If all you watch is the English Premiership, trust me, you’re selling yourself way short. Now, I’m not even going to get into that debate about which country’s league is best – that’s one for another day. Suffice to say there’s loads of exciting football going on all over the place, and even if the English game (can we still call it that with all the foreign players?) is well known for it’s pace and overall attacking emphasis, it by no means holds a monopoly in this regard.
I had the pleasure of catching a few really great games last weekend and not one of them was in the Prem. Oh, just to be clear, I did watch a number of Prem games, but I can’t quite bring myself to describe any of them as exciting. I suppose the dramatic Everton – Aston Villa clash - with two goals in injury time – would probably fit the bill, but since it wasn’t one of the games I saw, I wouldn’t really know.
Anyway, my odyssey started Saturday afternoon with Barcelona serving up another masterpiece to dismiss a decent Valencia side. Thierry Henry’s hat-trick helped the Catalans to a 4-0 win and an almost insurmountable lead at the top of the table. Barcelona are really looking the business this season and Josep Guardiola has quickly put his stamp on a team that was badly off kilter last season. New buys Dani Alves and Seydou Keita have settled in superbly, and even home-grown talent – the young Sergio Busquets, in particular – are making an impact. Barca look to be running away with La Liga this season and this comprehensive dismissal of one of their main rivals would boost their confidence no end. They host Real Madrid in what should be another thriller this weekend, even if the defending champions shocked everyone by appointing Juande Ramos (ex-Sevilla, ex-Tottenham) in place of the embattled Bernd Schuster on Tuesday.
That followed another Real defeat, this time at home to Sevilla, in what should go down as one of the matches of the season. It finished 4-3 at the Bernabeu and featured as many twists and turns as a Formula 1 circuit. It’s been a while since I enjoyed the pleasure of two teams going all out for the win, no holds barred, but this was a fast paced display of attacking football from both sides. Real probably had little option anyway, after finding themselves 3-1 behind at the break, but they were irresistible just after the break when Dutchmen Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben turned up the heat and it was no surprise that they clawed back to level terms with 20 minutes to play. Robben’s subsequent red card probably turned the tide, but all credit to Sevilla who never let up on the attacking end and had their own star performers in goalkeeper Andres Palop, winger Jesus Navas and striker Freddie Kanoute.
Sevilla were pretty impressive and they have certainly recovered from the departure of star players Alves, Keita and Christian Poulsen, and they looked pretty solid, especially in central midfield, where the duo of Romaric Ndri (from Ivory Coast) and Argentine veteran Aldo Duscher have been surprisingly effective.
My weekend ended, oddly enough, where it should have started. I mentioned Friday’s top of the table Bundesliga clash between Bayern Munich and surprise league leaders TSG Hoffenheim last week, and just as I expected, what a cracker it turned out to be – even if I ended up watching the taped game on Sunday.
Bayern took the spoils, handing the new boys their first defeat of the season, but it took a deflected Phillip Lahm equaliser and a late, late Luca Toni strike to see off the upstarts from Hoffenheim. Before then though, Hoffenheim did a lot to win over new friends, yours truly included. If this team from a village of 3000 people are top of the Bundesliga, it’s strictly because they deserve to be.
Ralf Ragnick’s side matched – and often surpassed - the Bayern millionaires on their own turf for the better part of a thrilling game, and their star striker Vedad Ibisevic more than confirmed all the good things I had heard about him. He troubled Lucio for a full ninety minutes and grabbed the opening goal with a superb touch, spin and volley in the Bayern box. Little wonder he’s now scored 18 goals in 15 games of his first season in the top flight. I wouldn’t be too surprised if he ends up at Bayern in a few years. The Bavarians have that annoying habit of snatching up the best young talent from around their league – although if it’s down to cash Hoffenheim benefactor Dietmar Hopp can prove more than a match for Bayern.
Hoffenheim isn’t just about Ibisevic though. They play a high-energy, all-for-one brand of football, closing down opponents from well upfield and attacking with pace and purpose once they have possession. They kind of remind one of the Energizer bunny – always going, never stopping. Captain Marvin Compper leads by example in the heart of the defence with fullbacks Andreas Beck and Andreas Ibertsberger pushing up at every opportunity.
In midfield, Tobias Weis and Brazilian Luis Gustavo do all the heavy lifting, chasing and harrying opponents as well as starting up Hoffenheim’s quick-fire raids. But it is the quartet upfront that really gives this team its edge. Nigerian Chinedu Ogbuke (Obasi) and Brazilian Carlos Eduardo start in the wide positions, with Demba Ba and Ibisevic filling the middle. In practise though, Hoffenheim adopt a really fluid formation, with lots of inter-changing and they easily flex from a 4-5-1, when defending to an aggressive 4-2-4 when on the offensive.
Bayern’s win puts them level on points, but Hoffenheim’s superior goal difference leaves them one win away from being crowned winter champions when the Bundesliga takes a break next week.
If they can keep up the tempo – and Ibisevic keeps scoring – they could take the whole thing come April.
2 comments:
Although I did not see any of the matches you mentioned, your narrative accounts and the newspaper reports of those matches seem same in terms of praises and etal of those matches.
Well, well....I guess now if things continue this way in those leagues, then the sun is about set in the Almighty EPL empire once again, as it was in the mid-80s till mid-90s when Series A, Belgian league and French league provided high quality and technical soccer in comparison to the "kick and follow" soccer of EPL in that era.
I don't think it spells the end of Prem dominance. The top players will still follow the money to the EPL. English soccer was really strong in Europe from mid-70s to mid-80s, until the European ban between 85 and 90. They had to play catch up in the 90s but they are well ahead now
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