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Life In La Liga
By: Lluis Marzo
Torres commits to a reduced clause, Capello juggles 20 possibilities, Valdes has his half-yearly blues, and Poulsen continues to rub Italians the wrong way...
Former Deportivo sparring-partners Diego Tristan and Walter Pandiani are set to face off this weekend, as Mallorca host Espanyol on Sunday.
While, Tristan has only recently been brought in to solve coach Manzano抯 goal-scoring problems, Pandiani seems to have settled in well at Espanyol.
Just in case anyone needs proof, the Uruguayan has bought himself a big red truck (model shown on the right), which he uses to commute to and from training daily, giving a more literal meaning to football stars causing traffic jams.
Coming to the capital, Atletico Madrid skipper Fernando Torres has penned a new contract, tying him to the club until 2009.
However, even as all the talk of commitment was bandied about, news filtered in that his buyout clause had been chopped from 90 million Euros to a very reachable 40.
The version we are supposed to consume is that the player抯 word, and his intention to continue, is more important than a number on a piece of paper. Surely Milan and Chelsea can do little now, given his noble intentions!
In another part of Madrid, the debate continues on how much longer Capello will be able to get away with keeping Raul in and Robinho out of the starting eleven. In many ways, the imaginative Brazilian is the anti-thesis of Capello抯 way of playing football, so one can understand where he is coming from.
But Real Madrid抯 need for inspiration and imagination was never more apparent than when Don Fabio had to take trusted aide Emerson off, and get his anti-thesis on against Real Sociedad. Beckham, Cassano, Raul, Reyes, Robinho and Guti: only three can play in his system. That makes 20 possible combinations, so we can expect a definitive answer some time after Christmas!
In yet another part of Madrid, Getafe boss Bernd Schuster can still be found lamenting what might have happened had Valencia kicked the ball out of play instead of scoring their opening goal on Sunday. With Los Ches playing Barcelona on Sunday, no points for guessing where the German抯 loyalties will lie!
That brings us to reigning champions. Technical head Txiki Begiristain has denied that there has been a club directive for Rijkaard to keep Saviola out of the squad, even as the Argentine remains the only first team player not to have made the squad so far.
There is some justification from Rijkaard抯 perspective, though, as he is still struggling to give Eidur Gudjohnsen enough time on the pitch. That said, the fact that Santi Ezquerro gets to keep the bench warm occasionally, and Saviola doesn抰, should surley have little to do with how much of the bench he can keep warm.
Okay; forget I ever wrote that! Sticking with the Catalans, keeper Victor Valdes has started suffering from his half-yearly round of blues that come with a Valencia clash. Both times last season, he was found guilty of gifting the ever-aware David Villa a goal, and Rijkaard抯 favourite stopper can currently be found blowing sunshine into himself at the pub round the corner, by reiterating how the Dutchman抯 confidence in him is all that matters.
Up North, proud Basques Athletic Bilbao are in dire straits following Sunday抯 home loss to Atletico Madrid, with the San Mames faithful having held none of their frustrations back. Seizing the opportunity, sacked coach |
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Post time 20-9-2006 07:54 PM
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