Real Madrid made to suffer at Vallecas as they hang onto 3 points

Suffering and humiliation.

That's what we, the Real Madrid fans, had to go through today to see Real Madrid win.

As I have said time and time again, the Real Madrid midfield and the back four DO NOT inspire any confidence. They are slow and lethargic and roam the pitch for 90 minutes without clearly identifying who they are supposed to mark.

Forget winning any silverware this year Sr. Florentino Perez.

What I am concerned about is just about any team in the Liga has a chance to beat Real Madrid this season.

Luckily in football it is the team that scores most goals wins.

For if it had been for possession, skill, pace, attacking football, Rayo would have won.

Ronaldo's goal was quite nice but I wonder whether he could have done that against a better side. But hey a goal is a goal. 

Gareth Bale again provided some nice crosses from the right - one was headed in by Benzema and another pass to Ronaldo was neatly put away.

After scoring that goal, it seemed as if Benzema went off to sleep.

To all Real Madrid fans I have one question. Where was Alonso? Did he lead the midfield?  Did he organize the plays?  Did he do anything? Simply put - did he play?

Why can't Ancelotti see that he is including players who are past their prime.

Why not give Isco, Morata, Jese and Varane a go. They add a dimension which is lacking.

Finally what is the use of having Gareth Bale in the team when he rarely gets the ball. He has to always come back to collect the ball.

Remember we were playing Rayo Vallecano today.

Not Barcelona or Atletico Madrid.

Not Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund.

God help us.

But we won 3-2.

 

 

 

 

Was Real Madrid robbed points at Nou Camp

After watching the match today, I would like to state that:-

Barcelona took four strikes at goal and scored twice. For your information, the other two were Neymar's volley which Diego Lopez saved and the other was the save off Dani Alves late in the second half.

On the other hand, Madrid claimed two penalties - the first a handball and the second the clear SHOVING of Cristiano Ronaldo off the ball in the penalty area. Atleast the SHOVE / PUSH should have been given.

Further Real Madrid did not have the luck of Champions. How many times they forced Valdes to pull off amazing saves - THREE.

And what about Karim Benzema's shot which rattled the cross bar?

The Footballing Gods were definitely not doing any favours to Madrid today.

But mortals witnessed that Real Madrid put up a great fight specially in the second half. They showed intensity and courage to come back at Barcelona.

Real Madrid could have won if they had taken their chances.

But Barcelona came away with the 3 points because they had luck going for them.

That's all that I am prepared to say.

In conclusion I will admire Alexis Sanchez's goal. The chip over Diego Lopez was brilliant, if not genius.

 

   

EL CLASSICO

My Dear Real Madrid Fans

On Saturday, 26th, October we have a great opportunity to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou and bring back to Santiago Bernabeu THREE valuable points.

Barcelona is NOT the team of Pep Guardiola and their attack is NOT as potent as it used to be.

Xavi and Iniesta do not have the penetrating insight that they used to.

And the great Messi needs time to fully recover.

Neymar is still settling in.

Valdes is on his way out

Pujol has just come out of a injury.

With all this going on, Real Madrid has a great opportunity of winning and bringing the 3 valuable points to Madrid.

You Madrid Fans stand together and have positive thoughts.

We can do this.

We need your positive energy to carry the TEAM forward.  

Ancelotti Include Morata and Varane in your squad for Juventus

Dear Sr. Ancelotti

Please include Morata and Varane in your squad against Juventus.

You need to win against Juventus if you are to have any chance against Barcelona.

Thank you

 

What happened to Barcelona?

What happened to Barcelona today?

They played good football but just couldn't convert.

Was this because of the absence of Messi?

But Messi played a for a brief period and Neymar was good.

The problem was no one stepped up to the plate and took responsibility.

Fabregas was awful for a footballer of his class.

Neymar played very well but why doesn't he finish and start scoring goals?

Iniesta and Xavi are not the players that were so dangerous last season.

I think Barcelona is vulnerable and if they fall behind, I believe they will have a mountain to scale.

And frankly I don't think they can make it. 

Rayo Vallecano did not test Barcelona

There is no justice in football.

This afternoon at Vallecas, Rayo Vallecano was fast, fighting for every ball, not giving the Barcelona forwards the luxury of time on the ball.

It was a beautiful fast paced game. Initially Barcelona was beginning to exert control, then Rayo reversed the tide and ended the 45 minutes spending more and more time in the Barcelona half.

In the first half, Rayo created one clear chance of goal of where Victor Valdes had to make a tremendous save and then Victor saved a penalty taken by the Rayo Captain - Treshorras.

Messi's skills were on display for a couple of dribbles and on one occasion he laid off a beautiful pass to the right to Pedro who made no mistake in scoring. Barcelona also tried to get Neymar, playing on the left wing, into the game, but today was not Neymar's afternoon. He did not take advantage of any balls passed to him nor did he pose much of a danger.

Barcelona went into the changing room at half time, thanking the Footballing Gods, for retaining their slender one goal lead.

The second half was totally different.

Rayo Vallecano had lost all its fight as soon as Pedro scored his second goal - which may have been offside. But it did not matter. Pedro completed his hattrick and Cesc Fabrigas scored the fourth goal.

Barcelona won 4-0.

Its a pity that Rayo does not have a couple of quality players. I believe that had Rayo Vallecano taken its chances and scored a couple of goals in the first half, the result of the match would had been quite different.

Barcelona is not the same Barcelona of old. They are not playing their attractive football nor are they being tested.

I would like to see how this Barcelona team reacts to a situation when they are behind say 1-0 or even 2-0. It will be a test of their character.

 

 

 

 

Penalties missed

Penalties are a GIFT.

Its a GOAL waiting to be scored.

But every week, we see Penalties being missed. Penalties are missed for variety of reasons (a) the goalkeeper moved before the shot is taken (b) the quality of the penalty taker or (c) a miss kick.

The underlying problem I feel, is that Clubs do not prepare adequately for this very important aspect of the game.

I have been surprised so many times to see that the penalty takers are midfield players or even defenders!!!

I mean why don't the strikers take the penalty kick all the time?

After all they are the ones who are supposed to have the necessary goal scoring skills.

The Managers must prepare players for this important - critical aspect of the game.

Today Norwich missed a penalty against Aston Villa and lost the game by a goal. If they had scored from the spot, they could have come away with a point.

A very costly mistake.

The other night Ajax could have had a goal against Barcelona at Camp Nou but they missed the penalty.

The sad story goes on and on.  

Barcelona outclasses Ajax and romps home 4-0

Barcelona outclassed Ajax and won by a wide margin 4-0.

The match was very similar to Real Madrid's match yesterday.

Messi scored a beauty from a free kick in the first half but the match didn't open up until the second half. Messi, Neymar, Alexis Sanchez ran riot and darted in and out of the Ajax area with total freedom.

However with all this possession in Ajax's area, Barcelona only managed to score 4 including a Messi hattrick. Pique chipped in with a header and was promptly rewarded by being substituted - maybe he got a niggling injury.

It was sad that Ajax could not convert a penalty. It would have been a little consolation.

This sums up the match. Ajax were not in the same League as Barcelona - not in same class. My opinion is that the Champions League should really be restricted to the top flight teams and not open to mediocre teams who fill in the 16 available slots.

The style of football that Barcelona played to night was not very attractive - so should I say was not the style that we have become used to. In my opinion if they carry on playing this way, it is very likely that good teams will force draws and maybe wins against Barcelona in the Liga this year.

Barcelona was not dominant.

 

 

 

 

Lucky Real Madrid salvage a point at Villareal

It was a treat and a pleasure to watch the young Villareal squad play such open, attacking and exciting football. They ( Villareal ) took Madrid's defence apart at will and if Lady Luck was on Villareal's side tonight, they would have won by atleast 3 goals.

Ancelotti where was Madrid's defence? The left flank was totally exposed and vulnerable to Villareal's frequent attacks. Madrid's defence couldn't keep up with the speed nor anticipate nor guard the marauding Villareal forwards. Nacho was terrible and in my mind ( and I have said this earlier ) Sergio Ramos will soon be sent off for some very serious tackles.

Thank God for Diego Lopez. Had it not been for Diego, Madrid would have suffered a humiliating defeat.

Further when you do an analysis of the match, I would like to question the Madrid forward line. The only two times Madrid attacked, they scored their two goals. Why could not Madrid create more opportunities of goal? There is no point in passing the ball around in the mid field without taking the ball up the field and creating scoring opportunities.

Carlo Ancelotti you are now TWO points behind Athletico Madrid and Barcelona. If you want to be able to compete, you have to start thinking about your two weaknesses and put your house in order.

Defence and Strikers.

Defence and Strikers.

These are not new problem areas. I have been mentioning them in every Blog over and over again.

You have to improve.

If Madrid cannot beat a newly promoted side, who can they beat in the Primera?

Well done Villareal.

Atleast football the " beautiful game " is in good hands in Spain.

The match saw the debut of Gareth Bale and he scored his first goal for the Club. Unfortunately he couldn't come away with all three points.

 

Boring Madrid scavenge 3 points

It was a pathetic display of ineptitude.
Real Madrid does not need Bale, they need a whole new team!!
What is the forward line doing? It cannot get together a couple of passes and get inside the Granada defence? If they cannot breakdown the Granada defence, what will they do against the better teams like Barcelona and Athletico Madrid?
Ancelotti you have a lot to think about. Ronaldo is clearly out of form, Benzema should be benched even if he scored the only goal. The only two players who tried today was Di Maria and Ozil. The rest spent the 90 minutes putting us to sleep.
Albeloa does not have the ability to cross the ball into the penalty area. The number of times he back passed the ball to Pepe or another team mate was incredible. The flow of the game is savagely cut and all comes a halt. In this day and age, if a left back cannot cross the ball and feed the forwards, he has no right to be in the team. Look at Marcelo, he crosses are beautiful - if the forwards mess it up - it is not his fault.
I am really frustrated seeing this poor poor quality of football.
Are the stories of the imminent arrival of Gareth Bale so disturbing to the Madrid players?
What is the reason?
They were up against Granada for God's Sake not Bayern Munich or Dortmund.
God help us.

 

Barcelona outclasses Malaga

Barcelona outclassed Malaga at the Rosalera tonight and won by the narrowest of margins 1-0.
The football of Barcelona has changed.
It is no longer the short, sharp passes with the lion's share of the possession of the football that we have become used to and love.
Now Barcelona seems content to play the contemporary style of football being played by most of the Clubs.
However there is a major difference between the football played by Barcelona and the rest.
Barcelona have very skilled and talented players who provide us with brilliant and entertaining football. The vision of their midfield players by creating openings for their forwards to dart in, is a delight to watch.
The way they play the beautiful game - fast flowing, attacking, linking up between themselves and the speed they can deliver the ball in an attacking move is exciting. And all this is played in a free spirit manner which entertain and thrill us.
Hope this style continues.
However there is a chink in their defence and I feel they are vulnerable on the counter. Malaga tonight managed to put together a couple of attacks in the dying minutes and could have come away with a draw if the Footballing Gods were a little bit more kind towards the Andalucians.
It was an Adriano goal which separated the two sides. Considering the distance of the shot, the Malaga Goalkeeper must have been unsighted.
Seeing Neymar play, I have one word of advice. He should try staying on his feet. As the word gets around that he goes down too easily, Referees may not be so lenient.

 

Richest Club in the world - really?

Read the report that Real Madrid has been adjudged to be the richest club in the world.
Really?
Are the supporters really interested?
Should we be talking about $3.3bln or footballing talents and haul of silverware?
When Bayern Munich and Barcelona are bringing in formidable signings to strengthen their season, Madrid does not appear to have the same determination and energy.
I am asking a simple question, do you think with what we know so far of the "first team", we have any chance of winning any silverware in the coming season?
 

Real Madrid flexing its muscles. Or are they in the transfer market?

Sr. Perez you know much more about the game than I do but remember that I have been following Real Madrid since 1963 and the same issues that have hindered Los Blancos continue today.
Sr Perez for God's sake sign a future footballing star. I am tired of seeing Madrid getting the cast offs from Barcelona.
If Butragueno or Zidane can't identify a footballing star they have no right being in the decision making body.
We should be looking for talent not for Barcelona cast offs.
And if it takes a year or two or more, we the fans of Madrid will stick by you. But put in an effort. Your decisions have not worked so far and it is about time that you, Sr. Perez, listen to what we - the grassroot supporters, have to say. 

Real Madrid 2013 / 2014 - the need for quality

Whilst Sr. Perez is busy building his team for the next season, I would like to put forward the following points for consideration:-
1. The team needs another first class striker to work with Ronaldo.
2. Karim Benzema is not really of that calibre to be a Madrid forward. May be the time has come for his
    departure.
3. What was the reason for getting rid of Di Maria? He was one of those youngsters who gave it his all and
    was back defending and going forward as an attacking mid fielder.
4. We have to review Alonso's role in the team. He is not fulfilling his role as a play maker or the distributor
    of the ball. If you do not have any ideas - think of Kaka filling this role.
5. Abeloa's role should be reviewed. He is not effective. He is weak, does not have pace and definitely out
   of sorts when up against quality attackers. Further he is prone to get yellow cards.
6. I think, although this hurts me to say so, Casillas should be replaced by Diego.
Sr. Perez please get one or two quality players otherwise you are not going to win any silverware this year. And remember Barcelona is bolstering its forward line by incorporating Neymar.