Real Madrid 1-0 Santander | Los Blancos Top La Liga!
Sunday, 22 November 09, 05:10 AM · Comments (47)
Real Madrid are having the best start they've had in the league in the last 18 years. Not only that -- statistically speaking, they are the best team in Spain in terms of defense, attack, holding possession, technique and effectiveness in front of goal.
While all of that is over-looked by the media and the majority of Real Madrid fans, Pellegrini continues to improve the team and provide good results.
Last night's win over Santander at the Bernabeu was important not just because it pushed us to the first place on the league's table as Barca were held in a 1-1 draw against Bilbao, but the team also managed to fix some of the issues we have been talking about in recent weeks.
Pellegrini started with Casillas, Arbeloa, Pepe, Garay, Drenthe, Alonso, Granero, Kaka, Marcelo, Higuain and Benzema. It had been rumored before the game that he would start with a three-man attack (Higuain, Raul and Benzema) but he later decided that Raul would sit on the bench for the fourth consecutive game, something that hasn't happened in ages.
The results of continuing with playing with this lineup don't disappoint. Real Madrid have won four games and drawn just once with this compination of players. Three of these games were intense -- against Getafe, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, so what's the key?
I think there are three things that make this lineup work.
- Arbeloa on the left isn't as bad as Marcelo/Drenthe playing in their not-so-favorite position. Yes, Alvaro is originally a right-back but he did play for Liverpool on the left and there was nothing preventing us from experimenting with him. He played on the right last night as Ramos was suspended and he did a very very good job. Not only did he defend well, but he also went forward on many occasions and contributed to our attacking efforts. Once Ramos is back, I would like Pellegrini to move Arbeloa to the left. Drenthe and Marcelo are more effective as wingers and the proof is their performances. Marcelo looks more dangerous than ever when he knows someone is behind him and protecting the backline while Drenthe's improved dribbling skills and pace can be used in a better way If he plays as a winger.
- Higuain and Benzema starting together upfront gives us many options. They are not entirely similar. Higuain is more of a traditional striker who is also good with the ball, but Benzema is something different. I'm not necessarily saying he is just like Ronaldo (the Brazilian) but he is quite similar. Great technique, fantastic work with the ball, powerful shooting, physically strong and moreover, he is talented and can create something out of nothing. Plus, he seems compatible with Higuain in attack as the two seemingly understand each other.
- I've already mentioned this, but thanks to moving Arbeloa to the left side of the defense we can now have some wingers in the midfield. We sold Robben and Sneijder in the summer so we had to rely on Ronaldo, but since he is injured we haven't played with any pure wingers until Pellegrini did the Arbeloa experiment and used Marcelo on the wing. The Brazilian added something to our performances. He gave options to his teammates. Kaka would look for Benzema, Higuain or Raul, but now he has a certain Marcelo running along the wing. Not only he provided solutions but also goals. One goal to highlight is the one against Atletico Madrid. The way it was scored it illustrates how compatible Marcelo can be with our attacking line. The one-two with Benzema and the narrow angle from which he scored -- pure class.
Furthermore, there was a good point to consider last night. The team actually controlled the tempo of the game. You know why? Alonso was in mood. For the first time in a while, Xabi Alonso was pretty effective. Great passing, but most importantly great leadership in the back. I have been talking about how much we miss a leader in our defensive line and Alonso filled that role last night. If you can watch the match again, just watch him as he instructs Garay, Pepe, Arbeloa and whoever is near him to do this or to do that. I think he is capable of performing this role for a couple of reasons:
- Having played with Liverpool for five years, he has the required experience to instruct others. Not only that, his personality qualifies him to be a leader and not just his important role as the team's backbone.
- Due to his creative mind and vision during the game, he is mentally active and can alert his teammates and wake them up from their occasional day dreams.
Alonso did not make a single mistake last night and he seemed comfortable playing with Granero, the other new face in addition to Garay in the starting lineup. I don't think his good performance was as a result of the absence of Lass -- on the contrary, I think with Lass, he should have more freedom and feel "safer" knowing a high-performing and fast Lass can do all the tackling and dirty work.
The goal wasn't really spectacular. Kaka crosses the ball, Garay heads it, it gets reflected but Higuain makes sure it goes into the back of the net.
Benzema's goal was nicer, but he unfortunately was offside. Speaking of offsides, Santander's goal, which was ruled out for the same reason as well, was legitimate and their coach, Miguel Angel Portugal, didn't really bother to complain about it saying :
"Other teams have come here and played in a more ambitious manner, and been thrashed. The disallowed goal was legal.
"But referees make mistakes, like players and coaches. On this occasion, it has cost us.
It might haven't cost Santander as much as it did cost Ireland, but their defeat last night will put them in a very critical situation even though it is too early to be worried. However, Atletico Madrid's last minute defeat to Deportivo will give the Verdiblancos another chance to get up and steer away from the relegation zone.
So while the scoreline doesn't reflect how well the team played and controlled the game in the first half and most of the second half, it is crystal clear there has been an improvement, especially since the Getafe game. It is unfair to rate the team's performance only by depending on the scoreline.
The coach said:
"We had chances to score more goals, but we didn't finish them off. We played a rather good game despite the fact that Racing focused on defending for the most part. We played very well at the start."
"We've played worse in other games and nevertheless scored more goals. It is important to win as many games as we can to grow confident. Our performance tonight was neither good nor bad."
As Pellegrini says, we've played worse and scored a shower of goals in some of our previous games, and guess what? Everyone complained saying we win thanks to individual performances and not to beautiful collective football.
Now some are still complaining that one goal is not enough. I completely agree for one reason which is: one goal is not enough to secure a game but it is perfectly enough to win a game. As long as the team is playing well, the goals will come whether a couple or a dozen. We have to concentrate on our collective performance and don't worry about goals, they'll come.
So in conclusion, it was a good game. We looked confident again and considering this was our first match after the international break and with a few key players absent, we did well.
We have an important game in the Champions League against Zurich who were kicked out yesterday from Switzerland's Cup by Basel (they lost 4-2) and it is a must-win encounter. We could also see the return of Ronaldo to action even though he would only have a few minutes but it would be very important if he made it as we travel to Barcelona next weekend for the famous EL Clasico.
Speaking of Barcelona, things aren't really looking too great for them. Not only did they they drop two points against Bilbao last night and lost the pole position to us, they also have a few injured key players. Ibrahimbovic and Messi will miss their Champions League clash with Inter and it is also highly unlikely that they will make it in time for the Clasico. There is also Abidal and Toure who have caught the Swine Flu virus and have been prevented from training with the team to make sure the other players don't get infected. It is unknown If they will play in the Clasico so I will have some updates for you regarding this.
In the meantime, I sincerely hope that all of their players completely recover. Football aside, it sucks to hear that a friend or a family member catches the flu especially with all the scary coverage of the media. It is really a big blow to Barca and while they can somewhat cope without Abidal ad Toure, it will be hard for them to play as effectively as before without Messi and Ibrahimovic.
So Madridistas, that's it for today. I'm trying to keep a consistent and daily posting schedule (blogging in the morning before going to school) and I need your encouragement to keep it up.
Until tomorrow.
Hala Madrid!
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Madridista4 said:Adam Bader what has happened to this website, not as much comments and blogging...
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alright sound good Adam Bader 
47 Madridistas have commented on "Real Madrid 1-0 Santander | Los Blancos Top La Liga!" · Add yours
good article ADAM, wish U all the best in ur studies. halla madrid!!
Well done Adam
nice post you did keep up the good work,about Abidal and Yaya i wish they recover sooner than later (of course after el clasico 
)
HALA MADRID!
P.S:Adam its seems like you didn't read my comment in the prev article about putting a player in your blog to watch Real Madrid matches
very good piece and HALA MADRID
well done adam good blog as usual,much appreciated
hala madrid you the best
brilliant is a small word for ur work adam!!!good job
so it's barcelona's turn to feel the injuries huh?
well that serves us a bit of justice even though We've had a lot of injuries in the last 3 seasons.
I just hope Cris Is 100% against Barcelona.
and too bad for abidal and yaya who got swine flu hope they recover.
Concerning Alonsos brilliance with Lass's absence; I can't really explain it but I'll try to say my take on it.
Maybe Alonso simply likes having more work to do? He feels more confident tackling/being aggressive/guiding/passing. Instead of just passing.
I really can't confirm this but I'm assuming Alnoso is that type of player who needs/wants to be motivated through his positive contributions in the game to catch with the games pace and become consistant throughout the match.
I'll back this up with the evidence that Alonso always starts games really bad as of late and as soon as he makes a bad pass his stance for the entire match changes negativly. Yes we don't want him to do the dirty work but could it be that this is not the optimal role for him next to Lass? He might just love multitasking and having more roles to shine rather than having 1 single "critical" role where he can't stand himself making a mistake in. Hell we the fans couldn't stand the way he played before.
Anyway I did my best trying to explain; hope I was clear. I was amazed by Alonso yesterday. Him and Lass might just need to communicate more and to Gel through time, I'm confident of them being nothing less than unstoppable in the near future.
Reply to Madrid4Life:
I can agree, it is a most confusing phenomenon.
out of the subject but Tottenham won 9-1
Reply to MadridistAli:
That seems like me playing FIFA 10
Reply to Madrid4Life:
One theory I have is that he is slowly adpating to the new atmosphere, the new team and the new league. He did well with Spain and continued with that last night. It would be interesting to see If he can be consistent with this good performance especially with the return of Lass to the lineup.
i think we are still overrating the team performance somehow. We won again, but it wasn't particularly convincing and racing were able to play through our midfield at times - and this shouldn't happen. With a bit more confidence up front they could have scored. And we didn't make many clear chances.
I do agree with the points that Adam made - especially Arbeloa and Marcelo. used correctly these two players give us a lot of balance.
I do not think, though, that Higuain is a typical centre forward. Benzema is more of a typical centre forward in that he can hold up the ball and lay it off. Higuain doesn't really do this, and he likes to recieve the ball into space on the right side of the attack.
I think he is a bit of a tactical puzzle actually. Not a centre forward, but not a winger either.
I would also point out the importance of Kaka - our most crucial player. This boy is running his socks off, he's just not having much luck in front of goal.
Reply to Caracoleo:
I think that you are right the we are depending heavily on Kaka and that our performances are still not completely convincing. We have still to achieve victory against a big team. Regarding Higuain, I believe it is quite clear that he is a second striker, someone who can play off the main target man, whereas as you said Benzema is a more well-rounded striker. Though that sounds like a good thing, it could inhibit his ability to form a good striking partnership. Historically, teams have liked to have one agile second striker and one big center forward. The most extreme example might be Messi and Ibrahimovic. Or Raul and van Nistelrooy. Higuain and Negredo would also fit into this category to some degree, but obviously other types of striker partnerships can work.
Reply to Caracoleo:
We are a tad bit being overrated but numbers do talk.
I totally agree with your criticizm of the team but their really isn't a perfect team out their. Evern Bilbao threatened Barcelona last night. I cannot emphasis on how much of a shit team Bilbao is in every single one of their lines.
We should be a little reasonable; striving for perfection is alright but getting their is not going to take less than a season or 2. Meanwhile we don't need perfection to win championships I think especially the CL which is based alot on luck and Coaching Tactics.
Reply to Madrid4Life:
English fail.
The answer is quite simple as to why Alonso played better: he got more touches. Whenever Garay touched the ball last night his first look was for Alonso. If you watch Real's previous games, there is a tendency by many of the players to hoof it over the mid field directly to the forwards, thereby by-passing the Alonso. If you want Alonso to play better, feed him the ball. I have followed Xabi from his days in San Sabestian and he traditionally starts slow and picks up momentum - especially if you feed him the ball. If you get a chance compare the number times Alonso was given last night -in a position that allowed him to look up and survey the field - versus any other game. You will come to the same conclusion
So early thoughts Madridistas.. who would you all start on wednesday . just keeping in mind maybe few players being rested for El Clasico.
Reply to Ryan McManus:
Meh, English isn't even my first language; I'm not going to even bother replying to anonymous people anymore. I don't think its the real Ryan who wrote that. But whoever it is congratulations on your grammer police badge.
Reply to Madridista4:
I don't think there will be any players rested. There is already 3 days between the racing and zurich one. We need this win if we want to top our group table which in return will help us in the round 16 matchups and afaik CL is the most important competition this season according to the RM administration.
Here is my lineup:- (This isn't my preferred but my predicted.)
Cassillas
Ramos.Pepe.Albiol.Marcelo
Lass...Alonso
Kaka...Cristiano
Raul...Higuan
Finally Adam, some love for Xabi. Pellegrini needs to harness his play with Spain to Madrid. It can be done! Lass needs to share (space).
Reply to Caracoleo:
I agree with you. I haven't really seen a complete performance from our team. We've just been riding on individual performances so far. The first half of the Milan game at the San Siro was more like the football that I expect to see. The signs are more encouraging than they were a few weeks back and I think we've improved.
You're very right, Higuain likes to have a free role on the right-hand side and that really suits him.
Kaka's performance will improve when Ronaldo comes back. He gets along very well with Ronaldo.
A win tomorrow for Inter and then we don't have nightmares of Barca winning CL at Bernabau.
A win for us in the weekend will end the honeymoon for Pep Guardiola.
LINK
TBH i like seeing raul on the bench for Higuain and Benzema with their current form especially el pipita. I think Raul will start against Zurich or against Barcelona.
Barcelona will now face karma.
Squad list for tomorrow's game.
SQUAD LIST
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Arbeloa, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo,
Drenthe, Albiol, Garay
Midfielders: Diarra, Kaka, Cristiano, Lass, Xabi Alonso, Granero, Van der Vaart.
Forwards: Raul, Benzema, Higuain
Bloody hell guys, I just came across an interesting fact about Barcelona. I don't know if you people had realised but they've spent a whopping 281m in the last 2 seasons; Chygrynskiy 25M, Alves 34M, Pique 8M, Ibra 66M, Henry 25M, Keita 14M, Milito 20.5M, Maxwell 5M, Abidal 15M, Toure 9M, Hleb 17M, Kerrison 16M, Henrique 10M and Caceres 16.5M. That's in Euros btw.
Well, next time we see those stupid Barca fans come here and tell us you can't buy success, we know how to answer. Bloody hypocrites.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
Well the jews do hold 2/3 of the worlds economy and Laporta is jewish
Viva Florentino
The squad list is out and everyone is in except for Guti who is injured and also sick as Pellegrini said he has the flu, also RVN is back training with the team but is still not fully fit, Metzelder and Gago left off for coaching decisions.. so what is your alls lineup for tomorrow
Reply to Madridista4:
We've got to field a strong line-up despite El Clasico being around the corner. We should start with Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Albiol, Arbeloa, Lass, Alonso, Granero, Kaka, Higuain and Benzema IMO. We have to do our best to have the game in the bag by half-time because that will allow us to rest key players. We can take Kaka off for Van der Vaart, Marcelo for Higuain and Raul for Benzema.
Can't wait for Barca-Inter. I would love nothing more than for Barca to crumble at this stage of the Champions League.
hey guys check out this:
LINK
Reply to trooper:
If there's one thing I know Ronaldo loves, it's to be jeered. According to him, it gives him the extra motivation to rub it in the fan's faces. You know how cocky Ronaldo is, a few boos won't do him any harm. Don't forget, he's the self-proclaimed 1st, 2nd and 3rd Best Player in the World.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
Yeah it would be nice to see Inter win today.. also Rubin Kazan have to win as well and they are currently playing right now.. also I think maybe we could take off Pepe who also has been playing a lot of games lately
Reply to Madrid4Life:
What the hell..........
I wasnt aware of this fact...............
I think the reason its not made out to be much is since our signings are more high profile.....
but consider this our signings in the last two years.........
250 million euros this season + 14 mil for VDV last season not to mention british record for highest transfer of robinho for 40 mil euro or 32 million pounds.......
so bascially we have spent net tranfer of 224 million euros in the last two years.....
why dont u count for barca's net......
and then lets ask adam to blog this fact.....
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
I think henry came the season before last....
barca 2 inter 0 still first half!1
worried about real madrid
Reply to trooper:
I"m not that worried. Inter played like utter trash.
Lol Mourinho still doesn't know that not marking Iniesta and Xavi means catastrophic consequences?
It was a fucking training session for Barca. Inter were down right pathetic tonight.
yeah I agreed Inter played poor.. but now lets focus on Zurich.. we need 3 points..
Reply to Shre7:
Lass also came in last season.
Details of transfers from Wikipedia
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Comes to around 170 MM Euros in the last three seasons spending.
: one goal is not enough to secure a game but it is perfectly enough to win a game.
We should send this to Florentino, Valdano and the Madridistas that complain about not playing with flair and not scoring enough goals. A win is a win and sometimes we have to grind them out in order to progress plain and simple.
Reply to anayth:
I also forgot klaas
Reply to helmet_09:
I agree wit u on that one , but i know in due time when the team does gel we will be playing champaign football the real madrid way sharp pin point attacks in flurries on like barca's holding on to the ball and passing till they find a opening philosophy! Its all about having a style of play and when we get ours straight its gona be so fun to watch this team mark my words! Madrid 4 life!!!!
both MARCA and AS say Raul will start today in order for Benzema to be rested for Sunday
The reason Xabi Alonso is wearing a cast on his hand is cause he has a broken ligament in his hand but that does not prevent him from playing. also today its his 28th birthday.. Happy Birthday Xabi Alonso
Reply to Shre7:
Sorry, you're right, he did. On the other hand, Ibrahimovic's transfer ammounted to way more than 66m, considering they gave a 30m striker in Eto'o along with that cash. Adam should really do a post on this.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
I will, thanks for the heads up!
"Just looking at the club career years next to the name tells you everything you need to know about Raul. He has lived with the best defensive midfielder (Claude Makelele), best winger (Luis Figo), best creative midfielder (Zinedine Zidane), and best striker (Ronaldo) in the world of the last 15 years. He's seen them all come and go - not without his own drop in form - but has forged an incredible legend. He scored in both the triumphant Champions League finals of which he was part, is the all-time leading scorer in that competition, Madrid's all-time leading scorer, Spain's all-time leading scorer (and outfield appearance maker), climbing the all-time La Liga goalscorers chart and much, much more."-goal.com.
RAUL RALU RAUL