Ex-Bremer Özil Keeps On Scoring... Plus: On Creative Voids.
Real won 2-nil against AC Milan (afterall, they got Ibrahimovic and Pirlo and KPB).
Özil scored the second goal (he likes second goals) - Milan however found no powerful answer and aside maybe from KPB scything Mesut Özil, showed near to no investment and little dedication to change the game for good. So they basically gave in and looked deflated mostly.
Özil's goal was due to a deflected ball, he generally seemed in charge of creating situations that could potentially be dangerous.
First Crispy scored/posed hard his signature free kick. Ibrahimovic made a beginner level mistake when standing in the wall, he stepped to the side and opened up a small but crucial gap Crispy kindly used. Oh my! Ibrahimovic might still be under the impression of that other terrible game he was part of/endured, last Friday against the Dutchies (4-1)...I hope they stop comparing Austroboy to him for, it's not very flattering for Austroboy, truth to be told, he is better than Zlatan these days.
So how does Real do it? I was wondering what Mourinho's plans with CR were, for last season, he played horrible, despite his scoring and free-kick posing hard, he was just a show pony in a mess of an offense Real played, also despite having scored, what 102 (?!) goals in that season. To be clear, Real is a club I frankly have little fondness of, until maybe Mourinho joined. I am still not bought, rest assured! I look at it more as an interesting experiment with Mourinho being the mad scientist working on obtaining the right formula to perfect this team of individualists and special cases and actually let them play football pleasing to the eye AND mind. Combining, or rather, balancing out tactics (a la Inter) and spontaneous creativity (the showful side of Real's game) and attaining both, a very coherent and solidly acting defense (Inter) and effective attacking wingers (something so far only Barça was taking a pride in). So Crispy was proving to be the cardinal problem. And, at the same time, the key to the solution. As far as I've seen from last season, he was mostly used as a playmaker, a role that did not suit him well and did not get the best out of him. Also Kaka and VdV were unable to convince in that position.
Now, with Di Maria's and Özil's signing (along with Khedira's and Carvalho's the only one's Mourinho apparently really wanted) all this has changed. Crispy now plays left winger with Mesut as a tenner. Di Maria or Cannales on the right wing and Higuain/Benzema as strikers. And indeed some magic triangles already have good chemistry between them, f.i. Di Maria/Özil/Crispy. Also, thanks to the winger's, the RB's and LB's have been relieved of their creative work and can function mostly as defense.
Why am I am bringing all this up? Well, sometimes finding the right system and the right company for certain players is like the missing piece in a puzzle - and once you've found the right spot for all players, it works!
To apply this to WB, obviously a way to integrate both Arnau and Marin succesfully still needs to be found and we also have to see how Hunt performs as central midfielder in a diamond shape or in a 4-2-3-1, whether Hunt is actually capable of interpreting this position satisfactorily or not. If not, who can provide this element to the game? All the breathtaking attacks on the wings and the wonderful one-towing WB was known for, somehow did not happen this season. Our game looks painful. Don't want to sound like Wiese here, but something is asymmetrical in WB's game. TS used to (rightly so) bemoan the predictability of WB's game with Diego, now, after a season with a very powerful team of three (Hunt/Marin/Özil) rather impredictably shifting wingers/ midfielders, we have once again become predictable in our defense (for, let's face it, it's a giant Emmenthaler cheese), but also in our offense. It might be because we, unlike Real, don't have wingers anymore, the pressure is up on Fritz and Silvestre/Pasanen/Welsey to deliver both flanks, overruns AND solid defense work. Too much especially for Silvestre and Pasanen.
Especially against teams like Hoffenheim and Mainz the current top teams, but also against Bayer and Freiburg, this creative void was to be felt oppresively. It was painful to loose or barely tie against teams who have applied the WB school of attack through the wings... To be fair, more things were factoring in when loosing against these teams. I am aware of that. But now that most of the squad has returned from their sick beds, this problem might become more obvious. To some extend, Pizarro was in charge of the creative job last Saturday. Marin tried, but his actions only remained insular and of little effect other than displaying the general disconnect in WB game. Arnau did not happen. I do think ÖZil's transfer created a vacuum in our game. And it might need some more time until a solution will be found. I am also not calling for frantically buying in the transfer break. I think finding a structure that accomodates Hunt should be found. Or eventually some other player to orchestrate the attack. Quality wise (combinatory play, lethal passes, agility) our game has lost it's punch. It looks poor and dismal, to be frank.
Back to Real. Mourinho's project at Real can loosely be compared to Magath's over at Schlacke, who managed to become second last Buli season, mostly by playing a sturdy defense-minded football with a 4-5-1 system, Kuranyi the sole striker. Now that he has gotten CL moneys and airs, he also wants to sparkle and, undertsandably, present attractive football rather than a conservative, result-oriented play. Average Schlacke fan is not really used to that so why bother you might ask. Magath, at this point, might ask the same. He bought/is left with an ex-Real legend, Raul. Mourinho, needless to say, is much cleverer in forming a new team with a new philosophy. With that Raul money, he got himself some creativity. An apsiring midfield-director/tenner. He also liberated/relieved Crispy of the creative burden. Mourinho perceived how playing with the wrong system, applying players on the wrong position, can actually falter your game. Not a genius conclusion, right. But it is true in so far as you always have to get the best out of your players capabilties and it can only be achieved by putting the right puzzle piece in the designated spot.
To all fairness, I should add that Real does play spectacular. But only at times and not over 90min straight. Yet it's fascinating how a few precisely enacted combinations are enough to demonstrate strength and win a game. (That is when your defense does not resemble a giant swiss cheese). They are very effective and economical. The other times they played for show mostly. Knowing they could produce endless attacks, they started to look arrogant and took the whole game not serious anymore. Blowing chances. Another thing that needs mention is that the Spanish League is basically a joke, only four or six top teams (depending whom u count in) who dominate the Division and the rest being more or less easy prey. The ridic amount of scored goals last season (105 Barça/102 Real/Atletico 80) might be telling in that respect. Few rich teams have high quality forwards and create a deadlock at the top. Thank god Buli is different this year. For now.
Here's a pic from their game against Malaga (14th).
