Clasico Fondue: Ruminations on Barcelona and Real Madrid

photo by Rodrigo Moraes	via PhotoRee

Scott hasn't had to eat much humble pie this season:

Watching Neymar dive last Sunday to win a penalty was hard enough without the shouts of joy that erupted from my Dutch friend.  I had kind of forgotten that John was a Barcelona fan when I accepted his kind invitation to host our family for an El Clasico viewing party, complete with fondue dinner.  The offer was further sweetened when he offered to delay the viewing until after my son’s soccer game, poorly scheduled (by me, no less) for 3pm.  Not that I would have declined the invitation were I better informed as to his fandom (they are really good hosts), but I might have been a little more prepared.  And I definitely would have worn my Real Madrid shirt (although I did have my Real Madrid hat). 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t even make fun of my friend for being a bandwagon Barca fan (like most of them are) because he came by his team honestly.  It seems he followed Johan Cruyff and his fellow Dutch cohorts to the Catalan team and has been a fan ever since.  Damn it. 

No matter which team you support, it was a chaotic day.  Lots of goals made for lots of excitement.  Lots of penalties made for lots of debate.  And lots of mistakes fuel those debates.  Two things are clear in my mind: (1) Ronaldo was fouled outside the area and should not have been awarded a penalty; and (2) Neymar dove and did not deserve a penalty (nor Sergio Ramos the red card) but did deserve a yellow card. I got so worked up that I was trying to rationalize why Iniesta was not really fouled later.  In my defense, he was sure looking for the penalty.

A Road Map

photo by thejourney1972 (South America "addicted")	via PhotoRee

Scott sounds off:

Beating Spain 3-0 is one thing. But doing it by completely off-balancing them for large portions of the game (including most of the opening 20 min), by harassing and pressuring high up the pitch and throughout midfield, is really something. Sure, Brazil had some luck - David Luiz' goal-saving slide (how did the ball manage to go over the bar?) and Segio Ramos' missed penalty. Not to mention a first goal that was the antithesis of Joga Bonito. But it takes a little luck to go all the way. After all, Spain was only in the final due to one missed penalty by Italy in the semi-final.

While Spain was beaten convincingly, that is not to say that they were dominated, despite the cacophonous Selecao fans. La Roja was able to take the reins from time to time and create opportunities. They were just less able to do so than normal, due to Brazil's gameplan, and it made all the difference. I'm not sure many teams can pull off what Brazil did but they certainly laid out a roadmap for victory over the defending world champions. And with all due respect to the Bossman, with similar effort and fan support, I think they can do it again in 2014, Confederations Cup Curse notwithstanding.

While I think it is still too early to be sure of Neymar's immediate impact at Barca (fitting into the system, Messi, etc.) there is no denying he has the chops to be the real deal. His goal in the Final was textbook field-awareness, skill and power - shuffling back onside, deft first touch and powerful left-footed strike to the only place that would have beaten Iker Casillas from that angle. I just might have to watch more La Liga next year.

Tumbling out of My Head

photo by Crystl	via PhotoRee

 

 

Because sometimes it's difficult to keep it all inside....

o Congratulations are due to Brazil for their resounding 3-0 victory over the world champs to take home the Confederations Cup -- but let's not get carried away by the selecao's triumph.  Putting aside the fact that no team which has won the warm up prize has ever gone one to win the big one, we just don't think the Brazilians are all that good. Having seen them play a number of times this past year, we believe that the team rode the home crowd support and got an excellent tourney from their big gun, Neymar Junior. Put the wear and tear of 11 months in La Liga on the kid, though, and we believe Brazil will be exposed next summer for what they are: a decent team, perhaps even a top 10 -- but a team that can look downright pedestrian at times, as well. We won't rule out a wave of popular support taking the team as far as the quarter or semi-finals next summer, we just don't think they have what it takes to go all the way. 

o And speaking of superstars, we fervently hope that the play acting we saw from Neymar will be gone by the time he returns home to play in the Cup, although we sincerely doubt it -- especially since his destination is Barcelona, home of the world famous divers and play acting superstars. The Brazilian's faking is so good as to make it  an integral part of his game. Grabbing his face when there hasn't been any contact within a half foot of it is something that threatens to overshadow his supposedly legendary talent. We hope he learns to rein it in...

o Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Manchester United?  Yes, please. Sir Alex'a departure probably threw a kink in the Real Madrid superstar's thinking, but we won't rule out his return to Manchester at aome point during the next 12-15 months. Sometimes it takes moving away to realize the grass is not always greener, and Ronaldo may not be enjoying his homecoming as much as he once envisioned. 

o In the meantime, we'll take Thiago Alcantara....  It would be nice to finally see someone leaving Spain to come to England to play football. Although his likely reasoning is to gain a better chance at playing for his country in Brazil next summer, David Moyes likely won't be too concerned at the young Spanish prodigy's motivations, as long as he's there pulling the strings alongside Michael Carrick this season. 

Transfer Talk

photo by Señor Codo	via PhotoRee

Somewhat surprisingly, Scott manages to work an allusion to Clay Aiken into an article on, among other things, Jose Mourinho:

I am humbled by Correspondent Ed's recent rash of prolificacy.  And since his blanketing coverage of the US international team renders my planned comments superfluous, I'll shift to European transfer news.

You have to admit - the offseason player transfer and coaching carousel drama is fun. The annual shuffling of the BPL deck of cards has us reading the headlines and rumor lines scouring for how the hands will ultimately be dealt. Sure, most of the cards stick together, but enough of them are flipped to another team to make the summer just about bearable. Yes, we have World Cup Qualifying to tide us over too (not to mention Ed's pertinent, persistent posts), but a few games over the whole summer doesn't sate this addiction.

Neymar to Barcelona - many have opined on this move with the majority having yearned for a BPL test instead of another Barca chess piece. I agree. I want to see everybody ply their trade in the BPL at some point. Even Messi.

Martinez to Everton - I'm happy that the Spaniard will get to continue to have his name bastardized by BPL commentators, even as his beloved Wigan will have to claw their way back again from the Championship (is that a stupid name for the second league or what?).   My affinity for all things Spanish (outside of a certain Catalan team, of course) is well documented but I also believe that Martinez will bring an attractive form of attacking soccer to the other Liverpool team.

Notes and Sighs

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We always had more than a sneaking suspicion that Correspondent Ed followed Justin Bieber's every move....

 

• It was nice to see the USA A-team beat the German B-team (or maybe C-team) in last week's friendly, especially in light of what Germany did to Ecuador in their prior friendly at FAU in Boca Raton (Nice stadium, by the way). But in another way, the top tier German players missing in that game -- Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Muller, Goetze, just to name a few -- show the enormous distance in ability between these two countries. Put more simply, the USA's best player, Clint Dempsey, would likely not make the German team. Egads, that has to change. You've got your work cut out for you, USA soccer clubs.

• I'm somewhat over Spurs' fifth place finish, one point behind Arsenal, in this year's BPL. It's also looking more likely that Gareth Bale may stay another year. But don't confuse "more likely" with "likely." If AVB is able to keep him for another year and somehow build on the squad with some depth at midfield and striker, that would be all a Spurs fan could ask. Hopefully, what seems to be a close personal relationship between the manager and the player will triumph. That said, a Real Madrid team with Bale on one side and Ronaldo on the other would look similar too and potentially even more dangerous than that Bayern team with Ribery on one side and Robben on the other. What would Bale go for on the market today? Is $70MM crazy?

• I'm disappointed that Neymar is bringing his "My Little Pony"™ hairdo to Barcelona, not because he won't be fun to watch there, but rather because I'd prefer to see talent such as his play week in and week out against the tougher competition of the BPL or the Bundesliga. He will certainly prosper there, but I expect it will take him time to fit in to the system -- a system that Cesc Fabregas has repeatedly described as complex. Certainly Barca can use Neymar, but can't they use some defensemen more? And what was with the Alex Song pickup? Song is decent but I never put him at the Barca level. He clearly isn't meant to replace Xavi (who will, by the way?). Is he intended for use in those league games that matter less?

Argentina and Messi Take Out the Euro-Trash

Photo by DrabikPany on Flickr

Several thoughts, but not many, after a hard couple of days watching Euro 2012:

o Including the action in Europe, easily the best football game of the day was played in the United States -- Argentina's 4-3 victory over Brazil was fun to watch, fluid and dynamic, with goals, footwork and fancy passes galore.  Anyone that didn't enjoy that one won't enjoy football.

o I'd like to see Pele repeat his assertion that Neymar is better than Lio Messi with a straight face. Neymar may be good, but his game is nowhere near as good as Messi's and his haircut is patently ridiculous.  Maybe Messi can lend the Brazilian the hat (trick) that he scored to cover up the My Little Pony look.

Neymar Coloring Pages, by Coloringpagesforkids on Flickr

o Speaking of world class, does anyone still think Wojciech Sczcesny is that kind of 'keeper?  Let's hope not, after his ridiculous display against Greece on the Tournament's opening day.  Although neither of his mistakes cost his team points, it's only a matter of time: the kid is not ready for Prime Time.

o Robert Lewandowski looks good.  His first half goal was a textbook illustration of how to put the ball in the back of the net.  With thirty goals in 2011/2012, his skills shouldn't come as a surprise, but if you weren't watching the Bundelsiga, you may not have realized that guy is bringing his 'A" game.

o Germany looked decent, but not great -- but beware.  Teams that grind out three tough points early on in a tournament usually raise their game as the matches get more important. 

o In contrast, Portugal never really got started.  Cristiano looks as if he spent more time working on his hairdo than his ball skills, and Nani was a complete non-factor.

Brazil 4 - USA 1: Trading Body Blows With the Big Boys

photo by odegaard	via PhotoRee

Summary: This one will go down as a loss, but it sure felt different than other losses to the Brazilians, and the 4-1 scoreline was extremely harsh on the home side. This was not the US retreating into a defensive shell, and hoping for a brilliant defensive performance combined with a stray goal against the run of play. This was the Yanks trading body blows with the big boys. As Ian Darke correctly called it, the game could easily have been 4-4 or 4-1 -- but at least we were playing the Brazilians at their own game. And I'll take that kind of effort any day of the week.

Some other brief thoughts on the US' 4-1 loss to Brazil last night, in no particular order:

o I like the new US jerseys, especially with the darker numbers they wore in the game's first half. Kudos to whoever came up with the design.

o I hated Neymar's showboating run up on the penalty kick that opened the scoring. First, the penalty on Onyewu was dubious at best.  Second, just get on with your business, son, there's no need to use such a dandy-ish run up en route to the spot. Third, you might want to head to the nearest barber shop. Someone on my Twtter timeline referred to you as My Little Pony, which I thought sounded just about right.

o Oguchi Onyewu didn't inspire a ton of condfidence in his return to central defense. Granted this was Brazil and not Scotland the US was facing, but Gooch gave away the first penalty, and the second goal for the visitors came from an unmarked header off a corner kick.  Tim Howard may be good, but despite sharing the pitch with Hercules and Hulk, Howard proved he's no super hero without a strong central defense in front of him.

o Although the US was bossed off the pitch for much of the first half, the goal from Herculez Gomez right before the interval was deserved, and Klinsi's boys were somewhat unlucky to be down 2-1.  It was Michael Bradley once again with the seeing eye pass setup -- what are they feeding that boy in Italy...?! -- and Fabian Johnson's cross was sublime -- this kid could be a real find at left back.

o Clint Dempsey finally joined Landon Donovan on the pitch for the first time since Klinsmann took the reins of the US squad, but the reunion came about 10 minutes too late for the US' chances.