Spanish Inquest: Clash of the continents

My column for Eircom SportsHub

Edinson Cavani has yet to strike up a partnership with Luis Suárez for Uruguay

Another slice of history beckons for Vicente Del Bosque on Wednesday. When Spain take the field against Uruguay it will mark the occasion of his 68th match in charge of La Roja - equalling the record set by Ladislao Kubala.

 

Unlike the Hungarian maestro, Del Bosque has laid his hands on international football's most glittering prizes. His side will face off against one of the great names in this arena, the Copa América holders of Oscar Washington Tábarez, as the first world champions meet the last.

 

In the last international cycle, this was the clash we were denied: the champions of Europe versus the champions of South America. They came close, but ultimately Brazil and Spain's paths never crossed. In the Confederations Cup, Spain were eliminated by the USA while Dunga's Brazil side fell to Holland in 45 minutes of madness in Port Elizabeth.

 

This doesn't quite have the same glamour billing as the clash that never was, and not just because for all their incredible successes Uruguay lack the cachet of Brazil. That terrific run which saw them make the semi-finals in South Africa and culminated with a record 15th continental title in Buenos Aires has petered out as the Celeste undergo a difficult generational change.

 

It looked to be going so well. Fresh from their success, Uruguay began the marathon South America qualifying section like a train. Moreover, they had the Olympics to look forward to as they looked to bed in the next generation talent from their underage squads.

 

But just as the senior side began to falter, the U23 selection endured a torrid time of it in London when the youngsters failed to step up and a heayweight frontline of Luís Suárez and Edinson Cavani failed to gel. Amomgst the pre-tournament favourites, they failed to progress beyond a navigable group.

 

Spain's exit at the same stage represented a hiccup, but for Tábarez this was a real blow. His reorganisation of the tiny country's youth set-up has seen them cast the net as far as possible in the hope of grooming the next generation of players for the senior team. It's not all about results, but their poor showing has left him reliant on ageing legs.

 

The resumption of their World Cup campaign brought further pain. A Lionel Messi inspired Argentina ran riot when the sides met in October, the 3-0 final score a pale reflection of their great rivals' dominance. That followed a 4-0 humbling away to a Colombia side on the rise.

 

One figure from that Olympic squad earmarked for the seniors was Southampton's Gastón Ramírez. The former Bologna man has had a mixed start to his time in the Premier League but was expected to feature. Unfortunately for Tábarez, an injury sustained at Wigan means he's absent.

 

This, and the fact that Diego Forlan won't start will necessitate a change of shape. A one-time progidy, the 23 year old Nicolas Lodeiro should start in the hole behind the forwards. This inteligent number 10 is rebuilding his career with Botafogo in Brazil following an unhappy stint at Ajax.

 

Forlan himself was in fine form on Spanish radio, as he reminisced over his 7 years in Spain. Asked if Uruguay were 'the kings of football' he sensibly batted away the question, before turning more serious in his response.

 

“It's inexplicable - if you look at it logically - that a country so small, with three million-odd people, can keep competing against the big boys and winning titles... it's extraordinary” Given that Forlán has been the glue that held their attack together, it'll be interesting to see how they fare without him.

 

For Spain's part, it's likely that their line-up will have a distinctly Barcelona makeup. Xavi and Xabi Alonso have both withdrawn, meaning an abandonment of Del Bosque's favoured double pivot for something more akin to the Catalans' take on 4-3-3.

 

Sergio Ramos and Álvaro Arbeloa are expected to make up the right side of defence, with Chelsea's Juan Mata the remaining non-Barcelona player in an eleven which will include Victor Valdés. Cesc Fábregas has been in the form of his life, often lining up in the forward line for his club but should feature in the midfield here.

 

Many long to see Isco get his maiden run-out but as, in his own words, “the best players in the world in my position are ahead of me” he'll surely start on the bench. Carles Puyol will win his 100th cap, while Chelsea's César Azpilicueta and Mario Suárez of Atlético hope to feature at some point for their first.

 

More than anything, this game represents and interesting clash in styles. Uruguay are no mugs, they know their strengths and their success has been built on playing to them. This means that a hard running midfield focusses on winning the ball before supplying it to the heavy hitters up front. Whether they will see enough of it and whether Lodeiro will prove adept at providing the darts remains to be seen.

 

Their preference is for a deep defensive line, and this will be further necessary as their captain Diego Lugano looks sure to feature. After 18 months with limited game time at PSG prior to his recent move to Málaga, he'll form a Spain-based partnership with Atlético's Diego Godín.

 

The likely full-back pairing of Inter's Álvaro Pereira and his namesake Maxi of Benfica are expected to patrol the whole flank, using their energy to give width in attack without compromising their defensive duties. Another option on the right is the more defence-minded Martin Cáceres, who's also comfortable at centre back and being part of a back three.

 

18 months ago before the South Americans suffered their prolonged dip in form, their chances of a win would have looked a distinct possibility. As it stands, they find themselves very much the underdogs. But it's a role they've always revelled in, and if the Suárez-Cavani partnerhip finally clicks they have the tools in their locker to put the hurt on the World and European Champions.

Original article here on Eircom SportsHub

La Liga: Five reasons why Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid won the title

Joseph Sexton

for 

 

José Mourinho was tasked by Florentino Pérez in May 2010 to knock Barcelona off their perch. Last Wednesday, as the players held the Portuguese aloft at San Mamés, he had achieved that target. Real Madrid have now won 32 league titles in their glittering history. But few, if any, have come at the expense of a rival of such potency.  

That’s because few sides in the history of the game match up to the Catalans. To hoover up trophies as Barcelona have done under Pep Guardiola is something remarkable, and while many will focus on the style with which they achieved their success, less have looked at the hunger, the drive, that underpinned that. This year, Madrid’s hunger was insatiable, and this is why they are champions of Spain.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Mourinho. Discord within and without the camp have threatened to undermine the meringue challenge at key moments. Sometimes, internal grievances have received the most public of airings. At others, the vitriol of the press- many of the same Madrid-based ones who painted Mourinho as a saint before the bruising four game clásico series in April 2011- have latterly been queuing up to throw rocks.

At times, it seemed certain he would be departing at the end of this season. Few now doubt that he will stay. And if Madrid have bagged this title with considerable style, it is worth looking at some of the key factors behind their success

1. Benzema’s renaissance

José Mourinho had spent most of his first summer at Real moaning about the lack of strikers. When injury on the eve in that infamous 5-0 defeat at Camp Nou ruled Gonzalo Higuaín out for some 5 months, the cupboard was bare. Karim Benzema was a flagship Florentino Pérez signing, but the manager didn’t like the look of the young Frenchman. Nor was he impressed by his attitude. “When you don’t have a dog, sometimes you have to hunt with a cat”, he lamented. Rather than hunt with this cat, he signed Emanuel Adebayor on loan.

This season, Benzema has been a man reborn. Right from those two ferociously intense Supercopa clashes that opened the season, it was clear that he’d come back determined, and a few kilos lighter. Given his rival for the centre forward position’s numbers, supplanting Higuaín in the role is some achievement. His blend of finesse and physique has given defenders nightmares.

2. Sidelining Ricardo Carvalho

It might sound counterintuitive at first. For almost a decade now, Mourinho’s former Chelsea and Porto lieutenant had been one of the world’s top defenders- and one of the smartest. In his first season in Madrid, he had clearly been the top dog. But maybe time was catching up with.

Although initially an enforced move, moving Sergio Ramos to centre has made Real Madrid a better team. The Spain international may be guilty of positional lapses, but his athleticism allows Real to pressure much higher up the park than they could with Carvalho. Alongside Pepe, his aerial dominance has been a massive asset.

3. Attitude

Last year’s title was not lost in the clásicos- it was lost in defeats to lowly sides like Sporting and Osasuna, games where Real Madrid failed to score. Last September, the loss at Levante followed by a draw against Sporting suggested it might be more of the same again. Instead, they went on a run of wins extending all the way to the visit of Barcelona in December.

That clásico blew the title race wide open once more. Madrid’s capacity to respond would be everything.

They won their next ten games, as Barça shed further points.

Their ability to come back has also been a standout factor. Victories from losing positions against Rayo, Atlético, Mallorca, Athletic, Zaragoza, Levante, Sporting and Sevilla spoke of a side for whom that defeat was not an acceptable outcome. Real have beaten teams in a variety of ways this season, but it is this attitude that has helped them over the line.

4. Firepower

We’ve mentioned Benzema already. He now has 20 league goals. Despite his limited minutes, Higuaín has chipped in with 22. José Callejón has sprung 5 goals from the bench, many of them crucial in changing games. No full back has scored more than Marcelo. And only Lionel Messi has scored more than Cristiano Ronaldo’s 44. With David Villa injured, Barcelona have been overly dependent on Lionel Messi. Ronaldo may be equally totemic to his side, but it’s clear that his colleagues also know the way to goal. In all competitions, the trident of Ronaldo-Benzema-Higuaín have contributed a staggering total of 117 goals.

5 Put up- and... shut up

Just as in Italy, the press in Spain have been Mourinho’s bête noire. So charming and adept was he at pulling strings and setting the news agenda at Chelsea, it may be hard to fathom the antipathy that now exists between him and the media. But Milan, as Mourinho swiftly found out, is not England. And Real Madrid is a club like no other.

In his recent book, Graham Hunter illustrates just how badly Mourinho had misjudged matters a year ago. Puffed up by his side’s Copa del Rey final victory at the Mestalla the previous week, he went on the warpath against Barcelona’s coach ahead of the Champions League semi-final. Guardiola, a man so eloquent and dignified in his public persona that it almost seems painful for him at times, decided he’d had enough. The gloves were off. In a masterpiece of rhetoric, he responded to his rival’s jibes in the most forthright of manners.

More importantly, his team did the business on the pitch. For what good are words when you can’t back them up?

Ever since that moment sections of the Madrid-based press were out for Mourinho, and well he knew it. After all, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not all out to get you. Last weekend at the Santiago Bernabéu, Sid Lowe explained just how poisonous the relationship had become.

“It seems clear now that the initial agenda- at least from Marca- driven as ever some sections within the club, was to build José up as being the saviour. AS [the other principal Madrid sports daily], on the other hand, whose editor Alfredo Relaño has great admiration for this current Barça, always had a slightly different take. In the end, attending the post match briefings was joyless. At times, the prospect of dealing with Mourinho had become tense, to say the least. Sometimes, even the most innocuous of questions would draw a caustic and utterly dismissive response”. In the end, Mourinho chose to see agendas at play everywhere.

This is why the aftermath of their 1-1 draw at Villarreal marked a key turning point. For the second game in a row, Madrid had surrendered a lead to a late free kick. And not for the first time in recent weeks, they’d played well below par. Moreover- and at this point is worth noting Jorge Valdano’s words on Cadena SER that, if anyone had any right to be aggrieved, it was Villarreal- the officiating had infuriated Real. 

Fitness trainer, Rui Faría, had been sent to the stands in the first half. In the immediate aftermath of Villarreal’s equaliser, he was followed swiftly by Sergio Ramos, Mourinho himself, and Mesut Ozil of all people. Madrid had lost their heads; lost their papers, as the Spanish phrase goes. Their lead had been trimmed from 10 to 6 points. And their season was in danger of falling apart

Then, something unexpected happened. We waited for the denunciations of Mourinho. And waited.

In vain. For in his place came the number two, Aitor Karanka. The following weekend, the Basque former defender did the same. And every other week. In fact, outside of Champions League briefings, we’ve not heard from Mourinho since. Until, of course, last Wednesday. Mourinho had let himself down and been badly burned in his dealings with the press at the climax of last season. This year, he’d learned his lesson.

Sometimes it’s best to shut up. But you also have to front up.

Mourinho has done both.

You can follow Joseph @josephsbcn

This article originally appeared on STV Sport