Blaugrana Whitewash Los Merengues

I for one was quite shocked by yesterday’s 5-0 drubbing by Barcelona over their Real Madrid house guests, definitely not hospitable. Though if these two sides played in The Hague I doubt they would show any hospitality to each other.

This match was one-sided from the beginning and went a long way to show that you can spend all the Euros you like, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a squad that are world beaters. Madrid’s team sheet reads like a Hollywood nightclub guest list with a wage bill that could honestly bail out Ireland’s economy as easily as the EU can. But, for all of their success they still look like a bunch of individuals running around looking for personal glory. Jose Mourinho has had experience in guiding a group of high-profile players to the pinnacle before, but this group is bigger than anything he has had to deal with before.

Barcelona’s epitaph has been chiseled since the beginning of the young season for some reason. I think some of the Spanish media have bought into the Real hype and have been polishing the crown since the season kicked off. But the Catalan club showed their foes from the capital that they still have something that Real Madrid doesn’t, teamwork. The way Barcelona controlled the ball was mesmerizing. They seemed to know exactly where each other would be and it showed in the gross disparity in time of possession. They looked for most of the match like they would score at will, and for a couple of periods of time they did.

There was the usual passion you would expect in El Clasico, with tempers flaring on both sides. I did enjoy the handbags flying for the innocuous push of Pep Guardiola by Ronaldo that brought Valdes charging all the way from his goal box and earned them both a yellow card. Ladies, please! As if Guardiola needed his keeper to defend his honour.

This was billed as the battle of Messi and Ronaldo, but it failed to live up to the hype as neither of these explosive players were able to find the net. Although the Argentine was by far the superior of the two. Kudos to David Villa though who scored twice for the club he dreamed of playing for in the game he dreamed of playing in.

 

Dimitar’s Big Day!

Dimitar Berbatov reached rarefied heights today as he hit five goals against Blackburn at Old Trafford. Not bad for a player that supporters were calling for Sir Alex to sell only a year ago. I’m happy for Dimi. Supporters are fickle if you are a forward. If you’re not banging home goals with regularity, you’re just not doing enough. But watch tape of him as he plays. Ignore whether or not he scores, and watch his movement when he has the ball. His deft touch in close quarters. the slight of hand flicks through defenders to find a teammate in space. THAT is what makes it the beautiful game.

The Bulgarian striker will never be accused of being too fiery or passionate for his own good. I can see how someone could accuse him of being disinterested in his demeanor. Just watch him play folks. He won’t do the multiple step-overs a la Cristiano Ronaldo, but you don’t need him to do that. His fourth goal against the Rovers was a thing of beauty. He chased down a ball that was going out deep in the Manchester United half and got it to Evra, played some quality one-two football then found Nani deep in the Blackburn half. If you watched the match you saw him follow the play all the way through to receive the cross from the Portuguese winger and slot home the goal. It’s easy to dismiss the effort until you rewind and watch just the work put in by one player at both ends of the pitch.

This win was not just a one man show, don’t get me wrong, Park Ji-Sung doubled the score when he received a well timed Wayne Rooney through ball and chipped it over a sprawling Paul Robinson in the 23rd minute. Nani showed how he has matured when he passed up a bad opportunity that he would have lashed out at a year or so ago and cut back to curl in a fantastic goal with his left in the 48th.

Rooney failed to add to the celebration by scoring, but his presence was definitely felt on the pitch as he did some of the little things that Berbatov is known for. He’ll find that scoring touch given the time and when he does the rest of the Premiership will be in for it. Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers.

MLS Crown New Champions

First of all, congratulations to the Colorado Rapids for winning their first league title Sunday night in Toronto against FC Dallas in overtime. It’s been a long time since their only other appearence in the title match (a loss to early MLS powerhouse DC United), and the cup is finally going home to the Mile High City.

That said, I have to say that I’m not impressed with the champions of the United States nor am I a fan of the Major League Soccer playoff system. From the outset of the match the Rapids showed absolutely no technique in moving the ball. Their only game plan seemed to be to pound the ball as high and far as possible. A strategy that might have worked I suppose if the midfielders had given any support to the two forwards. But whenever Conor Casey or Omar Cummings received the ball there was no where for them to go with it.

The midfielders did an excellent job in defending from the centre circle back even if their passing was absolutely dire. Rarely do you see a “championship quality” player repeatedly pass the ball to an area where no one is there to receive it. No one!

While I watched the entire match, I had a hard time stifling my aggravation with the Colorado squad as passes that were well reachable were watched as they rolled past and onto the toe of a Dallas player.

Colorado had a decent shout for a penalty as Casey was dragged down in the box, kicked between the shoulder blades and tripped all by the same player. Apparently lashing out and kicking a player in the MLS is NOT a red card offense. Make a note.

FC Dallas took a well deserved lead through their talisman David Ferreira. The Colombian striker latched on to a beautiful cross by Marvin Chavez, just before the Rapids keeper could reach it and popped it into the back of the net. Casey knotted the score in the second half when he stuck out a foot from his backside and poked home a rebound. A fairly stale extra time was changed completely when George John unfortunately redirected Macoumba Kandji’s shot into his own net to give the Rapids the crown.

The Colorado keeper, Matt Pickens, made a couple of outstanding saves at the end and was saved at the death by great coverage by Drew Moor. That alone was worthy of winning the cup, but honestly this was far from a worthy championship match.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced plans to shake up the playoffs for those who care to read: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/playoffs-expand-10-teams-more-changes-ahead

But, I didn’t see anything in there that would make them better. The playoffs are already watered down. does it really make sense to add more teams or more rounds?

Shake Up Saturday

Well it definitely wasn’t exactly how we expected the days fixtures to go. But, by the end of the day the title race tightened up considerably.

Chelsea received some good news from their Brazilian central defender Alex when he announced that he was going to postpone much-needed knee surgery. But, while the Chelsea attack had numerous opportunities to score, it was Lee Bowyer’s fantastic strike that was the difference in this one. He timed his 17th minute run perfectly into the gap normally filled by John Terry and deftly slotted it home. 

After the humiliation of last week’s loss at home to Sunderland, this defeat has to have the Blues supporters nervously watching the injury board for some help to come soon. Birmingham City 1-0 Chelsea.

The match at Old Trafford had all the earmarkings of another draw. Wigan again showed the shortcomings of the United defense as they counter attacked effectively in the first half. But for a little luck the Latics could have had a 2-0 lead through Charles N’Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega. The Red Devils got a couple of fortunate bounces to keep the sheet clean and were rewarded when Patrice Evra headed home Park Ji Sung’s cross just before the half time whistle. Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi started to come out for the ball but second guessed himself and it cost him.

Red cards for Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega within a couple of minutes of each other took the sting out of a game Wigan side. Javier Hernandez drove home a diving header to double the margin with a shade less than a quarter of an hour remaining and United were cruising.

Wayne Rooney returned early in the second half to a fairly positive reaction by the Manchester United faithful and should have scored late. Manchester United 2-0 Wigan Athletic.

If you only watched the first half of the London derby, the final score would have come as quite a shock. Arsenal had an opportunity to take the Premier League lead and, after Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh each scored early, they had to have gone into the dressing room quite confident. Nasri’s goal was both exciting and comical as Gomes’ indecisiveness got him caught in no man’s land and the Frenchman slipped past him and rolled the ball in from a very sharp angle. Chamakh doubled the score mid way through the opening half by turning an  Andrey Arshavin cross home.

But, if the Spurs have taught us anything this season, it’s that when you have Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart on the pitch you’re never really out of the game. The two combined for the first goal as the Dutchman flicked the ball through two defenders to set up Bale for number one. A hand ball in the box gave van der Vaart a chance to even the score from the penalty spot. Younes Kaboul finished an epic comeback when he headed home a van der Vaart cross late in the match to break the Gunner’s hearts. Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur.

This is turning into an interesting season. Just when you are ready to hand the title to Chelsea, everything gets turned upside down. That’s what makes the Premiership so much fun!