The Aftermath

This is purely a technical analysis, so none of the usual inspired essays on how wonderful this team is...

I think last night proved what we (fans and socios) have been saying for a while... it's time to hand over the captain's armband to raul and for Hierro to go to the bench.

The single biggest reason we lost yesterday was Hierro, he was slow, he was out of position, he was just awful.
I know everyone in Madrid seems to like Guti and talks about how he is very good teachnically... for me, he's a decent (not special) distributor and a crap forward. That miss in the first half was just awful. I don't see how he plays ahead of El Moro and Portillo as a forward. I'd rather have them upfront with raul behind than have Raul in front with them behind (when il Fenomenon is not playing)

Last night we saw that you cannot Los Galacticos when you can't control the midfield and when you don;t have a defence. Cambiasso is out of is depth (why Del Bosque took Flavio off instead of him, I will never know), Flavio himself is not too hot and when makalele is injured, we just get screwed. We need to buy a good defensive midfielder like davids or gatusso or Viera or, if we can get 2 good central defenders, not one, maybe Helguera can move to midfield again.

It's also time to groom someone else instead of Figo, who will never be the player he was at Barcelona... occasional bursts of inspiration do not justify 3 years of underachievement, filled with ridiculous dives, scowling , petulant grimaces, over-playing, breaking down the momentum of attacks, and general all-round uselessness... i think selling Figo will give enough cash to make a bid for Joaquin and with every passing season, Joaquin's cost goes up and Figo's goes down. I already feel most clubs would pay more for Joaquin than Figo who needs to start focusing on his future career playing an Iberian hamlet... Also need to give more time on the pitch to Minambres, playing in both Figo's and salgado's positions. It may also be time to bring back raul Bravo and start grooming him to replace Roberto carlos... his defence is becoming terrible!

Going forward it's time to forget about Beckham. We must have better squad rotation so that people like Minambres and POrtillo develop and we stop being so dependent on the stars, and they don't get so tired.

Here's what I wish for next year:

On the bench:
Hierro

Sell:
Cambiasso
Guti
Figo (if it raises the cash to buy Joaquin)
Geremi (if we still own him)


Possible sales to raise cash:
Morientes
Macca (but age is not on his side, so maybe Solari would be a better sale)
Flavio Concecao (sell him for sure if we buy 2 defenders and 1 defensive midfielder)

More playing time:
Minambres
Tote (playing in a midfield role to rest Zidane sometimes)
Portillo
Solari

First team addition:
Pavon (unless we buy 2 central defenders)

Buy:
Mexes/Chivu (equally good, should spend 25 million and buy both, selling Moro and cambiasso to raise the cash)
Davids or Viera or Gatusso
Cordoba
Marquez
Joaquin (only if we sell Figo)
I think we need either one defensive midfielder and one central defender or 2 central defenders. Joaquin/Figo swap would be a bonus.


Do not buy:
Beckham... please!!!!! If can afford an expensive right-sided midfielder, it has to be Joaquin. I'm sure we'll recover the lost merchandising costs by winning the Champions leage 3 years in a row.

My first 11 for next year:
casillas
salgado/mexes/chivu/carlos
joaquin/helguera/makalele/zidane
raul
ronaldo

Subs:
Cesar (for casillas)
pavon (central defence, starter if we buy just one central defender and no defensive midfielder)
Minambres (For Salgado and Joaquin)
Portillo
Tote
Solari

So says The Blah... India's leading expert on the Merengues :)