La Liga's Embarrassment of Riches

These Boots Will Soon Be Mandatory in Spanish Football
photo by Mzelle Biscotte	via PhotoRee

We don't know if you had the opportunity to watch yesterday's King's Cup Final, but we did.  And after witnessing that "spectacle," we have two thoughts: 1) it's fitting that the final was moved to Friday night due to a conflict with tonight's Eurovision Final: last night was a great warmup for anyone who enjoys seeing lots of gel, makeup and handbags on display; and 2) what a complete embarrassment that game was for Spanish football.

In some ways, the whole fiasco was a fitting farewell to Jose Mourinho's time at Real Madrid.  While holding seemingly endless promise at times, the end to Jose's reign was predictably chaotic -- fist fights, red cards, fake injuries and more.  The chickens are coming home to roost, and Jose is leaving Stage Left.  You reap what you sow, some might say.

But the game was also a stinging indictment of the modern Spanish game.  Full of artistry and world class players, Spanish football is slowly being killed by drama queens and sheer fakery.  The amount of facial "injuries" sustained by players who were not touched is at an all-time high.  The amount of rolls an "injured" player attempts to complete on the ground after being fouled -- all in an effort to con the referee -- is at its peak.   And the amount of time wasting -- stretchers being brought on to the pitch, only to see an "injured" player experience the type of miracle usually reserved for those at Lourdes -- is greater than in any other league in the world.  In short, modern Spanish football is an embarassment, and is now at the risk of turning itself into a parody of the true sport, a la the World Wresting Federation.

But farlieonfootie, you say: Spanish football is the best in the world: home of Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldo, Falcao and more.  It contains Barcelona, until this year the paragon of the modern game.  It includes Real Madrid, Europe's most decorated team.  And its national team has won both the last World Cup and the most recent European Championship.  Yeah, we know all that.

Second Gear: Manchester United 1 - Ajax 2

photo by doviende	via PhotoRee

Admittedly, not my best work, but then last night wasn't Manchester United's, either:


o Last night's 2-1 home loss to Ajax, which saw the Reds advance into the final 16 of the Europa League tournament, was shown on GOL TV in the US.  I wish GolTV's main football analysts, Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen, had the opportunity to call more games involving teams from the BPL. With Schoen playing the straight man to Hudson's lyrical mixture of melody, comedy and know-how, the two men combine to offer an insightful and entertaining brand of football commentary -- easy on the ears and informative, as well.

o I will say, though, that I disagreed with Hudson's assessment that Dimitar Berbatov was "missing in action" and "pretty woeful" last night. To the contrary, I thought The Berb was one of the most creative players on the pitch last night.

o Chicharito appears to be rounding back into form. The Little Pea may have begun the year slowly -- whether due to injury, weariness, or a combination of both -- but the Mexican striker was handed a rare start last night and found the net within the game's first six minutes.  If last night was a sign of things to come, the rest of the Premier League better start worrying right now: the kid's got an uncanny nose for goal.

o How do they allocate seats at old Trafford?  Who thought to put Harry Redknapp and Stuart Pearce virtually right next to each other, with Roberto Mancini on Redknapp's other shoulder?  I would have paid good money to hear the conversation in that section....

o Dimitar Berbatov is a sublime passer of the ball. He's also fairly unselfish for a proven goal scorer. I was mesmerized by some of the silky early through balls that Berbatov played for Chicharito to run onto.

o Some of United's early ball movement was phenomenal, and at times in the first half they looked much more like the team they were in the first couple games of the season than they did during the drab and dreary run of 1-nil wins that collected points in the table but earned the club no style points.

o I guess Sir Alex was less impressed, though, as he and Ryan Giggs looked slightly bored watching the first half from the sideline. If you'd told me they were watching paint dry I might have protested, and suggested they were watching grass grow, instead.

A Mexican Stand Off

photo by Mild Mannered Photographer	via PhotoRee

April 16 / Estadio Santiago Bernabeu / Madrid, Spain

Real Madrid met Barcelona on Saturday for the 162nd time in time in La Liga, and for the first of four meetings in 18 days' time. Four Classico's in two and a half weeks: better get yor hair gel out.

I'm not sure you would have realzied this when La Liga's schedule was first released, but Saturday's match was actually the least important of the matches coming up, if they can be ranked that way. Barcelona entered the game with a fairly insurmountable lead in La Liga, while the next three matches between the two sides include the final of the King's Cup and the two-legs of the Champions League Semi-finals.

Commentator Ray Hudson was in all-star form for the game, waxing lyrically, melodramatically and majestically about the end-to-end action on the pitch. When he's on, Hudson can make watching grass grow sound exciting.  Phil Schoen also did a great job bringing Ray back down to earth, providing context and play-by-play in-between Ray's rhapsodic utterances.

Random Thoughts from Today's EPL Games

* Uncle 'arry called Wenger a "nutter" right here: Redknapp Calls Wenger a "Nutter". I agree!  "The Professor" seems to be losing his cool much more these days than he did so a few years back. Losing at the Emirates to West Brom today can't have helped the situation.....

* Two reasons Arsenal will not win the Premier League this year: Marouanne Chamakh and Manuel Almunia. Almunia can be relied upon for at least 2 or 3 bad decisions a game. Today he conceded a penalty (ok, that didn't hurt them, but that's not the point) and went on walkabout for the Baggies 3rd goal. How can you compete at the top without a world class goalie?  And Chamakh was all but invisible up top today for Arsenal. What was I thinking when I captained him this week for my fantasy league team?  He looks like the kind of player that will always score the 4th goal in a 6-nil scoreline, but all but disappear when the team really needs him for a score. I saw another writer refer to him as "Nicklas Bendtner-lite," and that tag for me is spot on. He's a waste of space on the pitch.

* Chelsea's victory balloon popped today, didn't it? Not only didn't they win, they didn't score for the first time since Boxing Day last year. In fact, they looked lost for ideas on attack toward the end of the game.  1-nil was a strange scoreline, indeed (lots of guys in my fantasy footie league must've been disappointed to see Drogba subbed around the 70 minute mark), but represented a fair outcome. I still hate Carlos "Chicken with his Head Cut Off" Tevez, but I have to admit I did enjoy seeing his shot go right through the legs of Cashley Cole and hit in off the post.....

* Why doesn't Roberto Mancini play Adam Johnson more?  The guy is a holy terror when he plays for England, rampaging down the right side of the pitch and taking on defenders every time he touches the ball, yet he has only started 3 of the last 9 games for City. I fully admit I'm biased because he's on my fantasy team, but is it just me or do City look more dangerous when he's playing?  They had no width at all in the first half, and their entire offense ran through the center left of the field. Also, Chelsea to me look susceptible to pace, especially Terry and Alex. Why didn't Mancini look to exploit that before the game was almost over?

* Who was the 12-year old playing for Chelsea today?  I think his name was Josh McEachren and the announcer said he was a star for the Under-17 English team, but he's single-handedly bringing down Chelsea's league leading 182 lbs. per man weight by quite a large amount. Even my friend Ed could push this guy around the soccer field.....

* I love the fact that Ian Darke is now the lead announcer for all ESPN soccer games here in the United States. I've had a soft spot for Ian ever since his goose-bump-inducing call of Landon Donovan's game winning goal against Algeria this summer. If you haven't heard it, it's here: "Go, Go USA -- Oh, it's Incredible...!". Best call in American sports since the immortal Al Michaels' "Do You Believe in Miracles?" call of the US upset of Russia in the
1980 Oympic semi-final hockey game (Here's the link: Al Michael's Epic "Do You Believe in Miracles? Yes!"). In any event, I love Darke's mellifluous voice and genuine way with words. He is a signifcant step up from Alexi Lalas, et al.

* Speaking of which, I would gauge how seriously the US is now taking soccer with the increasing excellence of the announcers we can now hear over here on a daily basis. In addition to Darke, I absolutely love Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen on GolTV. If you want to know what they are all about, take a listen to their call of Ronaldhino's wonder-goal against Villareal (Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen ) . Great stuff. And don't even get me started on Tommy Smyth. I love his classic "back of the old onion bag" goal call.

* Darren Bent is better than I thought. Two goals today against the Scousers, and the second one pure quality off the head. I don't know why I haven't picked him for my fantasy team in ages, but I attribute it to the fact that I keep expecting him to cool off. 150 goals as of today, and no sign of cooling off yet. I'll have to remember that next week.


Over and out -- more matches to watch!  And that's farlieonfootie for today (again!), Sept 25th.