Three Points The Hard Way

Always pissed off before pleased. If it wasn't the awful Real Madrid play in the first half, the annoying TV commentators set me off. That guy must hate Real Madrid. How many times did I have to hear "bunch of individuals." Whatever, it's still three points in the bank and a world of topics to be talked over as Real Madrid battle back at the fortress to win 3-1 over Sporting Gijon. Plenty of action though! Down a goal, and then up a goal in the blink of an eye. Controversy and chaos. Ronaldo plays with a block of ice in his hand to reduce swelling on a little bump on his precious face? Crazy. This puts us three points above Barcelona but they haven't played yet. Zaragoza will be awaiting the blaugrana's arrival. Goals from Van der Vaart, Xabi Alonso who got his first goal from open play (immediately fallowing the corner), and another for Pipita!

I guess it takes a strike of lightning to light a fire under our asses to get us going. A questionably offside David Barrel creeped in untouched and smashed the ball into the roof of our own net, stunning the Bernabeu faithful and the shirts in white at 53 minutes. My heart sunk. Barrel, a former Madrid product, was brave enough to celebrate by signing his name on the pitch. It was quickly erased. Before I could even get upset or angry, we equalized and our tempo shot into the sky like a Chinese firework! I thought to myself when our own goal was penetrated that maybe just maybe this will provoke a response. It did. Ronaldo's dipping free kick, 2 minutes later, caused a lot of trouble for Colinas who fumbled the rocket onto a platter for Rafael Van der Vaart who trapped it with what looked like a volleyball bump before thrashing a left footed volley into the net. I'm a biased supporter but that was definitely a handball. Am I going to complain? No. But let's just say we'll call it even for Xavi's dive against Espanyol. Goal for a goal right? Another two minutes later, after winning a corner Ronaldo jumped higher than the cross bar to win the initial header which found Xabi Alonso at the far post to nod past the line from close range. And just like that, we're on top.

I make it sound glamorous but it was far from. The first half was abysmal. I take no credit away from Gijon who were very well organized defensively in half number 1. We created next to nothing and Ronaldo was a tad bit selfish (and I don't often call him that). What did we do to solve the problem? Lass out, Guti in. I said it at half time to my friends watching the match with me. I told them that had to be the change. I think Lass barfed up the ball every time he got it. Just dreadful. For those of you that chose to grade our players, please fail Lassana Diarra for me. I said it in the preview, no Lass. Didn't listen to me did you Manuel? He clogged everything up, ran into dead ends, fouled, and did things he shouldn't be trying. How many times must he be told? Another lacking performance from Granero as well. The one shot he took has even landed yet. He needs to improve. Xabi Alonso wasn't his great self today, aside from netting the winner. Just a step off. Gave it away too often. Our best holding center midfielder of the evening was (I can't believe I'm gonna even say this because it's against what I so avidly preach) Gago. He came on, kept it simple. He didn't play tag, running from player to player fouling. Everytime he got it, he just distributed. Well done. When he does that he looks a very good player. Guti I thought was instrumental after coming in. Helped connect everything. He was composed and his all seeing eyes opened up attacks for us. Liked him.

Man of the Match you ask? Van der Vaart for me. Kaka will have to work to break back into my Real Madrid team. Tremendous outing from the Dutchman. He's really finding good form. His goal probably should not have stood but none the less, he got one when we most needed it. But how bout that back heal? Cracked a wide smile on my face. He was lively and upbeat throughout the match. He almost scored an acrobatic header earlier in the first half but I felt like he was the driving force behind Madrid today. Put Ronaldo in the passenger seat. Ronaldo had an off game for me. I mean he was involved. His free kick caused the rebound that VDV scored from and he also won the header from the corner that Xabi Alonso scored from, but he took some shots he probably shouldn't have. He was little to obvious on trying to draw that penalty. Coughed it up a few times trying to do some fancy stuff. He won't be pleased. And neither will his make up artist who has a bump to try and hide for the cameras (:]) Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on him. But with a player of his caliber, you have to expect more. And for future refference, leave the ice on the sidelines...

Let's turn our focus to the back line. No Albiol? Mystery to me. If anyone can clear that up for me, I'd love to know. Really kind of mucked things up I think. Garay was not good at all today. The whole back line was leaky and here's what I think. Without Albiol, Ramos has to play center back. He likes to play the left sided center back but so does Garay. Garay must have felt out of place on the right or something because he looked very uncomfortable. I thought Marcelo made a few good tackles actually but spent most of his time attacking as usual. Arbeloa, eh so-so. But none were good. Especially Ramos, the gladiator didn't have a dominating game. He almost gave up a goal single handedly by casually scuffing a routine pass back to Casillas. Our prize keeper saved the day though. Well done San Iker. We dominated the match completely our a defenders still managed to give Gijon some pretty damn good chances.

Always glad to see Pipita net one. Took it beautifully too. Scurried away from some defenders and caressed the ball past the goal keeper with his left foot into the corner. Another one for Higuain. Another one toward Pichichi. Catch Messi buddy, catch him.

A win is a win. Another ugly job but 3 points nonetheless. Puts us on top for the time being on points and adds two more goals to goal differential stats. And as my girlfriend put it when I text her about the result, "good now you won't be bitchy." Haha that's a good way to put it. The season long home winning streak continues!

Hala Madrid!

Bobby

Comeback Kids Defend The Bernabeu

Let me start this post off with a Hell Yeah! The match ended 2 hours ago and my hear is still a thumpin'! I can't even wipe the wide smirk off my face. It's a great view from the top! Where do I begin? I mean at the end of the first half I was turning over furniture in my room and throwing pillows, just screaming at the heavens asking how we hadn't scored at the top of my lungs. I'm surprised my neighbors didn't call the police because it probably sounded like a domestic disturbance in this place. In all honesty, even though Sevilla didn't get like any shots off, we were dominated the first 20 minutes. We saw no possession, had no good chances to speak off either. I was sitting with a dumb look on my face thinking to myself "this is gonna be a long match..." How much more wrong could I have been? I know it may be bias but this could be one of the matches of the season. So let's get to the game itself.

Started off awful. It just wasn't pretty. This was at the stage when I thought we were in for a rough night. I had to watch the game on an online feed so I was already sour to begin with. With about 10 minutes into the game after I had clearly notice that we were well below standard my feed froze but the sound continued. I hear "GOOOOOOOLLLL GOL GOL GOLLLLL!" I scrambled fiercely. I refreshed my page only to see a smiling Alvaro Negredo trotting off to the corner flag. My heart sunk. "It would be him.." I muttered but after seeing the replay it appears as if Xabi Alonso got the last touch. Arbeloa just seemed to lose track of where Navas was on that right side. His cross missed two unmarked Sevilla attackers before it was put back across by Capel and into our own net by Xabi. I was upset, but composed. There were still 80 minutes to be played so I wasn't as concerned as if the opening goal would have came against us with 20 minutes to spare.

All of a sudden with the blink of an eye on exactly 20 minutes it would seem, the lethargic, uninterested, and outplayed Madrid transformed into the up beat, feisty, creative Madrid. It was like night an day. A lot of times u hear of a game of two haves but our form picked up dead smack in the middle of half 1. We had 14 shots at the end of the first half. I checked the stats. Seven of those shots were on goal. Sevilla had zero. Yeah.. ZERO. I was like how can we possibly be losing? They haven't even had a shot. There second goal can't even really be considered a shot either. It was a fluke. I was livid at that point that we had gone 2-0 down at Sevilla had not even once shot at our goal. "How can this be happening!" I cried. Safe to say at this point my family stopped checking up on me to see how the match was going. So I'm not even going to count their second goal as a shot either.

This surely should have killed our momentum but Pellegrini stole the show. He removed Arbeloa who has very little to offer offensively, moved an attack minded Marcelo to left back, removed a creativity lacking Lass, and injected a Van der Vaart and a Guti into midfield. How much more straight forward attacking can you be? We were essentially defending with just Garay and Albiol with Ramos and Marcelo acting like wing-backs. So our formation looked something like 2-5-3. That clearly was the turning point in the match. No doubt in my mind. VDV added an extra energy and Guti contributed vision that we hadn't seen all game. The players caught on immediately. Marcelo's pass into the area took a little deflection and found none other that Ronaldo who one timed it past Palop who had been brilliant to that point. "About time!" I screamed as I shut the door to my room. Couldn't have any disturbances at this point. I just always had the feeling we were gonna get two after that one went in. You could see that the Ronaldo goal broke Sevilla's spirit. They knew they had awoken a sleeping giant.

For minutes later Mr. Ramos headed home a corner, scoring against his former club. I love Ramos. I was glad it was him. I was a little puzzled by the nipple rub celebration though. Just me? Whatever. That was the last thing I was concerned about at this point. Two in four minutes? Now we have 25 plus some to score one more, but it was elusive. Guti's magic vision found a couple open players and I bet if you were on the pitch right now and felt the frame of the goal, it would still be rattling and vibrating. Guti rocked it, Higuain blasted it. I can't believe we only scored three. When Raul came on for Kaka, I sort of went "why?" Raul was amazing but I felt like we had such a good thing going already I didn't want to disturb it. Nothing against el Capitan. Nonetheless I was still confident he could do a job. This was around the same time I noticed the first Sevilla shot coming from Jesus Navas (clearly Sevilla's best player today). I checked ESPN's Soccernet and I was right. It was the 79th minute and other than the two goals, the Rojiblancos recorded no other shots than that.

So my heart is racing and I can hear the fortress in full song. There must have been so much atmosphere that it was spilling out of the computer and into my room. I could feel it. Fifteen minutes to go, no goal. Ten minutes to go, still no goal. Stoppage time now, at least there was four minutes. I didn't want to think it quite yet but the though that Barca tied today made me think at least we're not losing ground on them. Just as that thought was passing a lose ball is open in the area. Ronaldo has the whole goal to shoot at. Raul tries to move out of the way but in the wrong direction and with ball aimed at the side netting, it strikes the Numero Siete and away from the goal. I just closed my eyes. That was it. That was the chance. To my utter delight I was incorrect. Ramos curls a ball into the area a moment later. Higuain gets up and nods a header toward the goal. Palop deflects. "OHHH- wait - get it- GOLLLLLLLLL!!!!" Van der Vaart is now ripping off his jersey and flying torward the corner.

I'm in extacy. A 10 man Barcelona tied against Ameria away so that means we are Top Of La Liga! On goal differential of course by 2 goal difference. I'm going to go continue celebrating . Already hit up Red Lobster haha.

HALA MADRID!

Bobby

Another 3 Points For the Taking.

Tenerife vs Real Madrid. I'm obviously pretty confident we can take this match but I said that against Xerez and it was a struggle for the first 70 minutes. I'm in a delightful mood though. Today was the second day in a row in which my classes were canceled due to bad weather (which really wasn't that bad, but I'll take the four day weekend). I really hope a lacking Madrid performance at a must win destination doesn't bring down the mood. We are on fire in the league as far as results go but like a mentioned in my "La Liga Deciding Fixtures" article, our away form has not been stellar. Games against lowly opponents away scare me at times for a few reasons.

1. No matter who we play, teams are always up to play Real Madrid, especially in front of their home fans.

2. When the opposition is low in the table, Madrid are expected to bake up a scintillating performance with a dramatic scoreline in our favor. Which adds pressure to games that don't have the same caliber of El Clasico, or a Valencia clash.

3. Sometimes players (cough Ronaldo) try to do things that they wouldn't normally try to do against a stronger opponent. It was seen in the Xerez game and when we went back to playing like the team-minded Real Madrid team we've seen for the better chunk of the season, 3 goals in 10 minutes.

But for now let's forget about the mental aspect and get to the match itself. The game will take place off the cost in the Canary Islands, where Tenerife is located. Pellegrini has named his team for clash leaving out Benzema and Drenthe who are still recovering from their respective injuries, Guti who has recovered but is not quite up to speed, and Arbeloa who is suspended for this match. I'm sorta glad that Arbeloa is missing this match rather than Sevilla at home next week. Two Castilla additions on the squad list. Marcos Alonso and Mosquera. I really hope that at least one of them gets a chance. I know we won't see it happen if we don't get out in front of them with a significant lead with a good bit of time to spare. Pellegrini is too cautious about putting our latest products in the line-up. It would be nice though considering this would be one of the ideal teams to test them out against. I've devised two line-ups for the match. One of my own, partnered by the one I think Pellegrini will opt for.


There's almost no doubt that with Arbeloa out, Garay will emerge from the pine once again to take center back, pushing Ramos to right back . For some reason or another, Pellegrini thinks Marcelo is a good choice left back. I know it's Tenerife but he didn't look good there against Xerez. That's why on my side I've chosen a cantanero! Marcos Alonso? Think I'm jumping the gun? Well I'm no Pellegrini. He can't be any worse defending than Marcelo that's for sure. Give him a shot. Anyone with me? To my dispair Pellegrini has shied away from the 4-1-3-2 (which Zizou and I have established to be virtually the same thing as 4-3-1-2 not to confuse anyone) and decided on the double pivot. I'm still more of a fan of the single pivot system. I just don't think Xabi Alonso plays as well along side someone as he does isolated as a deep lying playmaker. That's my opinion. I think Lass hurts him quite frankly. Moving up, Pellegrini and I still have the same "Kaka-Granero-Ronaldo." Granero hasn't been himself in the last 2 matches but I think that's because we have such high expectations for the guy. As great as he is, he cant have an assist or goal every match. Moving him to the bench will only hurt his confidence I think. However, that's just my opinion. Yes! Raul is in my line up, my man. I have just been dying to see him score again. He hasn't gotten one since October if my memory serves me correctly. I hope he plays and impresses. Once loved, always loved. Higuain will lead the line obviously for both me and boss because Benzema will still be in Madrid. Plain and simple.

In all respect to Tenerife, it's not them I'm worried about. It's us. Though they have improved slightly I guess since the break, I don't see them as a threat. Second in the drop zone and not much to be proud of as far as this season goes. Juan Fansisco Martinez is the club's leading goal scorer this season so he's obviously the one to keep an eye on. Los Blanquiazules were thumped last weekend by Bilbao 4-1 and will be looking to bounce back. This game is very manageable but if all possible I want to stay out of card trouble if all possible, which we failed to do against Xerez. We need three points. Barca are at home with Malaga coming to visit. I don't see an upset in the cards. Let's get in and get out. Get the job done and then turn our focus toward next week's game against Sevilla at Fortress Bernabeu.

Hala Madrid

Bobby

Sank the Submarine

Los Blancos responded well to their more than disappointing Champions League loss to Lyon. The score finished 6-2 but it didn't always look like the Merengue were running away with it. The men in yellow cut the lead back to just one goal on two separate occasions giving me one or two reasons to bite my nails. However, our prolific strike force's torpedoes eventually sent the submarine to a watery grave below fortress Bernabeu. Although I was furious at giving up goals this game proved that we can overcome setbacks and adversity to eventually triumph. Hopefully we can take the lesson learned and transform it into a similar performance when OL come back to visit in March.

Summer spending payed off again. Four of the six goals were scored by new faces. Dos for Kaka, uno for Ronaldo, and Xabi Alonso tallied his first goal in a Real Madrid Uniform. May I offer him my congratulations. The game also acted as a stat booster for many. Ronaldo not only scored, he marked 2 assists and also drew the penalty that Xabi Alonso took (twice lol). Pipita returned to scoring form with 2 pieces of cheese. He is in 3rd place running for Pichichi with 14 goals, 2 goals off the leader, Messi, if my memory serves me correctly. Marcelo added to his assist total with his cross for Higuain's second which makes 6 goals created for the young Brazilian this season. In all fairness I think los blancos should have won by a few goals more. Ronaldo and Kaka both failed when 1v1 with the keeper and Ronaldo's breakaway was wrongly called offside. Madrid seem to rise to the challenge everytime it was thrown at them. When Villarreal scored we made it a bigger gap. When they scored again, we did the same. When Kaka converted the penalty I texted a fellow Madridista, and said "2 goals from deadballs. I want 1 from open play." Madrid then rose to that challenge as well.

Refereeing decisions were a question in this match. Many people seem to think that the penalty Ronaldo drew was a dive. Honestly I thoughts he got clipped from behind but honestly people, was it a match changing decision? No. On Higuain's first goal, when Arbeloa played the ball up the line to CR9, he did appear to be off by a step. However, later in the match as I said above, Ronaldo was called off when he was most certainly on. Though he had been flagged, play continued and he dribbled around the goalkeeper and passed the ball home. These decisions were not all correct but nonetheless wouldn't have changed the result.

We were a totally different team from what I saw in France. We were so lively. Runs in behind the back line on so many different occasions. The ability to find players was 20 times what it was on Tuesday. Creativity was a major boost. I think it raises more questions about our away form. I mean sure, our European away form has been good other than this loss, but we beat Zurich and Marseille away and only tied Milan. It's not like we beat the best team in our group. Our La Liga away form hasn't been pretty at all, a loss to Sevilla, a loss to Barca, a Loss to Bilbao, and Draws at Gijon and Osasuna where we failed to score both times. The only real significant away win that we've recorded was our thriller against Valencia, and if you think about it it that's probably the best team that we've beaten all season. We still have lots of hype to live up to ladies and gentlemen, but I'm gonna stop being pessimistic on a day with reason to be optimistic. Just pointing a few things out.

Let's start with what I was not pleased with, Lassana Diarra. Many player have hot and cold games but Lass has had and cold minutes. He is the fastest changing Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll. He fouls too much. Right after Marco Senna scores from a well taken free kick, he goes and clatters some yellow shirt from behind a yard or two off the top of the arc. Needs to be smarter. Needs to stop dribbling. He looks a much better player when he plays it quick. I'm surprised Pellegrini hasn't said something more about it. Arbeloa played a good game but what bothers me is he always gets beat on a give and go (one-two). Track your defender, don't get caught ball watching. Wingers will get a free cross every time. For once, Marcelo wasn't horrific on defence but he can always do better. I can definitely call it an improvement from the Lyon game. Ramos, all I can say is class. I know he is a right back but he is a damn good center back as well. He too was beat by a one-two on Villarreal's second goal, scored by Nilmar, but that counter attack should have never happened. Too many opportunities to shut it down. We need to make sure we don't put too much emphasis on offense that we forget we have a goal of our own.

I don't know if it's just me, but Pellegrini seems to make subs very late on in matches. I know in this case it was okay because we needed to establish a gap in scoreline when the Yellow Submarine doesn't go away, but the subs hardly get any time to adapt to the match. Raul, Van der Vaart, M. Diarra, I can't even tel lyou how they played really. I'm never going to complain when we get a result like 6-2, but I don't even know what to say about them. I can say that today is the first time where I thought Guti wasn't missed as much. We had plenty of creativity. Granero may not get the credit for today but I thought he was solid. Quiet, but solid. He keeps the play moving in midfield. He doesn't do anything out of his element but links together big pieces like Higuain, Ronaldo, and Kaka. Benzema wasn't missed either today. Higuain found form again and it didn't look as if we would have needed him today anyway. With that said, I'm still sure it will be a boost when he returns to the squad.

This win will be in the back of Barcelona's head. When Villarreal visited them, the two shared the points. Now that we are within 2 points of the blaugrana and we are tallying up 6 goal performances in a still perfect record at home, where they still have to visit, they can definitely feel our hot breath on their necks. This match puts a smile on my face once again and I can look at the crest and know that we haven't failed it last time we took the field. Well done. Next up we have Tenerife away. We are expected to pick up 3 points there. Malaga visit Barcelona but I don't think the Catalans will drop anything there.

Hala Madrid!

Bobby

Pluckin' Feathers: Real Madrid 3-0 Espanyol

Real Madrid cruise to another 3-0 victory despite key absences once again (cough Ronaldo cough Garay). I wasn't sure certain players would make the squad list like Guti and Arbeloa because of their fitness difficulties in training this week. I was delighted to see them both in the XI. It was a very one sided match. Los blancos looked comfortable and in demand the entire time. It's beginning to become routine that Real Madrid are missing players. At this point in time it seems like nothing can stop los blancos. The home record is unscratched and unlike the last match at fortress Bernabeu against Malaga, this was quite a performance. We jumped on the opposition right from the start with the Ramos goal and we coasted throughout the rest of the affair. The score could have easily been much greater but Kameni was inspired between the posts. I've seen him play before and his ability to read shots, partnered with his quickness makes him a top class goal keeper. I'm surprised a bigger club hasn't picked him up. Easily Espanyol's best player.

There isn't a lot to pick apart. I usually start with the negatives but where do I even look for them? I suppose I could say that after Benzema's two goal game at the Riazor, I expected him to find the net again. He looked a little selfish especially on one or two numbers-up counter attacks but other than that, he didn't play badly. I mean all strikers have to a little selfish. Marcelo was again not his best defensively but we all know he makes a much better left winger. Hopefully with the contract extension in mind, Madrid have decided that the midfielder Marcelo is far more useful than the defender Marcelo. I didn't think Lass raised the level of play when he arrived as a second half sub. He was disappointing. I've seen much better days from him.

I called for a performance from Raul and by my standards I think I got it. Okay, he didn't score. But he sure as hell had chances that he created for himself. His troubling header forced a diving save out of Kameni which ultimately lead to Kaka's goal. I can say without remorse that he was better of our two starting forwards yesterday. I wish he would have scored, it would have been a testament to the way he played, especially first half. Also Kaka looked great. That's the Kaka that we've been looking for. Hernia problem? Didn't look like it against los periquitos. He was very lively. He deserved his goal. He is a true poacher and I hope Pellegrini is now convinced that he is better in behind the strikers than he is a winger. Granero? Another assist. It seems like he always delivers. Him and Ramos teamed up for the first goal and again almost for another piece of cheese off a corner. It will be a shame if he isn't in the starting line up next week. Impressive once again.

People have always questioned Madrid's defensive capabilities, but we're really starting to silence critics. I never really felt threatened by Espanyol. Albiol and Ramos we're rock solid. Ramos is such a good center back, I can't make up my mind where I like him better. But if Garay is healthy I still think he needs to play centrally, moving Ramos to right back once again where he stampedes up the flank and a more solid Arbeloa to left back.

Ronaldo 80 million, Kaka 59 million, Benzema 35 million, Pipita... Priceless. He's back ladies and gentlemen! He inadvertently showed Benzema up by doing in 15 minutes what the Frenchman couldn't do in 75. Just a fabulous goal. The touch the Argentine took to bring down that ball bamboozled the defender. It even fooled me at first, but by the time I realized what he had just done, my jaw had already hit the floor. Then he went on to dribble around the agile Kameni and tuck the ball into a gaping goal. He really is a marvel. I just can't wait to see him action again. Welcome back my friend, welcome back.

Barcelona as many know, won their match against Getafe 2-1 at the Camp Nou so Madrid's win meant nothing more than keeping pace with their rivals who sit 5 points prettier than us at the moment. What fascinates me about the Barca match is that they had two central defenders in Pique and Marquez (who was sent off with a minute or two to spare. So it's not like they were playing with 9 men all match) sent off. That will surely put a dent in their back line as they travel to the capital city to take on our cross town rivals next week. You can never depend on Atletico for anything but if they can at least make a draw out of the meeting, it will be appreciated without a thank you. Whereas we will have to take on relegation struggles, Xerez away. That should be an unquestionable 3 points, but we might look to rest players with Lyon away looming that Tuesday afterwards.

So Espanyol was successful battle. Fun to watch. Even at the end of the game it looked like some of our technically gifted players were trying to put on a little circus act for the fans. Three points, well earned. No bad performances but there is always room for improvement. Well done. Hala Madrid.

Bobby

Frustration at its Peak: Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Madrid

To say that I am disappointed, sad, angry, frustrated, or let down are all understatements. I really don't know where to begin, so expect an unstructured rant-like review. You have to give props to Bilbao though. They executed their game plan perfectly. Banged and crashed until they got a goal early and then sat back and just defended with 10, and a lot of times 11 behind the ball. The worst part is Madrid must have been in on the plan because they gladly let it happen. This will be sure to add to an already blazing political/football fire. The rivalries burn on...

Madrid didn't even complete a pass before Athletic scored the only goal of the match from a free header the Lassana Diarra so kindly flicked on from a corner for Bilbao's none other than Llorente, who nodded the ball at ease past Casillas and into the net. San Mames erupted like volcano. Perhaps that was the sound of an alarm clock for Real Madrid. Los blancos decided maybe it was time wipe the sleepys out of their eyes and decide to show up. Too little too late though. If you want to be a championship winning team you have to wake up before you walk out of the tunnel at least. Real went on to dominate the rest of the match. Shot after shot was peppered away by Biblao's goalkeeper, Gorka Iraizoz, who must have went to church twice this week because he was blessed, no less than inspired by the lord today, easily my man of the match.

I wouldn't be so crushed about this game if we would have played as poorly as we did at Osasuna, but Madrid had 31 shots. The football was crisp, it was inventive, there was lots of energy, desire, but there was no goals. Madrid had 71% of the possession. We plugged away time after time only for the ball to be recklessly slashed or bombed away by a red and white striped player. They weren't even clearing balls up toward Llorente, the target forward, most of the time. They were just shooting missiles over our back line for the center backs to collect and restart the attack. After the goal was scored in the third minute, the Basques never even had another shot on target. Bilbao just frustrated us to the point of no return. You could clearly see the fluster on Madrid's faces, particuarlly Ronaldo who tried to take matters into his hands a few too many times. He even let the crowd get to him when he faked throwing a ball toward them.

I'm contemplating sending Pipita a "Get Well Soon" card, but then I changed my mind and went with a "Get Well Now!" card instead. Benzema was just absent today. He had his one effort that dinked off the post but other than that, I think Raul played a bigger part in the match and he came on in the 77th minute. As for other poor performances, I can't help but point the finger at Marcelo, shocking. He just got bullied by big Basque players all match. He looked like a marble in a pinball machine bouncing off everything he got near. I would have made the Guti for Marcelo substitution much earlier. For as soon as Guti came on, he created a unique combination which lead to one of our better chances. It was nice to have Ramos back in the line up. He had some buzz about him today. Lass... not so much. I've seen much better performances from him. Other than that. I really don't have much to complain about the players did well minus the opening three minutes. Kaka perhaps is still just a step behind. Maybe should have done better on that half volley from inside the area the went just wide of the near post and definately should have done better with the square ball accross the box.

Here is where I saw an issue. Bilbao fouled us 20 times. I would have to say at least 90 percent of those fouls were in the attacking half considering that's were about 90% of the game was played (for you math geniuses that's 18 fouls but of course this is an estimate). That gives us 18 set plays to work with. Now add another 9 corners to the equasion. That's 27 set plays that we we got nothing out of. At the beginning of the year, defending set plays was a big problem. Now it may be the attacking set plays that we should be capitalizing on that present a problem. I can hardly remember us scoring from a set piece situation in La Liga other than Garay's winning header at Valencia. Hopefully I have overlooked some. I didn't like free kick play with Ronaldo to Xabi Alonso. your at the edge of the area. Just have a go. Although that same play did work for Guti and Sneijder against Atletico Madrid a couple years ago; it didn't have the same result tonight. The Ronaldo run over and Guti shot was better, at least that one was on target. I was in a grim mood after the final whistle, only to hold back frustration tears when Barca smashed Sevilla 4-0 in a slow boring game that seem to drag on. Sevilla looked awful. Five points back looks mighty depressing from my angle.

In the end, I waited for this match all week and was mortified at the result after seeing the quality of play that Madrid produced. It just kills me to know that if we would have been awake for the first 3 minutes, we would have at least taken a point despite our lack of scoring. A team that looks so promising also looks so frustrating because of the expectations us Madridistas hold our players too. However, if you want the best, you can't expect anything less.

Bobby

Failure at the Brink of Opportunity: Osasuna 0-0 Real Madrid

As soon as everyone gets there hopes up to take top of the league into the hands of Real Madrid, los blancos crack under the pressure. The performance at Osasuna was very ugly when it comes to Madrid's standards. No one really even looked like scoring or even creating chances to score. Besides the break away miss from Higuain (which probably should have never happened in the first place; defender slipped), there was no real threat to the Osasuna goal mouth at all, a couple half chances here and there but nothing that stuck out. Van der Vaart managed to help to goal keeper with some catching practice and Benzema had an effort pushed away. For how high my hopes were, I'm very unsatisfied.

There were a couple "moans of the match" for Madrid. Number one, Marcelo was just shocking. Balls giving away time after time. He was even kind enough to the fans in Pamplona to shoot a souvenir ball in the stands (or was that a shot?). He started several counter attacks for Osasuna as well carelessly giving the ball away. I had said great things about the kid all week and this is how I'm repaid.

My second shocking performance goes out to Lass. What were you doing today man? You are a central midfield player. What is your number one priority? Keep it! We all know you are an exceptional talent on the ball but there is a time and a place. I feel like I'm coaching U10s saying that. There is nothing more disappointing than when it's close to full time, it's nil-nil still, we are pushing for a goal, we have a long string possession, building up an attack, and you come out second best somewhere in the central 3rd because you are trying to dribble.

I realize lately I've been extremely rough on Arbeloa, but he might have been our best player today...at left back. And you know you have problems when your left back is your standout. He was decent defending and useful and attack. He had a pretty set of tricks and maneuvers to spin a couple Osasuna players into their own turf in the first half. A lot better from him I thought (besides his attempt to dive in the corner, that was pathetic) . That's the best I've seen him play in a white shirt. May I say well done Alvaro.

However, enough with the individual performances for now. Let's turn our focus to the match. First half, we were dominated until the last 2 or 3 minutes. We were a step slower, looked sluggish. We fouled as if we weren't quick enough to defend properly. Osasuna carried the play and created chance through our lack of ability to deal with long balls. I can't explain how many times they would bomb a ball deep into our half. I would expect Albiol and Garay to send back missiles via headers. However, Pandiani and others were able to not only win those balls, but to trap them, turn, and find other Osasuna players. And when they did managed to clear the threat, it only went as far as an Osasuna player at midfield without a challenge from a forward. When observing this, frustration was an understatement. Casillas really bailed us out with the save from corner situation that he reacted to save off the line. Sergio Ramos was wearing his lucky boots as he nutmeggingly steered a dangerous cross through the oncoming attacker all in one touch (for those of you who didn't see the match, yes, that actually happened.)

Of course a major talking point is the Ronaldo penalty claim at the end of the first half. At first glance I wasn't convinced. However, I didn't see it very clearly considering I had to watch the match through a shaky, small, blurry, feed. But the replays were more than enough to tell you that he did get clipped. There is not a doubt about that. What may have contributed to the referee's decision to play on was the embellishment part. Ronaldo jumped. He added to what was already a penalty. I mean lots of players would but I think it took away from the authenticity of the foul. Seconds later as another one of a rare attacks was in motion Van der Vaart had a penalty claim of his own. He did get the pass off though which eventually lead to a deflected shot from Xabi Alonso. The referee perhaps played the advantage there.

As far as substitution decisions, I thought they were all pretty valid. I would have done the same except maybe have removed Marcelo earlier and made Raul my last sub. Benzema added a little something when he came on. I feel Granero didn't have enough time to get acclimated to that match, but looked useful in spurts after his late arrival to the game. Raul worked hard but benefited little from his efforts. Pellegrini had the right idea maybe timing was just a little off.

In the end it's a sad conclusion to a day Madrid fans planned to be celebrating. Hats off to Osasuna. They thwarted our plans to go top of the league and did it very effectively. Madrid will be kicking themselves for not picking up the points Barcelona dropped yesterday and will be begging for another slip up from the Catalans while at the same time trying to correct what went wrong in the performance today.

Bobby

The Left Back Dilema

All Real Madrid supporters at this time know that we haven't ever exactly solved the whole that Roberto Carlos left when he moved on to Turkish football. I don't know about the rest of the lot but I am less than satisfied about what we have done to make sure that a player will secure that spot and make it his own. Lately, Pellegrini has decided on summer arrival of Arbeloa from Liverpool who is actually a right back by trade. Because of injuries to Ronaldo and Kaka in the first half of the season, Marcelo, whose position is left back, has been used in the midfield because of his pace and technical ability. And then there is Drenthe who looked oh so promising but has confidence issues (he's not been right since Di Stefano told him he needs to cut his hair, however I don't mind the locks; adds character)

I'm not going to hide my feelings throughout the article. I don't think Arbeloa has the quality. Others would argue that he is a solid defender, he just doesn't give anything going forward. This is my opinion, but the guy as very frightening, gives balls away. It scares me. I cringe when I see him in the line up. He stated that he wanted to leave Liverpool because they were bringing in Glen Johnson and he didn't want to play behind the England international. So logically he decided he would come to Real Madrid where he though beating out Ramos might be easier? Doesn't make sense. He has Ronaldo and Kaka to thank for being injured because that meant the left back position was easier to fight for with Marcelo up the field. I mean I could be a little hard on the fellow because he is playing out of position, but even at right back I feel the same way. He didn't even look good against Alcorcon in the first leg (then again who did?). I mean it's not like I think he is hopeless. On a lighter note, I think he is the perfect player to fill in for Ramos. We aren't really gonna find a more high profile player that would be willing to come to Madrid and sit on the bench as a right back. I mean we need someone to step in if Ramos is hurt or suspended but for me he's not a starting XI player at Real Madrid.

Drenthe, as I mentioned, has confidence issues. He has great technical ability and works his rear end off on both sides of the ball. He is a tremendous athlete. However, he doesn't get the time of day from Pellegrini. This further contributes to his demise because that's another hit to this player sensitive side. Last year the boy practically had a nervous break down when the home fans weren't happy with his performance. He shows his worth in spurts though. The goal against A.C. Milan, he drew a penalty against Atletico last year. He also has a very convincing step over. I wish he would figure out what he is worth because if he believes it, then he'll start playing with some intestinal fortitude. Then we'll start to believe in him too, as well as coaches and the club. I think he is promising but he is just in a rut. If he can dig himself out, I can see him doing well. One more thing about Drenthe. If your playing left back then you have defensive responsibility. I know your job is often times to get beyond the midfielders and serve balls into the box but don't get caught out and have us beat over top when your not in the clear to get yourself into the attack. Try not to get beat over top. Keep track of that winger my friend.

The young Brazilian. Now like Pellegrini, when everyone is healthy, Marcelo would be my first choice left back. Okay Okay, I know he lacks a little defensively. He's not a great tackler but he's a bomb going forward. He's crafty and quick. If he partners up with Kaka down the left (if Pelle chooses to put Kaka there), they can be very dangerous together. If you must know, Marcelo is my first choice right back on FIFA10. He has really burst onto the scene in the last year and I've been very impressed. If he is guided in the right direction, maybe he could be the heir to the Roberto Carlos thrown. Perhaps. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I mean how many other world class (I'm not talking pretty good, or solid) left backs are there in the world? Evra, Ashley Cole? Lahm fell off. Maybe Chichy. I mean it's not easy work but Marcelo is so young and has all the tools to be something special. That's my first choice.

Tell me what you think. I am interested to hear what you have to say. I know there are plenty of other points to argued and I'm sure many of you disagree. Let's hear it. I'm not here to educate you. I'm here to state my opinion and learn from yours.

Bobby