He has blinding pace, and is capable, every once in a while, of lobbing in a nice cross, so he’s got potential. But how long do we sit on this potential, rather than give more of our own youth a shot? In my mind, this may be Drenthe’s last chance. I wish him the best of luck.

Also in that category is Saviola. Actually, most of us would say his last chance has come and gone, but he’s still here. And with two aging strikers and only one other back up (meaning Higuain, who probably won’t be considered a back up much longer if he continues to impress) I suppose Saviola’s better than no one. So the Argentine will be another face I expect to see a lot of in the first stages, and the pressure will be greater than ever. Again, the best of luck.

And what about Christoph Metzelder? Same story, except in this case I just want him to take his beard back to Germany. I don’t like his style of defending, I think he’s too slow for La Liga, and his judgment can be awful. We already have oodles of faulty judgment in our defensive ranks, and slow players don’t fit well with pressing defenses, which is what Schuster is trying to accomplish. But he’ll be on display during the King’s Cup as well, you can bet.

So what will be the plight of these men currently wearing white? Only the Copa del Rey cam tell. (And yes, I spent five minutes on the rhyme and meter of that last bit. I fully expect to be teased for it.)

Reason #3 actually has nothing to do with Real Madrid. It has to do with the rest of them. First off, some of the middle and lower table clubs see this competition as their only chance to win some silverware, and then get a ticket to Europe, to boot. (In case any of you don’t know, the winner of this competition automatically gets a slot in the UEFA Cup, a.k.a the Champion’s League’s shy little sister.) These teams, as long as they’re not fighting tooth and nail to avoid relegation, put all their chips in, and usually manage some pretty exciting football in the process. Last season, and for the second year running, Getafe thrilled all and sundry on their way to the final, where they were unfortunately bested (for the second year running) by one of the big clubs (Valencia last year and Sevilla the year before). Mallorca also looked like a giant-killer, and gave us our marching papers before being felled by Getafe. Racing Santander played some pretty practical ball, but were a threat that they could never have been in the Primera. And yesterday, Benidorm put their attacking blinkers on and managed a not-too-awful effort against the high flying FC Barcelona (or at least their B-team) losing by only a goal. My point is that clubs like these make this tournament way more exciting than it is on paper. I hope you all will watch, whether by streaming the games or at least reading the reports. (Corey has promised us a Real Madrid-Real Union Irun postgame write-up on Friday, and other La Liga writers – Kevin and Isaiah for Barcelona and Cesar for Valencia, Al for Atletico, Anthony for Sevilla – have already set up Copa del Rey shop; hopefully Paddy for not-so-super-anymore-Depor, and the rest of the LFP Offsiders will follow suit.)

Finally take reason #4 into consideration: Valencia, the current holders of the Cup, have managed a transformation of the highest caliber over the last four months. Last season, with their club a shambles, they were looking deep into the eyes of relegation. They somehow managed to win the Copa del Rey, which – and I think even a good many Valencia fans would agree with me on this – was kind of a shame. It meant that Ronald Koeman, who managed so much destruction in his short (and well paid) stay that you couldn’t help but compare him to the Trojan Horse, walked away from his cancerous stay in Spain with a trophy to brag about.

But this season, with the immensely brilliant Unai Emery and his magic wand at the Mestalla, Valencia are currently atop the Primera table, and fighting in the UEFA cup (is anyone out there predicting a Tottenham bid?). So for them, the Copa del Rey is probably more of a shrug than ever – their primary aim will be to re-establish credibility through the usual channels. Villarreal are going to be saving their man power for the Champion’s League, where they were so unfortunate as to draw Manchester United, and so talented as to hold them to a scoreless draw at Old Trafford. Barcelona have gone two years without ANY trophies, and suddenly look as if they could take them ALL, but will most likely focus on La Liga and the CL. Atletico are up to their usual underachieving antics, and while that might put them in the category of consolation seekers, I think they’ll be focused on mopping up their domestic disaster and rolling their Champion’s League dice. Of the top clubs, that leaves Sevilla, who I secretly tip as favorites for this competition. Yes, they too are competing in the UEFA cup, where they’ve been brilliant in the past (2 titles in the past 3 years) but I think they’ll be hungry to prove their new look (sans Dani Alves and Keita) in the Copa. Here, at long last, is my final point: with most of the primary competitors staking their bets elsewhere, isn’t this a great chance for Real Madrid, who’ve gone so long without the King’s honors, to put in a decent push? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So! For those of you who’ve made it this far, and especially those who have done so without skimming: Thanks for reading, and Hala Madrid!

-john