It's a Funny Old Spain!

It's a Funny Old Spain is Back!

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:33:06 -0500

Apologies Spanish footy fans. I've neglected my site for some time now; I've been learning matador tricks and improving my Paella sampling skills, but as from today 'It's a Funny Old Spain' is back.

After the Arse knocked Villarreal out of the Champions, thanks to goals from Walcott, Adebayor and Van Persie, there's only one Spanish team left, Barca.

The semis are between Chelsea and Barca, and Arse and Manchester. The first leg will take place on the 28th and 29th of April and the second on the 5th and 6th of May, the final is on 27th of May.

The question is whether Barca can get past Hiddink's reformed team. After tuesday's 4 v 4 draw with Liverpool, Pep Guardiola has to be thinking that with the likes of Messi, Eto and Henry then he can clearly open up Chelsea's defense again, but will they be able to stop Drogba and Lampard tearing them to pieces?

With regards to La Liga, Barca have pretty much won it, but we all knew that in October, so the fight is on for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th places. My money's on Sevilla and Valencia for 3rd and 4th, Villarreal for 5th and I have a sneaky feeling that Malaga might just creep up to 6th.

At the other end of the table it's just as close as the Premiership, there are only 9 points between Espanyol, 20th, and Osasuna, 11th, so the battle for staying in the Premier division looks as though it's gonna go to the wire.

There are still 8 jornadas left, and some tasty games to come including Sevilla against Valencia, Barca, Real Madrid and Villarreal, so its going to be a classy finish. Who's your money on?

Aguero is a disaster!

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:55:40 -0500

You wouldn't believe it, would you? But, according to Argentina's coach Coco Basile, that's what Sergio Aguero is.

Dubious I hear you say, and I'd have to agree, but why did he say it?

Chile beat Argentina 1 v 0 last Wednesday evening at home in Santiago and at half time Basile was seen whispering to his assistant, Ribolzi, that 'Aguero was a disaster.' He obviously hasn't been watching La Liga. I don't know Kun played against Chile - and to be frank I'm glad Argentina lost-but it's a bit of a harsh comment to make about one of the most wanted players in La Liga this year.

Aguero played a full 90 minutes even though he's been struggling with an injury, which isn't going to help him in the Derby tonight against Real Madrid. Whether or not this comment made about Kun was true I'm sure it's not going to stop him playing on top form in the Derby.

Prediction for tonight's game, well, it's gonna be a cracker of a match, I have to say I'd like Atletico to win be a couple of goals, but I'm going for a draw or a close win for Atletico. If they're gonna have an impact on La Liga this year then they need to start tonight.

Spain are 26 games without loosing, can anyone match that?

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:21:16 -0500

Spain have beaten Estonia tonight 3 v 0 thanks to goals from Juanito, Villa (pen) and Puyol to remain top of the group with three victories in three games and they are now 26 games unbeaten.

Not many teams can boast that statistic at the moment, and it goes to show that Spain are continuing to play with the same style, passion, and flare as they did in the summer. The European Champion's side played with a similar line up; Torres played a decent game even though he didn't score, Sergio Ramos played an energetic 70 minutes even though he wasn't 100% fit, and Puyol kept the defense stern as usual.

The result keeps Spain top of their group with an equally easy tie against Bosnia this Wednesday. After watching the game tonight I can't see anyone stopping their unbeaten run until they face a really challenging side in the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Estonia have now let in 13 goals in three games, their campaign might as well be over, Spain's, on the other hand, is pulsing forward.

Spain to continue their winning streak! Del Bosques got his eyes on the World Cup, and other things.....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:23:38 -0500

Spain take on Estonia this afternoon, in Tallin, and Del Bosque's boys will be looking for their third consecutive victory to qualify for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Spain and Estonia have never met before but the current European Champions shouldn't it find too strenuous to get three points against a team who let in 10 goals in their first two games and are ranked 137 by FIFA.The only major doubts for today's game are Sergio Ramos and Albiol, which means that the likely team will be Casillas, Arbeloa, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila; Cazorla, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Iniesta; Villa Maravilla and super Fernando Torres.

I'm predicting a comfortable win for Spain with Torres and Villa to cause major havoc among the Estonian defense, maybe they can double the amount of goals they've already let in. I reckon Spain will win by a few and Del Bosque’s lads will edge closer to winning the relatively easy group they’ve drawn to qualify for 2010. Rumor has it that Del Bosque can't wait to get his walrus-like mits on the World Cup.....or maybe Villa's bottom, cheeky...........

Sevilla are going for the title!

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 17:41:44 -0500

Or at least they are according to Adriano Correia, Sevilla's Brazilian midfielder.

Adriano has not forgotten that two years ago they let the title slip and the objective of Manolo Jimenez is to win the league this year.

"I wish we could win the league," Adriano stated after yesterday's 4 v 0 trouncing of Athletico. "We've got two other competitions but we were there two years ago and in the end we let it slip through our hands. But this year we've got our hearts set on the league,' he added confidently.

It's early days but Adriano and his boys are definitely a cut above the team who finished fifth in the table last year. They've got a stronger and deeper squad and confidence is a lot higher among the players, managers and fans.

The real tests are to come though, with the UEFA Cup draw for the group stages tomorrow Sevilla are among the top seeds along with AC Milan, Tottenham and Hamburg. They still have to face the major teams in La Liga but this is all good practise and they are going to need a force to stop them this year.

Sevilla to continue fighting or Athletic to make some noise?

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 03:36:22 -0500

Sevilla take on Atletico Bilbao today hoping to continue their excellent run after qualifying for the group stages in the UEFA cup this week.

Sevilla are currently sitting 5th and a win today could see them jump into the Champions League zone depending on other results. Athletico, on the other hand, are 12th and a win could see them edge closer for a UEFA spot. But is that what we're talking about? A possible Champions League candidate facing a UEFA Cup one? I think not, Athletico still have a lot to prove yet.

After Sevilla's performance mid week they'll be firing on full cylinders and don't look to have any major injury problems. Jimenez has stated that 'Athletic are a young and brave team, with a nourished quarry (I guess that means a determined squad, he's a poet but doesn't know it) and this has a lot of merit. They're a rival in the danger zone because they haven't been able to win many games at home,' and also away by the looks of things.

Athletico haven't won at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán for fifteen years, is it time to put an end to their drought? They are still without Joseba Etxeberría due to a twisted ankle and Joaquín Caparrós, manager, is going to introduce three changes to last weeks team who lost at home to Getafe: Garmendia, Muñoz and Lafuente and he's leaving out Del Olmo and Armando.

Prediction? I think it'll be a comfortable win for the Sevillistas against the Lions. 2 v 0 with Kanoute and Capel on the score sheet. The Lions will be leaving hungry and frustrated after a cagey performance.

Who's better, Kun or Messi?

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 16:24:15 -0500

Well it's about time to find out. Tomorrow night, Atletico Madrid, continue their sprawl of tough games against Barcelona at Camp Nou in the 6th Jornada in La Liga. Atletico are seventh in the league and only one point behind Barca, who are fifth, so could jump over them with a victory tomorrow night.

But how possible is that going to be? Will it be a question of Messi or Kun smashing in the goals? Pep Guardiola, unbiased of course, thinks that although Kun is a star player Messi is a better one 'I'm still saying that Aguero is very good, but for me Messi is better.' Of course he's gonna say that, and maybe he's right, but in a couple of years time it will probably be a different story.

The point is though that tomorrow is the big show down.Pep is obviously aware of this and has admitted to telling Messi 'Not to try and win the game himself.' When asked if he knew what Messi thought of Kun he said 'I don't know if he has a personal reason to win the game, I only hope that we win because it would put us high dynamically.'

If you changed Messi for Kun, just for tomorrows match, then what would happen? Would Kun fit in with Eto and Inesta? Would Messi gel with Luis Garcia and Pongolle? Is there any point comparing the quality that the two have alongside them? Messi has far greater team mates, so does that mean that Kun is better after all?Yeah I know, too many questions, let's leave it to the professionals.

My prediction is 2 v 1 to Barca with Messi and Kun both scoring own goals.

Villarreal on track for Champions qualification but still a long way to go.

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 04:45:05 -0500

Villarreal kept with the same spirits that they have initiated with in La Liga by beating Celtic 1 v 0 at home last night thanks to a direct free kick slotted home in the 66th minute by Senna. They now stand second in the league on four points while Manchester Utd are top on goal difference.

It's was a vital win for Villarreal but manager Pellegrini said that the result didn't reflect what happened on the pitch 'It was hard and complicated, at this level there is little difference between the teams,' he said. He thinks his team was the better side but has noted that there is still a lot of work to do 'To clasify we need ten points, we've got four but there's still a long way to go even though Celtic and Aalborg have dropped points.' It's a great start though, to go away at Manchester and get a point, even though Manchester were off form, was an excellent start and to beat Celtic has lined them up in a pretty sexy position.

Gordon Strachan wasn't happy with the decision about the free kick which led to the goal 'My players aren't convinced it was a foul, I'm not going to comment on it because you can see it on the television, all I'm saying is that it was decisive.' You're not wrong there Strachan; join the club, it seems like at the end of every major game the referee's decision has a vital impact, but that's nothing new I suppose. Strachan has already admitted there is a huge mountain to climb; but nothing's impossible, look at how Liverpool started last year and they got to the Semis.

The stats show that Villarreal had 62% of the ball possession and had more shots on goal and won more corners, the only things that Celtic had more of was fouls committed and yellow cards, perhaps a bit of frustration flying about.

Either way it's an excellent start for Pellegrini's boys, lets hope they can keep it up and qualify!

What is the secret to Valencia's new found form?

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:30:06 -0500

According to Joaquin, striker for Valencia, the reason that his team are currently out playing everyone and top of the league is because now they have a decent manager, Unai Emery.

Joaquin has slated their ex manager Ronald Koeman of Holland and said that 'fortunately, this year we have a manager.' He also commented that 'The changing room has changed a lot (new colour maybe?) and you can feel a different sensation. Now when you enter you forget about last year's problems.'

Emery, who was born in Hondarribia, has only managed Almeria and Lorca before but has made an profound impact with his new squad. But why had he been so successful? If you compare his experience to Ronald Koeman, who has helped manage the Dutch national side, and also won the Dutch league with PSV, and the Copa Del Rey with Valencia last year, you'd have thought that if he couldn't turn Valencia around then no one could.

But Koeman was sacked (even though they won the cup) in April last year after they were 15th and only two points of relegation.

Emery has certainly worked his magic and is doing something right. Can he keep it up though? I reckon he can, what do you think?

Jimenez earns back his respect after Sevilla nick three points away at Atletico.

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:11:29 -0500

Luis Fabiano's beautifully placed free kick was the only goal needed for Sevilla to come away from Madrid an estatic bunch with three points to their name - Atletico 0 v Sevilla 1.

Jimenez has been under heavy critiscim recently and after tinight's brave display it should get the fans and press back on his side.

Atletico started the match a few key players short and it proved too much against a solid Sevilla defense. Atletico lack creativity as they failed to impress a home crowd as convincingly as they have recently; even Kun lack his magic tonight.

So is this the turning point for Atletico who now face a tough three matches against Barca, Madird and Villarreal, maybe they still aren't up to the standards of the top bunch.

Sevilla, on the other hand, will be extremely content with their display tonight and maybe Jimenez can get some sleep for a change.

Both teams are in Europe this week so keep your eyes out. La Liga is hotting up.