Levante match case study

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Post by skali Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:18 pm

First off, this is a long analysis, so if you don't care much about Madrid or have short attention span, skip it.

I thought tonight's game underlined all the major weaknesses which are the ultimate reason why we will yet again lose to Barca this season. Levante game plan incorporated a lot of Barca tactics: incredible theatricallity in every contact, coupled with verbal provocations and aggressive protests against the referee. They acted out every foul as if it were bloody murder.

In the first period we were able to cope with this: we sticked to our game plan, didn't get involved or frustrated, and we had several good chances of scoring, most notably on two occasions through Benzema. Then, for some reason I am unable to comprehend, it becomes the Classico story all over again. Its not about pressuring the referees, by all means we should do that, especially if the other team does so, but it should be done in a cold, calculated manner, with a rational cause - like Barca does it.

Instead of that, Madrid players let their blood run steaming hot, and sooner rather than later we commit reckless, professional fouls, and otherwise become more focused on taking justice in our hands by killing the opponents in retaliation to their fouls, than on playing our game. The moment this happens is the moment we stop making chances for extended periods of time. This happens time and time again with us, and there are two possible outcomes: either we grow out of it, which usually comes after fifteen or so wasted minutes of the game, or we get red carded and then this cycle of psychosis starts anew for the next twenty minutes or until the game is over. Considering the fact that opponents actively engage in acting out fouls to further make them appear worse than they are (and with Pepe's challenges there isn't even any need for theatricallity), the red card(s) are really just a matter of time.

And this was Levante - by all means an inferior team which shouldn't be able to frustrate us, poor refereeing or not. If Pepe & Co. cannot control their emotions in such games, then Classico is as good as lost. The biggest concern for me is that I have still not seen one jot of improvement in this area, even Mourinho was unable to turn things around. He lost the mind games, and it cost us everything.

In the end, I would like to leave you with a memory I have of Del Bosque Madrid, ere all was ruined. What I remember the most about that team, is how it would respond to going down 1-0 or a refereeing injustice - the remarkable discipline and grim determination which comes from frustration channeled into an unstoppable positive force. You could see it in their faces that it was time to bring their A game, and every time the other team would be steamrolled in next 20 minutes, left scratching their heads with a 3 or 4 goal deficit against a majestic demonstration of superior football. Those guys didn't resort to shallow theatrics to win games like Barcelona does nowadays, neither did they respond to such playacting in the adolescent fit of rage like Madrid now does - they would laugh at it and still emerge victorious, which is why that team is bar none the best I have ever watched play.
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Post by Le Samourai Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:29 pm

I agree for the most part about pepe and co controlling their emotions.However your view of RM under del bosque is diluted with holy water, they were by no means perennial winners.
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Post by skali Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:33 pm

They werent whiny bitches either. I said i consider them the best because what they won is unblemished by foul play. Barcelona of today certainly plays better football, hell even Madrid today might be playing better on a good day, but as a sports team they are lowest of the low. They disgust me more than I could possibly put in words.

It is true that fair play, team spirit and dignity aren't always on top, and too often we see how teams resorting to cheap tactics come out victorious, but that doesn't mean that we should uphold such play as the height of skill and achievement, though they be rewarded with trophy upon trophy. Myself, I always hold in higher esteem those who represent what to me is the one true spirit of sport, and I believe that I am not the only one either. So I grit my teeth when scumbags come out on top, like Italy did vs France in WC final, and hold out for the next year.
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Post by Le Samourai Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:41 pm

Lol calm down bro.........., you are a bit upset over diving ad whining , it's disgraceful but, honestly, it's become the norm in modern football.I definitely wouldn't consider them the best because they engaged in less foul play.

BTW: Guti and Solari were regualrs under Del Bosque soooo......
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Post by Jeps33178 Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:41 pm

Your exaggerations on Pepe are idiotic Levante match case study 2859867778
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Post by skali Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:46 pm

Maybe I don't explain my thoughts well enough. All teams have cheating idiots, Del Bosque Madrid did too. I don't claim them to be saints, incapable of error. But compared to the level of 'cheating' by which I mean all the means aimed at deceiving the referee which we see today, this is truly negligible, wouldn't you agree?

But we are moving off topic a lot, maybe you are right and I do see Bosque's Madrid through pink shades, my point was that our current approach to teams who deploy this tactics against us is counter-productive.
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Post by Le Samourai Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:50 pm

I dont think that Pepe going crazy and Khedira pushing a guy and Di Maria diving can be considered tactical.

They are individuals and that is who they are.I wouldn't drop our best cb for being aggressive and I would drop Khedira for being aggressive.

I could not sum up the strength to say I wouldn;t drop di maria but I wouldn't drop him for diving.
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Post by skali Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:52 pm

Jeps33178 wrote:Your exaggerations on Pepe are idiotic Levante match case study 2859867778
I have never in 15 years been embarrased of a Madrid player as I am of him. I know for a fact that he struck the guy down deliberately, its plain to see, and I am pretty sure he also nicked him with the front of his foot on purpose, as he leapt on him.

But even if you disagree, I see no reason why you can't be civil about it (or rather I see a lot of reasons, none too flattering), and furthermore I see absolutely no way in which my comments on Pepe in another thread are related to what I was discussing here. But you owned me right there with that coffee-sipping emoticon, so by Internet standards I lose the argument. Well played sir.


ragbirjosh wrote:I dont think that Pepe going crazy and Khedira pushing a guy and Di Maria diving can be considered tactical.

They are individuals and that is who they are.I wouldn't drop our best cb for being aggressive and I would drop Khedira for being aggressive.

I could not sum up the strength to say I wouldn;t drop di maria but I wouldn't drop him for diving.
I dont care if we dive or not. If they do it, we might do it as well, although I wouldnt prefer it that way. Diving isnt the problem here. We should stick to our game plan, not get frustrated by oponent's play acting however much they do it, and most of all we shouldnt risk getting red cards because we are frustrated by a combination of (perceived) unfavourable refereeing and oponent's theatricallities. My post is not about our players being scum, its about our players being too *bleep* stupid to learn what type of behaviour is inevitably punished. Even dogs would have been conditioned after 10 or more training sessions to choose a rational approach and abandon one that yields no results.

Simple yes or no question: when next we play Barca, who are certainly the most protected team atm, do you think that playing like we did today (and the last season's classicos) will yield a different result? Us on the pitch with 11 men in the end and winning? And what would be the odds of that in your opinion?
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