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jenni_blog"Schuster played both Fernando Gago and Mahamadou Diarra against Roma on Wednesday night perhaps reckoning that they needed to hold water instead of carrying it. Gago played just in front of a Real defense that was pulling down its socks and screaming SOS while Diarra played just in front of him as a possible but improbable partner to Guti in attacking central midfield."
It is by Subhankar Mondal.
Thank the stars that the author so intelligently analyzed the match (which I didn't see) and came to these conclusions. I'm copying just a few more paragraphs of the rather long article here:
"What Bernd Schuster didn’t realize (or maybe he ignored it) was that Diarra is a terrible passer of the ball whose strength lies in breaking opponents’ moves. Schuster also failed to see that playing Gago and Diarra is an open letter invitation to Roma to come out of their shells since Real are focusing more on stopping them than coming at them.
Caught between playing with two upfront and two in defensive midfield, he chose the second option and that decision has come back to haunt him. Gago was good indeed for Real throughout the match and his tireless running and intelligent distribution was admirable but Diarra was a huge disappointment. The Malian international couldn’t pass the ball appropriately, looked short on energy and seemed like a fish out of water playing alongside Guti rather than behind him.
And the other Madrid players too were not far behind Diarra in being a disappointment. The temperamental genius Guti, whom Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon described as an “eternal promise” last season in front of 150 students he didn’t know, played against Roma as if he was in deep depression. He is slated to be coming out of Zinedine Zidane’s shadows finally but if his performance against Roma, a big match occasion, is any measuring stick, then the 31-year old may just have to improve."
I'm glad he said this, because I do believe that Fernando Gago is a very good defensive midfielder and worth the $20 mil that Real spent on him. He's one part of a jigsaw puzzle that has not been playing together very long, and unfortunately a lot of the other pieces are out injured and therefore missing right now. I hope that they will be back soon, including Gago.♥
It is by Subhankar Mondal.
Thank the stars that the author so intelligently analyzed the match (which I didn't see) and came to these conclusions. I'm copying just a few more paragraphs of the rather long article here:
"What Bernd Schuster didn’t realize (or maybe he ignored it) was that Diarra is a terrible passer of the ball whose strength lies in breaking opponents’ moves. Schuster also failed to see that playing Gago and Diarra is an open letter invitation to Roma to come out of their shells since Real are focusing more on stopping them than coming at them.
Caught between playing with two upfront and two in defensive midfield, he chose the second option and that decision has come back to haunt him. Gago was good indeed for Real throughout the match and his tireless running and intelligent distribution was admirable but Diarra was a huge disappointment. The Malian international couldn’t pass the ball appropriately, looked short on energy and seemed like a fish out of water playing alongside Guti rather than behind him.
And the other Madrid players too were not far behind Diarra in being a disappointment. The temperamental genius Guti, whom Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon described as an “eternal promise” last season in front of 150 students he didn’t know, played against Roma as if he was in deep depression. He is slated to be coming out of Zinedine Zidane’s shadows finally but if his performance against Roma, a big match occasion, is any measuring stick, then the 31-year old may just have to improve."
I'm glad he said this, because I do believe that Fernando Gago is a very good defensive midfielder and worth the $20 mil that Real spent on him. He's one part of a jigsaw puzzle that has not been playing together very long, and unfortunately a lot of the other pieces are out injured and therefore missing right now. I hope that they will be back soon, including Gago.♥
