The beauty of soccer lies in the invisible realm of human interaction. Synapses, emotions, understanding, the unseen often dictates human relations more so than the obvious. All too often, the realm of movies with voice-over kills the complexity of a clever screenplay or a dynamic play. If one could pry open Jose’s skull and see his thoughts, they would either be “Oh mierda” or “Oh shit.” Welcome to Madrid, Monseur Mourinho.
The new coach, the new wave of roster signings, the merengue fans have seen this film a thousand and one times. I really didn’t expect the offense to gel immediately – Di Maria and Ronaldo played too narrow and the resulting offensive bunch played into the hands of a stacked Mallorcan defense. With neither Lass nor Xabi capable of a pass to switch the fields, one can hardly blame the wingers for venturing inland in search of sustenance.
Mourinho’s substitutes at the sixty minute mark were obvious for the eye to see – Di Maria was gassed and Canales ineffective. Benzema & Oozil did add pace & dynamism to a static attack, but the Mallorcan goalkeeper kept out Cristiano and Higuain’s best efforts. Still, despite a nail biting spurt of 10 minutes, the opening 45 minutes was a wasteland of soccer watching – Real’s future greatest footballer succinctly summed it up with “Papy Elliott me aburrrrrrro.”
While I argued exhaustively that Pellegrini’s run & gun offense was by design, Mourinho’s patient counterattacking pedigree makes my head dizzy with the pace & rhythm of Real’s play. Are the player’s simply incapable of putting a foot to ball and picking a pass once they put on the blanquillo shirt? Can Jose craft one of our flawed holding midfielders into the next Makelele or Cambiasso?
More importantly, the time frame is short. Jose has but a season to win a trophy and show his attacking pedigree. Despite the lack of a target forward, holding midfielder, and proper leftback, Mourinho must make due with Marcelo, Lass, and Higuain. While Pipita did go on a tear last season, he is more of Crespo than Milito on the Argentine-forward-scale. Goalscoring and perpetually off-sides: yes. Physical presence and playing in midfielders: nein.
So 0-0 starts the campaign for Madrid. On the one hand, a clean sheet away at Mallorca, Real’s perpetual house of horrors. On the other hand, the nagging feeling that two points passed us by…..
Loved the short and accurate analysis of the first game. More so, the comparison of Higuain to Crespo and less to Milito is spot on.
Tanuj,
I love Higuain, but he definitely is more finisher than target man. I hope his game can adapt, but he really can struggle up top by himself at times.
On the other hand no goals scored against Mallorca.
I mean come on…
But chances were created….the team just needs to put a foot on the ball, take a deep breath, and pick a pass from time to time.
My thoughts exactly. And I had even voiced how Benzema is unlucky to not get fed some tantalising balls which went in Higuain’s way. Maybe Benzema as a lone striker can do a better job than Higuain can. Pre-season was a little preview of it.
Like I read on Real’s The Offside blog, maybe an injury to Ronaldo is a blessing in disguise?