Liga Pundits articles

[Beast]

he is talking about 2 things
1- the very slow pace of the liga which is a big downfall in Europe.. he excluded Barca due to Iniesta - Xavi ability to hold the ball and how hard it is to take the ball from them , he gave an example of how Lass Diarra looked great in the liga coming from the face paced EPL.. even if you look towards the imports of the EPL they mostly did brilliantly in the liga from Forlan to Rossi to Ruud to Lass to Henry .. Heinze is an exception ..
2- lack of great defenders in the liga ..

you look @ the liga teams and you know apart from Barca the rest will suffer to Europe.. so yes the liga sucks. not just this year but the last couple of years .. before you mention Villarreal lets not forget they were playing PAO not Arsenal-Liverpool ..etc

Atletico crashed to Porto with ease and La Liga has zero reps in UEFA cup..

if you look back to the last couple of years you can see how fast paced Seville did pretty well cause they played the game he is describing ... and Villarreal had a similar strength like you in the CL with Roman holding the ball..etc

we all love the liga but lets face it.. from January onwards the difference between first & third was something like 18 or 20 points (same thing last year with Real ) .. this is a very big margin mate..

[Beast]

Betis put Paco out to pasture

Tuesday 07 April 2009 09:21
Sadly (unless you are an Atlético fan), there’s only nine matches of Primera fun left till the season grinds to a horrendous halt.

But you can turn those frowns upside-down as there’s still plenty of time left for some sacrificial sackings by panic-stricken sides.

After the latest round of matches, two coaching heads were being held down on the chopping board of fate. The first belonged to Victor Muñoz after a season spent RUINING Getafe and a hefty defeat against Valencia. The other was the Jagger-esque bonce of Paco Chaparro, the batty boss of Betis.

On Tuesday morning, the big-chinned chieftain of Getafe was handed a reprieve and released to prepare for another footballing failure. However his counterpart in the city of Seville was less fortunate.

As darkness fell over the Betis stadium, on Monday evening - feeding time for Darth Manuel de Lopera - it was announced that Chaparro had been quietly returned to the city’s Home for Bewildered, from where he had been plucked the previous season when taking over the reins of the calamitous club

Sunday’s 3-3 home draw with Numancia, which included a last-minute equaliser for Betis’ opponents thanks to a Ricardo goalkeeping howler, left the club in its now traditional 16th spot, just one point and two places above relegation.

Even more troubling for the Beticos is that they must face their next game away at Racing without the suspended Ricardo Oliveira and the injured professional idiot, Sergio García. The beardy-weirdy striker is out for a month having damaged himself on Sunday celebrating his club’s opening goal.

Taking over the Betis bench is the extremely cheap second team coach, José Maria Nogues, who made a promise on Spanish radio to “work hard and make sure they haven’t made a mistake” in his selection.

Nogues also revealed that he too could be sacked in a year’s time during another relegation struggle if things go tickety-boo over the next two months.

“Don Manuel told me that if we stay up he will renew my contract straight away,” beamed the former B-teamer.

Elsewhere in La Liga, Villarreal are preparing for a much-anticipated clash with Arsenal. Barcelona are preparing for a much-anticipated clash with Bayern Munich. And Real Madrid are preparing for a much-anticipated training session.

Spirits are very high indeed in the Kingdom of Cataluyna with both Sport and Mundo Deportivo resorting to excited high-pitched squeals, journalism that only dogs and Barcelona fans can hear.

“Passion for the Champions!” yells Sport’s front page with Josep Casanovas, calling for the 47 or so fans who plan to go to the Camp Nou on Wednesday night to cheer their boys to victory.

Marca, on the other hand, want nothing to do with the overrated and somewhat tawdry Champions League. Instead, Tuesday’s edition sees them continuing their shameless and, dare La Liga Loca say it, whorish campaign to get Florentino Pérez elected as president of Real Madrid.

The paper published a photoshopped image of Kaka holding up a Madrid number five shirt (with a warning to some of its slower readers that it’s a mock-up). The accompanying story is just another part of the bizarre alternate dimension that Marca is currently residing in.

According to the latest edition, Pérez has already won the elections, selected Zidane as his sporting director, signed Kaka, roused Alfredo di Stefano from his nap and poked the club’s life president into presenting the Brazilian striker as his first summer signing.

“Pérez is producing heavenly music for the fans,” sighed Tuesday’s wistful editorial.

If that wasn’t enough to raise a titter on a Tuesday, Marca also publishes the latest update on the paper’s Alfredo di Stefano award - the annual prize given to Raúl as the season’s best footballer.

Each weekend, the paper’s readers vote for their player of the week. Points are then awarded to the top 10 of each round. At the end of the season these are then completely ignored when a jury of Marca writers and former Real Madrid managers give the trinket to Raúl.

After round 29, Marca’s voting populace decided that Gonzalo Higuaín was the best player of the weekend, followed by Raúl after his stunningly memorable performance against Malaga. Leo Messi’s rather plinky half an hour against Valladolid was voted the third best outing of the round.

However, despite this blow, the Barça forward still leads the pack in the season’s overall standings. Raúl is nestled behind him in second with Higuaín in third - a result that must leave the likes of Eto’o, Villa, Diego López and Forlán more than a little puzzled.

Meanwhile, another one of Marca’s polls has been quietly shuffled into the shadows after some 70% of readers voted that it was quite right for Juande Ramos to give Guti constant grief.

The online version of the paper put up a sniffy notice reporting that there had been signs of fraud on the poll, something that also occurred when a majority declared that Raúl should indeed have been left out of the recent Spain squad to face Turkey.

And something that also occurs when the paper happens to disagree with the results. Democracy rules in Marca-land.
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[Guardian]

The great quality in the past is the main reason for La Liga downfall.
Take Valencia for example. Few years ago Valencia seemed to have a bright future, they had one of strongest teams in the league and in Europe and heyhastily designed their future, which was based on regular CL appearances and good performances. They gave a run to their new stadium project, they signed expensive contracts with some good players and they never realized the danger that may come from teams like Villareal or Sevilla and they underestimated the power of La Liga clubs. They ignored other factors like injuries and tiredness and they found it hard to compete in both La Liga and Europe. As a result they missed some CL campaigns, some of their key players got injured, they lost their confidence and to top it all the world economic crisis hit the entire world in the most inappropriatetime. And look what is happening with them now, they stopped the stadium constructions, they don’t have the planned resources from the CL and cannot cover the expenditures.
Hadn’t Villareal, Sevilla, Osasuna been that good, Valencia wouldn’t be in such tough situation now.

La Coruna is completely different case. The reason for their fall wasn’t the short-sighted expensive investments, like in Valencia case, it was the total lack of any investments. La Coruna managerial staff thought they had enough quality to play in CL and to be a dominating power, but unfortunately La Liga midtable teams drastically raised their quality and one day La Coruna found themselves behind the top 5 or 6 teams, and that golden mine called the CL has gone and now they have to find a new way to it, and we all know how difficult it is. They missed the moment. Had they invested a little more in their team, they would have remained as a top 4 team in Spain.

Zaragoza, Real Sociedad, Celta de Vigo management also was terrible

[Beast]

Fans, not footballers, at fault say Atlético bosses

Wednesday 08 April 2009 10:00
From La Liga Loca’s lofty perch in Atlético Madrid’s Vicente Calderón stadium, the blog is lucky enough to be able to gaze upon snow-capped mountains and the city’s royal palace. It can also enjoy the site of building works and a stinky, stagnant river.

And this is a rather handy and massively contrived metaphor / simile / comparison to the rojiblanco club.

The two sides to La Liga Loca came to rare agreement on Sunday that anarchic Atleti could be a brilliant, brilliant, best-in-Spain club, thanks to its handily-located near la Latina home and their die-hard fans love of Mike Oldfield megahit ‘Moonlight Shadow’ - “na na na na na na na na, na na na na, te quiero Atleti!”

Instead, it’s a bit rubbish thanks to the idiot twins of Enrique Cerezo and Miguel Angel Gil - a president and director general who barely speak and see the club as a battleground for their childish spats.

Now, Atlético Madrid fans have a deserved reputation for actively enjoying a good wallow in the moat of misery. But during Sunday’s 2-4 home defeat to Osasuna, the atmosphere in the crowd felt very different to the normal world-weary despair over the side’s hapless defence.

When Walter Pandiani headed home after just eight minutes, the goal was met by complete indifference from the stands. Total silence.

Masoud’s super strike for Osasuna’s fourth saw standing ovations and cheers that veered between sarcasm and genuine appreciation of a fine effort.

After the game, La Liga Loca got Osasuna centre-back Sergio to admit that Sunday’s opponents for the Pamplonan club have a bit of a reputation for being superb up front but a soft touch at the back, especially vulnerable to long balls.

However, Atleti sporting director, Jesus Garcia Pitarch is blaming the home support for the weekend’s defeat, noting that at 1-0 the fans were “spreading nervousness to our players and this stopped them playing at their best.”

And it’s an opinion shared by Enrique Cerezo. “You can’t ask the team to win if the fans are against them from the third minute of the match,” complained the club president.

A poll in Marca has Atlético fans in despondent mood over the club’s chances with 92 percent of supporters saying their team will fail to finish in the top four.

However, as one eagle-eyed blog reader pointed out, the accompanying pie chart in the paper reports that 92 percent felt that Champions League qualification would be achieved.

From the depths of despair, La Liga Loca now moves to the heights of happiness with Barcelona’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, a game that it is set to be the club’s fourth sell-out event of the season.

And to make sure the packed culé crowd won’t regret missing out on any televisual treats at home, cheery songs are to be sung and images of great Barcelona triumphs will be played on the stadium screens to rouse the crowd from their normal state of complete stupor to something resembling consciousness.

Sport are doing their best by wheeling out a Catalan headline - something only done when the stakes are very high. “Tots som Barca!” yells the paper reporting that there is panic in the Bayern camp over tonight’s game.

All right-thinking readers of the blog would have been pleased that the spangly, dangly version of Villarreal was on display against Arsenal in Tuesday’s Champions League clash and not the half-arsed, can’t be bothered side of the club.

And to celebrate this joyous event, Spanish TV channel Antena 3 even managed a couple of minutes of commentary on the footballing affair in between begging its viewers to watch the double-bill offering of 2Fast 2Furious and useless Mel Gibson ‘Lorks! they killed my wife!’ Braveheart rehash, The Patriot.

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[Beast]

Guti (Or José Hernández) Is Back...




Tell your boozed-up, boorish buddies that you are taking Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta and Alecia Beth Moore out on the town and there'd be more jeers than cheers.

Rather than a hot lusty night in the city, it sounds more like tea and crumpets with two vapours-suffering debutantes.

But point out that your delightful dinner dates are more commonly known as Lady Gaga and Pink, and you'll soon be king of the hill, A number one.

Pop stars, like footballers, often adopt image-changing monikers as a way of distancing the plain, old person from the extroverted performer.

And to justify to old-school Aunt Hilary, why it's okay to spend much of the day prancing around in pants.

But for footballers, a fancy name can also make them sound and feel considerably scarier. Kaka is cooler than Ricardo and why sign Arthur Antunes Coimbra when you can have Zico?

If Dean Windass had become 'the Destructor' he would have finished his career with ten Champions League titles. Instead, the striker stuck with the stench-related surname and ended up at Hull.

La Liga boasts a player that straddles the worlds of entertainment and football like no other, a player who has one name used by his family and friends and another by the rest of the world. And someone who can cause a whole cauldron of controversy simply by sitting on his arse, as happened last week.

José María Gutiérrez Hernández has been playing in the Real Madrid midfield for 14 seasons. He's won three Champions Leagues and five la Liga titles. He is the man who plays cards with the kit men, changed the name on his shirt to include his children and waddles a little like Liam Gallagher after a viscous Vindaloo.

Guti is the walking headline, Real Madrid's anti-hero, the ying to Raúl's goody-two-shoes yang, the ridiculous red card-tempting tackle. The player who has to feel loved to perform, who pulls out of squads on a whim and who has attempted more barmy barnets than David Bowie.

Guti is the most promising player in his 30's, according to a former Madrid president and the figure who combines the three big obsessions in Spain - football, scandal and gossip.

Last season, Guti was the league's top assist-maker and mentioned as a possible part of his country's Euro 2008 squad.

One year on, the 32-year-old has made just 11 starts and has poodle-haired QPR reject Dani Parejo being picked ahead of him.

A combination of injury - some genuine, some imagined, spins the rumour mill - awful form and a number of ill-disguised spats with Juande Ramos has had Guti looking to a future away from the Bernabeu. But considerably sooner than 2011, when his current contract expires.

The player described by his coach on Sunday as "one of the best passers of the final ball in the world" began to suffer problems during the first Primera tie under Juande Ramos, an away game against Barcelona when the injury-hit squad needed a leader in the club's vice captain but found Guti AWOL.

With an ability to play that killer ball absent from his repertoire, all Madrid were left with was a workshy wuss wandering around the Camp Nou pitch and winding up the new manager.

In the first match of 2009 against Villarreal, Guti withdrew from the squad due to injury (said the club) or due to being told by Ramos that he would not start (suggested others).

The situation worsened in the Champions League debacle against Liverpool when Guti failed to start either tie and only trotted out at Anfield with 15 minutes left and when the visitors were already 3-0 down.

The demons in Guti's brain could not longer be contained and the midfielder found himself dropped from the squads against Athletic and Almería after a spat with Ramos and a stinky attitude in training.

"They have misunderstandings," explained Michel Salgado over the antagonistic issues between Guti and his coach.

Unlike Raúl, who can do no wrong in the eyes of either the Madridista press or fans, 75% of readers in a Marca poll supported Guti's temporary exile.

A player who was regularly booed from the Bernabeu stands in seasons gone was continuing to be a divisive figure.

Matters came to a head in last weekend's 0-1 away to Málaga, a match where Guti was in the squad but left on the bench. And unbeknownst to him, with a camera trained on his parked posterior for the entire encounter.

And that's where the latest bout of trouble arose. With five minutes to go, he was instructed to warm up. "No way," replied Guti, but with slightly ruder words.

Hours later, the images were out complete with subtitles - images of a senior Real Madrid player disobeying the instructions of a member of the club's technical team.

With no Champions League football to to divert the simple minds of the Madrid-based press, Guti received the roughest of rides for his alleged sleight.

Eventually, the man in the middle of the maelstrom was poked onto a podium to speak to explain himself to the press. Except it was José Hernández that came out to play, the likeable, reasonable, regular guy who argued forcefully that the crazy controversy was disproportionate to what had actually happened.

"It's as if I had killed someone," flustered José, pointing out that he had warmed up for the entire game and that Royston Drenthe was about to go on as the third and final substitute.

In the 15-minute inquisition, the 'cordial' relationship with Juande Ramos was discussed - an expression echoed by his manager days later.

With the sting taken out of the teacup-sized storm, Guti returned to the Real Madrid fold after being 'ostracised' according to El País, although he was to begin the lacklustre home clash against Valladolid on the bench.

With a truly awful game at 1-0 after a first-half goal from Raúl and Madrid facing the very real threat of an equalising effort, Guti made his entrance with half an hour to go and, for once, demonstrated why he had been so useful to numerous managers over the years.

Having suffered another attack from their feisty visitors, Guti got hold of the ball, looked up and within milliseconds computed and launched a doozy of a 40-yard ball to release Arjen Robben, who scored Real's second and final goal of the match and secured the side's 14th league victory in 15.

The performance also produced a yellow card, ensuring a suspension against next weekend's away trip to Recreativo.

Due to the club's tendency to rid themselves of perfectly good managers, Guti's immediate future in the Spanish capital is uncertain, despite Sunday afternoon's natty pass.

If Juande Ramos is to stay on at the Bernabeu then Guti will almost certainly have to move away, perhaps to America or the Middle East, a plan discussed by the midfielder in March.

Despite his undoubted talent for getting teams out of a tight spot, Guti is too slow and too schooled in the more ponderous style of la Liga to contemplate a move to England.

What's more, it's doubtful that his ego would permit playing for anything other than a top four club.

In his immediate future, Guti's perfect defence-splitting pass sees the footballer out of the headlines for at least a week, especially now that his place has been taken by Sergio Ramos.

The defender decided to take advantage of a suspension by leaving the game at half-time to watch some bullfighting in an eventful evening spent watching two sets of dumb animals on display.

Should Guti move on from Madrid in the summer then it seems that another rebel without a clue will be ready to fill his substantial shoes.

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very harsh on Ramos IMO , he is far from being a Guti...
apart i'm glad he is getting what he deserve .. prick

[Beast]

Salvation and damnation
By Eduardo Alvarez


Antonio smiles and nods: "Yes, fortunately Betis play on Sunday. I wouldn't be able to watch the match if they played today, I wouldn't miss this for anything". It's the night of Holy Saturday in Sevilla, and Antonio speaks as he gets dressed to take part in a procession, one of hundreds celebrated all over Spain during Easter. It's one of the rare occasions in which Spaniards actually practice their stated Catholicism, and probably the one preferred by most

Just like Antonio inherited his "Betis sickness", as he dubs his preference for the green football side of Sevilla, he also succeeded his father and grandfather in the Brotherhood of Jesus of Great Power. Together with a few dozens of fellow members, Antonio will carry over his shoulders a (over five-ton heavy) image of Jesus, named paso, around Sevilla, while thousands of sevillanos watch the march deeply moved and even shed tears of devotion. "Anyway, Betis will win tomorrow", he says ready in his purple outfit, "you know the old saying: new coach, guaranteed win".

Well, he was right. With new gaffer José María Nogués, Betis made Antonio a happy man and won convincingly in Santander, getting relief after seven matches without a victory. They are now four points clear of relegation and play two consecutive games at home, which should improve their position.

The gap between the bottom three and the remaining teams involved in the relegation battle widened this Holy weekend.

Espanyol and Numancia drew at the freezing cold Soria, which didn't help either side. Recreativo played bravely at the Nou Camp, but succumbed to Iniesta's skill in an otherwise uninspired effort by leaders Barcelona, looking tired and unimaginative after their midweek demolition of Bayern Munich. Recre will host Real Madrid next weekend, so the bottom three appear to be headed to the Second Division.

Resurrection Sunday saw two teams that looked almost dead by midseason gain another giant step towards (football) salvation. Osasuna defeated Athletic de Bilbao at home, which means the navarros surpass the Basque side on the table. The rojillos had only 13 points after the first 19 matches, and have won 22 in the next 11, an amazing recovery similar to that of Mallorca.

Gregorio Manzano's team also got three points, in their case against Almería after an amazing bicycle kick goal by Cleber Santana. He appeared to be emulating Almería's gaffer Hugo Sánchez, a master of this acrobatic manoeuvre back in the eighties. At the end of the match, Professor Manzano said that Mallorca are not out of trouble yet, and that "we need to work together as if we were carrying a paso, one step at a time, all of us pushing at the same time in the same direction".

And now that the relegation battle is getting progressively clearer, the last Champions League spot is becoming more complicated. Villarreal lost their place to Valencia after being defeated at home by Málaga, who get back into the race for the fourth position. Injuries to Cazorla and Senna might prove costly for Villarreal in this final part of the season, starting with their Champions League encounter against Arsenal in London on Wednesday.

Easter Sunday also brought us a prodigal son going back home, as David Villa played against his former team Sporting in Gijón. Villa, a die-hard Sporting fan, dutifully scored a penalty which he then refused to celebrate, but it was Valencia's leftie duo of Mata and Silva who stole the show with a fantastic performance and one stunning goal apiece. This valencianista victory leaves Sporting close to trouble and Valencia in a Champions League spot for the first time in over two months.

And what to say about Atlético? They prefer to be David than Goliath, and are able to beat the best and lose to the worst. After a few poor matches, they finally played well again and defeated Deportivo at La Coruña. Simão scored Atlético's 4,000 goal in La Liga, and they stay in the fight for a European football spot next year. "We get paid to qualify for the Champions League", said Sergio Agüero after the match. Most Atlético supporters thought Agüero & co were getting paid to win the Liga title, but what do they know...

The weekend was so cold that several cities saw their dose of passion and religious emotion suspended due to storms and snow. Madrid and Valladolid, two of the most traditional Easter capitals, cancelled most of their Holy Saturday processions.

The weather was nicer to football though. On Sunday, Real Madrid beat Valladolid at the Bernabéu, in another demonstration of practical (and tedious) football that takes the merengues' tally to an impressive 14 wins and one draw in their last 15 matches. Guti played again after some controversy between him and Juande Ramos; his assist to Robben in Real Madrid's second shows what he can do when he feels like playing, which unfortunately does not always happen.

It was an almost perfect weekend for the average Spaniard, the combination of religious holidays and football occupying almost the entire time. There was only one more thing required to complete our preferred entertainment trifecta: bullfights. That is exactly what Sergio Ramos must have thought during Real Madrid's Sunday match. He was under suspension, watching his teammates play from the Bernabéu's VIP area. At halftime he decided to leave the stadium and go to Las Ventas, Madrid's beautiful bullfight arena, where a friend of his, bullfighter Alejandro Talavante, was due to face six bulls. Not that Ramos' presence would have made any difference in the final result of either event, but his decision hardly seems the most logical move.

Manzano's words seem relevant at this point: "we need to work together as if we were carrying a paso". With only eight matches to go stakes are high, pressure mounts, and the difference between success and failure may well be in the attitude of each teammate. If just one of them is not in sync, the image will end up falling to the ground. Let's see which teams manage to deliver their pasos untouched back to their churches.


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[Beast]

why David Villa will always be a hero at Real Sporting de Gijón

David Villa's affection for his former club Sporting Gijón knows no bounds – except when it comes to the business of scoring penalties
Behind the goal, supporters peered through cameras, ready to immortalise the moment. Heavy-set stewards took their eyes off the fans and turned to the pitch. Ball boys stood open-mouthed. There was a collective pause, an intake of breath. Some wondered if he would really do it. Then the whistling began, as heavy-hearted as it was necessary. David Villa put the ball on the penalty spot, took a few steps back, stopped and looked around, eyes darting from left to right. He puffed out his cheeks, his chest heaving with the tension, strode forward and did what he always does.
Scored.
As the ball hit the net on Sunday night, Valencia climbed into a Champions League place – not so much a target as a necessity for a club in crisis – and Villa racked up his 150th league goal, his 22nd this season. It took him to four behind Samuel Eto'o and six from Valencia's season record. But rather than perform a corner-flag jig, kiss his ring, suck his thumb, point to his name, pull a hat from his pants, pucker up to the badge or do a rubbish back-flip, he stopped dead, put his hands together in a gesture that pleaded forgiveness and looked glum.
One by one his team-mates approached, grabbing him by the ears, spitting delight into his face, but it was no good. There wasn't a hint of a smile, barely a flicker in his eyes. There was, though, a quiet smattering of applause. Soon, it was replaced by chants of "Illa, illa, illa, Villa maravilla!" (Villa the marvel.)
The chants came from the opposition's fans. It was Sporting Gijón against Valencia. After five years, 10 months and 21 days, Villa was finally playing at the Molinón again. He was wearing Valencia's black and orange, not Sporting's red and white and he had promised that if he scored he would not celebrate. Virtually every player has a former club – even Raúl started his career at Atlético – but few have a former club like Villa has Real Sporting de Gijón and few clubs have a former player like Sporting have Villa. The promise was familiar, but the sentiment wasn't. This wasn't yet another empty gesture.
If Villa isn't given the credit he deserves nationally – eclipsed by campaigns for Raúl, lacking the charisma or the club to be a media star – in Gijón he couldn't be more of a hero. When Valencia arrived at their hotel over 3,000 people were waiting, the queue snaking out the building, across the road, through the petrol station forecourt and out the other side. At the front of it, a mother and daughter who had waited eight hours for a photo and a signed shirt.
Television crews fought for the best position, cameras for planks as they spun round cracking each other across the head slapstick style. Backed into a corner, microphones under his nose, Villa was forced into an impromptu press conference. As he arrived at the Molinón the following afternoon, a banner awaited him. "We're proud of you," it said. Teachers from his school, wearing T-shirts in his honour, and 23,000 others were also there. Molinón was packed.
"If Villa comes anywhere near my touchline during the game, I might just bite him," declared Sporting's coach, Manolo Preciado, "but before and after, I'll give him a hug. He's the best player in this club's history, after Quini."
When he emerged from the tunnel, there was a huge roar and representatives from Sporting's Ultra Boys supporters' club presented him with a plaque and a scarf. The chant went up. "Illa, illa, illa, Villa maravilla!" By the end of the game, swapped Sporting shirt over his shoulder, he was in tears. "It was an unforgettable weekend," he said, "the hardest game of my life."
"I hoped I would never see the day he played against Sporting," said his dad. (At least, this column thinks it was his dad: TVE decided they needed a caption saying "Villa, Valencia player" rather than one explaining who the big bloke in red was.)
Talk about the return of the prodigal son. Only instead of departing an ungrateful sod in search of filthy lucre, ending up a swineherd and returning in shame, Villa left Gijón with his head held high to play for Real Zaragoza, Valencia and Spain and returned a European champion.
And that is partly the point. Because if it seems a bit weird to lavish such praise on a striker who, although he scored 38 goals in 78 games, never played a first division match for Sporting, if it appears bizarre to offer such a warm welcome to a footballer who walked away, yet to really make it, at the age of 21, Villa never turned his back on Sporting, becoming a kind of ambassador for the Asturians – a foothold, however tenuous, in the first division. A player who celebrates goals by pretending to pour Asturian cider, has the Asturian cross stitched into his boots and paraded round after Euro 2008 with an Asturian flag, who goes by the Asturian miner's nickname El Guaje and even lent his support for a campaign to grant Asturianu the same status enjoyed by the Basque and Catalan languages.
A miner's son, Villa was raised at Sporting, the last great product of Mareo where, to the sound of cowbells, howling wind and pouring rain, quality players used to roll off the production line. His hero was Sporting's feisty midfielder Luis Enrique. As a kid, his mentor was Enrique Castro González, "Quini" – five times Pichichi, the greatest Sporting player ever and possibly the finest striker in Spanish football history.
And during the European Championship in Austria he had a satellite dish installed so he could watch Sporting finally clinch promotion to the first division after 10 long years away. Even his departure, seen as the ultimate, reluctant act of sacrifice, delighted the fans: without it, struggling Sporting would quite probably have gone out of business and would almost certainly have faced administrative relegation.
Trouble is, after waiting a decade to return and half a decade to face their hero, by scoring that penalty Villa sent Sporting to within a place of another relegation. Small wonder the fans applauded him but didn't cheer as they had done when the sides met at Mestalla. The fear was too great. All too real, too. Mate Bilic, Sporting's promotion hero and a player who first joined them in the deal that took Villa to Zaragoza in 2003, made it 2-2 but with three minutes left Valencia's other Asturian, Juan Mata, thumped the winner to hand Sporting a La Liga record – 30 games without a draw – and take Valencia into a Champions League place. As Villa stood motionless, looking rather sunk, Mata sprinted off and leapt into Valencia's fans. Asturian he may be, but Mata's club is Real Oviedo.
Week 30 talking points
• The cover of Sunday morning's Marca ran with the headline "Champions by decree?" after Recreativo complained that the referee had done them few favours against Barcelona on Saturday, ignoring a possible penalty for handball and another more possible one for a challenge by Víctor Valdés, as well as giving Barcelona a penalty (which Messi missed) for a handball. He also disallowed one goal each for offside, both of which looked borderline (but probably right). AS agreed, yet again banging on about Barcelona having the Federation in their pocket and about that now-familiar evil plot to sink Real Madrid. The following day, Valladolid complained that Real Madrid beat them 2-0 thanks to the referee ignoring a penalty from Pepe on Henok Goitom. That's the thing about great comedy...
• Meanwhile AS's headline today was the utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly inevitable: "Raúl Always Returns". Jesus wept, come up with something new will you?! Please. Mind you, it's no more boring or predictable than Real Madrid. Even Sergio Ramos left the Bernabéu early yesterday.
• Time to pack up the Art of War, the Gloria Gaynor CDs and the wildlife documentaries. Oh, and the suit, mime artist's gloves, and the hair. Paco Chaparro has been sacked as coach of Real Betis. He's been replaced by the cheapes... er, best man available: B team boss José María Nogués. He enjoyed a winning start, beating Racing Santander 3-2.
• A great weekend for Juan Mata: not only did he get the winner against Sporting Gijón but Real Oviedo became the first team to win their league in the whole of Spain. Now there's just the small matter of the play-offs, Second Division B, more play-offs, and promotion from the Second Division to the First to go.
• ...timing.
• No word yet on Osasuna's pigs, but the team keeps on winning. This time, they defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 (with the help of a pretty harsh red card) to rack up a third successive win, climb to 11 and become the third-best side in Spain in the second half of the season.
• And if Madrid think they have cause for complaint, what of Espanyol? They had a perfectly good goal disallowed against Numancia. One that could just have given them some hope of survival but probably now leaves them sunk.
Results
Barcelona 2-0 Recreativo, Villarreal 0-2 Málaga, Real Madrid 2-0 Valladolid, Sporting 2-3 Valencia, Mallorca 2-0 Almería, Osasuna 2-1 Athletic, Numancia 0-0 Espanyol, Racing 2-3 Betis, Sevilla 0-1 Getafe [Muñoz survives. For now], Deportivo 1-2 Atlético.

[Beast]

La Liga’s Good Day, Bad Day - Round 30

Monday 13 April 2009 12:00
GOOD DAY

Vladimir Stojkovic

Having gone through more goalkeepers than a Seaman-obsessed old slapper, Getafe finally found the right man for the job on Sunday evening.

Vlad the Impaler was between the posts in the Sánchez Pizjuán and helped the visitors to their first clean sheet in 22 league games with some fine saves and even finer arm-waving and boggle-eyed staring.

Having previously worked their way through Ustari (too injured), Pato (too peculiar) and Jacobo (too meeeehhhh) they finally settled on the Serbian currently on-loan from Sporting Lisbon.

Combined with a tough-tackle and splendid run from Jaime Gavilán on the left, Getafe won just their second game in 10 to send coach Victor Muñoz more than a little doolally on the opposition bench.

David Villa

There is nothing as poignant as the player who pointedly refuses to celebrate a goal against a former team. That slumped posture of depression, so reminiscent of some poor soul being ordered to watch Real Madrid’s last three games all over again.

This was the brace position adopted by David Villa on Sunday on converting a penalty against his old stomping ground and big love, Sporting.

It was against the club that made him a big banner to welcome him home and even tried bribing him with a celebratory plaque before the game. But it was to no avail, as Villa’s first half strike was to prove.

Cleber Santana

The Mallorca midfielder has appeared one or two times in the blog’s past - usually with the word ‘why?’ and ‘!!!’ next to his name.

This is a player who is so awful that Atlético even put a clause in his contract forcing the on-loan player to play against them, rather than be left out. (This may not technically be true).

But for now, those jokes are (temporarily) suspended after Cleber’s Hugo Sánchez-esque overhead kick which put Mallorca ahead in their 2-0 win over Almería.

Osasuna

The 2-1 victory over Athletic, the side’s third win in a row, lifts Osasuna to the heady heights of 11th.

It also makes them - or so La Liga Loca heard - the third best team in Spain in the second round of matches with just one defeat in 11. Manager, José Antonio Camacho is perhaps one Madridista that the fans won’t lob lighters at it in El Sadar.

Kun Agüero

Or ‘Kum Agüero’ as one caption writer for TVE1 put, opening a whole different career path to Sunday’s goalscorer, should he give up football one day.

It was almost a very familiar but entertaining story for Atlético in Riazor. Decent work by the strikers let down by the side’s failure to play the final three minutes of the match with a late goal conceded.

“But this time, there was to be no circus (just)” wrote Iñako Díaz Guerra in AS. “We did well for the rest of the game,” noted Abel Resino coming to his team’s defence.

Emana

After a very sprightly first third to the season, Betis’ marvellous midfielder seemed to be stuck in the same plug hole of despair as the rest of his team-mates.

But the Cameroonian footballer finally clambered out to ‘sink’ 10-man Racing Santander with two goals to give new manager José María Nogúes a winning start to his no doubt short Betis career.

Málaga

Took advantage of a Villarreal side who looked like they were playing on jam rather than grass to restart their European push with a 2-0 win to keep them level with sixth-placed Atleti on goal difference.

Barcelona, Real Madrid

The same reaction in the Spanish press to two more victories for both teams in a weekend that was sadly similar to the last round of matches.

Marca claim referees are helping Barça and complain they are winning the league ‘by decree’. Sport and co say that Madrid are spawny jamsters doing the bare minimum to hang onto Pep's Dream Boys’ brilliant coat tails.

Meanwhile, the Bernabeu correspondent for El País appears to be on the point of blowing their brains out with the headline that Madrid ‘win as much as they bore’.

BAD DAY

Cáceres, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Bojan, Hleb...

Over the next few weeks, Barcelona’s first-teamers are going to be busier than a one-legged tap dancer, but the less-than-super subs do not appear to be aware of this.

Like Maniche, they are unable to pull their weight and are contributing very little to the culé cause.

Although the 2-0 win over Recre can be seen as a battling performance in the middle of a big Champions League week, it’s nothing to what the Catalan club will face when the likes of Sevilla, Valencia, Chelsea and Villarreal come a callin’ over the next month.

If the Barcelona backroom boys can barely overcome a side that are in the bottom three, it doesn’t bode well for the immediate future of the league leaders.

Sergio Ramos

Replaces Guti in the Real Madrid naughty corner after leaving the ground at half-time (he was suspended, the game wasn’t that bad) to go and watch some bullfighting.

Sporting

Have now equalled the record for number of matches played without achieving a draw - 30. And this sees Sporting slipping towards the relegation zone.

10 of the promoted club’s 19 defeats have been by the odd goal, a touch more pragmatism in some of those matches could have seen Sporting already safe for another season instead of one place above the trap door.

Sevilla

Have scored less goals than Real Betis this season. Which is not very good really.

Espanyol

Like an over-botoxed Barbie Girl, Paul from Barcelona has had a stiff upper lip for a good fortnight now... let’s see how it is holding this week.

“A five-and-half-hour drive through the jungle, desert actually, only to see us stitched up yet again. Three clear penalties (one for Numancia) not given and a perfectly good goal disallowed. The horror! THE HORROR!. Welcome to Espanyol's world.

"Over 1,800 made the trip and about 700 of them couldn't get in as it was sold out. Numancia decided that a point would be good enough so they didn't go for the win, whereas Espanyol did but came up against Supergoalie and Supermoron.

"By far the better team, Espanyol created loads of chances and should have had a penalty when Tamudo had a shot and what looked like a clear handball stopped it going in.

"A couple of minutes later a nod down from Moises was volleyed home by Sergio Sanchez. Disallowed because..........????????

"The ref was garbage. Both sets of fans agreed on this. In the final minutes Espanyol could have scored five or six times but Juan Pablo, Numancia's keeper, had the game of his life.

"So, results went against us and we are now seven off safety. How much do I hate Sevilla? Probably more than Barça at this moment in time. Not quite over yet. Three of the next four at home and our away match is against Sporting.

"Nice friendly people in Soria but no reason to visit them.”

Paul, Barcelona

Deportivo

A team that has gone into depression ever since securing safety for another season, say AS on a side that has picked up just one point from 12.

[Warik]

VERY harsh on Caceres who was probably our best defender on Saturday.

I do think he talks out of his ass alot ol' Tim.

[Beast]

Think it's more a general comment for your subs then one player in particular

[Warik]

True, but I think it is harsh on certain subs. I don't think it is any of our subs being poor so much as many of the players on the pitch slacking (Alves, Messi, Henry, Marquez, even Iniesta), making the game harder than it probably was for them. Hleb played 15 minutes, Keita only 25 minutes, Caceres was great (by his standards so far this season) it is unfair to try blame them for a relatively poor display by our standards.

[shadows]

That slumped posture of depression, so reminiscent of some poor soul being ordered to watch Real Madrid’s last three games all over again.

[Snyde]

Tim is more laughs than substance honestly, but still overall good coverage. He might be the only one writing in english who doesn't just talk about Madrid/Barca every other week.

[Beast]

Big Bernado Schuster is back in business

Wednesday 15 April 2009 10:00
Having disappeared from the Bernabeu faster than the bullfight-barmy Sergio Ramos, blog über-hero Bernado Schuster has made a very welcome return to the Spanish spotlight after a four month absence.

With the moustache having transformed itself into a full-on Careless Whisper beard and looking a little like an out-of shape Jack Bauer, the former Madrid man has been in the pages of Marca this week talking about his past, present and, of course, Florentino Pérez.

As is the norm with Marca, these days the main aim of the out-of-the-closet confession-fest was to hurl yet more insults at Rámon Calderón, with the paper claiming that Schuster was cursed by “the opportunity of his life coming under the leadership of the worst president in 107 years” at Real Madrid.

Calderón has responded to the slur by branding Eduardo Inda, the paper’s director, as “a man with a complex and a bad journalist without any prestige amongst his colleagues.” La Liga Loca knows the feeling.

Marca’s revisionist take on Schuster’s stylings is that he is a top, top manager after all and has afforded the former Bernabeu boss all the rope required to defend his 17-month tenure at Madrid.

Schuster’s gut-rumbling gripe about his spell in Castle Greyskull concerns his inability to dictate - or even have the slightest say - in the side’s transfer policy.

“There was money for Cristiano... but none for Cesc and Alves,” complained Schuster who also grumbled that, “Calderón didn’t bring me any of the signings I asked for,” leaving the coach’s cupboard barer than Maniche’s with the munchies.

Bernado is equally dismissive of the Sporting Director model much favoured in Spain. Or perhaps more accurately, he is equally dismissive of Pedja Mijatovic playing this particular role.

“He was against me from the beginning because I was not his favourite,” complained Schuster on the man who was always a strong supporter of Fabio Capello and someone who he feels was equally to blame for the transfer failure of the summer.

“Why didn’t Villa come? I don’t know, you’d have to ask the greaseball that one.” (For the record, La Liga Loca has gone creative in his translation of Schuster’s excellent use of ‘el gomina’ or ‘the hair-gelled one’)

It is this insistence of treating managers like expendable serfs that will prevent Madrid from bringing in the big cheeses of the global game, claims Schuster.

“In the whole of Wenger’s life at Arsenal, he has been more than just a coach. It’s the same with Ferguson and Benitez. These guys are more than just trainers. I imagine they would say, ‘I’m in charge of the team’.”

Inevitably, Schuster has been dragged into Marca’s Florentino Pérez for President campaign and says that he had a very enjoyable meeting with the Anointed One once but soon discovered that he knew absolutely nothing about football - an unfortunate condition for someone who eventually wanted to pick the team.

“You are not going to learn anything more about football after 30 games sitting in your presidential box,” noted Schuster.

As well as giving Marca yet another opportunity to kick Calderón in his cockles, the Schuster exclusive was a chance for Bernd to put himself back on the managerial market.

There are stories circulating that the German coach fancies the soon-to-be vacated seat at the Vicente Calderón in an Atlético move that already has the blog’s bones a’tingling.

“I had a chance in Spain, but I needed more time,” revealed Schuster. “But I’m going to wait and see how things are at the end of the season.”

Welcome back, Bernado.

==================

[Beast]

Spanish press ponder Champions chase

Thursday 16 April 2009 11:00
With three English teams having qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third season in a row, the Spanish press have taken a teeny time-out on Thursday to sniff out the chances of the one remaining local side for local people still slugging it out in the tournament.

When La Liga Loca says ‘time out’, the blog means donating a couple of column inches to the topic. After all, there is other important business to attend to both in Madrid and Catalunya.

Sport are busy plugging Xavi’s ‘autobiography’ My life is Barça - an in-depth, no holds barred, tittle-tattle telling tome that will shock the world of la Liga.

Not really. As the book is sponsored by the paper and one of their ‘writers’ helped with the scribbling, chapters such as ‘Joan Laporta - what’s with the girl’s name?’ are unlikely to appear.

Josep Maria Casanovas writes that the treble is very much on, but is starting to get the wobbles over the six weeks or so to come. “When you look at the calender for the next month, it’s enough to give you a fright. Every three days they are playing for everything.”

Mundo Deportivo have begun trying to get the London-living Deco to return their calls, having spent the past six months or so blaming him and Ronaldinho for all of the Catalan club’s troubles last year.

Meanwhile, in the inside pages, Francesc Aguilar is looking for Pep Guardiola to bring back the ‘spirit of Chelsea’ from 2005 when the team ‘unfairly’ lost 4-2 in the last 16 second leg clash at Stamford Bridge.

“It was in those very same dressing rooms when the players vowed to win the following year’s competition.” And so it came to pass in Paris, Dear Reader.

AS editor Alfredo Relaño admits that the English teams may know a little bit about playing the world’s game after all, and gives them a doggy biscuit for doing so.

However, he does not see them ruling in Rome come May. “The English play nice, attractive, energetic, solid, practical football. But none of the three teams are as good as Barça."

The paper also continues its ‘glass is half full’, ‘glass is half full’ approach to Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Sir Alex was accusing the pouting ponce of being a workshy, lazy, mercenary, sulking so-and-so the other week, the paper saw this as a very positive thing for a player whose precious, ham-loving heart is pining for the Bernabeu and the chance to play alongside Miguel Torres.

AS views Ronaldo’s super strike against Porto as a taste of things to come next season for Real Madrid, of course.

Marca also ponder the continued dominance of the English league but are less willing to put their cojones on the line and tip Barcelona for the title. “A third European Cup is not going to be easy. The English teams stand in their way,” boomed Thursday’s editorial.

There is praise for little old Villarreal and their Champions league exit against another English side, but few grumbles over the eventual result which saw a 4-1 aggregate win for Arsenal.

“They leave with their heads held high,” write Marca, “but they never really had any options.”

“Pound for pound... the English side was better than the Submarine,” admit AS.

In a fortnight’s time, we will discover if it will be the same story for the current league leaders against Chelsea.