What I Would Do

I thought about writing yet another Clasico review. But it becomes pointless when the same game repeats itself, with largely no change in formations or level of gameplay. 4-3-3 against 4-3-3. Real Madrid goal, Real Madrid mistakes. Classless behavior. 

So how about a list? What I know is the following:

1) Pepe needs to banned for the stamp on Messi’s hand

2) Real Madrid needs to make sure never to forget the basics (such as set piece defending, or even marking 101) 

3) CR7 played well and doesn’t deserve the “he disappeared” criticism that some have voiced. 

And as a more progressive post, I would like to introduce “what I would do,” given the same availability of players. 

 

4-2-3-1

———————————–Higuain———————————–

Marcelo———————Benzema———————- Ronaldo

—————————Pepe—————Lass————————–

Coentrao——— Carvalho ———– Ramos ————Altintop

 

Ronaldo scored indeed. But he wouldn’t had it not been Pinto. Had it been Victor Valdes, no goal. It is increasingly clear at this time that Ronaldo is useless on that left wing against Barcelona because Pique knows that all he needs to do is show Ronaldo on to that left side. One on one against Dani Alves, Ronaldo can’t get past him consistently because while Dani Alves is only slower, and Ronaldo has the encumbrance of keeping the ball while running. However – I fully believe Ronaldo can beat Abidal.  So put him on the right. Make him kick the ball in front of him and make footraces with old Frenchmen. I guarantee more success there, at his original position. 

In an ideal world, the left wing would be Di Maria. I would put Di Maria on the left because he has the requisite trickery to get past Dani Alves, or any of Barca’s central defenders. Ronaldo does not really have what I call “effective trickery.” That is, trickery of the ball used to actually get past someone. Even stepovers can have a completely different effectiveness when done from one player and another. Someone like Nani will use it to move past a defender, while Ronaldo will do it for display. His acceleration allows him to cut quickly, so if the defender decides to lunge (which he really shouldn’t) Ronaldo will get past him. But if the defender does not, Ronaldo will slow down play for Real, hence the Ronaldo ineffectiveness phenomena that people often notice. Since Di Maria is out, Marcelo goes there, who is quick, has the ability to get past defenders, and can be a harassing presence at the front for some good high line pressure. 

Higuain was awful yesterday. Downright terrible. His final ball let him down so bad. So put him right up top, make him fight the battles against Pique and Puyol. He’s stronger than the Benz, and he keeps the ball better. Target man traits. Benzema is faster, and shoots harder. Perfect for a shadow striker. And, based on yesterday, he is a much better passer. So let Higuain fight the battles, and Benzema run on to the ball for a good, on-target, outside the box shot. 

The middle falls to Pepe and Lass. Ideally, for me, it would be Pepe and Sahin, who can not only defend, but pass the ball quickly and accurately. Xabi Alonso is just not fast enough for Real Madrid’s counter attack game against Barcelona. Against lesser oppositions, of course. He can bomb up through balls and watch while Ronaldo and Benzema sprint. But here, he actually needs to run up with them. And he simply cant do that due to his physicality. And as I’ve always believe, he is overrated. He was not the best passer of the ball in the EPL for me, and he is not one of the best in La Liga either. Sahin can do an equal or better job, without question. (Sahin was not available for this game).

The central partnership of Ramos and Carvalho worked yesterday. It wasn’t perfect, bur Ramos kept his head, and when he does that, he can be an effective hardman for Carvalho’s cover play. Coentrao did equally well, as Messi was anonymous until his assist for Abidal. Altintop acquitted himself fairly at right back, and there really isn’t a good replacement anyway. 

So this is what you do. High line, pressure up front, offside trap. Learn from the teams that have beaten Barcelona in La Liga. Frustrate up top, be WISE and well communicated at the back. The second goal conceded yesterday was a product of ball watching – the very same 101 marking that I mentioned at the start. Offside trap, unlike the cover defense, must be fiercely man-marked. If you follow the movement of the ball, at some point, you will miss the timing of the line. You cut off Messi’s left because you know he can’t produce that same loft ball with his right, only ground balls. You watch all the runs, and either 1) move them onto weaker sides before they pass you OR 2) stay on their ass the entire way. You watch Abidal- if he starts running, show him on to his left for Messi’s through ball. Even if the trap is broken and he gets the ball, he still has to either shoot with his left from a wide left angle (he shot with his left from a narrow angle with Casillas yesterday) OR he has to pass it off, giving time for Lass and Pepe to join the organization. 

I could go further, but it would be a 9 page post. An entire game plan is easy to think about as a day dream, but not easy to document in an easy-to-understand manner. But that’s the gist of it. I think its perfectly fine that Mourinho allows Pep to have 70% possession. Unlike the blithering idiots out there who don’t know jack shit about footy, possession in this case is largely a difference of philosophy, and not an indicator of superiority. Just ask AC Milan and Juventus who won multiple league titles and champions league while playing counter attack. They won games with 3 well taken chances per game. Its just a different school of thought. BUT if you ARE going to do that, make sure the defense doesn’t make elementary, sunday league mistakes! The reason why Catenaccio was so efficient and successful, the reason why Mourinho was so successful with Inter against Barca, was because the defenders kept their concentration for the whole 90 minutes of a game. Pepe lost his concentration against Puyol, and Altintop and Ramos lost theirs against Abidal. And so many instances like that have happened in the last 10 clasico’s. Fab’s header, Messi’s last minute qualizer…it goes on! It’s as simple as that. If you don’t think your defense is capable of being focused for 90 measly minutes, you press higher and win the ball more. Based on the goals I’ve seen from Barca against Real over the past year, Real needs to do just that. Mou’s intricate defensive style is not sustainable, because his players are fundamentally unable to carry it out to a tee. So that, more than anything, is why Mourinho needs a change in the way he approaches this fixture in the future.