Liga Pundits articles

[por supuesto]

"A paper that was never exactly the mark of quality is now going downhill faster than Maniche on a skateboard to become little more than a daily dose of the bitterest bile."



Thanks Beast great read

[Lemmi]

Well, like Ever Banega during a sudden power cut, the mass debate is well and truly over with Marca making the definitive, argument-ending decision on the affair.

[Beast]

Pep ponders the mix
By Phil Ball

Lots of people (and newspapers) have been talking about Pep Guardiola this week, mainly because last week's home draw with Villarreal was followed up by a home defeat in the King's Cup to Sevilla, prompting the wunderkind of football management to announce to the press that he was fallible after all.


Rather than prompting comments of admiration for taking the responsibility on his own elegant shoulders, further criticism followed, one newspaper acidically suggesting that Guardiola was wrong to deflect criticism from the players because it let them off the hook. After each trophy won, the article added, Guardiola had insisted on making the players the protagonists, so when they lose, it should be the same.

This partly masked the fact that much of the Camp Nou's ire was taken out on the Ukranian centre-back, Dmitro Chigrinsky, as opposed to the whole team - and Sevilla playing rather well (as had Villarreral four days previously) was of course overlooked, but Spanish journalism is ever thus. When David slays Goliath, the victor's virtues rarely warrant a mention. The boy did well, but what was the giant messing around at?

Sevilla are hardly a David, of course, and their maddening inconsistency continued this weekend when they failed to win their third consecutive home game, losing 1-2 to a Canales-inspired Racing de Santander and looking longingly at the chance that the King's Cup (they will struggle to get much further in the Champions at this rate) has now given them to pick up a trophy this year and thus stay in the European reckoning.

Barcelona's 0-5 hammering of Tenerife, a tricky-looking match on paper given the week's events, came over as the players' defence of their manager. The cup this season has seemingly taken on a a new function - to test the ability of a manager and his players to weather the media storm created by a defeat, a phenomenon that has had three classic examples this season.

The first was the Alcorcon farce, where Pelligrini's managerial life seemed in premature peril and the media were calling for his blood (they're silent now), Recreativo's drubbing of Atlético Madrid in midweek - which prompted some sort of cathartic reaction from Quique "Doctor House" Sánchez Flores, threatening to hang his players from Madrid's lamp-posts and leave them as carrion for the vultures, and Barça´s above-mentioned defeat.

Atlético also ran out on Saturday night as if their backsides were on fire, and pummelled poor Valladolid 0-4 in the process, a reaction that also smacked of their respect for their new leader, and Real Madrid were reminded of their cup exit when their manager included Guti in the squad for the first time since that infamous October night, an evening during which the blond midfielder was alleged to have told his Chilean boss to stick it where it hurts. Guti even got a game, coming on for Xabi Alonso in the last ten minutes. It would seem that Bolton Wanderers will have to wait, and that the latest rumours of Guti's exit were as premature as the previous five hundred.

So if the consequences of defeat in the cup to a David or a sort-of-David are so serious, why mess with the team structure? Why put out a weakened side? There are surely various reasons, and why Guardiola should have deemed it necessary to apologise says a lot for the power of media-bullying these days. The best reason for putting out a different side (let's forget "weakened") is that players like Pinto, Maxwell, Milito, Thiago, Bojan and Chigirinsky, if they are not picked for the cup games, are really going to look at themselves and wonder what their manager thinks of them.

The King's Cup, like its FA counterpart in England, has become a useful competition for the bigger sides with their compulsorily bloated squads - bloated because in order to aim for higher things they need three players for every position, but that's the way the cookie crumbles nowadays. There's little point in pretending that the situation doesn't exist, and that we can all return to the romance of the cup as it used to be.

The second reason is inextricably linked to the first, in that the fringe players need to compete from time to time, and to be seen to be competing. Sevilla was a useful run-out for several players, and the tie is hardly over, given the Andaluz side's home record of late. Barça didn't lose because they had a 'weak' side out but because the composition of these cup-cobbled line ups is inevitably a rare one, with players relatively unaccustomed to one another, at least away from the training ground.

The third reason is slightly more anti-Pep, in the sense that if you buy in a couple of players like Maxwell and Chigirinsky for a combined 30 million, even your admirers like Joan Laporta might raise an eyebrow or two if those players remain in the dry dock. Guardiola is clearly a great coach in the making, but Ibrahimovic excepted, the jury is still out on his purchases.

The final reason is the least convincing, but is nevertheless valid. Key players need a rest, and although the game was played during a relatively tranquil period after the Christmas break (the Champions League doesn't re-start up for a while yet) , there was still an opportunity to rest some and try others out. In the case of this specific game, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi were all playing anyway, so why the fuss? Barça didn't approach the game lightly either, and are still interested - in theory anyway, in retaining their six trophies.

Against Tenerife on Sunday, the game began as though it might turn into an endorsement of the critics. The home side were quicker out of the blocks, and the lack of muscle in the Barça midfield while their Africans are away began to show, with an alarming lack of cover for Puyol and Marquez in the opening twenty minutes. But they got away with it, courtesy of the crossbar and some poor finishing by Tenerife, and hit back with three simple goals before the break, which effectively killed off the game.

Sides like Tenerife need a high percentage of chances in order to convert. Barcelona don't. No Ibrahimovic, but Bojan was excellent, and Iniesta's run and pass for Bojan to set up the third goal deserves to be voted 'indirect assist of the season'. Messi's third goal wasn't bad either, executed with frightening nonchalance.

Poor Tenerife. They really didn't deserve to go home on the back of a hiding, but that is what they got, at least on paper, and if there was a mini-crisis at Barcelona, it should be solved easily enough with the return of Pique.

As Gregorio Manzano, Mallorca's boss admitted on the programme Estudio Estadio late on Sunday night, it would be a brave fool who stuck his neck out and predicted La Liga's eventual winner this season, although the fool is going to have a 50 per cent chance of getting it right.

Manzano had just caught a taxi from the Bernabéu where his side put up a disappointing lack of resistance to Real Madrid, who ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. The press had been talking up the game all week, since it was the most interesting looking fixture on the list and the one that threatened some sort of upset - Mallorca having climbed into the Champions League spots the weekend before. But of their 30 points, 24 have come from home games, and the islanders continue to be queasy on their travels. Must be all that flying they have to do. The poor dears were in Madrid in midweek too, when they lost 2-1 to Rayo Vallecano in the cup, a result they should put right next week in the return.

At least Valencia are keeping up third-place appearances, with Sevilla in woeful decline.

Deportivo have hopped up into fourth place, but Valencia deserve a further mention for the fact that eight of their opening line-up were Spanish-born players. It might be force of economic circumstance, or a more conscious policy, but it represents a rare percentage these days. Their 3-1 win at struggling Xerez wasn't entirely unpredictable, but Valencia are making a good fist of confounding the runes and putting together a half decent season, despite them also losing at home in the cup in midweek (to Deportivo).

And with Man Utd reluctant to open the purse strings and Chelsea also reluctant, Silva, Villa and Mata look like being around at least until the summer, where a Champions League place would go some way towards reducing the club's debt and convincing the banks that a further stay of execution might be feasible.

Next week, oddly enough, Barcelona play Sevilla twice more, in the cup on Wednesday and in the league next Sunday, after which they will both be sick of the sight of each other - another reason for both managers to chop and change the line-ups.

It will be interesting to see, however, what Guardiola does. If he risks a 'weakened' line-up again and loses, he may come in for the most flak he has received since taking up the post. If he puts out a strong side, he may be accused of running scared from the press. Oh well, I'm sure he's paid quite well for his dilemmas.

-------------------------------
Interesting from Phil

[Beast]

Introducing La Liga's next superstar ... Racing Santander's Sergio Canales
Sid Lowe

He's technically gifted, good-looking and, after two goals against Sevilla, the 18-year-old 'marvel' has the Spanish drooling

Saturday afternoon in Islington and Everton's Steven Pienaar is scooping the ball expertly, delicately over Arsenal's goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia, and into the net. A thousand miles away, a slight, pale teenager in a black tracksuit with green trim, RACING emblazoned across his chest, watches it on Televisión Española from his hotel room at the NH Convenciones in Seville. The commentator takes a deep breath and emits a long, drawn-out ¡gooooooool! He pauses. ¡Gol! ¡Gol! ¡Gol! ¡Gol! It is, he says, a golazo, a great goal. "Brilliant," says his co-commentator. And the teenager agrees; it is. But he can't help thinking that he could do better.


So he does.


The final whistle goes in north London. Sergio Canales Madrazo pulls the card from that little slot by the door, leaves his room, hops on the bus, travels three kilometres and alights at the Sánchez Pizjuán. As he goes through the metal gate into the stadium, he looks up at the tiled mosaic on the façade with its carefully reproduced Arsenal shield, like some kind of premonition, continues beyond the cracked wooden doors of the dressing room and slowly pulls on his kit. Green and black. Racing de Santander. No27. This week, for only the third time ever, he runs out with the starting XI; 26 minutes later he runs beyond the Sevilla defence.


He is faced by Andrés Palop but in his mind's eye it is two and a half hours earlier and he's faced by Almunia. "I thought of Pienaar's goal," he admits later. Palop advances and, from the edge of the penalty area, Canales lifts it over him and into the net, the ball travelling higher and further than Pienaar's shot had – the perfect "Vaseline". So smooth, so calm, slipped in so casually. It is a great goal. A golazo. Up in the stands, the fans start to applaud – the Sevilla fans. "He plays as if he was in the hallway of his house," remarks Roberto Palomar, "his heart rate never went over 40bpm." "¡Madre mía!" shouts the radio commentator, "What a goal! What little fear! What coolness! The confidence of this lad is insulting!"


Thirteen minutes later, he's through again. Palop advances once more, not so far this time. Once bitten twice shy. Canales steps past the keeper, pauses, cuts inside, sending Adriano screeching by like a cartoon character off a cliff, and side-foots the ball home. "¡Qué bueno que veniste!" shouts the commentator. How nice of you to come! "Has this kid got no shame?!" "Canales dresses up as Maradona," cheers Marca. This time the applause is an ovation; when he is substituted, with Racing enjoying a 2-1 lead they will hold on to, the stadium is on its feet. Soon, everyone's talking about him: he's the personality of the weekend in Sport, AS and Marca. "Suddenly, there's Canales," says El Mundo.


Perhaps not so suddenly. Canales has stood out since he joined Racing at 11; so too, his 15-year-old younger brother, currently playing for local club Albericia. When he was 12, the organisers of a local football competition were petitioned to change the rules in order to hand him the MVP award, so overwhelming was his superiority. At U17 he was a European champion with Spain; at U18, he was player of the tournament at the Copa Atlántico – an unofficial European Championship. In Cantabria, they have eagerly awaited him; his coaches have long talked about him.


But talk is cheap. Not until Racing Santander sacked their coach, Juan Carlos Mandiá, and replaced him with Miguel Angel Portugal did anyone risk playing him and few expected them to: Canales doesn't even appear in the 2009-10 guide books. Last season, under Juan Ramón López Muñiz, he made six sub appearances, playing just over 100 minutes; this season, Mandiá gave him two chances: 15 minutes against Getafe with the side already 4-1 down and 19 minutes against Zaragoza. Racing trailed 2-0 when Canales came on; they drew 2-2. Yet still he didn't get another chance until Portugal's first game in charge when Racing, down in the relegation zone, faced Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.


He should have done. Canales is not the only change Portugal has made (and Racing did beat Xerez without him); but he is the most significant. Where Mandiá turned all Henry VIII, frantically chopping and changing and still not getting the result he wanted, using 25 different players but winning just one in 10, Portugal has brought continuity. Mostly the football hasn't been sparkling but it has been effective. One win in ten under Mandiá has become five wins in six under Portugal; from the relegation zone, they now find themselves 12th.


The defence is settled, the system clear, the mistakes eradicated; they have reduced the huge gaps between defence and midfield and, especially, midfield and attack, where Canales links Gonzalo Colsa and Mehdi Lacen, essentially workers, with a forward they previously only saw in the distance. They pressure high, play with greater intensity and make life difficult for opponents. Even injuries have been kind, Fabio Coltorti replacing Toño – or Coño as his curly-lettered shirt had it – in goal. Above all, though, there is Canales – technically gifted, visionary, ludicrously calm. Against Madrid, he came on and scored a coolly taken equaliser only to have it wrongly disallowed. Against Espanyol, he made his first ever start and scored twice in a 4-0 win. Against Tenerife, his second start, they won 2-0. He's started three times and scored four - as many as Fredi Kanouté, Alvaro Negredo and Giuseppe Rossi, more than Raúl or Kaká.


No wonder they're getting excited – even if Portugal, conscious of Canales's physical limitations, has used him sparingly and as a media punta without defensive obligations. His team-mate Pedro Pinillos calls him a "monster"; Xisco describes him as a "marvel". This kid, he insists, "is incredible". "It's not often you get to witness the birth of a true star, still less a Spanish one," writes David Gistau. "We should circle the date he made his appearance." His coach says he reminds him of a young Rafa van der Vaart; others have likened him to Julen Guerrero, the Athletic Bilbao playmaker whose mania swept the country; some suggest he's like Guti.


But fear not. Because if Canales has Guti's technique he doesn't have his supreme daftness. He should not be an unfulfilled promise like Guti or, hopefully, disappear like Guerrero. Because, as everyone keeps insisting, while many footballers are an empty warehouse with broken windows and a wonky chair, Canales has "a fully furnished head". Still only 18, outwardly timid, there's a look of early Luke Skywalker about him – a small spattering of spots, floppy blondish hair, slight, a little short to be a stormtrooper. Every day, gaggles of girls hang around Racing's training ground waiting for him but as he passes in his Peugeot 207, off to collect his girlfriend from school, ready for his economics lessons, preparing for his exams, Canales is not for turning. He doesn't have an agent, there are no tattoos, no piercing and not a glob of hair gel. He is, writes Alfredo Matilla, "the son-in-law everyone mother wants".


In short, he's too good to be true. And when something's too good to be true it's normally because it is too good to be true. Canales's contract is up at the end of the season. Somehow, Racing didn't offer him a new deal until it was too late. In July he can walk away for free. He can already talk to other clubs. Last week, he did; last week, he talked to Sevilla. When Racing fans gave him an ovation, they did so with a heavy heart; when Sevilla fans gave him an ovation, they did so in the hope and the belief that they were witnessing the birth of a superstar. Their star. Sergio Canales is good. Very, very good. Sadly, for Racing Santander he's probably too good to be true.

Week 17 talking points:

• They said Barcelona were in crisis. They said it was the end of an era. They said they had not won all year. They said Madrid would go top. Instead, Barcelona beat Tenerife 5-0. That said, it could have been different. For the first half an hour, Tenerife were actually the better side and could have been two or three up. "If we play like we did in the opening minutes, we're going nowhere," said Pep Guardiola.


• Atlético's crisis lasted just a few days. A 3-0 defeat in the Copa del Rey. The coach saying that players had let him down. The president saying he is ashamed (but not about what he should be ashamed about). Talk of revolution. And Atlético go and win 4-0. Even Reyes scored – 60 games later. They were, though, helped, yet again, by Valladolid's suicidally high back line. Afterwards Diego Forlán complained at the media making accusations, insisting "it's easy to criticise from behind a microphone". Which is true, but the person who said that some players "don't live the way they should as professionals" was Quique Sánchez Flores. His coach.


• While there was an ovation for Canales, there were whistles and boos for Sevilla, who have now slipped to fifth. They may have defeated Barcelona in the Copa del Rey in midweek – and in the Camp Nou, too (second leg this week) – but it was not enough to placate the fans. Sevilla were supposed to be the other team in the title race but since beating Real Madrid they have won just one in their last six home games in the league. When it comes to taking the initiative they are just not good enough – especially without Fredi Kanouté and Luís Fabiano.


• Gonzalo Higuaín does it again. A wonderful curler opened the scoring against Mallorca in the snow. That's 11 goals so far this season, one fewer than Lionel Messi and David Villa, the same number as Ibrahimovic. Oh, and six more than Karim Benzema.


• "Like something out of the Marx Brothers." "We are higher than we should be socially, institutionally, and economically." "Weirdos in the directors' box." "Crisis." "Half-empty stands." "Negative in footballing terms."


• Pennant watch: Oh dear. Got the "Vaya Día" award in AS, handed out to the game's worst player. "Another game with nothing from the Englishman, who offered nothing at all to the attack," they said.


Results: Valladolid 4–0 Atlético; Sevilla 1–2 Racing; Villarreal 1–1 Almería; Sporting 1–0 Getafe; Xerez 1–3 Valencia; Espanyol 2–1 Zaragoza; Deportivo 1–0 Osasuna; Málaga 1–1 Athletic; Madrid 2–0 Mallorca; Tenerife 0–5 Barcelona
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The J will be over the moon

[Beast]

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La Liga`s Night Of The Living Dead




It would appear that the latest edition of the "Idiot's Guide to Being a Billionaire" is missing a section on Spanish football.

If it had one then Billy Moneybags from Dubai would surely be investing heavily in la Liga rather than shovelling money into Patrick Vieira's bank account in a desperate attempt to bring Champions League football to their latest pet project.

This season, three Spanish clubs are proving that challenging for a top four finish is - if you excuse one's French - a piece of p*ss as the combined investment that this cash-strapped gaggle has made in footballers over the past few seasons totals about 87p.

The titanic trio are Valencia, Deportivo, Mallorca who are more-or-less bankrupt, on the brink of going bankrupt and destined to go bankrupt in the very near future, respectively.

Valencia are a true footballing zombie but rather being the stumbling, slurring 'brains'-chanting 'Day of the Dead' kind, their third-place standing in la Liga after a 3-1 win over Xerez sees them as the more modern, newfangled Usain Bolt breed of human flesh-eater.

The Mestalla club were dead and buried last summer, and were expected to sell every decent player they had. And there are an awful lot of them, too.

However, a cash injection from fans, footballers and local financial institutions which further increased Valencia's debt - currently standing at around €510 million - saw the club crawling out of its grave and now being heralded as the new, new alternative to Madrid and Barcelona's dominance after Sevilla's pathetic run of three straight defeats.

No-one is entirely sure of the financial standing of Deportivo aside from the fact that the club is an institutional basket case with 'special' accounting procedures that are currently being probed by UEFA, after accusations that an auditor's signature was faked to allow the team to take part in the UEFA Cup a couple of seasons back.

However, Undead Depor's debts are thought to be between €120m and €160m with naff-all available for transfers, leaving the club without strikers and one of the most tedious, functional, but admirably effective sides in Europe.

Their sixth 1-0 win of the season, this time over Osasuna on Sunday, moved Deportivo into fourth in another performance where freezing in the sub-zero stands would still have been more pleasurable than watching the action on the pitch.

But it is Mallorca sitting in sixth spot that is the real, eat-yer-hat miracle of the season in Spain.

The Balearic club suffered three presidents in 2009, countless attempted buy-outs by dodgy wheeler-dealers, former 'owners' accused of looting the club's already pitiful funds and the traditional summer sale that saw Mallorca stripped of its best talent. Again.

What's more, the playing staff went several months without being paid but have still managed to have a stunning season by pulling out eight wins from eight at home and conceding just three goals in the process.

Admittedly, the victories were against Almería-sized sides that might have been disposed of in the normal course of a more scattered campaign, but that takes nothing away from the fantastic footballers of a club that this column expected not so much to be flirting with relegation but repeatedly grabbing its arse at the bar.

Mallorca's incredible campaign has been inspired by the players working their little cotton socks off in every match, enjoying superior fitness to their opponents, using the constant off-the-field issues to build team morale and generally being "better than people think" according to Borja Valero, the midfielder on-loan from West Brom and one of the best players in la Liga this season.

A huge dollop of credit must also go to veteran manager Gregorio Manzano, a coach who has been charged with holding the side together whilst chaos and political infighting has swirled around him. However, the Mallorca man has instead been keen to praise "one of the best dressing rooms I've had in my career".

As it turns out, that's an awful lot of dressing rooms with Manzano having managed in la Liga since 1983 and now in his sixth season (in his second spell) at Mallorca, a figure which is the dog-year equivalent of 75 in the Premier League.

Unfortunately for Manzano, a mini-scandal broke late last year when the club's accounts were leaked and revealed a €40m debt and that the Balearic boss was the third best paid manager in la Primera with annual salary of €1.8m.

But most Mallorca fans will feel that Manzano is worth every cent when they look at the league table, although a disappointedly flat performance in Sunday's 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid in a blizzard-suffering Bernabeu did see the club slip from fourth to sixth.

The problem with using the expression 'most Mallorca fans' is that it refers to a very élite collective. Despite the club being desperate for every euro it can get from gate receipts and deserving massive backing from local fans, attendances at the Ono Estadi in Palma have been pitiful with only 10,000 supporters bothering to turn up to see what have been guaranteed victories for their team.

Manzano himself courted some controversy over the weekend, by responding to critics accusing him of lacking ambition in his stated aim of survival for the season, by having a pop at the locals for not allowing him to aim for anything greater.

"Palma is a city where people live very comfortably," said Manzano to El País. "If we play at five then everyone is still eating paella. It we play at night then it's too cold and people watch on television. If we play at seven, it's too humid."

Some will undoubtedly argue that the appearance of these clubs in Spain's top six demonstrates the weakness and inferiority of la Liga compared to the power house of the Premier League.

That may be so, but who cares? Their stories show that vulgar, Real Madrid-sized spending is not always required to bring about success and that being organised, modest and working your nuts off for 90 minutes can be just as effective - something else missing from the billionaire's handbook, no doubt.

Round 17 Results

Valladolid 0-4 Atlético Madrid
Sevilla 1-2 Racing
Villarreal 1-1 Almería
Sporting 1-0 Getafe
Xerez 1-3 Valencia
Espanyol 2-1 Zaragoza
Deportivo 1-0 Osasuna
Málaga 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid 2-0 Mallorca
Tenerife 0-5 Barcelona

Tim Stannard

[Poor_Sunyol]

vulgar, Real Madrid

arty00231:

[Beast]

La Liga’s Good Day, Bad Day - Round 17

Monday 11 January 2010 17:00
Good Day


Atlético Madrid

Quique Sánchez Flores’ tactic of insults, humiliation and good old-fashioned physical torment towards his players in the wake of the midweek defeat to Recreativo has proved so successful that La Liga Loca suspects that the club is considering installing a pain dungeon in the bowels of the Vicente Calderón.

Then again, after hearing some of the somewhat sticky stories from Atleti’s overseas tours in recent years, that may not be the best of ideas.

The 4-0 away win over Valladolid will no doubt delight and infuriate the Rojiblanco support as they contemplate why their players can only be bothered giving a hamster’s hat in a very select group of games.

Or perhaps the victory was down to the simple fact that Atleti “couldn’t keep on playing as badly as we were,” as Quique himself said?

José Antonio Reyes

Unbelievably, the second-half strike from Reyes against Valladolid was his first goal for Atlético in one-and-a-half seasons at the club - an event set to start off a whole new round of short-lived “Reyes is back” headlines.

To celebrate the strike, the Rojiblanco winger has decided to dedicate the goal to his son, the imaginatively named José Antonio Reyes.

Sergio Canales

“For someone who has no responsibility, he is incredibly cool-headed,” purred Racing captain Pedro Munitis on his 18-year-old striking partner.

Out of contract in June, Canales scored a wonderful brace against Sevilla on Saturday, showing incredible composure in the process to set off a Wacky Races-style chase for his signature.

Juan Manuel Lillo

The mad-as-a-bag-of-spanners Almería manager could have faced the wintry touchline conditions in El Madrigal in an overcoat or jacket.

But no, Juan Manuel Lillo enjoyed the encounter clad in jeans and a light sweater. Genius. He pulled off an unlikely 1-1 draw against Villarreal too.

Gonzalo Higuaín

Perhaps after a poke from Florentino Pérez, Marca floated the idea of a Cesc Fabregas-Higuaín swap in a poll last week.

The results showed that 88 percent of the Madridista masses thought that would be a terrible idea.

The 12 percent who disagreed need a good slap, as it was Higuaín who once again led Madrid to victory with a goal and an assist whilst Cristiano Ronaldo generally tarted about the pitch like a big, pretty pony and Kaká continued to endanger the lives of fans sitting either side of the Bernabeu goals with his abstract approach to shooting.

Bojan Krkic

Although it was Leo Messi who grabbed a hat-trick against Tenerife, the (other) pint-sized poacher was the big winner of the night with a couple of assists - and good ones, too.

Pep Guardiola isn't really an admirer of the youngster, so another poor performance could have spelled the end of days for the (other) bowl-haired striker.

Barcelona owed a great deal to Victor Valdés for their victory after the keeper prevented a first-half whitewash by a terrifically tenacious Tenerife, with Guardiola admitting that “they had three clear chances and we were in trouble.”

But some rapid fire action from Messi lead to a 5-0 scoreline and Sport smugly declaring on Monday that Barça fans are “super happy and super calm.”

Sporting

Manuel Preciado’s men are certainly a lot less entertaining than they were last year with barely a 4-3 to be seen.

The 1-0 win over Getafe in El Molinón was the fourth of the same scoreline this season, but more importantly Sporting’s first victory in five.

This Primera pragmatism should see them hanging around for another season in the top flight, which is a very good thing indeed.

Juan Rodríguez
AS call him ‘omnipresent’ and a classy, spinny strike makes the midfielder Deportivo’s leading goal-scorer.

The fact that his tally is two and the leadership is shared by eight others shouldn’t detract anything from the achievement.

Another 1-0 win from Depor moved the team into - gulp - fourth.

Espanyol

Look at that! Espanyol slay the mighty Zaragoza thanks to a goalkeeping gaffe and a deflected shot off the post.

And here’s Paul from Barcelona to tell us all about it.

“Well, that wasn't very good. Both teams struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm.

The first goal for Espanyol was a Victor Valdés-style howler which Verdú gratefully returned with interest and Zaragoza's equaliser came courtesy of blog favourite Angel Arizmendi.

Well, it didn't, really. It deflected off Moises.

The winner came thanks to the only thing Callejon did right all match when his shot was saved and the rebound fell to Marques who scored the winner.

1) Zaragoza are the worst team I've seen this season. Very poor indeed.
2) Jermaine Pennant probably wishes for a return to Notts County. Has got to be better than his current plight. He looked a bit lost and was substituted.
3) Abysmal refereeing as usual. How only one Zaragoza player got booked is beyond me. Dirty team.
4) While not quite as bad as our Beloved Leader would have us believe, Arizmendi is not very good.
5) Zaragoza's fans applauding the 21st-minute tribute to Jarque. Not just a few: by the end of the minute it was nearly all of them. Good support, they deserve better”.


Paul, Barcelona

Valencia

Although Valencia managed nothing more than what 11 other sides have achieved this season in beating Xerez, the 3-1 victory gives the Mestalla men seven away wins this season, the best record in La Primera.

Now if Unai Emery’s men hadn't been such dozy dolts in failing to win five at home, the eight-point margin that currently separates themselves from Barcelona may have been considerably smaller.

Real Madrid fans

“53,000 heroes” says Tomás Roncero in AS after the brave little soldiers went to watch the game in Madrid’s FULLY HEATED stadium.

Bad Day


Sevilla

Oh my, oh my. Sevilla’s performance on Saturday night was a complete shambles.

Diego Perotti and Diego Capel bombing up the wings with little clue of what to do once they ran into the touchline, the defence a mess and the central midfield non-existent.

The home defeat to Racing is Sevilla’s third in a row in La Liga (all with the same 2-1 scoreline) and leaves Manolo Jiménez under enormous pressure.

“We’ve lost all respect for ourselves,” admitted the crestfallen Sevilla coach.

Tenerife

A desperately frustrating evening for Tenerife, who could have pulled off a storming victory over a rattled Barcelona.

But unfortunately, as coach José Luis Oltra shrugged after the game, “the result was too harsh – but we’ve seen this film before”.

The Canary Islanders have picked up just one win in nine, which is of little comfort to the Tenerife fans whose only enjoyment from Sunday night was being able to watch a game of football in T-shirts whilst the rest of the country froze their t*ts off.

Villarreal

Soporific stuff from the Yellow Submarine.

Málaga

The southern side’s unbeaten run now extends to eight, but includes just one win. And that's why Málaga are still in the bottom three.

However, they were a little unlucky during Sunday’s 1-1 home draw against Athletic with the visitors being given the softest of penalties.

And it has been all quiet on the Basque front in response to the decision, which is in stark contrast to the conspiracy lunacy that will be launched should Real Madrid benefit from something similar next weekend in San Mamés.

Valladolid

Despite having been caught out several hundred times over, José Luis Mendilibar’s love of an astonishingly high defence shows no sign of diminishing anytime soon.

Saturday’s 4-0 defeat against Atlético is just another example of a tactic that may need some tinkering.

Xerez

Having scored an actual goal against Valencia, the bottom of the table team almost, almost made it into the Good Day section. But they didn’t.

------------------------------------------------

[Beast]

Tough questions lead Pep Guardiola to think unthinkable and leave Barcelona


Those close to Guardiola say he is exhausted from the all-consuming nature of coaching Barcelona
Gabriele Marcotti


Unless you’ve been there, you won’t understand. Heck, even if you have been there and if you’re the kind of inveterate football animal whose existence is defined by what happens inside the chalky lines, you probably still won’t get it. But if you’re an intelligent, sensitive man like Frank Rijkaard, you’ll know where Pep Guardiola is coming from. Rijkaard, his predecessor at the Nou Camp, has been there.

Odds are, Rijkaard understands why, despite being pound for pound the most successful coach in the club’s history, despite the six trophies in 12 months, despite being Catalan born and bred, despite being 39 and handsome and wealthy, Guardiola might just want to walk away from it all before it is too late.

When Guardiola was appointed coach of Barcelona in the summer of 2008, he signed a two-year contract. Since then, he has turned down the opportunity to extend his deal, although he did make sure that his assistants were given pay rises, and has said that he will postpone a decision until the end of the season.

The official reason is that he wants to wait until after the club’s presidential elections this year, which will mean Joan Laporta leaving his post. The president has overseen one of the most successful spells in the club’s history, but, having served his new term, must step aside by June 15. However, those around Guardiola suggest there is more to it. Put simply, the man is physically and mentally exhausted.


“[Guardiola] is a very thoughtful person and he knows what he means to the club,” Laporta said last month. “He wants to carry on, but there are a number of things he wants to think about. I am optimistic, but it’s not something that you should decide in the short term.”

Those who have had the privilege of spending time with the Barcelona coach will know what Laporta means. Few men are as thoughtful and deliberate. And even fewer would have acted the way he has. Most coaches approach their senior officials for a new contract and hefty pay rise moments after winning silverware. He could have easily done so.

After all, he was paid less than £2 million last season, even with all the bonuses he earned. Were he in England, he would not even be in the top ten. Why not sign a long extension and get a nice bump in salary?

Besides, contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on; he could still have resigned at the end of the season and negotiated a nice payout.

But that is not what Guardiola does. Money is secondary. The bigger concern is burnout. And, precisely because he is, first and foremost, a Barcelona fan, he knows the history of the club and what it can do to managers. Especially Catalan ones.

If he lasts the season, he will be Barcelona’s longest-serving Catalan coach in 40 years. For a club so steeped in their regional identity, it is a remarkable statistic.

Equally remarkable is that, because of the way coaching Barcelona can be so brutal and all-consuming, only three men have spent as many as five consecutive seasons in the job. Rijkaard was one and by the time it ended, by his admission, he had become a nervous wreck who had to endure serious domestic problems and ended up moving into a hotel adjacent to the Nou Camp.

Professional athletes are conditioned to endure, to press on through pain and uncertainty, to not let down their team-mates. It’s a military-style ethos drilled into them from a young age and, presumably, Guardiola is no different.

Compounding everything is his status as a Catalan and a club icon. Having built one of the greatest sides in the city’s history, how can he turn his back on the club and walk away? Should he not show loyalty to Catalonia and to “Barcelonismo”? Would it not be a form of treason to leave it in someone else’s hands?

Tough questions, which explain why Guardiola is in no hurry to commit. Having made history, it is time to take stock and to decide whether it is worth it. Moments after winning the Club World Cup last month, he burst into tears. Those watching on TV were probably convinced they were tears of joy. But, as it later emerged, Guardiola was turning to his assistants, asking: “What now? Where do we go from here?”

Few men are as emotionally invested in their jobs. Fewer still are introspective enough to realise what is happening to them. If he does decide to say no más, it will be a loss to football. But perhaps it will be a gain for those who believe there is more to life

[Poor_Sunyol]

Great article.

[Beast]

Yeah very well written by Gabi

The La Liga team of the decade
Tim Stannard

Tuesday 12 January 2010 14:55
“Clatter, clatter, clatter, bang!” went La Liga Loca’s smoking telex machine with a missive from the FFT ogres demanding a best XI of the past decade in Spanish football.

“Get lost. Impossible,” was the eventual response from the blog after long consideration over the potential hassle and inevitable insults involved.

Fourteen increasingly threatening messages later, La Liga Loca has given in to the demands of The Man and has - like most of the blog’s lady friends, of late - been around the block to come up with a (and by no means the) tasty XI.
But before the envelope of glory is opened, there are some caveats to go through first.

Despite their obvious claims, Pablo Ibañez, Maxi López and Pablo García did not make the final cut. Like Deportivo-watchers, no complaints over these omissions will be entertained.

Being quite good for a longer period of time has handed a disadvantage to some 'cuspers' like Leo Messi and Andrés Iniesta.

Plain old prejudice has worked against some fine players perhaps deserving a spot in the starting XI. Luis Figo was clearly an outstanding player according to some, but La Liga Loca feels that he spent far too much time on his backside complaining to referees about supposed fouls.

The blog has gone for an unworkable 4-3-3 formation as two of the forward line are not exactly famous for their love of tackling back. Most matches would probably be lost 6-5.


Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Forced his wee, young way into the Real Madrid side at the beginning of the decade and is still there now. Saint Iker continues to get better but more importantly cooler by the year, whether he is preventing 8-0 routs against Liverpool, flogging insurance, or simply annoying the heck out of Florentino Pérez with his rather natty beard.

Right-back: Dani Alves
Arrived in Sevilla from Bahía in the winter window of 2002 and has been nothing less than a genius ever since (aside from his settling-down years). The Brazilian is almost indestructible, totally indeftigable and one of the main reasons why Sevilla were arguably the best side in Europe for a season.

Centre-back: Fernando Hierro
The position that led La Liga Loca to the most Jimmy Hill chin-stroking and pensive mumbling during discussions with third parties was the centre-back role, with few truly outstanding candidates floating around. Although Hierro was at the tail end of his Real Madrid career by the start of the decade, he still picked up two Champions League wins and a couple of la Liga titles before being kicked out of the club. Could defend, pass and was an extraordinarily prolific goalscorer to boot.

Centre-back: Carles Puyol
Still not everyone’s cup of tea, and the object of name-calling like "caveman", "thuggish" and “poor man’s Brian May”. But the poodle-haired Puyol has been an ever present throughout the decade for Barcelona and showed in the recent clash against Real Madrid that he still has that Bam-Bam magic and pace to save his side.

Left-back: Roberto Carlos
Who else? There will never be a player of his kind again. Had the speed and stamina to launch attacks at one end and be back at the other seconds later with a sliding tackle that would send both ball and winger into the stands. However, the Brazilian’s free-kicks tended to trouble footballer’s goolies (or spectators' faces) more than the goal.


Midfield: David Albelda
Cantankerous, grumpy, sulky, oblivious to the concept of team spirit despite being Valencia captain for much of the decade and once took his own bosses to court. But also a superb defensive midfielder back in the day and a player who played a huge role in the Mestalla men’s glory years of two league titles and a UEFA Cup win.

Midfield: Xavi Hernández
To keep the midfield ticking over, the player that Sir Alex Ferguson reckons has never given a ball away in his life. Although the Barça-bred footballer has only just started to be widely recognised for his talents, Xavi has been beavering away in the Camp Nou midfield for 12 seasons, picking up two Champions League and four la Liga titles on the way.

Midfield: Zinedine Zidane
Possibly getting a starting role in the blog’s XI through whimsy rather than winning performances. Had the astonishing ability to run - or rather trundle, such was the Frenchman’s curious style - with the ball without looking at it. And for a blog that had arrived in Spain after a life watching old Division One football, that was some kind of miracle.


Forward: Ronaldinho
The Brazilian gets 50.0000001% of the vote over little Leo Messi for this particular position, simply because he would make passes using his back and score goals against Chelsea whilst standing still. Dinho’s five-season spell at the Camp Nou may not have ended well, but it was truly magical at times.

Forward: The Real Ronaldo
In his worst days, the Brazilian was tubby, injury-prone, overly fond of a drink and a disco, and more than a little lazy. But the striker was still the best in the business by a long way. Ronaldo’s spell at the Bernabeu club coincided with the side’s Galactico slump but O Fenomeno still banged in 83 goals in 127 games for the club.

Forward: Raúl
Before you even think about penning a stern missive on El Sulko’s inclusion, here’s one or two facts and figures around Raúl’s decade between 1999-2000 and 2008-09. Two Champions League titles (and that goal against Valencia in 2000). Six league titles. Goals: 139 in the league and 53 in Europe. And top hair action for most of those 10 years, too.


Substitutes: Santiago Cañizares, Roberto Ayala, Michel Salgado, Marcos Senna, Luis Figo, Samuel Eto’o, Leo Messi.

Manager: As is tradition in la Liga, a series of managers will be hired and fired every two months. These will be Rafa Benítez, Vicente del Bosque, Frank Rijkaard, Fabio Capello, Pep Guardiola and Michael Laudrup (more whimsy)

[House of Flies]

shows how far up, barcelona and real madrid are... practically only 1 guy is out of best eleven has never been a part of any of the two teams

[Lemmi]

Can't agree with Albelda ahead of Mendieta or Fat Ronaldo ahead of Messi. No Villa on the bench is a disgrace too.

[Cal-FCB]

I'd have Villa ahead of Fat Ron. Leo on the bench I can understand to a degree. Albelda was a beats to be fair, one of the greatest DM's of his time.

[Lemmi]

Messi has now performed for a longer period than Dinho did, he has arguably been the best Liga player of the decade and doesn't make the team?? Not having that.

[Cal-FCB]

You can't not have Ronaldinho in there IMO, he was incredible.