Screwed by the Schedule?: Why José Mourinho is Right to Criticize the Spanish FA’s Scheduling Policy

Real Madrid coach José Mourinho has commented more than once that he believes the administrators of the Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) are showing Barcelona undue favoritism when it comes to match scheduling.  And while Mourinho certainly has a well-earned reputation for being controversial in order to keep the media off his players, he certainly seems to have a valid point here.

If you think Mourinho was just whining or just trying to get a mental edge of the RFEF, your opinion could very well have been justified up until about two weeks ago.  At one of his often newsworthy press conferences a couple weeks ago, Mourinho frankly pointed out the fact that Barcelona played a home Champions League match against Arsenal on Tuesday (3/8) and then was given a Sunday match (3/13) against Sevilla, while Valencia played an away Champions League match against Schalke 04 on Wednesday (3/9) and then was given a Saturday (3/12) match against Real Zaragoza.  Barcelona, with two more days rest than Valencia, earned a 1-1 draw in a tough away match, while Valencia with two less days to rest after their win-or-die (they died) against Schalke lost 4-0, a simply shocking result.

Madrid this week is another great example.  Madrid had a match to determine their Champions League fate against Lyon on Wednesday.  Barcelona did not play a weekday game this week.  Still, Madrid, who play away to Atlético Madrid in the always intense Madrid derby (although to be fair Atlético haven’t won for over a decade I believe), was given a Saturday match, while Barcelona was given a Sunday kickoff for their home match against mid-table Getafe.

Now, I am not trying to say that scheduling is why Barca is beating Madrid in the standings.  That would be absurd, especially given Barca’s 5-0 thumping of Madrid in November.  However, there are several things to consider.  This time of year is always hectic for the top La Liga teams, getting back into European soccer after a long stretch of Copa del Rey matches in January and February.  Madrid has also had a couple of chances to greatly reduce Barca’s point lead thwarted, most notably when Madrid failed to score in a 0-0 draw with Deportivo, a match they played on short rest with a Wednesday Champions League match against Lyon and the Depor match on that Saturday.

 

On top of all this, let’s look at Spain’s top three clubs, Barca, Madrid, and Valencia.  Each team has played 8 Champions League matches this season, and therefore has played 8 La Liga matches on a weekend following a Champions League match.  Barcelona has played only 1 of these 8 matches on a Saturday.  Meanwhile, Madrid and Valencia have each played 4 of 8 of these matches on a Saturday.  Do you see the pattern yet?

Again, this is not to take away from Barcelona’s skill or to give Madrid an excuse (a 5-0 lose in inexcusable), but it certainly seems as though the RFEF is trying hard to give Barcelona every possible chance to three-peat as La Liga champions by giving them more rest than their biggest competitors in a time of the season where rest is of maximum value.  Say what you will about Mourinho, but he certainly speaks the truth in this case, and Real President Florentino Perez was absolutely right to defend his coach.  The RFEF should reexamine its policy and try to give the fans and all of the teams a fair deal, and an exciting title race.

First Transfers of Offseason Show Break from Trends and Popular Perception of Madrid and Barca

With the first confirmed transfers of the 2010 Summer completed, both Real Madrid and Barcelona have made moves that break with popular perceptions of how the two teams conduct transfers.

Real Madrid’s first confirmed signing, although it was confirmed during this past season, is 19-year-old Sergio Canales from Real Racing Club de Santander (usually known simply as Racing) to Real Madrid for a fee believed to be around €4.5 million.  This move contrasts starkly with the moves Real made last summer, in both the fact that the player is younger and far less proven, and the fact that the transfer fee is mere pocket-change compared with the signings of Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, and even Xabi Alonso.

Barcelona’s first summer signing was Spanish striker David Villa.  The 28-year-old former Valencia striker made a name for himself over the past 5 seasons at Mestalla, where he racked up 108 goals in 166 appearances.  Barca, whose president Joan LaPorta condemned Real’s spending last summer, paid approximately €34 million for the seasoned striker.  This is a departure from Barcelona’s usual transfer policy, which has been to buy many top-notch teenagers or even adolescents (Messi was 13 and Iniesta 12 when they were brought to Camp Nou from Argentia and Castilla-La Mancha respectively) and bring them into the youth system in the hopes some of them will become the team’s stars of tomorrow.

For all their bashing of Madrid transfers, Barca has snatched up Villa whom Madrid was thought to be targeting last season.  Put this together with their incredible €45 million plus Samuel Eto’o payment for the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahímovic, and it seems that when it comes to scoring goals, Barca is not quite as true to it’s self-image as it likes to think (with the more than notable exception of Messi).

Perhaps these two signings are just one-time breaks from regularity, but perhaps they are showing that the two clubs want to be each other in some way.  Madrid wants to be the best team in the world (a title many give to Barca), and Barca wants a caché of titles to rival Madrid’s.  Then again, perhaps these are just two one-time instances which coincide chronologically and just happen to be breaks from the perception of each team’s transfer policy.  We will have to wait and see.

Moneytary Motivation

Yesterday Real Madrid held the annual meeting with the executive officers and the four team captains; Raúl, Guti, Iker Casillas, and Sergio Ramos.  One of the many topics on the agenda was the salary bonuses the players would receive for clinching silverware in the Champions League and La Liga.

Spanish sports news outlet MARCA reported that the Real players will receive a bonus of 350,000 Euros each for winning the La Liga, and 600,000 Euros for winning the Champions League.  Furthermore, should they complete el doblete and win both titles, it will mean a total bonus of 1.1 million Euros (600 K + 350 K + 60 K ‘double only’ bonus) per man.

These types of bonuses are not unusual for clubs like Madrid.  When Barcelona was eliminated from the Champions League by Manchester United in the 2007/2008 campaign, the players lost around 1 million Euros each which they would have gotten just for winning the CL.  We also see these bonuses all over American sports, as it has been reported Reggie Bush received $500,000 for last weeks win against the Vikings and will receive another $500,000 should the Saints win on Sunday.

This brings up the question of how effective these bonuses are for the average player?

Now, perhaps they are effective in that they make some players more likely to go to the gym earlier, or make sure don’t get injured or otherwise impaired doing something off the field to keep them out of the games.  However, I propose two reasons why they are overall ineffective.

First, no professional player worries about his contract while on the pitch.  Some players may worry about how poorly they’re playing or about how they are being mistreated by the club which may cause them to play worse, but if a player is genuinely trying to play his best, he is not thinking about bonuses, just the game at hand.  Players looking towards the future may play better if they have hope of getting a better contract when their current one expires, but I would argue that it is the hope of betterment, not the money itself raising the level of play.

Secondly, Real Madrid of all places, is a dream come true for just about any player.  Kaká said he dreams about becoming as famous as Di Stéfano or Zidane.  Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema both said that playing for Madrid was a childhood dream come true.  Players with such commitment to the club, who are being paid millions to fulfill lifelong dreams surely need no motivation.

This is not just for the big names either.  What player doesn’t want to become famous? Even players unhappy with ownership want to play well so they can get big contracts elsewhere.  Then there are the players who want so badly to play on the first team, do you think the thought of slacking off ever crosses their minds?

Now, maybe that extra gym time or off-season running will make a difference between an average and a good season at mid-level clubs, but when you are Real Madrid, you have the luxury of being able to find players who will be driven to do those things from within, whether for love of club, hopes of gaining recognition, or just because that’s the kind of person they are, which is why they’re the best in the world.

When it comes down to it, performance based bonuses do give slightly more incentive to players.  The real performance based incentives comes for clubs.  If Madrid win the Champions League, they will receive somewhere around 100 million Euros (this total is higher than usual because they are the host team and therefore receive all of those benefits as well).  This motivates the clubs to find players who will play hard no matter what.

To put it bluntly, the amount of motivation given on the field of play, where it really counts, to most professional athletes is negligible at best.  If money is the only way to motivate a player to do his best, then he should be motivated right off the roster.

A Simple Plan for Beating Barcelona

There are three things Real Madrid need to do to win at Barca in Sunday’s first el clásico of the season:  attack Barca, maintain possession, and attack Barca more.

If Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Inter showed the world anything, it is that there is no defending against Barca.  In order to win, you must attack them from the very beginning.  Towards that end, time of possession is vital against Barcelona’s smooth, fluid passing attack.

If Barca’s home loss and road draw to FC Rubin Kazan show the world anything, it is that if you attack Barcelona you can disrupt their gameplan and expose their defense.

Kazan was well outclassed by Barca, but they still walked away with points in both matches.  Madrid, on the other hand, have at least as much overall talent as Barca (though I still do not buy into all of the “Galacticos II” hype for reasons stated in an earlier post), so they do not need to rely on counterattacks to score goals, they simply need to attack from the get go.

Madrid must also improve on their finishing.  In their last two matches against Racing and FC Zurich, they have had a plethora of shots but only one goal in each match.  Madrid must take every chance they get if they want to return to the capitol with three points in hand.

The strategy to pull Madrid 4 points clear with a win at the Camp Nou is simple enough; attack and keep the ball out of Barca’s hands, but the execution is up to the players on the pitch.

Madrid Try to Top Two Remaining Competitions

With a 1-0 victory over Racing Santander and Barca’s 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid are now atop the La Liga table, 1 point clear of the Catalunian side.

This comes just weeks after many fans worldwide were calling for the head of Manuel Pellegrini after the team’s early exit from the Cope del Rey.  True, Real is not playing as well as it did when the season began, but they are getting better and better.  The score of the Racing match did not do justice to the flow of the game, so the fans will be pleased with the way the team played, and with Los Merengues in position to top both La Liga and the Champions League, they cannot be disappointed with the results.

With a win tomorrow against FC Zurich, Madrid can hang on to the its share of the points lead in Champions League Group C.  If Madrid and AC Milan both win, then both teams will be guaranteed a berth in the last 16, with Marseille all bout garaunteed the 3rd place and the Europa League berth that comes with it.

If Madrid win on Sunday, they will be 4 points clear of Barcelona.  This is even more important considering that the second meeting will take place at the Bernabéu in early 2010.

The return of Cristiano Ronaldo is near (he is on the squad list for the Zurich match), and while the Champions League is the most important competition, it would be best to have him come on at the end of the Zurich game as long as the result is in their favor, but to not start him until Sunday.  The reason for this is, in order to be ready for Barca you need to make sure that he can play at all, but you do not want to bring him back until absolutely necessary to make sure he will not get reinjured like he did during the World Cup Qualifying Group Stage with Portugal.

Crunch Time for Last Ditch Transfers

The next two days will put to bed all doubts surrounding the trades that may move players from mid-upper class European clubs to upper class clubs.  These players include Cesc Fabregas, who has been courted by several clubs this preseason, most notably FC Bercelona where he rose through the ranks.  With Arsenal’s first Champions League game of the season kicking off in just over 30 minutes, it is clear that he will remain at Emirates Stadium this season, as he will be Cup Tied.

For a player to be Cup Tied means that he has already participated in one match of a UEFA tournament, and cannot play for any other team in that any UEFA tournaments that year.  So, when Cesc Fabregas takes the field and the whistle blows, since he is playing for Arsenal, he cannot play in any UEFA tournament for any other team.  He would still be able to play for another team domestically, but for clubs like Barcelona that is not enough.

Trade rumours have also surfaced concerning Sergio Aguero of Atlético de Madrid.  In just more than 24 hours, he will also be cup tied.  On top of that, Atlético skipper Abel Resino has declared Aguero no longer for sale, but bigger twists have happened often.  Some believe that the statement was meant to drive up the price of Aguero, but by this time tommorow it will all be moot.

This route of dealing to Atlético having been partially blocked, Real Madrid will have to find other ways to cut their squad to 25 men before La Liga begins on August 30.

Rijkaard Wants Guti

Former FC Barcelona headman and current boss at Galatasary in Turkey, Frank Rijkaard has expressed his desire to to sign academy product Guti away from Real Madrid, according to marca.com.  Galatasary have been working on a big-spending project this summer, one which they hope will take them to the next level of competitiveness on the European stage.  Rijkaard told Spanish news outlet El Mundo that he feels signing the Madrista midfielder would be the best way to complete his team for the coming season. 

As coach of Barcelona Rijkaard knows Guti well.   IGuti has stated that he will remain in Madrid at least until the end of his current contract ending in 2011, but Rijkaard insists that the possibility is still there.  Personally, I think it would take a tremendous amount of things to go in a certain direction for Guti to consider leaving Real.  First, this project of Florentino Pere has to fail to get Madrid back on the top of the soccer world in a current titles perspective.  Only then would Guti feel that his time at Madrid has not been as productive as it could.  Also, he would have to lose a great deal of playing time to both the new signings and current players, which , if Guti returns to the level of play he is capable of, should not happen any time soon.  Also, the fee would have to be astronomical for madrid to allow an academy player with so much local fan support leave without a fight.  Guti is by far the least possible of all transfer rumors this summer.

News Feed- Huntelaar, Transfers, Barcelona, and Profit

“The Hunter” Strikes back at Real

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who moved from Real Madrid to AC Milan earlier this summer has lashed out against his treatment at the club.  He made it a point to say that he has nothing but love and gratitude for the fans at the Bernabeú, but that his problem was with the club brass.  He feels that he was only used for the first couple of months and then pushed into the background and ignored.

I cannot blame the Dutchman for his feelings.  He was one of three Real Madrid signings last season that I never saw making much sense.  Huntelaar, along with Frechmen Julien Faubert and Lassana Diarra were all purchased last season during the mid-season transfer window.   Lass is the only one that ever seemed to make much of his time, and he has worked his way into the starting XI during much of this preseason, something that will surely change as the new signings settle in at Madrid.  Still, he has proven that he will be a more than adequate second stringer, while Huntelaar and Faubert never really made an impression.  Quite honestly the latter two players were never going to see greatness at the club.  They were in a sense emergency economic buys, but the fees paid in each case were far more than either player was worth to the club, a fact signified by Madrid’s acceptance of a fee €12 million less than what they originally paid.

Madrid Transfers

Even after Florentino Perez and Manuel Pellegrini have both stated their desire to end the preseason spending spree, Marca.com reports that Real may still be trying to acquire the services of Bayern Munich’s French playmaker Franck Ribéry.  The Spanish media claim that Bayern skipper Louis Van Gaal may be venerable to something other than money.  It is believed that the Dutch coach is keen on signing his own countrymen.  According to Marca, Madrid may be planning to use this as a way of wrangling Ribéry away from the Bavarian side in exchange for cash as well as Real’s surplus Dutch players, namely Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, and possibly even Rafael Van der Vaart.

Meanwhile, Van der Vaart’s attorneys argue that since the player was not given a jersey number this season, Madrid has breached the contract with the player, which would allow him to move to any team without the consent and without the new team paying Real Madrid.  This has not yet been confirmed.

While Madrid’s want to move players out and their former interest in bringing Ribéry in are both well known, I’m not sure that there is too much to this story.  It would be a nightmare to have a midfield full of all-stars, especially when this amounts to the exclusion of Guti, a fan favorite and academy player.  With just over two weeks to play I think it would be very bad to force Pellegrini to readjust his style, depth chart and the way he manages the team.  Not to mention, that would be just one more ego for him to manage; a situation reminiscent of the one that brought the Cincinnati Reds of the 1990’s to their knees after a World Series title.

Barcelona Transfers

For all their bashing of Real Madrid’s buying tactics, Barcelona has not gone through the preseason without their fair share of superstar-caliber player signings.  The first to come to mind is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was brought to the Catalan side from Inter Milan in exchange for Samuel Eto’o and a fee of €45 million.  They have also signed Brazilian star Maxwell

Their next target seems to be Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder and captain Cesc Fabregas.  Barcelona have made an offer of €­30 million for the player, which is some way short of the €45 million price tag Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has put on the player.  Fabregas would be just the latest of many stars to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer, where Arsenal have fallen victim to among other things the spending spree of Manchester City.  The situation is made more intense by the fact that if Barcelona are to acquire the player, they will need to seal a deal in time to keep him out of Arsenal’s Champions League Playoff Round clash against Celtic, which would make the Spaniard ineligible to play for any other team in the Champions League this season.

Why Madrid Deserves to Buy Players

Barcelona press has made much of stating that none of the money paid this summer for players went into debt, but was paid by the club without the loan of a larger bank.  This is true, but when compared to Real Madrid, Barcelona simply is not as loan-worthy as its capitol city foes.  Now don’t get me wrong, Barcelona’s preached philosophy of growing players as opposed to buying them had great merit, but one has to wonder how much of that is choice and how much is necessity.  In the 2008-2009 season, one that saw FC Barcelona win the Copa del Rey, La Liga, and the Champions League, they still could not keep up financially with Real Madrid.  Even in La Liga, where Barcelona was always breaking records throughout the season, they only managed to come in second in attendance with 1,312,543 fans.  Madrid, who began the season dismally, then survived injury, then made a phenomenal run after the holiday break just to collapse after a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of archrival Barça, finished in first place with 1,364,000 fans in attendance for the year.  All this considering that Barcelona’s Camp Nou holds 98,000 spectators, 23,000 more than Madrid’s 75,000 seat Santiago Bernabeú.

Real Madrid is simply more profitable by far than Barcelona, and to those who would deny them or the Manchester United’s and Chelsea’s of the world the right to use what they have earned over the past hundred-plus years (a number that appears to include Michel Platini, head of UEFA) cannot, in my mind, justify their elimination of all the successful history and tradition of the world’s biggest clubs from the modern game without committing an insult to the game itself.

Real Madrid News- Ibrahimovic, Xabi Alonso, and Michel Salgado

Today’s post is a compilation of news stories about Real Madrid that are important and current.

Ibrahimovic- New Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic told reporters that he feels the pressure to win titles this year is all on Madrid.  He feels that because of the huge investment in top players, for the Spanish giants to not lift silverware would be devasting to the club.

Xabi Alonso- The player is expected to join the team for training this evening.  In just a couple of days the player has gone from training in Barcelona, to Liverpool, and to Madrid for a physical and training.  It is also most likely that he will join the team when they depart for Canada tomorrow morning in preparation for an August 7 friendly against Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.  There is no word yet as to whether or not he will be ready to participate on Friday, but he should be adapted enough to appear August 9 at D.C. United.

Michel Salgado- His career at Madrid has been a tremendous run.  Over ten years and 371 matches of service to the club, he has helped collect eleven trophies including two Champions League titles, four La Liga titles, three Spanish Super Cups, one European Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup.  The best way to see how much Salgado and Real Madrid have meant to each other is to read the words of Jorge Valdano and Salgado himself.  Read the article here.

Feel free to share your thoughts and feelings by leaving a comment.

The Perfect Recipe- All-Stars and Academy

When Real Madrid began their player purchasing this summer, they were, mainly by Barcelona, accused of buying up current best players and taking all importance away from their academy and internal player development.

While they have clearly bought the best current players in Ronaldo and Kaká, much of their current first XI comes from the Real Madrid Academy.  Here is a possible starting XI for Real, but I want to point out that this does not include Xavi Alonso and is not necessarily the most probable first XI, but it is merely a lineup that has a good possibility of taking the pitch to begin any match this season.

This XI is:

GK- Casillas (Academy) ESP

DL- Arbeloa (Academy) ESP

DC- Raul Albiol ESP

DC- Pepe POR

DR- Sergio Ramos ESP

M- Kaka BRA

M- C. Ronaldo POR

M- Guti (Academy) ESP

M- Granero (Academy) ESP

F- Raul (Academy) ESP

F- Benzema FRA

As you can see, in this lineup 7/11 players are Spanish, while 5/11 came through the Real Madrid Academy system.  This does not even include first team backups like Miguel Torres, Rúben de la Red, and Negredo.  In Barcelona’s most likely starting XI, you can point to essential non-Spaniards Lionel Messi, Rafa Marquéz, Dani Alvés, and newcomers Maxwell and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  Meanwhile, the only notable players to come through the Barça system for last year’s Triple Crown were Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Valdez, and to a lesser extent Carlos Puyol who suffered injuries.

The numbers are similar, yet Barcelona hold themselves in high regard while bashing the development model preferred by Real Madrid.

The captain Raúl and vice-captains Casillas and Sergio Ramos all came through the Madrid Academy, meaning that the team’s leaders and central figures are all academy products.

Furthermore, I think that the style of development employed by Madrid and exemplified through the story of Alvaro Arbeloa is in all likelihood THE best method for player development.

Arbeloa began his career in the Real Madrid Academy, playing his way up through Real Madrid C and Real Madrid B.  He even captained Castilla to promotion to the Segunda División.  He then went to play for Deportivo La Coruña, where he gained skill and experience playing in Spain’s top flight against the best teams in the land such as Barcelona, Valencia, and his own Real Madrid.  Then, once his skill gained recognition, he went to play for Liverpool, where he continued to improve playing for one of the top teams in Europe’s top domestic league.

Arbeloa’s move back to Madrid is the final stage in his development into a Real Madrid first teamer.  Florentino Perez’ use of this form of development in filling his ranks and combining these life-long Madristas with the tremendous bought talent of Kaká and Ronaldo brings out the best in both sets of players.  Academy players know that they will have to work very hard to earn time on the pitch, and the new Galacticos (although I hate that term) know that they will have to be in form to keep their spots while they feed off of the energy of the young players playing for the team they love so much.  This style of forming a team is perfect for bringing out the very best in all of the players.