duel of the x-men at heart of real madrid passion play with barcelona _ sid lowe _ football _ the...

7/31/2019 Duel of the X-Men at Heart of Real Madrid Passion Play With Barcelona _ Sid Lowe _ Football _ the Observer

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/duel-of-the-x-men-at-heart-of-real-madrid-passion-play-with-barcelona-sid 1/14

Real Madrid v Barcelona, Champions League semi-final first leg, Wednesday 27

April 7.45

Forget Ronaldo v Messi, the midfield collision of Xabi and Xavi is

set to decide a dazzling Champions League semi-final

Sid Lowe

The Observer, Sunday 24 April 2011

Article history

Xabi Alonso, above, and Xavi are the 'brains' of Real Madrid and Barcelona, supplying their teams with superb

passing and control. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Allstar

There was something striking about the cheat notes an English player smuggled into a

Spanish press room and sneaked under the desk, ready to recite when the moment was

right. "And how," he had asked as he copied out the phrases the day before, "do you say

that?" The answer was simple: exactly as it's written. One of the beauties of Spanish is

that it is largely phonetic. This is not a country that makes spelling mistakes, except for

one: Bs and Vs sound virtually identical, ending up erroneously exchanged. Some things

become indistinguishable – like voting (votar ) and bouncing (botar ).

Or Xavi and Xabi.

Xavi and Xabi, Xabi and Xavi. Xavi Hernández and Xabi Alonso. They are the X-men

currently in the midst of their side's midfields and in the thick of an epic in four chapters

– a saga in which Barcelona have been left as virtual league champions and Madrid as

actual Copa del Rey winners, in which the trophy that matters most, the climax, will be

decided over the next 10 days.

"Indistinguishable" might be pushing it. Not least because Catalan and Basque roots

mean that those with sharp hearing can tell the pair apart – not because of the V or the

B but because of the X, from a "ch" sound for Xavi to "sh" for Xabi. And because there

are differences to their games: Xabi is taller, more imposing, his position is a little more

static, a little deeper; Xavi provides the final pass more often, Spain's most important

assist provider last season. Xabi's passes travel further; Xavi's travel faster.

Yet there is a striking mutual respect between them and a similarity that, for all the

l of the X-men at heart of Real Madrid passion play with Barcelona... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/24/real-madrid-barcelona...

r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



focus on Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi, may make of them the central actors in the

drama about to unfold. One that means that it just feels right that they play together for

Spain. These are the men who will face each other in the heart of midfield, the men

entrusted with bringing an identity to their teams, whose job it is not just to play better

but make others play better too.

Xavi is Barcelona's ideologue – bright, opinionated and analytical, the man Pep

Guardiola told: "I can't imagine Barça without you." Xabi is one of the few players to

discuss tactics with José Mourinho, to contradict him and suggest other approaches, a

leader within the Madrid dressing room – intelligent, communicative, quietly

authoritative, bringing calm to a team that plays at breakneck speed. These are Madrid

and Barcelona's cerebros: their brains.

Real football people, insightful and passionate about the game, in awe at the passion it

provokes and absolutely assured as to the way it can be played, they are team-mates and

fellow travellers for Spain. And for all the differences between the clubs, for all that

Guardiola and Mourinho have divergent approaches, for all that their identities diverged

further over the past week than they ever have before, there is an inescapable similarity

between them.

Just ask the men who have faced them. When Almería played Barcelona last season,

their then coach, Hugo Sánchez, ordered one of his players to man-mark Xavi, cuttingoff Barcelona's football "at source". When Almería drew with Madrid earlier this season,

their then coach, José Luis Oltra, was most concerned with stopping Xabi. "We had to

make sure Alonso had as little of the ball as possible," Oltra said. "He is the Madrid

player who most makes sense of the game – he plays the best long passes, the best final

pass and the controls the game best. There is a real criteria to the way he plays."

Only two Madrid players have won possession back more times than Alonso, but it is

that passing, the control, that has been judged to have most defined him here. Just as it

is with Xavi.

Guardiola rests Xavi only when he must. Mourinho has avoided rotations this season

but when big games come it is Alonso he seeks to protect first. Apart from the 5-0 defeat

to Barcelona in November, Madrid have been beaten just twice – by Osasuna and

Sporting. Alonso did not start either game. He was missing last year, too, when Madrid

were knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon. Liverpool fans who witnessed their

side's collapse after Alonso's departure will be familiar with the feeling.

"It turned out that Madrid could play without Cristiano Ronaldo," wrote one columnist,

"but they couldn't play without Alonso." As for Xavi, the thought of his retirement has

fans of Spain and Barcelona breaking into a cold sweat. They play as they do because he

makes them.

Although he identifies most closely with the city of San Sebastián, Xabi Alonso's father,

Periko, played for Barcelona for three years and played for Sabadell, meaning that Xabi

lived in the Catalan capital for six years, near the city's Avenida Diagonal. So maybethere is a natural affinity, born of experience and location. There is a certain a

complicity of criteria and approach, as well as a mutual appreciation.

Friends recall Alonso returning to Liverpool from the Spain squad, stunned by what he

had seen Xavi do. But do not take their word for it. Alonso describes Xavi as the player

who "probably has the best passing ratio in history if you look at possession,

participation and how rarely he loses the ball." "When you are in the middle of a

Barcelona rondo [keep the ball]," he told Público, "you feel impotent. You need to know

when to put your foot in or else, pum-pum-pum and they get away from you. Xavi loses

so, so few. I am lucky to have enjoyed that with the Spanish national team. But when I

am with Madrid, I suffer it." He added: "In fact, that was the worst experience of my

footballing life."

The lack of control hurts. Much like his counterpart, control is what Alonso is there to

provide. While Xavi Hernández has completed more passes than anyone else in Spain

this season, 2,794 – 400 more than anyone else – Xabi Alonso has completed 1,558


r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



Staff

Contributor

B r ad Go o d m an

24 April 2011 11:18AM

Anybody else a little tired of Barca and their 1 million passes with

94% pass completion rate, holier than thou attitude? Clip | Link

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B a n k e r B a s h e r

24 April 2011 11:36AM

Watching Barcelona is better than sex - pure orgasm!! Yes

Barcelona is very pleasurable to watch - I just love watching

them!!

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Com m en ts

114 comments, displaying first

(before Saturday's games). That is more than anyone in the Madrid side, by a huge

difference. He is the only Madrid player in the top 10 and just two non-Barcelona

players are ahead of him: Verdú from Espanyol and Villarreal's Bruno. Perhaps, then, it

is little surprise that, asked which Madrid player he would steal ready for this series of

clásicos, Xavi replied: "Xabi." "Xabi," Xavi said, "is the player that could best adapt to

our associative game. He has enormous talent, he is very quick in his use of the ball and

very intelligent."

Last Saturday in La Liga, you might have begged to differ; on Wednesday night in the

Copa del Rey final even more so. Alonso's game appeared altered. He played long and

direct, rarely choosing his passes with characteristic care and reaching half-time with

the kind of statistics that screamed at you, so unusual were they. He had completed

fewer passes than Víctor Valdés. By the full-time whistle, with the score at 1-1, he had

completed just 16. Xavi, in contrast, had clocked up well over one hundred.

That was a fact most noted in the Barcelona camp – and with a quiet hint of

disappointment, as if they looked on Alonso like a good kid who had got in with the

wrong crowd. Patronising, perhaps. Puritanical, certainly. After all, Madrid had

stemmed the bleeding. Defeated 5-0 in November, now the score was 1-1. And better

was to come. But, still, it was true.

Three days later, the feeling grew even more intense, this time turning bitter and angry.In an often fractious Copa del Rey final, in which the mutual affection appeared buried

forever, in which Spanish national team-mates on both sides were locked in feuds all

over the field, Xavi again racked up a huge number of passes: 135. Alonso completed

just 35. But this time, it did not matter: Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey and might

even have found a formula for beating Barcelona in Europe, too.

For Xabi that new formula meant a revolution in his role. Yet he embraced it. He had

not failed; he had, rather, succeeded in playing a different role. The question is whether

it is a role that will prosper over the next two meetings. A role in which Xabi was not like

Xavi. This time telling them apart was easy. Xabi Alonso was the one holding the Cup.


r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



Being a Liverpool fan I always knew how great Xabi Alonso is -

our best midfielder since the 90s, yes that includes Gerrard!! It's

a shame that he wasn't appreciated in the premiership and still

amazes me how the British press tried to hype Gareth "Snail"

Barry as better than him!!

However, Xavi is absolutely amazing especially the way he

controls and dictates play, and Alonso is no way near his class -

he is easily one of the best midfielder ever to grace football!! I

remember some stupid comments made by the British media

during Euro08!!

Lond on 20 12

24 April 2011 11:39AM

Me too!

Much as I like Real Madrid, I can't be bothered with the hype

over Mourinho. Shame there are only two teams in the Primera

Ligue this year.

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Pe te t e

24 April 2011 11:39AM

This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't

abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted.

For more detail see our FAQs.

Lond on 20 12

24 April 2011 11:41AM

Banker seriously? I can only think that either you are doing it

wrong or you are doing it with the wrong person. Clip | Link

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Gwlad g a r o l

24 April 2011 11:47AM

@ Brad.

No.Clip | Link

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B a n k e r B a s h e r

24 April 2011 11:50AM

London2012,

Lol....No mate, don't have a problem doing it wrong in that

department!! My speciality is doing it the "Tika-taka" style -

complete domination of the opposition!!

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e l t e l sp u r ca

24 April 2011 11:58AM

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Plu to m u s t s t ay

24 April 2011 11:59AM

As a Liverpool fan I find this article compelling but also

incredibly depressing. This is a player who never had any

intention of leaving, but was forced out by the sheer

pig-headedness of our erstwhile manager. Rafa is a complete

gent and a wonderful human being, but any notion that he

should manage our club ever again should be measured against

the seeds of havoc he sew through his treatment of Alonso.

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f u tb o la r i24 April 2011 12:00PM

bankbasher- do not forget it was Rafa who hyped up Barry and

targeted him as a replacement for xabi-maybe because the latter Clip | Link

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r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



wanted to be presenrt at his son's birth instead of going to work.

As a Rsociedad and Liverpool fan I will never forgive him for

going to RM

Steven Sm ith 19

24 April 2011 12:07PM

As a Rsociedad and Liverpool fan I will never forgive

him for going to RM

Can you blame him? He has come out several times since and

stated that he loved Liverpool and wanted to stay but was made

to feel insignificant and unwanted by Benitez.

It didn't help that the British media campaign tried to declare

Barry as England's most important player, versatile, truly

brilliant etc.

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i l locon

24 April 2011 12:09PM

Great article, Sid.

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v o lv e r a lp u eb lo

24 April 2011 12:16PM

Well, in terms of injury situation, peak in form and ability to

close down Barcelona for two games I guess most people's pick

will be RM to go through.

Just a little reminder then....Barcelona completely dominated

the 2nd half on Wednesday and did actually create 3-4 fantastic

chances, including an absolutely incredible Messi-move leading

to a goal disallowed because Pedro was leaning 20-30 cm into

offside.

In addition, if there is something these players relish it is to play

when everyone is up and questioning them and their style - cue

November, where the consensus seemed to be that Madrid would

win in the Camp Nou to affirm the 'regime change'.

So I guess not all is lost just yet for us culés.....

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Ta lo n ad e

24 April 2011 12:21PM

I find Sid Lowe's writing hard to read, it just dosnt flow, he has a

clumsy style that puts me off some interesting content.

Also feels like a lot of ideas are regurgitated from Spanish press.

Sweet gig he's got anyway, so peace.

Hype over Barca is unbearable, tho I love their ethos. The clash

with Mourinho's footballing realpolitik and tactical brio is

fascinating, these are golden times.

Man Utd - Madrid final as Mourinho's trial to take over from the

great SAF and extend their imminent domestic preeminence?

Raul to break Barca hearts at Wembley?

"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't

take it, like my heart's going to cave in"

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For m icaAtom ica

24 April 2011 12:36PM

Both great great players.

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r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



Liked the x-men thing. Clip | Link bel lo ta

24 April 2011 12:42PM

Yes two football player and they are different. In Spanish

Selection they are magic middle-field, but Barcelona and Real

Madrid are different team. Two ways if you will win. Well Xavi

and Xavi are special football player, the style, the kicker.

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Do lp h in b o y 1 9 8 424 April 2011 12:43PM

Plutomuststay

I'm a Liverpool fan also but your, and other, comment/s seems

to forget the 2006/2007-2007/2008 seasons when Alonso was

dire. In my opinion Rafa had good justification to sell a player

who seemed content warming the bench. Then amazingly when

an attempt was made to sell him to Juventus but fell through, he

upped his game, and, for me, was player of the season

2008/2009. It would be very easy to blame Rafa but Alonso has

to take responsibility for his poor performances during those

seasons.

I guess the story itself has some relevance to the Gerrard fiasco

in 2005 when he flirted with moving to Chelsea. Benitez, being a

terrible man manager, because of his cold hearted approach

made Gerrard feel unwanted, maybe the same happened to

Alonso.

Although, reflecting on these events does make me happy that

times seem simpler at Anfield.

Anyways, on to the subject. Decent article Sid, although it will be

very difficult to ever come to a real conclusion as to who is the

superior. On paper Xavi will have the most direct influence on

goal scoring but Xabi will usually orchestrate the beginning of a

move rather than assist it. So many times watching Liverpool did

I get to see Alonso provide that pass just before the assist.

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e l t e l sp u r ca

24 April 2011 12:43PM

@Talonade

I find Sid Lowe's writing hard to read, it just dosnt

flow, he has a clumsy style that puts me off some

interesting content.

Like, um Dan Brown or Stieg Larsson? Knock it off, Sid's good to

read.

"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel

like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in"

except when Mourinho's teams are playing . . .

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R ea lMad

24 April 2011 12:50PM

Why Real Madrid would let Sergio Ramos be vice-captain overXabi Alonso is beyond belief. Why they would let him hold the

Copa del Rey? Ludicrous.

Iker Casillas makes a good enough captain, but he isn’t in the

middle of the field. This seniority thing is over-rated.

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r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



Time for Capitan Equis.s u b s u b

24 April 2011 12:56PM

utbolari

24 April 2011 12:00PM

bankbasher- do not forget it was Rafa who hyped up

Barry and targeted him as a replacement for

xabi-maybe because the latter wanted to be presenrt

at his son's birth instead of going to work.

As a Rsociedad and Liverpool fan I will never forgive

him for going to RM

Bit harsh, that.

He was bought for £10m and sold for £30m. His wife,

apparently, told him that she wanted their children raised in

Spain. He acted like a gentleman while at Liverpool.

I wish he hadn't left, but I have nothing but good wishes for the

man.

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s u b s u b24 April 2011 12:59PM

I find Sid's writing a little strained at times, too.

The British media has an obsession with slipping in a word or

two of foreign language in the mistaken belief that it makes them

sound sophisticated.

I know Sid is fluent in Spanish, and that there are some words

that really cannot be translated easily, but he chucks them in his

copy so often, it feels like he's doing it for effect sometimes.

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BlueinBet is

24 April 2011 1:01PM

For all those, who only weeks ago were predicting Barca's

unprecedented winning of primera and segunda.

¡Toma!

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v o lv e r a lp u eb lo

24 April 2011 1:05PM

As an interesting aside...

Just read Guardiola's comments after the game last night and it

seems he has decided a change of discourse is called for:

- Questioned on the possibility of a Portuguese ref on Wednesday

he said Mou would be 'delighted, just as he was in the first leg

last year'.

- Speaking of going to the Bernabéu he said they'd 'have the

chance to see if the grass has grown some more'

And so forth.

Personally, I'm happy with the change of style. While I don't

want my manager moaning about the ref after every game, I

don't see why Barcelona should never ever pressure the refs likeMou does on a daily basis. O senhor Benquerenca had a decisive

impact last year at the San Siro and without him Inter would've

been out, which is something that bears repeating every bit as

much as Chelsea fans love to remember a certain Norwegian

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r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



official. L o r d X e n u

24 April 2011 1:13PM

Anybody else a little tired of Barca and their 1 million

passes with 94% pass completion rate, holier than

thou attitude?

Fuck no.

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J am esPatr ickPage

24 April 2011 1:14PM

I think Mourinho will be very happy indeed with a guy that sent

off twice while at Porto in Portugal...

But that cannot be Guardiola surely! Because Pep has literally

stated several times that he never talks about referees. There

must be a mistake somewhere.

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Ki th o u

24 April 2011 1:20PM

This article is totally wrong. Xavi is pronounced with a 'sh' sound

not a 'ch' one. Sounds exactly like Xabi, except maybe in the

Balearic Islands where they do make a distinction between 'v'

and 'b'.

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a g u e r o

24 April 2011 1:23PM

Pedantry warning

I am sure Sid speaks very good Spanish and it seems churlish to

point out that voting and bouncing are actually tranlsated as

votando and botando not vote and bounce, but his "[t]here is a

real criteria to the way he plays..." not only is not good English

and makes criteria a singular when it is really plural but also falls

into the trap of using a false friend. "Con criterio" (not "criteria")

means something like with great judgement or, more

idiomatically, "with fantastic vision"...

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m ar k e f r an k

24 April 2011 1:27PM

No, I don't get bored of their passing. It amazes me to be honest.

And, I thoroughly enjoy when they are in form, their constantriddle-solving, always looking for the way through. It is like

watching someone pick a lock. I love it. I know many, especially

in the UK, don't really care for Barça, but I can't think of another

team I would prefer to watch (although Tottenham on a good

night is fantastic as well!).

And, I think Sid Lowe is actually a splendid writer. He may be

hard to follow sometimes, but that is because he is actually

enjoying his choice of words, and playing a bit with them and

what he is trying to say.

I think Madrid are favourites, but I think Barça could still

triumph.

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lam b ino

24 April 2011 1:37PM

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r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



Outside of the clásicos, they are the key men for each team. But

when they go head to head, it looks much more like Di María and

Pepe are the key for Madrid, whereas Barça are still searching for

theirs. They've not had one standout player in the last two

games, not writing any of them off, mind.

Can see Pique and Iniesta being the men for the job.

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ReportR u p r i c t

24 April 2011 1:43PM

Xabi Alonso is a very good player, but he is not remotely in the

same class as Xavi Hernandez. Clip | Link

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e l t e l sp u r ca

24 April 2011 1:49PM

@aguero

Pedantry warning

I am sure Sid speaks very good Spanish and it seems

churlish to point out that voting and bouncing are

actually tranlsated as votando and botando not vote

and bounce, but his "[t]here is a real criteria to the

way he plays..." not only is not good English and

makes criteria a singular when it is really plural but

also falls into the trap of using a false friend. "Con

criterio" (not "criteria") means something like with

great judgement or, more idiomatically, "with

fantastic vision"...

It is churlish, because in Spanish you tend to use infinitives

where we use gerunds in English. Try "Fumando perjudica su

salud".

I'll give you "criteria", though. "Criterion" would be OK, and not

really a false friend. It can mean "standard" which I think is what

he wants to say.

Any other teachers out there?

PS What do teachers call Santa's little helpers?

- Subordinate clauses.

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R ich te r B o jack

24 April 2011 1:50PM

@BradGoodman:

No. I'm not sure what astounds me more, your post or the

number of recommendations. When you can articulate what

exactly is wrong with enjoying the best pure passing side in

years, I'd like to hear it.

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M e h d i

24 April 2011 1:55PM

Xabi Alonso - a celebration of complete mediocrity. Xabi Alonso

is the most overrated footballer in the World. Real Madrid paid

€35 million for a player that can't tackle, can't shoot and

averages 5 assists a season. "That's not his role" yes his role is to

pass square to superior team-mates. €35 million for that?

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B e s o n d e r s

24 April 2011 1:59PM

BradGoodman

24 April 2011 11:18AM

Anybody else a little tired of Barca and their 1 million

passes with 94% pass completion rate, holier than

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r 14 12/02/2012 15:53



thou attitude?

I get bored with it sometimes.

I wouldn't watch them if they didn't have (1) incredible quality

(2) Lionel Messi doing something different.

On (1), it gets like watching someone play a perfect ten-pin

bowling match, or game of pinball. Remarkable, yes, but for how

long? How long could you admire the Arsenal offside trap, as

outstanding and successful as it was? And put up with their fanseulogising it because it won trophies?

On (2), imagine if every team in the World tried to play like

Barcelona? They can't all be as good, and they can't all have

Messi. It'd be like watching the 1994 World Cup finals, where all

the sussessful teams had the same defensive-minded counter-

attacking style.

I don't know about any holier-than-thou attitude. But I have had

the experience that if you do anything less than drool over

tika-taka, some people talk to you as though you don't know

anything about football. (Whereas they know everything,

because they worship Barcelona and Spain).

Tika-taka is just one kind of football, same as catennaccio, Total

Football, and passing it back to Clemence/Grobbelaar. Barcelona

are great at it, but I'm glad they're the only ones devoted to it.

el ju l i

24 April 2011 2:11PM

Velazquez or Picasso? King Kenny or Ian Rush? Tesla or Edison?

Why do we always have to choose one? It is in this society to

undermine one and support the other one.

Madridista myself and in love with Barcelona' style (most likely

because that gave us the most important trophy I will ever

celebrate) and I think we have one of the best confrontations of our times in front of us.

Mourinho is an excellent coach that has excelled in a lot of

different situations and Guardiola has turned a well known style

into pure art. Xabi is Mourinho's guardian in the field and Xavi is

Guardiola's mirror.

They are both equally admirable.

P.S. Touching briefly on the Xabi situation at Liverpool. I

personally blame Rafa for misreading the situation, for thinking

that football was on top of someone's family. Rafa' success is

precisely due to his extreme dedication to football and having

everything under control but that time Xabi's life was way ahead

football and Rafa didn't understand or didn't want to

understand.

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J am esPatr ickPage

24 April 2011 2:18PM

Xabi Alonso is a superb football player,. It's not even funny

suggesting the contrary. Whoever has followed Madrid last two

seasons, or Liverpool the previous one knows how important and

influential the Basque has been. He's an incredible footballer

with fantastic positioning, awareness and ability to set the tempo

in midfield and read an incredibly wide set of game situations

executing the right option at the right moment. I fail to see a

player who is as good as him as deep lying midfielder in the

world at the moment.

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a g u e r o

24 April 2011 2:22PM

@etelspurca

Fair enough re: the infinitives! (Though in your example I'd

translate it as smoking - he wouldn't let it lie...)

on criterio do you really think he means standard? I think the whole point is the players are above standard... cultured,

superior reading of the game, fine judgement, discernment, etc. I

suppose I said false friend because its a classic case of a single

word translation not working and I think Sid does that quite a

lot.

But I know this thread isn't about this - it's just that I've got

nothing useful to say about the football, other than that I think

they are both great, but that I've always particulalrly liked Xabi's

bearing.

Sorry I won't bother you again

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subjec t iveobjec t ive

24 April 2011 2:26PM

Superb stuff Sid - I really like your staccato sentences

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ur 14 12/02/2012 15:53



punctuating the longer paragraphs. It makes for great reading.

Personally I prefer Xabi to Xavi. Despite the wonderful viewing

that Xavi and his teammates provide his style sometimes

frustrates me, as if he is playing one pass to many. I realise this is

somewhat paradoxical considering the philosophy of 'tiki-taka'

and the rondo, and especially Xavi's role in the team as the

metronome, but I sometimes long for more of those Xabi passes

that float languidly over the heads of the midfield and land on

the chest or the feet of the winger on the other side of the pitch.

It's the trademark of Scholes and, recently I've noticed, Rooney

too, and it's what makes an indiviudal a particularly special

footballer en mi opinión.

Although these two men are unfortunately nearing the end of

their careers the man to take over the mantle is an even more

beautiful player to watch methinks - Andres Iniesta.

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24 April 2011 2:52PM

To even mention Gareth Barry in the same sentence as either

Xabi or Xavi is a joke. I agree though, Alonso when he was at

Liverpool was effective but not amazing. Xavi and Iniesta on the

other hand are outstanding.

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Eldr i tch24 April 2011 2:56PM

It has to be said: this is lovely writing.

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bm m alik8 0

24 April 2011 2:58PM

no point mentioning mourinho and beauty in the same post,

those 2 words simply dont go together, and frankly, i dont think

the growing number of nihilists in madrid really care.

and i think its time pep did voice his opinion on certain issues

that impact games.

" we will see if the grass has grown longer". hahah thats

hilarious.

and perhaps is answers one of the questions that this article

throws up.

xabi vs xavi, ronaldo vs messi, ozil vs iniesta.

i know barca are a well tuned unti, but its pretty obvious that the

barca players mentioned above are reasonably far ahead of their

madrid counterparts and i guess mou knows this or he wouldnt be packing players behind the ball and kicking the shit out of the

opposition.

barca are certainly down right now, and it seems that the

footballing world in general believe that the tide has turned (

even barca fans are now filled with trepidation).

mourinho said that barca were very good but they were only

spanish champions.

i guess his mama never told him not to tempt fate.

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R ea lMad

24 April 2011 3:19PM

Off topic: Sid's interview with Raul was pretty soft, none of the

hard questions we'd all like to hear his answer to. But more

importantly, here's an interview I would love to see in the

Guardian: Sid Lowe takes on Matilde Mourinho.

Enquiring minds want to know.

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M a g n u s s o n

24 April 2011 3:26PM

bankerbasher

Being a Liverpool fan I always knew how great Xabi

Alonso is - our best midfielder since the 90s, yes that

includes Gerrard!! It's a shame that he wasn't

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ur 14 12/02/2012 15:53



appreciated in the premiership and still amazes me

how the British press tried to hype Gareth "Snail"

Barry as better than him!!

What are you on about? The only person in England that didn't

appreciate how important Alonso was to Liverpool was his

compatriot: Benitez!

J u l ioGotan Corn el io

24 April 2011 3:34PM

Good article Sid Lowe

Xabi Alonso is overrated. In England he was seen as a tactical

master and midfield beacon because:

1.It' was England.. where anyone with 10% tactical knowledge is

already ahead of locas

2.Next to Steven Gerrard it isn't hard to look composed and

measured.

Xabi's first season with Real was poor. As a few switched on

media folk said, if he'd been an African player the press would

have attacked him (Mahama Diarra).

In the World Cup Xabi was a slow, ponderous substitue for

Marcos Senna (who had a similar role at Euro 2008). He takes

ages to decide what to do.

The odd throughball on the counterattack against weaker la Liga

teams isn't enough for him to be anything but the worst player in

the Spain team. He isn't the brain of anything.

Nice man though, I gather

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M a g n u s s o n

24 April 2011 3:37PM

Don't really understand the criticism regarding Sid Lowe's

writing. Seems a bit petty and pointless given that this is a

football (not litterature) blog.

Anyway, not a Liverpool fan but always admired Alonso as a

player. From interviews Ive read he also seems to belong that

very rare breed of footballers that are talented, modest and

knowlegeable.

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lam b ino

24 April 2011 3:41PM

Hard to say who is better out of Xavi and Xabi. Hard to compare

anyone to Barça midfielders, they practically play a different

sport. Xavi has been brainwashed playing rondas and i'm sure

Alonso would be just as good in the role if he'd been doing it for

so many years. Likewise i'm sure Xavi would be just as good at

spreading it about were he to play in a more open system. He'd

probably be quite like Sneijder.

People criticise Guardiola for making poor signings but for me

most of them fail because they need time to adapt to this system

and are shot down by impatient fans/press. It nearly killed off

Mascherano, and i'm sure even Alonso would suffer for a while.

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M a g n u s s o n

24 April 2011 3:45PM


1.It' was England.. where anyone with 10% tacticalknowledge is already ahead of locas

Nothing like a good stereotype to justify an argument!

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ur 14 12/02/2012 15:53



24 April 2011 3:48PM

@Magnusson

Cheers ;-)

p.s. your Skeletor (or Rivaldo) pic- best avatar I have seen at

Guardian EVER

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Sta te s id eAu ss ie

24 April 2011 3:54PM

I admire Barcelona's pressing game but that endless passing

bores the crap out of me. I do not agree that 650 passes, with a

95% completion rate and 70% dominance of possession, mean a

team "deserves to win" (even if they actually didn't score more

goals). This is football, not synchronized swimming. The "better

team" is decided by the scoreboard, not by some elitist,self-promoting concept of what constitutes "beautiful football",

or how football "was meant to be played".

The idea behind dominating possession is pretty obvious: to

score goals, you need the ball; also, to avoid the other team

scoring goals, you need the ball. What bores me about Barcelona

is that they value possession over, it seems, almost anything.

Whereas I see possession as a means to an end, Barcelona see it

as a means unto itself. It smacks of conservatism. They would

rather hang on to the ball than take the risk of losing it, even if

that means doing nothing with it for long periods of time as

opposed to actually attacking.

And even now I can imagine some of you getting ready to slate

me for promoting "long-ball" (or "route 1") football, but that isn't

what I mean. And if you think ti is -- if you really believe there

are only two alternatives, tikka-takka and route 1 -- then the only

thing that matches your arrogance is your ignorance.

Barcelona only know one way to play. To their fans, this is a

point of principle, a badge of honor as it were: if Barcelona could

play a different way, they would of course refuse to do so. The

problem with that, in any sport, is that once someone figures out

how to beat or neutralize your method, then unless you have a

Plan B, you're stuck.

And that is precisely what has happened: Barca have now come

up against a coach who has figured out how to beat them -- and

who has proved himself capable of getting his players to execute

those plans (with two different groups of players, too).

Oh, I know, some of you are frothing at the mouth in your

eagerness to rant about Mourinho "parking the bus" and playing

"anti-football", but before you do, remember that those tactics

were executed in the second leg of the CL semi-final last year -- a

match that Inter actually lost. The matches where Mourinho has

won were those in the first leg of that semi-final, and last week's

Copa del Ray. And while the execution of the tactics was slightly

different, the idea was basically the same: compete in the

midfield, be disciplined in defense, and attack with speed and

width.

As has been pointed out elsewhere, Barca's pressing game, and

their high defensive line, are interdependent aspects of their

game -- you can't really have one without the other. In order to

press in the midfield, they have to shift their troops forward.

Because for your midfielders to press constantly and

successfully, they have to be mobile and they have to move in

pairs or groups (which is in fact what Barcelona do). It is great to

watch (as I said, I do admire their pressing game), but with the

midfield that mobile, the defense has to move up in support.

Which of course, simply means the space is shofted to a different

part of the field.

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ur 14 12/02/2012 15:53



That is a weakness Mourinho has figured out how to exploit, and

it is very difficult to see what Barcelona can do to counter it. If

they continue to play a high line, Real have the players to get in

there. If they don't continue to play a high line, their own

pressing game will be riskier and less effective.

J am esPatr ickPage

24 April 2011 4:01PM

Xavi Hernández and Xabi Alonso don't have the same role and

don't play in the same position either. They provide different

solutions to teams with different needs. Since some years ago

Xavi plays in a more advanced zone, a change of position that

was basic for him to find his best level. Alonso is the main

reference just in front of the back four.

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