More Pasta, Less PowerPoint

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1:27Hi everyone and welcome to this week's edition of the Spanish Football Podcast. I'm Phil Kitschmer, ladies. I'm joined as ever by Sid Lowe to go through what happened on Match Day 28. Hello, Sidney. Good morning, Philip. Lots for us to discuss in the next half an hour or so. So let's get straight to it. These are the results from Match Day 28. Friday night, so Villarreal score a brilliant 97th-minute goal from Nicolás Pérez to draw 1-1 a la vez. Saturday saw Girona thrash, a really, really poor Athletic club side, 3-0 at Montelievi. Atletico beat Getafe 1-0 in a funny old game, a brilliant goal from Nawal Molina.

2:05Abkar got sent off for pinching Saul off in the balls, and Getafe really went for it and probably should have got something out of this game, but it finished 1-0 to Atletico Madrid. Oviedo, the mighty rail Oviedo, gave themselves a tiny, tiny, minuscule, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny chance of avoiding relegation by beating Oviedo, by beating Valencia by a goal to nil. Sydney was there to witness it and celebrate only the sixth goal that Oviedo scored at home all season. And Real Madrid beat Elche 4-1 at Bernabeu. A goal from 70 metres, 70 metres from Ardegula. Absolutely miles out. Unbelievable strike from the young Turk.

2:45and loads of youngsters coming on for Real Madrid in the second half. It felt a bit like watching Real Madrid-Castilla. Sunday saw Mallorca score late to beat Espanyol 2-1. Barcelona beat Sevilla 5-2, a hat-trick from Rafinha. They moved back four points clear of Real Madrid. Betis and Celta played out a 1-1 draw, and Real Sociedad pretty comfortably saw off Osasuna 3-1 in the Sunday night game. The Monday night match is Rio against Levante. now if you love Spanish football have you thought about joining us at patreon.com forward slash tsfp patrons get the Monday and Friday podcasts without any adverts plus there's a Q &A pod which is a long a long podcast we do you know we dedicate nearly an hour to that every week answering your questions there's a bonus pod as well and there's the newsletter which is packed full of Spanish football goodness which goes to every patron every single Monday the tsfp diary which is us telling you how we cover Spanish football up and down the country, recorded live, on scene across Spain from different matches, and you get access to the Discord as well.

3:49You can sign up from€4.75 a month, so just over€1 a week. It's even cheaper, you get annual membership. So come and join us. Now we should start, Sid, by reflecting on Joan Laporta winning the Barcelona presidential elections with nearly 70 % of the votes. Completely unsurprising.

4:08Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, absolutely unsurprising. Probably the easiest way of defining this is to say that on Sunday afternoon, Joan Laporta won the elections on the same day that Barcelona beat Sevilla 5-2 in a stadium that now holds 62 ,000 and is on its way to holding over 100 ,000. And that, in a nutshell, is the situation. But for all of the doubts that there's been around La Porta in the time that he's been in charge, he inherited, of course, a really, really difficult situation. For all the question marks about things like the signings, the palankas, the famous palankas and so on. This is a club that, in the most basic terms, feels like it's heading in the right direction from a fan's point of view.

4:50Phil Kitromilides:Has a really, really good team. Won a league title under Xavi Anandef, but moved to Hansi Flick. has been one of the most exciting teams to watch that fans can remember, that is now building a new stadium, which is starting to look really, really good. And at the weekend was full in terms of the whole of the bottom two rear rings were now completely full. You've got a president who's extremely charismatic, who even in those moments where people from the outside look at it and think, not sure about that. The reality is that most of the people on the inside love it. You know, the sort of the, what's the word I'm looking for?

5:24Phil Kitromilides:the rumbunchousness of Laporta is actually a vote winner. There's a line that he said during the campaign, which was, mas macarones, menos PowerPoints. More pasta, less PowerPoints. He was pictured cooking pasta with some of the socios, and he was basically, forget all this nonsense, I'm just going to be here with you guys having fun. You're right, That's a brilliant way of looking at it. That sums up his kind of personality. And yet at the same time, obviously, that would fall down if the team wasn't playing well, if the team didn't have a manager that everyone believed in, if the stadium project was collapsing.

6:07Phil Kitromilides:And the stadium project has been problematic. It hasn't met all the deadlines. There's question marks about the constructors, all these kind of things. But the bottom line is on Sunday, there were nearly 60 ,000 people in a stadium that's looking really, really good and watching a team that scored five goals. and that essentially is what it comes down to. Obviously, there's always more to it than that, but that's essentially that. We've talked lots and lots of times over the last few years, for example, about the whole thing of the Palankas, this idea that you sell off some of your assets and obviously you lose some of your earnings in the long term because you're selling potential future earnings to try and stabilise the club now.

6:42Phil Kitromilides:One of the things that we've often said, and to be honest, I'm surprised that this doesn't... How do I put this? It doesn't get talked about as often as I think it should, which is that the idea of the Plankers is, oh my God, look at this terrible situation. You're selling assets. Now it's problematic. There's no doubt about it. And we've talked about this and we've said it's problematic to sell 25 % of your future TV revenue, to sell the access to some of the VIP suites and so on. But this is also about what's the original Planker. The original Planker for any club is sell your best players. And of course, Laporta took a decision, looked at it and said, right, the most important assets are our players because if we're not a team that's succeeding, If we're not a team that's winning, nothing else stands up.

7:21Phil Kitromilides:And so he basically took a decision which was, rather than selling our main assets or the assets that people usually sell, which is the players, let's sell some of the other assets. And I think I'm not going to go full Laporta apologist on this because I don't think it's a sensible approach. I don't think it's correct. But I think that the decision to do it that way around, or at least the decision to put the weight behind the first team, if you like, albeit you can still get it wrong, by the way, because you can do palankas and then not sign the right players or do palankas and not be able to register players.

7:50Phil Kitromilides:And, you know, the Danny Olmo situation was a pretty bad one. And they got away with it in the end, but it was a pretty bad one. They got away with it. And they got away with it. And they would argue that they managed it really, really well because they went and put pressure on them in the right places and they did a legal challenge and they went to the CSD and all the rest of it. But I think that the decision is broadly vindicated in that they have a successful team. Yes, absolutely. I mean, you know, he bet everything, I guess, on the team being successful, right? Because if you do all this and the team isn't successful, then you're in serious trouble.

8:22Phil Kitromilides:And there was a comment last night, and this fits a little bit with the Macaronis line, from Enric Masip, who's this kind of right-hand man, I suppose, in the club. And he said, you know, people talk about this as if, well, you know, it should be much more business-like. Let's not forget this isn't a business. This is a football club. And that's it. You just said he bet on the first team. And I suppose the argument or the answer to that is, as he should do, because it's a football club. There's a famous line from Joan Cruyff, which is the money on the pitch, not in the bank. And I suppose that's where they've gone.

8:57114 ,000 Barcelona members were eligible to vote. And there is something gratifying about democracy in action in modern football, one of the biggest clubs in the world, members voting for their president.

9:11Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, and of course, look, democracy can be messy, and it comes with... Messy. That wasn't the pun I intended it to be, but you know what I mean. It can be messy. It can be problematic. It can mean that you have this kind of swirl of, if you like, competing power bases, that you have media leading one way or the other, that you have a degree of manipulation. All of the things that come with political campaigning come with being a democracy. But I think you're absolutely right. You watch it yesterday, and you think, you know what? even those bits where you think, it's still, wow, it's a football club voting for its president.

9:46Phil Kitromilides:He's actually a pretty good thing, really. And like I said, not just any football club as well. No, absolutely. On to the football then, with Barcelona beating Sevilla 5-2. A hat-trick from Rafinha, who in the last game against Newcastle, I think we questioned his performance. He looked really off the pace. I mean, his touch wasn't there. He just was not the Rafinha that we have grown to. expect, but he was super on it right from the start in this game. And he scored those three goals and he could have scored more as well. Yeah, he was. And I'm glad you said and he could have scored more as well because, of course, it would be easy to take a step back and say, well, well, calm down.

10:23Phil Kitromilides:He scored three goals, one's a deflection and two are penalties and sort of say, well, this wasn't up too much. But I think you're right. It was about the attitude. It was about the aggression. Now, I am going to now go, whoa, steady there a little bit and say it was a fairly passive Sevilla side that the first two goals come early enough that the game is done very early. And obviously the focus is, let's see if this happens against Newcastle, because that's the proper test. It's true. It's true. It was a funny old game, this, because Barcelona were 3-0 up without having actually done that much.

10:55Phil Kitromilides:Exactly. Yeah, it was. To be honest, the opening wasn't that great, was it? To be perfectly honest. But still, a hat-trick for them. A first ever appearance in La Liga. A debut for Xavi Espart at right-back, which is important. Nicely taken goal from Dani Olmo as well. And a really good day at the office for Barcelona, able to rest and rotate players. Pedri went off at halftime. He had 26 touches in that first half, which was low for his standards. Let's see if that little bit of rest serves him in good stead as well. A quick word on Sevilla as well, Sid, who haven't won away to Barcelona since 2002.

11:35They had beaten them 4-1 earlier on in the season at the Ramon Sanchez Pijuan, I just want to highlight someone who we've been talking about, someone who readers of the newsletter will know that he was our one to watch months ago. A little lad called Oso, who scored a goal and provided an assist in this game and is looking like one of the most impressive players to come out of the Sevilla Youth Academy for a good while now. He was a shining light for Sevilla, as he has been in the last few weeks.

12:07Phil Kitromilides:I'm playing a little bit further forward this time as well. Usually as a fullback, there's time playing in the line of three. What I love about him, I mean, apart from the fact that Osweiler is such a great surname, he's just been called Bear, is that he feels like a footballer from another age. He's got his socks right down by his ankles. Frankly, he's got a bit of a big arse. He wears his shorts quite tight. He sort of looks like, he looks like, do you know what I mean? Do you know what it is? He looks like every minute of the game is the 90th minute. Or maybe it's extra time in a World Cup quarterfinal, you know, and everyone's exhausted and he's playing like that.

12:42Phil Kitromilides:But he's got something about him. You know what I think he's got as much as anything else? He's a willingness to try things, a kind of an enthusiasm for the game, which doesn't manifest itself as hyper-intensity like a Rafinha, but manifests itself as, okay, I'll have the ball. I'll go for this. I'll try something. I'll do something a bit different. And, you know, the game that really underlined this for me was the derby. Yes. I don't want to take it back three weeks because we're talking about this week, but he came on and the difference in kind of attitude and willingness and I suppose belief or confidence in actually playing some football was so big.

13:24Phil Kitromilides:And that's the thing that, yeah, that's the thing I like about him is to say that he sort of looks like a player from another age. They are working on a new contract for him With a much increased But not prohibitive buyout clause So let's see Because I think a lot of people Will be looking at Ossou with interest He's a very, very interesting player And like I said Had a, I'm not going to say a big impact on this game Because the goals when they came The game was more or less done and dusted But still a goal and an assist And a very nice goal and a very nice assist as well For Ossou at the camp now Hello Philip.

14:01Phil Kitromilides:Did you know that today's podcast, TSFP, is brought to you by friends at NordVPN? I do now. You guys know that we travel a lot covering Spanish football, whether it's following Spanish teams around Europe in the Champions League. Or going to three league games in a weekend in Spain. The best way to make sure you've got access to all your content from back home is using NordVPN. And we'll be using it this summer when we head to the US for the World Cup. you and Al will. I may or may not be going to the US, but if I do go, I certainly will be using NordVPN. You can use it to keep up with the football or TV shows or movies.

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14:41Phil Kitromilides:Yeah, that very easily is very, very important if you're not tech savvy like, well, some of us. Like you. No, it improves your internet security, which is important if you spend a lot of time using public Wi-Fi. Let's say they're the ones that you use at train stations, airports, hotel lobbies. You mean the kind of places where I am most of the time? Most of the time. You can connect with just one click. It's one of the fastest VPNs around and you can use up to 10 devices with one account. For more information, this is very important. You need to head to nordvpn.com forward slash TSFP. Don't forget forward slash TSFP.

15:18Phil Kitromilides:And there's a 30 day money back guarantee. You also get four extra months for free. So I'm just grabbing a pen. Philip, if you could tell me the link again, please. You can write it down or you can just go to the show notes where you'll find it. It's nordvpn.com forward slash TSFP. When you want your spring break to feel like and your kids pool day to feel like and your hotel bed to feel like and room service to feel like because at Hilton, hospitality feels like your cabana's ready. Would you like fresh towels? It matters where you stay. Book now at Hilton.com. Hilton for this day. We all have that dream trip we've been wishing we could go on, But too often, life, or usually price, gets in the way.

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16:34Phil Kitromilides:Go to your happy price. Priceline. Your little one grew three inches overnight. Adorable. Also, expensive. Sell their pint-sized pieces on Depop and list them in minutes with no selling fees. Because somewhere, a dad refuses to pay full price for the clothes his kids will outgrow tomorrow. And he's ready to buy your son's entire wardrobe right now. Consider your future growth spurt budget secured. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. Now let's talk about Real Madrid beating Elche by four goals to one at the Santiago Bernabeu.

17:14Alvaro Arbaloa continuing his slightly hysteric, hyperbolic Madridismo by saying, now I can die happy after seeing this game, which, you know.

17:24Phil Kitromilides:I'm starting to love Arbaloa because of these things. Every game, there's another one which is, I mean, fundamentally, I like the enthusiasm and I think it's a good thing. And I think the idea of embracing the players and so on. But every now and again, it's just that little step beyond what it needs to be, isn't it? Well, he's able to die now in a happy state. I hope he doesn't, by the way. He wasn't previously. Before this game, he wasn't. But now, after beating Elche 4-1, he can die happy. Yeah, I mean, I hope he doesn't. And the reasons for that are obviously that there was a sense of purpose about them.

17:59Phil Kitromilides:That he put, at the end of the game, there's five youth teamers on the pitch. For me, that was actually the even more Arbeloa moment, was when he described this as being like the Quinta del Buitre, which is the defining generation of youth team players that were the heart of a team that went on to win five league titles in a row. And he said, this is like the Quinta del Buitre. And I understand his point in that he's saying, you know, you don't normally get this many kids on the pitch at the same time. You don't normally get this many players coming through. But the Quinta del Buitre is, you know, it's quite a big claim.

18:28Phil Kitromilides:And Arbeloa does a lot of this, of linking people to the past and reinforcing this idea of madridismo. We saw it in midweek when he said that Fede Valverde was a 21st century Juanito. And this was like the Quinta del VIII. He said, Emilio Bocogueno, who, of course, was the figurehead of the Quinta del VIII, will have been proud watching this. I think he would have been happy. I'm not sure he would have necessarily drawn the parallel, but it is very good news. And, you know, beyond the sort of the silliness and sort of, you know, kind of slightly poking fun at the statement, I actually think it is important.

18:57Phil Kitromilides:And I actually think it does speak quite well of Arbada. Yes, it's true. There's been a huge amount of injuries. It was 10 the other day. I'm not sure how many it was this time around because a couple of comebacks, was it eight, were missing this time, I think. I'm not sure. Yeah, it was close to 10. Maybe it was 10 again, yeah. And so obviously part of it is obligation, but he's had the determination to keep players in. And in particular, in the case of García Pítac, to play him in the Champions League, which in truth we didn't think would happen. And his response, Pítac, has been... Did I call him García Pítac?

19:25Phil Kitromilides:Why did I do that? I don't know. I feel like, is there someone out there called García Pitac? Anyway, I've had a head fart there and apologies. Anyway, and Thiago played, of course, very well in the Champions League and played very well again at the weekend. There has been an improvement from Real Madrid. In the last three years, Jesús García Pitac is a retired Spanish footballer. There we go. Right, yeah. García Pitac, who was also an agent, if I remember rightly, but I'm not sure. Or it might be the same person. It might well be, yes. Anyway, what was I saying? There was an improvement from Real Madrid in the last three games at Celta Vigo against Manchester City and against Elche not necessarily in terms of football although they have scored goals and won those three games but in terms of commitment Sid, in terms of intensity in terms of willingness to run I think in those three games they were noticeably better again, as I said, not necessarily in terms of constructing attacking options But in terms of the bare minimum, which you require from Real Madrid is the kind of intensity and the willingness to run.

20:32I think the introduction of Thiago Pitac has helped considerably with that. And dare I say it, in the second half, with all those Canteranos out on the pitch, I'm not going to say they look better than they did in the first half, but they played with the kind of sort of freedom and fluency and excitement that I think would have made a lot of fans quite happy and maybe make them rethink not, you know, let's drop all the first teamers and bring all the youth team kids in. No, but actually there are players here that can do a job for us in the first team now.

21:05Phil Kitromilides:Yes. And there's a line from Jorge Valana, which I always like, which is to say that the most important person in the youth structure is always the first team manager. It's the person who finally opens that door. And this maybe is a demonstration that you can open that door. Now, obviously, look, let's not be naive about this and let's not fall into the trap of saying, I'll put all the kids in, as you rightly say. Because to be honest, when Bellingham's back and when Ember Pays back, they will get in the team. And equally, you know, and in particular across the midfield, you know. They don't get in the first team, but I think they can be useful.

21:35Of course they can. In fact, they are being useful.

21:37Phil Kitromilides:I mean, again, I don't want to overplay this because this is one game. And we're talking about five Cantoranos as if it's been five Cantoranos for the last six weeks. It hasn't been. It's been five Cantoranos for 20 minutes, yeah. Yes, exactly. Against Delce at home. Which is why we put, and with the result already pretty much in line, because they've already scored a couple of goals, which is why I want to back away slightly from the Quinta del Vuitre thing, or maybe quite a long way from the Quinta del Vuitre thing. But you do need to give them opportunities. And of course, there is an underlying basic thing here, which is to say that the kids in the Real Madrid Youth Academy should be good.