Being Good at Football isn't Enough

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1:20Hello everyone and welcome to this week's edition of the Spanish Football Podcast. I'm Phil Kittromer ladies joined as ever by Sid Lowe hello Sydney good morning Philip how are you I'm good mate how are you yeah not too bad thank you are you excited uh about doing a pod or just in general about something that's very very special that's going to happen tomorrow oh yes yes yes yes as if as if you hadn't been counting down the days the hours the minutes and the seconds to what is taking place tomorrow. Dear listeners of the podcast, after 5 ,000 hours of podcasting together, 500 shows on TV and 13 years of working together, Sidlow and I are going to commentate a La Liga match together tomorrow night.

2:06I'm excited. Sidney Leso, that's fine. He's a busy man.

2:09Phil Kitromilides:It's the game, the moment the world has been waiting for. I mean, you say that as a joke, but I think it is sort of the moment that the Spanish football world has been waiting for. You and me on the call for Levante against Real Madrid tomorrow night in match day six. But before we get ahead of ourselves, Sid, I'm just so excited I had to start the podcast talking about that. Let's reflect on match day five, shall we, which came to a close last night. These are the results then. On Friday night, Real Betis beat Real Sociedad 3-1 at La Cartuja. Real Sociedad's really disappointing start to the season continues.

2:46Talking of disappointing starts to seasons, Girona were thrashed 4-0 at home by Levante. Girona reduced to nine men in this game as well. They are in all sorts of problems. For more on this, read Sid Lowe's column on the Guardian website, which should be out this afternoon, Monday afternoon. Real Madrid beat Espanol 2-0 at the Bernabeu. Sevilla beat Alaves 2-1 at the Estadio Mendes Roza. Alexis Sanchez. Yes, him scoring the winner for Sevilla. Villarreal beating Osasuna 2-1, a valiant effort by Osasuna. They played with 10 men for nearly an hour. They took the lead as well, but a comeback from Villarreal gave them all three points.

3:32And Valencia beat Athletic Club 2-0 at Mestalla. Athletic absolutely dominating the first half, not being able to take any of their chances or create any really good openings despite Valencia being bloody awful. Second half, though, things changed. Valencia were better. Athletic got a man sent off and Valencia ended up winning 2-0. Sunday saw Celta Vigo draw 1-1 for the fifth successive game. I don't know if that's ever happened before, Sid. Cleverer people than me probably keep records of this, but to have the same result in a fixture five weeks in a row is pretty incredible. Rio won, Celta won at Vallecas.

4:11It was also 1-1 between Mallorca and Atleti. The problems continue for Atleti at the start this season. The problems continue for Oviedo at the start of this season as well. They lost 1-0 at Elche and Barcelona beat Getafe 3-0 at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. If you're enjoying the Monday podcast, why not join us over at patreon.com forward slash TSFP. Patrons get the Monday and Friday pods with no adverts, plus they get the Q &A pod and the bonus pod and there's the newsletter, the TSFP diary, the discord, the whatsapp community. You can join us from just€4.75 a month. We were at a few games this weekend, so let's start by talking about one that you were at, Sid, at the Bernabeu Real Madrid beating Espanyol by two goals to nil, both goals being terrific shots from distance.

4:58Eda Militao scoring an absolute worldie from miles out and Kylian Mbappe with a beautiful shot later on in the game as well. I wonder, Sid, do you think that this has been a sort of specific tactic that Xavi Alonso was told, particularly his centre-backs, to shoot from distance? Because we've seen Eda Militao, we've seen Dean Howeson trying their luck from distance before, and it worked out beautifully for Militao this weekend.

5:25Phil Kitromilides:I think I probably wouldn't go so far as to call it a tactic, but I do think it's an instruction in the sense that, you know, if it opens up for you, yes, take it on. Post-game, Xavi Alonso said that, you know, at times that's a worthwhile option, particularly against teams that sit very deep because of course finding a way through them isn't easy um and and it paid off i mean you still don't expect that from military who takes a couple of touches to move himself into a slightly right of center position and and hits it so cleanly 30.5 meters uh traveling at over 100 kilometers an hour and into the net and that did kind of find a way through for a round of your team that was struggling to my my kind of overall judgment on this game was that i'm starting to wonder if this year Real Madrid might be boringly good in the sense that they might kind of control games be fundamentally better than the other side eventually they will always find a way through because of the quality of the players because the structure is good and so on but it's not going to be as much fun because of course part of the fun was the madness of it sort of how open it was how wild it was how how quite often they would allow space at one end but then they go for you at the other that the game got very very stretched this is a very very much more compact team now and they're They're playing higher up the pitch.

6:35Phil Kitromilides:They're winning the ball higher up, but the whole thing is squeezed. And I actually think in that sense, Real Madrid might be, in some ways, a victim of their own success. I think the structural success is part of what's meaning they're having less space to actually be creative, less space to make chances. Now, it's very, very early to say this. We're only five games into the season. Frankly, they haven't played the best teams yet. They haven't played against sides who would really give us a test of that. But I think we are seeing a structure emerging. and I think it's a structure which means that they are far less likely to be caught out than previously.

7:09But I think they are maybe going to be not quite as exciting.

7:13Phil Kitromilides:But of course, the excitingness comes as a neutral in the sense that the excitingness is partly the jeopardy, the possibility that they get caught out. Excitement. What did I call it? Excitingness. That's a good word there, isn't it? Yes, it is. And they've only conceded two goals in those five games as well. So, yeah, the solidity being shown. That despite having what would be in many games their first choice back four, unavailable for this game with Trent, Rudiger, Hausson and Ferland Mendy. I mean, I'm pushing you here because I think at least the two of those are. Yeah, Trent and Mendy, we probably are not first choice, yeah.

7:50And Rudiger as well, maybe.

7:51Phil Kitromilides:Yes, I think you're probably right, actually. But there we go. Anyway, they had some players missing, but still. I was waiting for the Thibaut Courtois save, which seems to happen every single game, but it didn't happen in this one. He had a relatively comfortable afternoon. We'll speak about Espanyol in just a second. We'll also speak about the polemic because there is always polemic for us to discuss. We don't always do it. It's there. It's always there. Well, it's always there. It's whether we choose or not to discuss. I'm just trying to think what was remotely polemical about this game. Oh, no, no, no.

8:20I mean, not necessarily about the referee or anything, but Vinny Jr.

8:24Phil Kitromilides:Oh, I see. I'm sorry. Yeah, I was trying to think. I can't think of a single bad referee decision, except possibly not giving Dolan a card for kicking. Who was it he kicked? Oh, yes. I can't remember who it was now. Yes, in the first half. Yes. All right, well, let's talk about Vinny Jr. now then, as soon as we've brought it up. You've opened that can of worms. I've opened it. Those little wriggly bastards are all over the place now. Yes, I'm trying to brush them off. He started the game.

8:53he had a shot that hit the post in the second half he had a run at the end of the first half where he was kind of through on goal and I think if it was last year we would have seen him drive towards goal and take a shot on instead he was a little bit wide and then played a bobbling pass to Kylian Mbappé who missed the opportunity and that was it from Vinny Jr in the game he was taken off He wasn't very happy. And this seems to be rumbling on, Sid.

9:22Phil Kitromilides:Yes, it is. I suppose there's a question now as we discuss this as to how much you want to expand this into broader questions, like, for example, the fact that he hasn't renewed his contract yet, like if you like the kind of the broader sense of the club's feel for where he's at in his career. You expand it as much as you want. OK, well, I mean, let's start with the basics. The basics are that Xavi Alonso has started him as a sub twice this season, which is pretty unusual. That said, his contribution is still pretty good. I think it's two goals and two assists. Two games that he started as a sub, he came on and made a difference, both in Marseille and in Oviedo, where he came on and made a difference in both of those.

10:02Phil Kitromilides:I think the nature, let's go back to what I was saying about this Real Madrid team being kind of less interesting because they're better, if you mean, less interesting because they're better structured and so on. I think one of the people who is hurt by that a little bit is Vinicius because he's a player that likes the space to run into, likes the game to be a little bit more open. And I think the fact that he's denied some of that space is slightly problematic. I will be honest here, I thought there was a chance that that lack of space might be problematic for Mbappe as well because I think Mbappe also likes going to space and actually he's been very, very good so far this season.

10:36Phil Kitromilides:And Vinicius' space isn't quite right. But I think with Vinicius, you look at it and it feels like an emotional thing as much as anything else. And kind of the sense of his own importance. I think we probably shouldn't get too hung up on his kind of exteriorisation, if that's a real word. Externalisation, I suppose, of how he feels. Because, of course, Vinicius has always been like that. And Alonso said something quite interesting off the back of the Champions League game. He said, I decided not to speak to him. But it wasn't the moment. let it let it pass and I spoke to him the next day and he said we had a little bit of a chat not very long but we had a bit of a chat and he was in a better mindset and we did some training together some individualized training and it was better wasn't it quite pointed that Xabi Alonso said that in the press conference and told everybody about that like he didn't need to say that no he didn't need to say that um and I think I don't know if that was necessarily that he said it because he was trying to send a message or he just kind of said it and maybe could have not done.

11:35Phil Kitromilides:I don't know if it was a deliberate, right, I'm going to throw this out there, but I agree. He didn't need to tell everyone he was so angry the day after that I thought it was best not to talk to him. I let him call down. He didn't need to say that. He didn't need to. I suppose in part what you're saying is this is a guy that's not happy with the situation. You don't mind people knowing that. I suppose it's a way of saying, don't worry, I know how to manage this. And there are times to let it go and times to deal with it. There was a moment, there's a bit of footage in this game where it's during the cooling break, I think, the second cooling break, and he has a word of Vinicius, and I think he tells him, I'm about to take you off.

12:08Phil Kitromilides:And Vinicius kind of walks away from him, and he goes towards him, and he kind of sort of keeps pretending he can't hear him sort of thing. And there's a little bit of that. But look, I think it's interesting as well, and we talked about this a little the other day, that Vinicius has a challenger for his position now, even with Mbappe having become the centre-forward. And I think we thought that it was about Vinicius and Ember Pé and how do you fit the two of them. It's now about Vinicius and Rodrigo and how you fit the two of them. And we come back to that stylistic thing. If there's less space and it's tighter, maybe Sheryl Alonso feels that Rodrigo is a better fit for that.

12:40Phil Kitromilides:And maybe a better fit in terms of some of the kind of structural defensive work, the dropping back in, the taking up the right positions and so on. Yeah, I feel a little bit like we've gone down the polemica route in that it's only five weeks in and there's a bit of me that thinks this won't end. Now let's do the expansion bit, which is why I don't think that. In the summer, and I think we probably mentioned this at the time, there was a, I think it was a radio kind of breaking news radio thing, which was Vinicius and Real Madrid have decided to put contract negotiations on until the end of the season.

13:14Phil Kitromilides:There's no problem. It's all okay and it's fine, but they put it off the end of the season. Now, if you put it off the end of the season I'm sorry I don't buy that there's no problem you do not allow a player with a year and a half left on his contract to get into the last year especially that kind of player that kind of it changes the dynamics of those contract negotiations negotiations enormously no one voluntarily puts off contract negotiations with a player that important for a year for a year um as we said at the time that the they're in different places in terms of what they want the wages to be.

13:49Phil Kitromilides:Possibly not quite as dramatically different as they had been a month or so before that, in that there had been a little bit of coming together. And it's interesting this, because it depends on which interpretation you take. There was a suggestion that this is Real Madrid saying, well, we're not going to do it now because we're in control and it doesn't matter. I think this is, in terms of the business side of it, it's the complete opposite. The player is a person in the strongest position if you let a contract get that late. And then the argument can become, yeah, but then the club can just sell him to someone.

14:18Phil Kitromilides:Not if the player says he doesn't want to go. And Real Madrid, who have been beneficiaries as a conscious policy recently of getting players in their contract, encouraging players not to renew with clubs, they know these mechanics better than anyone else. Watch this space because it is something that I'm sure we'll be talking about continuously between now and the end of the season. We've kind of gone over time. Apologies for that, because I must admit, I was looking at this weekend's games and I'll be honest with you, I thought there's nothing to say about Real Madrid. It was just like, there you go, functional 2-0, move on to the next thing.

14:52Phil Kitromilides:Unfortunately, we haven't moved on. Apologies, listeners. Let's move on to something more fun, shall we? Yes. I mean, there was stuff that we could have talked about in this game, but we don't really have time for now. Jude Bellingham coming back almost a month earlier from his shoulder surgery. The emergence of Franco Mastantono as well and how he's just completely slotted into this team looks absolutely like he's been there for years. And also Espanyol, who had their best start to a season for 30 years, but didn't really do too much in this match. We'll do a Q &A podcast tomorrow for patrons.

15:25If you want to ask us about those topics or anything else, send the questions in and we will answer them.

15:31Phil Kitromilides:This episode of TSFP is brought to you by our friends at NordVPN. Now you guys know we travel a lot covering Spanish football, whether it's following Spanish teams around Europe in the Champions League. Or trying to do three games in a single weekend. The best way to make sure you've got access to all your content from back home is using NordVPN. Yeah, we used ourselves over the summer at the Club World Cup. Absolutely. I mean, I didn't, but you know, you guys did because I was here and I didn't need to. But whether it's keeping up with the football, TV shows or movies, NordVPN lets you access your subscriptions back home wherever you are.

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16:38Phil Kitromilides:And there's a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you also get an extra four months for free. What was the link again, Phil? You can find it in the show notes. It is nordvpn.com forward slash TSFP. If your business runs on five different apps, 12 browser tabs, and one spreadsheet that everyone's afraid to touch, It's probably time for Odoo. Odoo is an all-in-one business management software that connects every part of your business into one powerful, easy-to-use platform. So instead of wasting time, switching between disconnected systems, your entire business works together in real time. Your team moves faster, your data stays accurate, and you can actually focus on growing your business.

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19:14Phil Kitromilides:Why wait? Ask your doctor, visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-BOTOX to learn more. So Barcelona playing their second consecutive home game at the Estadi, Johan Cruyff. Last week, they thrashed Valencia at 6-0. Last night, they beat Getafe at 3-0. In the pouring rain, Sid, you were very disappointed that they didn't manage to fill their training complex ground. Yeah, I was, to be honest with you, because I thought to myself, 6 ,000, come on, you can do 6 ,000. I'm going to slightly back away from that initial disappointment. A, because you said to me, pouring rain, I wouldn't go either.

19:50Phil Kitromilides:And B, actually, because a colleague of mine said, look, the official attendance was 5 ,700. And 11. So it's only 300. Sorry? 5 ,700 and 11. And 11, yeah. So it's only 300, sure. And actually, that's not that terrible. So maybe it just looks a little bit worse because it was the seats near the front and so on. I didn't go. I wish I had. I really should have done. It looks like they're going to play there again, by the way. And allow me to go on a little rant here. They're going to play there again against Real Sotilad. And the reason is that it's the Merthay fireworks and music spectacle on Mon Duik, which is the reason why La Liga, with nine games to go, changed that kick-off time from nine o 'clock to 6.30.

20:32Phil Kitromilides:And as a result, which is what they always do when they change the kick-off time, change the kick-off time of the game that was at 6.30. So in other words, they messed around four sets of fans because of a potential problem fitting them in in Montjuic with these celebrations in Barcelona. And now the game's not even being played in Montjuic because local authorities in Barcelona said, no, no, no, even if you change the time, we're not doing this. Well, switch it back then. I think, yeah, I think it's appalling. And I genuinely think, and lots of people will say, well, well, it's for this reason and that reason, and it was asked for by the local government.

21:00Phil Kitromilides:Fine. Okay, fine. I'm not having any of it. There is not an excuse for this. There is maybe an excuse for changing that game. there is not an excuse. There's a reason, which isn't the same as an excuse, not a justified one, for changing four sets of fans kickoff times to do that. It's not on. Not having it. Yeah, I don't think anything makes you more angry than this, Sid. Because I think it's the absolute epitome of a total disrespect for fans, which I think is a recurring theme and I think is a problem. Anyway, so that's over. That's okay. As we said, being. That's what this podcast is there for.