Then Go For It!!

After their first leg defeat at home to Barcelona, Jose Mourinho proclaimed that the tie was over. We know this is probably one of those head game tactics that he tends to do. Key players won't be able to play a part in this match-up (Pepe and Sergio Ramos). Maybe he truly believes that they can't beat them at the Nou Camp. If that is the case, then why doesn't he just go for broke?

What is the difference between losing 2-0 on aggregate or 5-0? Understood that the Nou Camp is a huge pitch that exposes holes in the opposition's backline if they play high enough. But I just think that at this point, you feel like the tie is lost before stepping on the pitch. Why not unleash your players to do things that they are accustomed to instead of holding them back? Obviously Mourinho feels that he can beat this Barca team (that is why he is at least planning on staying for another year), this game could be a guide of what players to target in the transfer window.

Mou is a winning first type of manager. So even though he feels the tie won't be won, then he'll keep his players held back until he can find counter-attack situations and set pieces to wreck havoc in the Barca back-line. I just feel in the long-term, this game could be served as a blue-print for the future of Madrid. At the same time, I don't think Mourinho is trying to care about Madrid's far future.

This Clasico, I can say with a great amount of satisfaction that I won't be watching it. I do wonder how the result is going to be or is there going to be any talking points at all. I am hoping that the two teams get into a fight though. That will make my season..

Benzema for First Choice Striker of Real Madrid!!....for a little bit at least

For all it's worth, I do think that Karim Benzema is a capable player. I just didn't enjoy his whining last year while Gonzalo Higuain was first choice striker, rightfully so in my opinion. I am the type of person that never forgets a cry-baby. So after Higuain was lost for this season, I thought that Real Madrid should look for a striker. Tevez? Drogba? I did not think that Benzema could carry the load. I think my view was a little jaded through my opinion of him.

He was off-form for a little while in the beginning of the season. It could have been due to him not playing much due to Higuain and it could have been due to the technical director (Valdano) and manager (Mourinho) arguing on whether to stick with Benzema after Higuain's injury or find a new striker. Soon enough though Jorge Valdano won out at least a little bit and Benzema got a bit more playing time as a result.

The last couple of games for Madrid and France, he has been impressive in my eyes. Watching the France-Brazil match probably got me to turning a new leaf on the guy and his ability to be the first choice striker for his club and country. So I can say that I am stand correct by the guy's performances the last couple of weeks.

Madrid decided to loan in Emanuel Adebayor. Now I can have my differences with Benzema however I feel as if he is a better player than Ade. Adebayor had one good season in Arsenal and I guess is still living on that memory. Noted, that Ade has had a lot to deal with over the last year (the incident in Angola at the African Nations Cup where the Togo NT bus was shot on), however he didn't pass my eye test. I would not pick him to be first choice striker of Madrid over Benz.

I don't know if Benzema has won over his manager. However he has at least won me over as a Real Madrid striker. I am concerned if Mourinho goes after a Didier Drogba and when Higuain comes back, he'll probably be back on the sidelines again. I think he can be a first-choice striker for a top team and he needs to be in order for France to achieve anything in the next four years (Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014).

I hope my praise of him doesn't lead to his overconfidence(even though I know he isn't listening)....

As I was typing this post, he scores on his first couple of touches of their Champions League match-up with his former club, Lyon. At least I am starting to get something right. Ha...

Sounds Familiar? The Mourinho Talk

Jose Mourinho has gone through all this speculation before.

You know the whole 'is he going to leave after the Champions League finals' speculation. It happened six years ago when he was with Porto and Chelsea were after him. Now he is with Inter Milan and Real Madrid are said to be after the Portuguese Tactician. The Special One is said that he does not want to discuss his decision until after the Champions League Final is over.

All signs says that he'll be at the Bernabeau next season. It is speculated that Rafa Benitez could potentially be a successor to Mourinho at Inter. And with Mourinho's disdain for those in and around Italian Football, the Summer skies of Spain is probably an offer he simply cannot refuse.

I understand where Real is coming from. You would want a manager who is closing in on a second Champions League trophy. The CL prize is the only award that those in the capital will accept. Mourinho also beat Los Galácticos rivals, Barcelona, over a two-leg Semifinal affair with two masterful performances to hold off the current Champions League holders. I am sure the feeling around the Bernabeau is that Mourinho would be the kryponite that would get rid of Barcelona's stranglehold on the Spanish Game.

Mourinho would be the most high profile managerial appointment since Fabio Capello in 2006. The ego of Jose would help in a lockerroom that has many superstars in it especially with the likelihood that more players will come in. Mourinho's ability to deflect attention from players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka would be effective. He could get the best out of Kaka who had a terrible season due to his lofty standards. Also with the main "politicians' in the club finally leaving (Raul and Guti), the Portuguese manager can have free reign to instill his tactics in the club.

For Real, Mourinho would be a thumbs up.


On Mourinho's side of things, He tells of his love for Inter Milan and their supporters but he has found it troublesome being in Italy with all the conservative thinkers in the game often being upset with him. If Inter were in England, there would not be much of the problems that he is dealing with now but he has slowly grown tired of the Serie A and feels as if the new challenge would be great for him.

He still has an love affair with the English media and the Premiership. Unfortunately for him there aren't any desirable jobs at the moment. The top four (this year's top four) managers are established in their clubs. Liverpool are probably going to lose many of their top players and Manchester City have maintained that Roberto Mancini is the man for the job in the Eastlands. So England looks as if it is a far memory for him unless he wants to risk dealing with life without Champions League football for a season. That would be uncharacteristic for him to do.

For Mourinho, this would be his only option unless he wants to honor his contract with Inter. Who honors contracts anymore???


When I begin to think about the possible marriage between Mourinho and Los Blancos I wonder how it would work. A team that is strictly built on offense having a manager who is known for his counter-attacking style. Would this work especially with figureheads in Madrid loving attractive football? I think they would make the sacrifice if it would guarantee them a couple of Champions League trophies because even though besting Barcelona for the La Liga title is a great accomplish. They only eye Champions League silver. With Mourinho's pedigree and ability of making Champions League finals, it would be a mistake for Real to not consider Mourinho right for the job.

This will come to a head within the next couple of weeks. The speculations will come fast and furious. Knowing Mourinho, he loves it when people talk about him...

Real Madrid > Barcelona?? Nah not right now...

The start of this La Liga sees Real Madrid and Barcelona ahead of the pack. And contrary to what people are saying, it seems like it's going to be a two horse race for the La Liga crown and possibly the Champions League. After watching Real Madrid the other day, I still feel that they have a long way to go before they can mount any sort of challenge for Barcelona. Barcelona is the complete package at the moment. Plus the fact that Ibrahimovic doesn't have to shoulder the load that he had to for Inter, they are even more potent. There are still faults for Real Madrid and their chase for multiple trophies.

Seeing multiple games of Madrid, they just don't control games the same way that Barcelona does. There instances in each of the games that I watched when the opposition had the majority of possession and were getting quality looks on goal. Even during the Villareal game, the Galaticos were a man up and they could not control the match and step of the opposing team's throat. Obviously the midfield is the major factor in controlling games. I just don't see that bite in their midfield. Even with Lass Diarra, Xabi Alonoso, Guti, and company. They should impose fear on teams but they just don't and they don't hold onto possession as much as they should. Another reason why they probably don't hold more possession is that for the most part C. Ronaldo dominates the ball with his constant dribbling and shooting. Don't get me wrong, he does a good job with it. However he seems to be trying a bit too hard to impress that other players don't get much of the ball. It took Kaka about four or five games to finally get his first goal, many because CR9 is scoring the majority of the goals and taking all the headlines.

I believe Kaka is the key in this side. C. Ronaldo can easily be frustrated if things do not go his way. And he can play himself out of games. Kaka is the more stable force who does the work that no one knows about. No one knows that he has four assists already. Everyone wants to talk about the spectacular goals of Ronaldo.

Madrid cannot keep on relying on magical moments from CR9 or Kaka to lead them to trophies. It has to be a total team effort, especially against teams who are able to defend them. They will struggle at times. Barcelona seems to be more stable in the way they are approaching the season. Their defenders are much better and they possess the ball at a higher rate than Real Madrid. Plus having Messi and Ibrahimovic at their disposal doesn't hurt either. It will be an interesting season that will probably be filled with ups and downs. The true champions will come when things are going their way.

Me? As of now I'm still picking Barcelona. They are just on another planet at the moment and Ibrahimovic has been a great signing for them. Real Madrid aren't too far behind. They still need some work.

Frustration Part 1

This is a two part series. This first one isn't anything about me. It is more about the frustration of watching Valencia loses to the club I hate the most Real Madrid 1-0 on Saturday. I watched the game multiple times so I could shit on the players that I wanted to and what not but I will try to be mild on my assessment because the fact of the matter is that we did not play a bad game at all. Until we went down to ten-men (due to Renan's poor clearing) because of Marchena getting a second yellow, we were dominating possession and getting some clear chances. Manuel Fernandes has a bright future. He shows very good close control and he can get out of situations so silky and smooth. However he is not able to show the control in front of goal that it is needed for him to be a world-class player at the moment. Albeda and Baraja didn't do too much for me. Baraja had a threatening header but they were not too controlling in the midfield and didn't do anything that caught my eye. Del Horno had a torrid time with Robben today. I don't know why he looked confused of why he was getting subbed out of the game. I mean most of the time I felt like he was a cone that the dutchman was going around. However after two consecutive games I've seen him in (Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League and Valencia last Saturday), I must say that Arjen Robben, when healthy, is one of the best natural wingers in the game. Except for the fact that he is a bit greedy in front of goal which might rub his teammates the wrong way. He was very influential in Real's victory. Especially with his splitting run to dish a pass to Higuain who took the shot beautifully with his outside of the foot.

Now I know I am not a Joaquin fan or anything but he had a lively start to the game and he was actually doing pretty well. But for whatever reason, he faded as the game progressed and it was pretty hard for anyone to get going after going down a man. David Villa was dangerous in the first half but not as dangerous as he should have been. For some reason he kept on taking the ball too wide and giving himself no angle for quality shots. He did test Casillas but I don't think it was enough to make him sweat. David Silva needs to hurry and get match-field so we can have another quality player on the field to help Villa out. I could tell that he did not look on form as of now. I think I left some players out but I don't want to re-watch it anymore to figure it out.

I was listening to the match commentary and they were saying that the credit crunch is hurting Valencia right now and there is a possibility that they need to sell their top players like David Villa and Silva to make sure that they can break even or be close to it. I don't think that they should do that because if this club makes the Champions League then the money would be able to come in and sure maybe in January you can sell off some players like Zigic and maybe even sell Del Horno to a lower La Liga club because I don't think he is Valencia quality anymore. Moretti is a way better player then Del Horno. Also if you want to sell a top player, let Joaquin go and give more minutes to Vicente who does pretty well for himself or insert David Silva back in the lineup when he becomes match fit. I don't think it would be plausible to give up David Silva and David Villa then think that you are going to challenge for a Champions League spot. If I had to give up one sad to say that I would have to give up David Silva, because Villa is a once in a lifetime player and you cannot find strikers nowadays like him. Mata is growing to become a great player in himself and he can easily replace Silva but who is going to replace Villa? Morientes? Although he is a good player he is getting older and I don't think that he could take on the load that Villa is able to.

Alright Part 1 is over. I'll probably be back later on today to talk about part 2. As for now I am going to take a nap and waste some more time. Cause I know that I need to.

????

Dear Christiano Ronaldo,

Here we go again. On a website it is said that your new girlfriend is a cocaine-selling prostitute (I don't even want to get into how strange that sounds as it is ). I just am wondering what is with your choice of women, in the same article it says that last year you brought back five prostitutes for a little "pool party". So now I feel like I have to address you and divert myself from my school work that I was currently doing.

So let me get this straight during the summer you had a beautiful super model who is clean from all we know and you decide to get rid of her and now in the fall we find out that your new girlfriend is a prostitute. Now we are beginning to wonder about you. My friend Aaron has said that these girls are cover for your sexuality. Now I don't like to judge too quickly but the question has to be asked when have you had a steady girlfriend for a while. I know you are a prima donna footballer who can get what he wants but all and all you are getting wrapped up with these girls who are nothing but trouble for anyone. And you probably seeing people saying that you 'don't seem right' and they judge you by the way you act so maybe just maybe you bring girls over to your party to just hang and get on the news. I don't know I don't want to judge but I'm just saying that could be one angle.

And I thought about this angle that you are trying to do. Maybe you are trying to get under the last nerves of Sir Alex Ferguson with these stunts and pushing for a transfer to Real Madrid. That isn't out of the question, I mean you did want to go there and you know that Sir Alex hearing about these types of escapades will want him to pull his hair out and he will start threatening you to stop doing while you keep on causing trouble for yourself because let's be honest you don't care you are one of the best footballers in the world you can handle this type of garbage and he will for sure want to get rid of you and the nonsense that you bring to the team.

I don't know what you are doing. I don't think anybody knows what you are doing, but just make sure you know what you are doing.

Drizzle

Last Week: "Yo I'm trying to cop that Robinho Chelsea Jersey"

I don't know if you know already but on Monday it was revealed that Robinho is heading to Manchester City instead of heading to Chelsea in which everyone thought last week that he was going, in fact aaron told me that they actually were selling Robinho Cheslea Jerseys. Plus the fact that Fox Soccer News was saying that Robinho could actually be in the lineup against Tottenham for Cheslea. But something must have happened between me going to sleep on sunday and me seeing that Robinho is heading to Manchester City. There are two people that I'm disappointed in.

Robinho: It is said that you still have to agree to this deal. I find you a primetime player even though you weren't able to show all your ability in Real Madrid, but still Manchester City? Is that were you want to be? Sounds like Carlos Tevez all over again. I would like to know why you would choose that. Were you that desperate to leave Madrid? Or was it for the money because this is a new EPL transfer record. Or you wanted to be in the same lineup with a fellow Brazilian Jo. I don't know if you're friends or anything which could influence your decision. This could end up two ways. You could A. be a success and lead this team to a possible top four spot by the next couple of years or you could B. be a failure and start with this journeyman tour that you don't really deserve to be in my opinion. I don't know maybe you need to think about this.

Real Madrid: The King of hypocrites. Okay you slam Chelsea for their pursuit when you have tried desperately to unsettle C. Ronaldo in Manchester United so he could move to your club. Chelsea is not the blame of your problem, you were the one trying to offload Robinho to Chelsea to begin with. I remember when the season was over, you were going to let him go to Chelsea and all summer you were trying to hard to get rid of him, so you can use the money for Ronaldo. But then when he decided to stay in Manchester, you decided to be like "oh Robinho is a key part of our team and we would like to keep him" and Robinho tired of your bullshit decided to say bump this, I want to go to Chelsea. So then you felt like you were wronged and Chelsea is to blame. You can't have it both ways buddy. (how ironic that I decide to wear this Real Madrid jersey, i need to burn it)

I don't know what to think really. Maybe he will be a big success in City, I don't want to take that away from him or just say that he can't pick them up. I just find it very strange about this type of sleazy behavior that let's be honest all big and rich clubs go through but It kinda gets me to scratch my head.