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Village Idiot

by Village Idiot
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Tooj

Tooj

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http://www.thefootballramble.com/blog/entry/form-is-temporary-messi-is-permanent

 

Much has been made of Real Madrid's recent form ahead of Saturday's Clásico, but Lionel Messi is the ultimate difference-maker...

 

There’s been a lot spoken and written already about Saturday’s ‘El Clásico’ between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Pretty much everyone accepts that Madrid are playing better now than at any stage during recent seasons. José Mourinho’s side come into the game with 15 wins in a row, having mixed clinical attacking displays such as the 4-0 victory at Málaga in October with finding a way to win tricky away games like the 3-2 victory at Valencia last month. Mourinho has been quietly tweaking his side, moving Sergio Ramos to centre-half and successfully keeping his many talented attackers all happy and firing.

 

Meanwhile, Barca have been stumbling, at least relatively speaking, and especially away from the Camp Nou. While they have generally swatted away any visitors at home, they’ve only won twice in six away league games so far, and lost to struggling Getafe on their last visit to the Spanish capital. Guardiola’s experiments with different team shapes and personnel have disrupted his side’s rhythm and maybe even hit their confidence. Key members of last season’s first XI (or ‘Once de Oro’), particularly David Villa and Gerard Piqué, have been in and out of the team and are struggling for form.

 

So the talk in Spain, and particularly in Madrid, is that Barca have dropped well behind Madrid. A look at the Primera División table - where Madrid sit three points clear, with a game in hand - backs this up. Such a gap is potentially decisive in a league like Spain’s where the big guns so rarely drop points. That this year, for a change, the first Clásico is at the Bernabéu, is also seen as factor in Madrid’s favour. The feeling is that the tide has turned, Madrid are now in the ascendant and Mourinho is on course to mastermind victory on Saturday, leading to Madrid’s first title win in four seasons and Real’s longed-for décima - a tenth European Cup / Champions League trophy. Bookies favour a Madrid win in Saturday’s game too.

 

That all makes a certain amount of sense, but is still perhaps a pretty short-sighted view, especially if you look back at the clashes between the clubs in recent years. During Guardiola’s three and a bit seasons in charge, Barca have met Madrid 11 times and only lost once (last year’s Copa del Rey final in extra-time). He has three wins and two draws in five meetings at the Bernabéu. And perhaps surprisingly, even before Mourinho arrived in Spain, Madrid have often gone into these games favoured to win or at least on equal enough terms.

 

In May 2009 Barca travelled to the Bernabéu to take on a Juande Ramos side which were unbeaten in 18 league games and chasing hard as the league reached its conclusion. Higuaín headed Madrid in front, but Lionel Messi set up Thierry Henry for the equaliser and then scored twice himself as the Catalans eventually strolled to a 6-2 win. When the teams met in Madrid the following season, it was April and they were level on points at the top. Manuel Pellegrini’s Madrid came into what was again effectively a title deciding game with 12 consecutive La Liga wins and 15 consecutive domestic home wins, but Messi put Barcelona ahead and they won 2-0.

 

Around this time last year Madrid went to the Camp Nou unbeaten all season, with seven wins in their last seven league games, trusted themselves to attack Barcelona and were humiliated 0-5. Messi didn’t score but he laid on both David Villa’s killer goals. Mourinho’s men showed character to recover and still be well in the race for both La Liga and the Champions League by mid-April, when the teams met again in the (in)famous four games in eighteen days.

 

Madrid’s rough-house tactics in those games unsettled Barcelona, but Guardiola’s side still came through when it mattered most. Messi traded penalties with Cristiano Ronaldo in a 1-1 league draw in Madrid which all but secured the title for the Catalans, and then scored both goals in the Champions League semi-final first leg at the Bernabéu, pretty much finishing that tie too.

 

Mourinho made sure Madrid were better prepared for August’s pre-season Supercopa games, and his team played very well, cleverly attacking Barca’s weak-points and scoring some superb team goals. But every time Madrid went ahead Barcelona came back at them, most thrillingly / frustratingly when Karim Benzema tied things up with just eight minutes left in the second leg, only for Messi to still find time to start and finish the move which won the trophy for Barcelona. It must have been difficult for Madrid’s players and coaches to take, and perhaps explains but doesn’t excuse Mourinho’s decision to poke Tito Vilanova in the eye.

 

Which brings us to this weekend. There’s been a lot of words written in the last few days about different tactical approaches - will Madrid go with a defensive ‘trivote’ in midfield, will Guardiola risk a three man defence - and I’ve even written a lot of them myself. Possibly though, what with football being a simple game and all, the game will be decided by the best players making the difference when their team needs them most. And Messi has 13 goals in 15 career games against Madrid, many of them killer strikes at key moments.

 

So here’s a prediction. No matter how good Madrid’s form is coming into a Clásico, and whoever is in charge at Real, Barca have Messi so Barca win.

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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Just reading about the recent history of Real Betis- their club seems to be as rocky and uncertain as us. They seem like a plausible comparison to NUFC.

 

I'd say Atlético de Madrid, it ticks all boxes until your current times: similar size of stadium and fans reputed for passion/high expectations, perennial underachievers, mental ownership, always assemble good squads on paper that flatter to deceive... they probably lack the regional pride bit.

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Mistle17

Mistle17

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Just reading about the recent history of Real Betis- their club seems to be as rocky and uncertain as us. They seem like a plausible comparison to NUFC.

 

I'd say Atlético de Madrid, it ticks all boxes until your current times: similar size of stadium and fans reputed for passion/high expectations, perennial underachievers, mental ownership, always assemble good squads on paper that flatter to deceive... they probably lack the regional pride bit.

 

Yeah, now you say it... :lol:

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Ronaldo

Ronaldo

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Incredibly, that's the best I've seen Barca play away from home since probably the last time they were at the Bernabeu. Teams who don't look to get behind the ball and contain simply make their job so much easier. Mourinho once again got it wrong.

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alpal78

alpal78

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Incredibly, that's the best I've seen Barca play away from home since probably the last time they were at the Bernabeu. Teams who don't look to get behind the ball and contain simply make their job so much easier. Mourinho once again got it wrong.

 

Ya and when he does play counter attack with men behind the ball like when the few times Madrid beat Barca, he gets labelled as anti football and accused of playing boring defensive football including by the likes of yourself. Dam if he does and dam if he doesn't

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alpal78

alpal78

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Also, how is it shocking to see Messi dictate the play more than Cronaldo? It's probably because he can actually do it, unlike Ronaldo.

 

That's right because Ronaldo never dictated the game when he played for Man Utd. Still think that part of the reason why Messi does so well is because he plays in a team built around him. Until he proves that he can play at the same level either for Argentina or for another club team, there will alway be that nagging doubt of how good he really is and rightfully so.

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alpal78

alpal78

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No. I accused him of anti-football when he went to Osasuna last season with the most expensive squad the world and played for an 0-0. :lol:

 

For the record they've been fantastic this season.

 

 

Fair enough. I can't be arsed to dig up old post, but pretty sure he was accused of all the above when he played counter attack with men behind the ball against Barca last season. I do agree with you though that the only way to beat Barca is to play counter with pace.

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ponsaelius

ponsaelius

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Also, how is it shocking to see Messi dictate the play more than Cronaldo? It's probably because he can actually do it, unlike Ronaldo.

 

That's right because Ronaldo never dictated the game when he played for Man Utd. Still think that part of the reason why Messi does so well is because he plays in a team built around him. Until he proves that he can play at the same level either for Argentina or for another club team, there will alway be that nagging doubt of how good he really is and rightfully so.

 

He hasn't dictated a game for nigh on 3 years, he's regressed completely in that sense.

 

Difference between Messi and Ronaldo is footballing brain, pure and simple.

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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No. I accused him of anti-football when he went to Osasuna last season with the most expensive squad the world and played for an 0-0. :lol:

 

For the record they've been fantastic this season.

 

 

Fair enough. I can't be arsed to dig up old post, but pretty sure he was accused of all the above when he played counter attack with men behind the ball against Barca last season. I do agree with you though that the only way to beat Barca is to play counter with pace.

 

Nah, the closest they've been to beating us was in the SuperCopa this season, where they pressed up pitch and used their athleticism to strangle our midfield. It seemed that they wanted to do something like it this time around, but it faded away after the first 20 minutes... I think Pep reshuffling the ranks to a 3-4-3 and flooding the midfield probably helped stifle their pressure, but still they looked very anxious and seemed to lack gameplan once we tied.

 

Cronaldo had a horrible, horrible game.

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Cronky

Cronky

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Also, how is it shocking to see Messi dictate the play more than Cronaldo? It's probably because he can actually do it, unlike Ronaldo.

 

That's right because Ronaldo never dictated the game when he played for Man Utd. Still think that part of the reason why Messi does so well is because he plays in a team built around him. Until he proves that he can play at the same level either for Argentina or for another club team, there will alway be that nagging doubt of how good he really is and rightfully so.

 

He hasn't dictated a game for nigh on 3 years, he's regressed completely in that sense.

 

Difference between Messi and Ronaldo is footballing brain, pure and simple.

 

There's also a big difference in the way they're able to run with the ball at speed. Messi has a low centre of gravity and quick feet and is always close to the ball, changing pace and direction in a split second. Ronaldo has a longer stride and is more upright, prodding the ball forward and then moving after it.

 

Ronaldo is a great athlete and his style is often devastating against a moderate or poor side. Messi on the other hand can create havoc against any side, in all sorts of situations. The run he made to set up the first goal was incredible, unique to him.

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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Must admit, I doubted Barca would beat them this time. But after the early calamity, they were brilliant. Real can be as great as they want against everyone else, but Barca know exactly how to beat them.

 

To be strange I was oddly confident, although for no apparent reason. Everybody was so convinced that we were going to be slaughtered, with all the Madrid media sharpening their knives... that somehow I was sure the team would answer. Crucial win for us all in all, they were in a formidable run and we have eroded their aura of invincibility. Plus it would have been almost game over if we went 9 points down in the table.

 

Also great that our two signings this season have scored. Seems that for once we have got our transfers right.

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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They played midweek the other week vs Rayo I think - i.e. an extra game - since they're off to that World Club Championship thing soon (now?)

 

Aye, we also played our Copa del Rey first leg game already for the same reason.

 

The team landed in Japan a few hours ago for that CWC malarkey/waste of everybody's time (cool patch to wear in our shirts if we win it, though).

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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One, fucking hell. They don't half kneejerk at Marca.

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AliGupter

AliGupter

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Yeah, one is far too generous.

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Village Idiot

Village Idiot

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Good for Di María that he "underwent a growth spurt" in the first half, he can use the extra height. God bless google translate :lol:

 

If Benzema wasn't so lethargic at times, he would easily be one of the top strikers in the world, athletically and technically, he has it all. Was secretly hoping they would give up on him too early and sell him.

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