Predictions: Spain!

As we inch ever closer to the big kick-off of the Premiership tomorrow, I will turn briefly to Spain, as I take some wild stabs at how the league will finish next year. Obviously all eyes (at least here in the states) will continue to big on Barcelona and Real Madrid, where the big names and big feuds continue to dominate. Here are my picks:

1) Barca
2). Real Madrid
3). Sevilla
4). Zaragosa
5). Valencia
6). Villareal
...
18). Real Betis
19). Almeria
20). Vallodolid

Not much explaining to do here, as the table is very close to how the league finished last year. Essentially, I just decided that I couldn’t deny how great the front line of Henry, Messi, Eto, and Ronaldinho looks, at least on paper. We’ll see how they do in real life in a few weeks. My heart is with Real Madrid, and I like many of the signings they’ve made this year, including their manager Bernd Shuster. But for Real this is their sixth manager in five years, and until they get some stability and consistency in that strange, madhouse of a stadium I think they are going to find the success they found last year to be elusive. Look out, however, if they let Schuster do his thing for more than a year; right now they are building a team, not a collection of galacticos.

I still like Sevilla in the top three (and close to the top) but we’ll se what happens with the rumors of Alves going to Chelsea, as if they need another attacking fullback. I have Zaragosa improving a little on last season and Valencia and Villareal rounding out the top six. I predict that two out of the three promoted teams, Almeria and Vallodlid, will be going back down.


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As I said, there is a great slate of games this weekend as the Premiership kicks off once again. All eyes are on the cheerful Roy Keane as he makes his Prem debut as a manager, and fans wonder if, once again, the season will see a two (or four) horse race or whether other teams will be allowed to compete.

I will be back early next week with thoughts on opening weekend and also my final predictions column, on the Champions League! Finally, I will also be attending David Beckham's traveling roadshow on Sunday night as the LA Galaxy play the New England Revolution. If the big fella plays, I will give you the scoop.

More Spanish Hype

Here is a good column by Jon Carter summarizing the last two weekends of Spanish football that are coming up. I can't really express how excited I am by these last two weeks. It's pretty much all I have left. After this it is just the MLS and South American football until the Charity Shield is played in August. I don't know how I'll make it. Prepare for a few entries on the exciting world of Argentinian league football!

In other Spanish/Real Madrid news, it looks like old friend Roberto Carlos will be playing in Turkey next year. Turkey!?! C'mon, Roberto! Come to the MLS! It's wine, women, and song over here! Plus, the plane ride to Rio is a hell of a lot shorter. I would love to see you playing a half-assed left back for the New York Red Bulls or something. Next contract, come here! Hopefully you can play until you're 45....

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=436827&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1&cc=5901

Two to Read

Here are two fun columns on the genial wackiness happening in Spain. Unfortunately, we are taking a little break from la Liga this weekend for some internationals, but this should whet your appetites until things start again in a few weeks. The first article is a nice piece on Real and Beckham by SI’s Grant Whal, while the second is Phil Ball’s Spanish weekend round-up which I provide every week. (A little late this week, due to the US holiday Memorial Day.) I’ll be back with more later.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/05/27/beckham/index.html

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=434532&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos3&cc=5901

Weekend in Spain before Vacationing in Athens

Sunday was a fun day to plunk in front of the television and watch Spanish football. Eleven AM (EST) had Sevilla’s come-from-behind victory, followed by Real Madrid’s strange (but phenomenal) win and finally Barcelona’s destruction of Athletico Madrid in the late game. Real Madrid stays in front but level with Barca on points with Sevilla (and others) only a hairsbreadth behind.

Readers know I am a Real fan, so that is the game I watched the closest. The turnaround the team has produced in the last two months has been quite remarkable; it got to the point in yesterday’s game when, after Recreativo tied the match with less than four minutes to play, I honestly believed Real would come back to win it. This is from a team that, when I watched them mid-winter, would genuinely surprise me when they scored a goal.

I’ve been though a lot with Real in their up-and-down year. At one point, after a particularly embarrassing loss, I tried a new gimmick of giving each of the players a “grade” as a way of expressing my frustration with the team. (See the January 7 entry of the blog.) I remember that game clearly but it seems a long time ago now. The feelings of rage and frustration while watching Real play have been replaced by a very hopeful optimism.

Regardless, we are essentially where were last week. Real, Barca, and Sevilla all still have a perfectly good shot at the title. After looking poor for weeks, Barca manhandled Athletico, just a few days after Xavi essentially told the media that the Barca players have stopped trying. What we are left with, then, is another fun weekend coming up and a wide-open race.

Below please find the link to Phil Ball’s latest column, where he discusses conspiracy theories and the sordid underbelly of la Liga. Yikes.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=432179&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1&cc=5901

Finally, I will be posting predictions tomorrow for the Champions League final. Mostly I am hoping for a good game. There have been a few “big games” this year that haven’t really lived up to the hype, and I’m hoping we have a classic.

Link of the Day

Just a quick link today (real life sometimes gets in the way of blogging) but a good link: here is Phil Ball's latest column on La Liga, Death, Dying, and Relegation. I think Ball might be the best writer on football right now easily availiabe to American readers (he has a weekly column on ESPN.com) and I will keep pitching his great stuff until I am convinced that everyone is reading him regardless.

His latest peice can be found here: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=405471&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos3&cc=5901

Real Ugly

I hope everyone enjoys the pun. If things continue as they are, it’s not the last time I will use it this season.

Today Real Madrid was absolutely spanked on the road by a feisty Deportivo team. In all of my time watching football I’ve never seen such a one-sided match. Deportivo won 2-0, but if there was any justice the final scoreline would have seen five or six scored by the home team. At times it seemed as if Real Madrid could not meet the challenge of bringing the ball across the halfway line; within ten minutes it was obvious that the very idea of Real winning the game was laughable. The first half in particular was the single worst display of team football I have ever seen from paid professionals.

This is all the more disheartening for Real fans because La Liga is so wide open right now. Barcelona drew today and Sevilla lost last night. Real could be sitting pretty in a tie for second right now but instead remains a distant third. Based on today’s performance it is legitimate to wonder if even a European spot for next season is falling out of reach.

So what’s the solution? I wish I knew, although I feel strongly that Robinho has something to do with it. I do still support Capello, as anyone should based on his track record, but I do wish he could get his squad to gel soon, as there are prizes here for the taking if only the team could get it together.

Anyway, since I am a bit obsessive in watching every televised Real game, I thought I would hand out grades for each player, although the report card won’t be pretty this time around…


Casillas
Was essentially hung out to dry by his defense. Can’t grade a GK after a game like this, so he gets an Incomplete

Cannavaro
Has there ever, in the history of the game, been a worse reigning holder of the Player of the Year award? I’m not talking about the debate about his play last year; I was fine with him winning the award. I mean right now. He is awful; everyone is getting by him. Arizmendi looked great today, but he still made Cannavaro look terrible. Did he go to Madrid to retire? Let’s hope not; the club needs him. F

Helguera
Did he even play today? D-

Salgado
Hustled all day but Deportivo was openly picking on him the entire game; playing out of position or not, the team needs better than this. F

Sergio Ramos
I think he went to a Tappas bar halfway through the first half and Capello never replaced him. Still probably the best of a very ugly lot in the defense today. D

Gago
Yes, he was terrible today. He’s twenty and it’s his first game in Spain. I’m willing to give this a little time. Incomplete

Emerson
Emerson was the most exciting and creative player on the pitch for Real Madrid. And when that happens, you know you’re in a shitload of trouble. C

Beckham for Guti (injury)
Look, I like Beckham, but there’s no way to disguise the fact that he looked awful today. In his defense he sometimes looks like the only Real player who cares about the score or feels embarrassed when they’re getting beat. D+

Reyes
I’m not seeing it. Fine, once in a while he does a pretty stepover and looks good in the white shirt. Does that mean he’s allowed to disappear for 30 minutes at a clip? D

Raul
Absolutely invisible. Please page Robinho for me. And I mean the good, exciting Robinho; not the one who flops three times a game. F

van Nistelrooy
I need to be convinced this guy has not become little more than a very expensive poacher. In his defense, he was left alone in front for the first half; still had no discernable affect on the game. The money Madrid spent should get them more than this. D

Ronaldo
The big fella didn’t do much out there today himself, but at least he attacked. I would start him ahead of van Nistelrooy, but what do I know? C-

Wow, I didn’t think I would be THAT harsh. Keep in mind how terrible this game was; watch it on replay if you didn’t see it live and let me know if I am crazy. Trust me, though; I would love to give some nice, fat “A”s to the boys from Madrid. They just need to show me something.

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One more quick thing: If you get a chance to see a replay of the Sevilla game this week, watch it. It’s a great game regardless, but hang in there; there is a special treat in the 94th minute. I won’t spoil it for you; but let’s just say it reminded me of two girls arguing over who gets to bring the school quarterback to the prom. It’s high comedy you have to see to believe.