The Need of a Striker

Another week of football has hit planet earth, and done so in the most classical of ways.
Cream - Born Under A Bad Sign


Inter's run through the woods
    Another win and some potential 11 points ahead of the second, Inter switch gear. 3-0. Even Serie A 2009 coach of the year Allegri could not get his Catania to do better. The score is sore and deceptive for a team who plays uncanny, rapid and attacking football, but against a serious, concentrated (seriously concentrated?) Inter where Eto'o, Milito and Pandev bring defenders to their knees with a disconcerting ease, nothing can be done. Two goals in 20 minutes, a third by the second Serie A top scorer, Julio Cesar's saves, Zanetti's running, solid defending (even without Lucio) all topped by a great performance from a January arrival. Classic. 

  Behind, the final rush to pick the crumbles (at least that is for now) is starting to catch on. Despite two crossbars and constant pressing, Milan come back with a sad 0-0 from Bologna. Leo might give out his usual (boring/cheesy/bland) positivist speech, Pato is starting to be missed. Hence Milan loses its second place to Roma, victorious in Florence 0-1.  A lot of talking to the referee, falling, hand gestures, 3-day beards and gel to make an entertaining game. Fiorentina indeed need an unbelievable amount of chances to put one in: apparently 20 shots (even Vargas') and innumerable Jovetic-inventions were not enough on Sunday (just watch what De Silvestri missed), not the most conforting thought when getting ready for Champion's League. On the other side, Totti plays a half (hearted?) game, De Rossi keeps the team on its feet, Mexes ressucitates and finally Roma's always excellent Vucinic then capitalizes at the 82' after a suffered second half and voila, Roma wins some precious points in the European race. Classic.
    Behind (some more), Juve is still regretting having let Ranieri go back to his Roma -see previous paragraph- and wonder what else they can do in order to mascerade it all. This week Zaccheroni (put in place two weeks ago) decides to move to three defenders so that everyone else has to play more defensively. Result: fouls a gogo, the slow Felipe Melo rightly expelled, Diego choked by too many midfielders (his own most of the time), Amauri playing post (it's a new position), and a 1-1 draw against Livorno thanks to a goal by a defender of course, Legrottaglie. That's what happens when you have no big time forwards. Just watch Di Natale eat Napoli's defense in less than 3 stoppage-time minutes for a 3-1 win at home and you (they?) will understand. Lazio is now in the relegating zone after its president brought war to the changing room and another home defeat to Catania, just in time for an upcoming drama-soap about Zarate's end of contract (if you don't know him you ought to, your big-name team will probably buy him next). Classic.


And then, only two were left

    Ahh, the headliners, the games you live to see. This week it was Chelsea - Arsenal, because last week it was Arsenal - Manchester, because next week it's Liverpool - Arsenal, and because they lost the first one, the Gunners  were scared. Rightly so. In fact, there was no real game. Ancelotti understood that all he had to do was cement the axis (Ballack, Lampard, Mikel), make the small (sizewise) Arsenal players necessarily cross and the defense would have an easy afternoon. Then after Terry/Carvalho heads the ball out, give it to Drogba who devours all when it come to duels (in the air, speed, strength, shot, hair). Get a corner kick, headers you win, Drogba second post, goal. Then for the formality make Lampard carry out a school-type counter attack where the DD scores a Pro-Evo goal (I score them all the time like that, just ask a friend of mine), and then watch. Also make sure you have Petr Cech in goal, he is unbeatable some nights. Arsenal did more than watch, but it just seemed Chelsea had the maturity to play without the ball (I understand myself): play rough but necessary. So what is it? Do they miss Van Persie? Henry? Dare I say Adebayor? Arsenal loses another big game and possibly (or logically) the title. Classic.

    Behind (I'm gonna try to find a synonym by next week) the Meyerside derby was second to attract attention. The game is ugly, fouls from each side, yellow cards on each side and of course one red card on each side. Not only were there many fouls but also the best kind: leaving your elbow out after having missed a header so the opponent gets in the nose (Cahill), double team one player so that when down the other can step on him/slide/kick the ball at him (all of the players but mostly Gerrard and Pienaar), the famous pretend to try to block a shot but really aim to leave your footprint on your opponent's knee,  and finally big-ups to Marouane Fellaini who after having guessed an assassination-attempt-tackle by Kyrigiakos gives him taste of his cleats before falling and provoking the red the Greek will receive. Congratulations. Ugly game, 1-0 Liverpool thanks to Kuyt. Ugly game, ugly goal, ugly goal scorer. Classic.
     At the same time Manchester United eats raw delicious Hull City, Rooney in front as usual, Manchester City slows down (I mean if you really want to buy Vieira, that's your choice but you cannot hide from the consequences)  and Tottenham become evermore Rock'n Rolla by doing whatever they want. Classic.


Spain and Germany 
       In Spain, things are becoming more and more classic by the week. Barcelona wins 3-0 against a courageous Espanyol side and without Ronaldo. Sergio Ramos with his head, Kaka with his reaction time and Higuain with a Del Piero control and an Henry fake to easily surpass the goalie. Nothing else, not even the impression of cohesion. Barcelona, with Pique sent off and later Marquez, continue their caritative tour of Spain (oh, this is the actual championship?) with goals from Messi (22, 100 goals for Barcelona, just so you know) and I-look-like-I-would-never-pass-the-ball-but-in-fact-I-am-the-best-at-it Xavi (not to confuse with I-also-give-the-best-passes-in-the-world-but-no-one-notices-me Iniesta), win 2-1 against Getafe who scored thanks to Soldado (Real Madrid 2005 anyone?). Not great but 3  easy points anyways. Barcelona 55 points, Real Madrid 50 points, the third 42. Classic

     Behind (every great man, there is a great woman) Valencia (the third) continues its respectable chamionship by being the only one in some paralell rhythm. 2-0 win over Vallaloid with Villa's 15th of the season. After that things get a bit messy: Villareal can't get it right after Pellegrini's departure, at a 10th position the Yello Submarine concedes its ninth defeat of the season to the surprising fourth Mallorca thanks to Nunes' goal. Atletico Madrid continue to be the most irregular team on earth (see Tottenham for comparaison) and draw 1-1 at Santander while Sevilla hit a bone at Zaragoza to move down from fourth to fifth. In Spain the interesting race will take place from the 5th to the 10th place. Again. Classic

     In Germany, the weekend offered a nice match-up between last year's champions (and this years reality check) Wolfsburg and last year's reality check (and probably this year's champions, funny how things go) Bayern Munich. After we saw Robben score from a backpass after a nice play and Daniel Van Buyten score his now classic header, we saw two other things (and 70 minutes of play). We finally got a glimpse of Ribery again, and looking a that little chip over the keeper, his feet seem fine. We also saw Grafite miss a penalty kick, very much as a symbol for this season: as a message saying "This time we know", the keeper at least did (don't feel too bad he got to score later on, 3-1 final). Leverkusen hit a hard spot and had to neutralize itself 1-1 with Bochum, Dedic responding to Derdiyok. Munich and Leverkusen are now both first in the standings and I have a sneaky feeling that whoever gets on top first will stay there until the end. Classic.


TFO