Madrid managed to scrape up 3 points with 3 goals against bottom of the table Xerez but it wasn't the Real Madrid performance that we all wanted to see with Lyon on the horizon. It took los blancos about an hour to break the Xerez lock and it was an unlikely goal from an unlikely source, Arbeloa that banged down the door when Xabi Alonso found him in space. To that point in the match, I wasn't impressed with the former Liverpool defender's performance but with that goal he did two crucial things. 1.) He scored the winning goal. It's hard to do anything more important than that. And 2.) He lifted the pressure of Los Merengues' shoulders. It's not as easy as one may think to beat the last place team when you are Real Madrid. Here's why.
Everyone is up for it when Madrid come to town. There is a mental aspect about the whole minnow versus giant matches. If you're the giant. You are expected to smash the minnow and put on a blinding performance. This can get into a lot of teams' heads. They over do it and try to do things out of their element rather than think of the match as any other match. I think Real Madrid had a case of that today. Especially Ronaldo in the first half who took too much responsibility amongst his heroic shoulders and was disappointing in the first half. Madrid was lucky not to be down a goal or two in the first half. Lackadaisical defending lead to a couple clear chances that perhaps a better team would have surely scored. Madrid should have definitely had a penalty when Granero was taken down in the area in the first half and then another one when Pipita's on target volley was blocked by the hand of a defender. Can't get them all I suppose but I was desperate for a goal at that point and frustration was an understatement. The fouls, the misplaced passes, the referee decisions all created a first half to forget. The foul stat at half time was something absurd like Real 13, Xerez 3. I'd personally like to express my anger at Goltv for putting the La Liga match on a Gameboy sized screen in the bottom right hand corner for 25 minutes while Bayern Munchen vs Dortmund finished up. That's just poor broadcasting.
Let's get into some personal performances. Arbeloa's goal did open the flood gates but he wasn't his regular self today. He picked up a booking he didn't deserve but was shakey on most other offensive occasions. I'm sure he'll bounce back. Marcelo at left back never impresses but that's all I'm gonna say there. Lassana Diarra really needs to improve if we are gonna play a double pivot. I personally am in favor much more of the single pivot, which gives us an extra forward but Lass has got to be better. Too many times he was the culpret for a wayward pass or giving the ball away in the center of the pitch. Pipita was quiet. There was so much hype about Higuain in the midweek after his stunner vs Espanyol last weekend that everyone was a little disappointed not to see him do more. I guess you could blame some give aways that ultimately resulted in poor performances on the rough condition of the pitch. Hardly the pristine, lush grass of the Bernabeu but still can't use an excuse like that.
Raul didn't really make an impression after coming on but the other two subs did. Surprisingly Drenthe noticeably lifted the play when he appeared. He was unlucky not to score. His crisp strike was cleared off the goal line. Big Diarra made a rare appearance and other than the off target long ball he played shortly after arriving on the field, he was solid.
Ronaldo and Kaka were both stories of two halves. Both were off beat in the first half but instrumental in the second half. They proved our summer spending useful by teaming up for 2 goals. Ronaldo bagged another two for the season while the Brazilian tallied two more assists. After being played in toward the end line by Granero, Kaka lifted his head and played a flawless ball across to meet the gelled hair of Ronaldo. The header was a cerebral thunderbolt that rooted the goalkeeper. Great Goal. Kaka then again showed his brilliance as he used a sweeping slide tackling technique to pull the ball away from the charging shotstopper, loitered with the keeper at his back for a few seconds, only to then slide the ball across Ronaldo who tucked the ball passed 2 defenders into a gaping goal.
But we accomplished some important things today.
1. We proved we can turn around a bad performance and grind out a result. Something the Madrid has never historically been used to doing.
2. Ronaldo is back on form for Lyon.
3. No injuries from what I can see were picked up.
The job is only half done though. We have to hope our city rivals can take points off our national rivals tomorrow. That would help us out immensely! Not a pretty match but a pretty 3 points to return back to the capital with. Madrid's away form needs to improve despite the win. HALA MADRID!
Bobby
Munich - Dortmund does happen to be a wee bit more important than 2nd vs last in La Liga. However I can understand the anger.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the game, well I was surprised we started so many players I thought would have been otherwise rested. However defensively I think Albiol works better with Ramos and Garay than those two work within themselves. Arbeloa din't have his best performance but still warrants a place in the starting lineup. I just hope its back at LB with Ramos at RB for the Lyon game.
Lass blew his chance in my opinion. Pellegrini NEEDS to tell him to do only what a Defensive Midfielder is supposed to. He disrupts the play of Alonso as well.