SPAIN DOWN AND OUT BUT "TIKI-TAKA" IS NOT DEAD

D. Ray Morton, 19th June 2014.

Sergio Busquets with his head in his hands after missing a sitter in Spain's 2-0 defeat to Chile

Defending world champions Spain were sent tumbling out of the World Cup yesterday evening thanks to a 2-0 defeat against a relentless and energised Chilean side. Goals from Eduardo Vargas and Charles Aránguiz were enough to see off la furia roja which leaves them eliminated and having to face Australia in the Group B "rubber spoon" match. The football world has been shocked and many people have announced this as the death of "tiki-taka", the possession-based style that has seen Spain triumph in the past two European Championships and the 2010 World Cup.

This is not the death of possession football, however. This is the end of an era for a group of great Spanish players. A generation which may not be seen again in a hurry but certainly not the death of a specific playing style. With Carles Puyol, a key defensive figurehead, having retired from the international scene, and a bunch of other main performers such as Iker Casillas, Xavi, Xabi Alonso (and arguably, Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Piqué) going into decline, perhaps it is only natural that this winning cycle should come to an end.

The style entrenched in the Spanish side will not change all of a sudden whether Vicente del Bosque stays on or not. Throughout their youth teams, the same 4-3-3 possession-based football is played. The heirs to the Xavis and Xabi Alonsos will not be that different. A player like Atlético Madrid's Koke, who maybe should have started both games, will come into the team in the build-up to the 2016 Euros and will be expected to blend into the side's philosophy and not rock the boat with a totally different style of play. Perhaps del Bosque hung on to the old guard for too long. How is it that a player like Koke's Atléti team-mate, Gabi, was not even considered despite having the season of his life and winning the Liga BBVA title against all odds. Gabi is no spring chicken at 30 but would he have wilted as easily as, say, Sergio Busquets?

Possession is not dead though. It just needs to adapt. At times this season in the Champions League, Pep Guardiola's attempts to make Bayern Munich the "Barcelona 2008/09 2.0" drew many sighs from viewers. Perhaps that particular brand of possession football is based on having that perfect midfield duo of a Xavi and Iniesta firing on all cylinders with a genius, i.e. Messi, playing ahead of them. Bayern did not have that and ran into trouble when facing top opposition.

Italy's master class of possession against England discussed here demonstrated how important intelligent use of the ball has been, and probably will be, in this World Cup. Their pass accuracy of 93.2% was the highest seen in this competition since 1966. It was not just the heat of Manaus that allowed them that much space either. Croatia hammered Cameroon 4-0 in the same venue last night but only had 51% of the ball. The Italian game has abandoned catenaccio since Cesare Prandelli took over and they may become the new international pass masters for the time being. Legendary Italy centre-back Alessandro Nesta chipped in with his thoughts earlier in the week: "Tiki-taka is perceived as a Catalan invention, but I’ve seen many teams in Italy play tiki-taka style in my career, even before Barcelona" he said. "I remember playing for AC Milan with a midfield composed of Rui Costa, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Rino Gattuso, where we played this style of possession football. Many people say the Spanish are masters of tiki-taka now, but we arrived first" he continued.

Alessandro Nesta insists that AC Milan played their own version of "tiki-taka" well before Guardiola's Barcelona or Spain from 2008 onwards

So Spain will be scampering home with their tails between their legs but do not expect possession to become unfashionable all of a sudden. With most teams having some weakness or another, maybe it will be the side that keeps the ball, provided enough attacking precision is included, that will be lifting that big gold trophy on July 13th.

ANOTHER CESC SAGA ALBEIT DIFFERENT

D. Ray Morton, 6th June 2014.

Though not a horror signing, it has not been all smiles and sunshine for Fàbregas at Barcelona

Cesc Fàbregas has been the subject of a number of transfer sagas over the past few seasons. In the summer of 2011, Barcelona finally pried him away from Arsenal for £35m plus add-ons amounting to amother £5m. Last summer, speculation mounted that Manchester United were hot on his trail as he only managed to register two steady seasons with Barça, failing to take Camp Nou by storm. After another decent but unspectacular campaign, speculation is mounting about his future again.

The dynamic is slightly different this time, however. Fàbregas has been seen as something of a flop. His addition to Barcelona's squad unsettled the Busquets-Xavi-Iniesta midfield axis and his presence hastened Thiago Alcântara's departure from the club, moving to Bayern Munich in search of more first-team opportunities. Fielding Cesc became more of a problem than a solution. Do you fit him in instead of Xavi or Andrés Iniesta or do you play him in Lionel Messi's false 9 role? Whichever position he was put in, it never seemed as natural as it did at Arsenal.

Spending £40m on an ex-youth player also created an awkward dynamic. It was a vast fortune to spend on a player that the club did away with in the past only to take him back like a prodigal son. Such lavish spending happens at Barça but not for their La Masia contingent. Blending expensive signings with in-house talent has been the club's way, not spending a king's ransom on once homegrown fledglings. One could point to Chelsea's expensive re-signing of Nemanja Matic as a good example of this kind of deal but Roman Abramovich's team are known for their vast consumption and do not have a philosophy or a fanbase that they have to answer to like that of the Catalan clubs'.

New manager Luis Enrique deems Fàbregas surplus to requirements and wants to generate money through sales in order to secure his own transfer targets. I wrote on the interest in Sevilla's Ivan Rakitic lately and recent reports do suggest he is very close to signing for Barcelona, snubbing both Atlético and Real Madrid in the process. They will want to add a defender, another midfielder and an attacker to that therefore Cesc has become a target for Manchester clubs City and United, Chelsea and maybe even old club Arsenal. There seems to be an odd reluctance amongst these clubs to make a move materialise, however, and only Chelsea's José Mourinho has publicly stated he is monitoring the situation despite Fàbregas' possible reluctance to work with a former Real Madrid manager who managed to rub quite a few Catalans the wrong way during his time at the club.

Wherever he ends up, Fàbregas is still a player with plenty left to offer. He must be used in his best role, however, and that is in an advanced midfield role with protective players behind him and a recognised striker ahead of him, not as a deeper lying metronome or as false 9. He does not have the pace to lead the line and does not have the positional discipline to play too deep but he is a fine attacking playmaker. He needs a good World Cup to give his career another kick-start and some fine performances in Brazil could ignite some more aggressive bids for his services.

BARÇA EDGE SENSATIONAL CLÁSICO

BARÇA EDGE SENSATIONAL CLÁSICO

D. Ray Morton, 24th March 2014.

Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 4-3 at the Santiago Bernabéu last night in a remarkable match that keeps the Liga BBVA title race running with only one point separating the top three teams. Atlético Madrid did their part earlier on in the evening by dispatching Real Betis with a 2-0 away win thanks to goals from Gabi and Diego Costa. That set the stage for a mouth-watering clásico with Barcelona desperately needing a win to keep their title challenge going. Depending on how you see it, it was either the game of the season or a game of tactical warfare involving several incidents where both sides did their best to deceive the referee, Alberto Undiano.

Barcelona opted to field the same team that brushed aside Manchester City in the Champions League with Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas all starting as Neymar got the nod ahead of Alexis Sanchez and Pedro.

The idea was to dominate possession, as the Catalans did, by fielding as many of their creative midfield talents as possible rather than the speedy wingers which could be used as impact substitutions later on in the match. Real Madrid also fielded a very strong eleven with Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria playing as Carlo Ancelotti's midfield three behind the dynamic front trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

Many tipped Real to dominate proceedings before kick-off pointing to their impressive record of 15 wins, 3 draws and no defeats in the league since losing to Barca at Camp Nou early on in the season. The Catalans were keeping shtum about a record of their own, however, and that was Lionel Messi having outscored and outperformed Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo so far in 2014.

The first half was a cracker. Neymar and Benzema exchanged early efforts with Ronaldo attempting to buy a penalty kick from Dani Alves several minutes later. Iniesta drew first blood in the 7th minute finishing beautifully with his left foot after being played in with an incisive Messi through ball to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Neymar, Messi and Benzema had several chances for their respective teams but it was the work of Madrid's Di Maria that really caught the eye. Despite collapsing in an unnerving manner after creating Benzema's headed equaliser to make it 1-1, the Argentine winger was everywhere and tormented los culés down the left flank. He continuously took advantage of the space left by Alves and was a real nuisance to deal with. He assisted a second for Benzema within four minutes, the French striker with a neat nods 'n' vols style finish to give the home side a 2-1 lead.

The first half refused to relent as Real continued to storm forward hoping to extend their lead and put the game beyond doubt. Di Maria continued to run his socks off and if Benzema's finishing had been more consistent throughout, they may well have put daylight between them and their rival visitors. They didn't take their opportunities and were punished just before half-time when Messi pounced upon Real's hesitance in the penalty area and fired home a neat, bottom corner finish to undo what should have been a very good first half for Real. 2-2 HT and Di Maria having the game of his life.

Messi's first half strike meant that he had overtaken Alfredo Di Stéfano's 18 clásico goals but it was Real who struck next thanks to some poor officiating. In the 55th minute, Ronaldo was fouled by Alves outside the box when referee Undianco believed the contact had happened inside. The Portuguese stepped up to the spot and fired his side ahead with ease to give Real a 3-2 lead as things looked ominous in the title race.

Barcelona refused to die however and they fought back ten minutes later. Messi played another superb through-ball into the path of Neymar's sprint as Sergio Ramos came in with the clumsiest of challenges to earn his 19th career red card and a penalty for the Catalans. Messi copied Ronaldo's effort down the other end. 3-3.

With Real reduced to ten men, the complection of the game changed vastly. Real were no longer as much of a threat on the counter attack and Barca, already dominant in possession, now suffocated Ancelotti's side by continuously moving the ball left to right and exhausting the men in white shirts. Pedro replaced Neymar and Alves hit the post and eventually, Tata Martino's side won their second penalty of the game as Alonso bundled into Iniesta as he tussled with Daniel Carvajal inside the area. Messi made no mistake. 4-3 to Barcelona and what a climax to the game.

So 4-3 to Barcelona and the title race has been blown wide open. The Madrid sides are a point above them but Atlético must visit Camp Nou on the final day and Real must hope to maintain that one point lead over Barca as their head-to-head record is now inferior should they finish on level points. It should be a fantastic run-in no matter how you look at it. Each of the last nine remaining league matches are vital and any dropped points could spell disaster for each of the three teams.

Player Ratings:

Real Madrid:

López 6.5; Carvajal 6.0, Pepe 6.5, Ramos 5.0, Marcelo 6.0; Xabi Alonso 6.0, Modric 6.5, Di Maria 9.0; Ronaldo 6.5, Benzema 8.0, Bale 6.5. Subs: Varane 6.0, Isco -.

Barcelona:

Valdes 7.0; Dani Alves 6.5, Pique 6.0, Mascherano 6.5, Jordi Alba 6.0; Busquets 6.5, Xavi 7.0, Iniesta 8.5; Fabregas 7.0, Messi* 9.5, Neymar 7.5 Subs: Pedro 6.5, Alexis -.

* = man of the match