thoughts for matt

i was really hoping i wouldnt have to make this post. the other week, when i posted my comments about real madrid, matt completely and blatantly called out the team and said they were lucky to win and that they were washed up etc. it was harsh. i wanted to retaliate, but i figured the best thing to do would be just to allow the team to do the talking and go out and win and prove matt wrong. unfortunately, they suffered an embarassing lost last week and were elimated from the champions league. i was devasted for a few reasons:

1. i really enjoy watching soccer and i love watching real madrid play. the only time this happens is during the champions league because they are the only games that espn or any other network actually broadcasts. so now i have to wait until august, when next season starts to watch another real game. (and by real i mean 'ray-al,' like 'ray-al' madrid. not real, like 'i'm a real boy!' i didnt want it to seem like i was suggesting that only real madrid games are the only real games out there. because that is not true. perhaps they are the games in which i have a real interest, but they are by no means the only real games)
2. there is no reason why this should happen. real madrid is the richest soccer club in the world. even more so than manchester united or any other club that may come to mind. they have the money. they are willing to spend the money, yet for the past few years they havnt been able to really compete. they are like the yankees. a ton of money and they go out and buy superstars all the time. however, unlike the yankees, real has not been winning with the purchase of players. the yankees at least win their division or go to the playoffs and compete for the world series. real has been bounced early in the champions league the past few years and has not won a league title since 2003. unacceptable.
3. matt was right. the team is in shambles.

so lets pick apart the team. im hardly an expert. i only watch highlights of their games and i dont listen to any podcasts about the team or anything. but ill give my opinion of the 4 main parts of the team and see if we cant locate the problem.

management: this is where the team begins. i think that the coach is doing an alright job. anyone coming into the position has their work cut out for them. they have a roster full of superstars or 'galacticos' and an incredibly high expectation from the fans. anything less than a championship is a disappointment. their are a ton of egos to balance and i think many of those egos are in the upper management. here is a report of a conference the president had where he told students that his players were vain and self-centered. raul, the captain, finally had to confront the president and ask that he apologize to the players. when the players and the management are that divided, then there are problems. i think the management wants the players to win because it makes them more money and gives the glory and praise and spotlight to the club and therefore the management, and not because they want the players to win because winning in soccer is just the best thing ever. i know the players are the ones on the field, but when the upper management has a poor relationship with the players or no connection with them, then it eventually affects the level of play. somehow it just does. i think there have been problems for a few years and it is finally eroding the whole organization. grades: coach - C. management - D

forwards: raul, ruuuud van nistelrooy, robinho, antonio cassano, jose reyes. now most people know im a raul apologist. if you didnt know, just check out my myspace page. he isnt the greatest forward ever, but i like him so i am biased. but im happy with this forward group. robinho is ridiculous. just an incredible player. cassano is young but good as well. dont know much about reyes. but raul and ruud are seasoned veterans. they know how to linger around the goal and finish shots. they are doing well and i think they are good mentors for some of these younger forwards. offense isnt really a worry. real always spends money on their forwards. they have struggled, but as of late they scored 4 goals against bayern munich in two games and 3 goals against barcelona AT barcelona. grade: B+

midfield: guti, diarra, gago, gomez, helguera, emerson, beckham. sincerely, i just dont know that much about this group. i like beckham. he plays hard, but he hurt his knee and so he's done. im still not sure about guti. he is now a full time starter after playing behind figo and zidane and others for so long. he's good, but i doubt he will ever become a superstar. but the team doesnt need superstars. ive seen a little of emerson and diarra. same feelings as guti. i wasnt blown away, but i really dont want to be. i just want chemistry. i want the midfield to help the team gel. i think it is a good enough group that is mostly concerned about just going out and doing their jobs and not showboating or being in the spotlight. i think this is the group that could help the squad change from being a roster full of individual superstars to a team. all are good, none are household names, but they are capable of playing with any team. remember this is all coming from the guy that has hardly watched any games and hasnt paid any attention to the midfield. grade: B- (no real explanation)

defense: helguera, salgado, sergio ramos, gomez, roberto carlos, cannavaro. alright. the other problem. since 2000, here are the names of some of the players real has bought: figo, zidane, beckham, ronaldo, michael owen, robinho, ruud van nistelrooy. im sure i am forgetting a few. the interesting thing about this list is that none are defenders. granted, there arent many household names when it comes to defenders. well, there is roberto carlos, but he is terrible. for about 10 years the team had a man named hierro that was their sweeper. coincidentally, hierro means iron in spanish. and hierro was solid. just a solid, smart defender that you take for granted because you dont realize how important defense is until your team doesnt have one and they spend money on offense to try and solve their defensive problems.

so the defense has been struggling for some time now. the team finally spent money last summer on cannavaro to help out. the problem is that cannavaro is the complete opposite as landon donovan. both pretty good players, however on the world stage, in the biggest tournament in the world, cannavaro thrives in the spotlight and elevates his game while donovan shrinks from responsiblity and collapses under pressure. real saw this and bought cannavaro. he's terrible. just bad. the defense is embarassing. in the last game, bayern munich scored the fastest goal in champions league history. 10 seconds. notice roberto carlos muffing the trap and giving up the ball. he's a joke. he cant defend and he always wants to go attack. the problem is he just kicks the ball as hard as he can and has no control. waste.

in the other game against bayern, the defense gave up two goals. here are the highlights from the game. in the first goal the announcer says, 'where was cannavaro and what was he thinking?' not what you want to hear about your sweeper. the second goal is a great shot, but its in the 88th minute. you cannot give up late game goals. not when you are adding the scores of the two games together. so the first game ended 3-2 in real's favor. then the second game was 2-1. aggregate score 4-4. bayern however scored two away goals, so they advance. take away the 10 second embarrasment and the late game blunder and real advances 4-2 easily. just unacceptable.

now the barcelona game. here are the highlights. two main problems: 1. in the first barcelona goal, the forward was so wide open he could have driven a truck to the goal. where was the defender? at first i thought it was roberto carlos that messed up because he is never in position, but then i noticed he didnt play that game. thats not comforting. his replacement is out of position as well. problem 2. messi scored all 3 goals! the same guy. why didnt they take out his acl? how can you let the same guy score against you? anyways, the defense is bad. and i dont really have a solution. like most teams, you dont really know the defenders. they are just solid guys that hold down the back. often its better if you dont know the defenders because if you do, its probably because they are trying to make crazy runs and score goals. real doesnt need that, they need the same 4 guys holding the team together. anyways, i could go on, but i know that no one not named matt is still reading this. matt might have even given up on it by now.

one last note: their goalie is a stud. iker casillas. many teams have come and tried to pull him away from real. im afraid that if real cant get things together soon and improve their defense, star players like their keeper will start entertaining offers from other clubs. you cant survive on a name alone. you need quality results to back it up. if things dont improve soon, players will leave the squad and future prospects will pass on playing for real because they can go to other clubs that have quality play to go along with their name. grades: goalie - A-. rest of the defense: D-.