A Determined Madrid

Its quite strange to write a Real Madrid appreciation thread in a Barcelona Blog, that too by an ardent Barca supporter. So what's the excuse I have got. May be because they are having three players from my favorite international team - Argentina. Ok let's cut the crap, the reason why I am writing this is because of their last week performance. Simply put that performance can be described as awesome. It overshadowed and rightly so, the performance of Barca at Camp Nou. It was a gritty performance by a team which seems to be lost forever in transition.

With the last of the famous Galacticos gone, the only step Madrid can take now is forward. They look more compact, aggressive and more and more determined in the start of this season. Got to admit the fact that of all the title contenders, they look the solid. Have to admire the brain of schuster, after a pretty long time Madrid bought players to fit into a system. This by itself is a sharp contrast to the Madrid Galacticos policy where star players made the system. Don't misunderstand me, last season Barcelona lost the title rather than Madrid winning it. But this season will be a far outcry compared to that. They look more solid and compact, so if we have to win the league we have to be the same and this time we have to snatch it from them. We cannot wait for them to slip( which looks rather unlikely), so we have to raise our game.


Match Compilation

If you go by the early signs that La Liga is throwing at, then we will be tempted to say that La Liga is going to be a little crowded this season. There is no certainity here. Real Madrid has set the tempo for the rest of season, now Barca has to raise it. And don't forget the ever dangerous Sevilla, they might be tempted to win everything as a tribute to Antonio Puerta. In his memoirs let me stop with a hope to see the best football this season.

A Decent Win

The victory against Bilbao was secured in the first half. Barcelona went in to the match with al lot of criticism for their lackluster performance last week. Early on the first half, barca players hunger to keep the critics away was evident. They played like a team possessed. Athletic Bilbao should had considered themselves lucky at half time for trailing by only 2 goals. The second half in itself was a sharp contrast. Ronaldinho and Messi were setting the tone for the first half, every time Messi gets the ball there was a big anticipation for something big. And he didn't disappoint. Ronaldinho stellar performance should have subsidized all the Transfer rumors for now(its going to return in January, take a break). From the last some Liga games , its look like his free kick technique is coming back. But for me the star of the show was Eric Abidal - My God what a player. Its not surprising all of the Barcelona's attacks came either through him or Zambrotta. He should have solved our Left back misery, hope so. But whatever he is showing he is worth to watch.

In contrast to the first half, second half saw the last year Barcelona coming back(unfortunately). They were losing ball very easily, there was no conviction in the passing and it took the supporters booing to remind players they are there to win games. In contrast to first half - where the defence looked like compact and sealed, second half defence sometimes had no idea of what they were doing. The problem with Barca last season and still continues- is that after taking the early lead or control they tend to sit back. Because of which they end up conceding late equalizers. How many time did that happen last season. Rijkaard has to pay attention here.

It will be big injustice not to mention these two players in this article - Deco and Henry. Deco as usual is the marshal of Barca's Midfield. He was there all the time with all those tricks and turns. Hope he continues to find such form every night. When he moved to Barca, I thought he will not gel well with Barca system, I was proven wrong - He is looking good and he is due for his goal, mark my word he is going to get a lot.

Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi - Two sides of same Mirror

Whatever be the result of the Fifa investigation to WestHam's Tevez transfer saga, he is going to be alive in the hearts of millions of WestHam fan's for many more years to come. Let's hope they don't get relegated as their story in the latter part was one of hope and struggle. Before 10 matches if somebody told me they are going to survive the League I would have gladly said "Buddy I am not a fool to buy that". But yet again as many times i was again wrong, but this time it had a happy feeling. Tevez and Messi are the future of Argentinian football. They both are real contrast to each other. One is an unbelievably skillful maybe a once in a generation player, but the other one is very talented, hardworking and unselfish player. When Messi was brought into 1st Team everything was on his side - the Media, Management, Fans and Players. If you remember the players all of them used to protect him like anything. The best example was the CL 1st leg in Chelsea. Whenever Messi was fouled there was kind of scuffle between players. In contrast when Tevez came to WestHam along with Mascherano, he was welcomed by a contrasting feeling - Distrust by Fans, media and players. The one which mattered the most was the players were not ready to accept him as one of them. And things predictably should have gone worse with Javier Mascherano's loan to Liverpool. I believed he would have been a lone figure in the dressing room. But when you have Carlos Tevez in your hand predictions have no value. Now at the end of the season the fans have declared him a "Hammer legend 4 Life"(It just took one season). How can he do that? The answer is you have to be "Carlos Tevez" for doing that. He never gave hope and with his performance he started inspiring the players to believe in him(I think one man who believed in him more than everyone was Anton Ferdinand). The key was he didn't try to impress media or his coach but his fellow colleagues. The WestHam's Great escape is not a one man story, it is a story of a bunch of people(Noble,Zamora, Benyayoun,.....) led and believing in their Hero and trying to do something impossible. At last they did it in style by beating the Champions at their den.
One attribute which makes Tevez differ from other strikers of his age is his "Unselfish character". Always we have seen that young strikers tend to be more selfish than everyone. Till last season Ronaldo was one of that category, this season he reinvented himself and look at the result. This makes Tevez doubly dangerous as he is a striker who is made of a fatal combination of Latin American flair, Hardwork and unselfishness. Let's hope he stays in WestHam for next season(i.e they are not relegated).
There is soccer players of different kind - One with flair, One with Grit, One who struggles and then there is the Tevez type.