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Monday, November 29, 2010

Headline of the day

Seriously.

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posted by Barry at 2:48 PM Digg this

12 Comments:

  • Did you watch the game, Barry? It was phenomenal. Especially for those of us who love to hate that stoned coach.

    By Blogger David, at 10:57 PM  

  • Followed the MBM.

    My bet is that in the return match, Mourinho figures out how to beat them.

    By Blogger Barry, at 11:04 PM  

  • He did that last year with Inter. They got thrashed by Barca in the group stage a year ago and throttled them six months later in the Champions League semifinal.

    It's unlikely Barca will play this well again while Real plays this badly. But it sure was fun to watch tonight.

    Highlights here for anyone else who's interested:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0teLQ2L-7M&feature=player_embedded

    By Blogger David, at 11:10 PM  

  • Say what you will about Mourinho's personality, he knows how to get the best out of his players, no matter who he's got on his team.

    He's making Benitez look like an amateur.

    By Blogger Barry, at 11:15 PM  

  • My favorite passage from the Guardian's MBM:

    20 GOAL!!! Barcelona 2-0 Real Madrid (Pedro 18) Barça get knee-deep in tiki and up to their elbows in taka and it pays off. Twenty-odd unopposed passes reach a crescendo as the ball is swept wide to Villa....

    Last year with Inter, Mourinho had an Italian catenaccio squad that was up to the task of clogging the midfield and preventing through balls. Last night, though, Real Madrid's midfield couldn't contain Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Busquets. To put it mildly.

    It was interesting that the first goal came from Xavi making a run into the box—something he almost never does. It tells me Barça spent some time looking at last year's Inter tapes, too.

    By Blogger David, at 7:48 AM  

  • Barry, I don't know if you've read your Fiver email from the Guardian yet, but I see that Xavi completed 114 out of 117 passes. Amazing. Hope he gets the Ballon d'Or.

    BTW, what's your prediction for the WC announcement on Thursday?

    By Blogger David, at 11:52 AM  

  • Yeah, saw that stat. I wonder what his longest pass was?

    WC?

    Total chaos. Dogs and cats, living together. Jail terms and protests no matter who gets it.

    Which will be England in 2018, and the US in 2022.

    but i wouldn't put any money on those guesses.

    By Blogger Barry, at 11:59 AM  

  • I don't know what Xavi's longest pass was, but one of his 114 completions was when he swung the ball wide--at least 30 yards--to David Villa in the 18th minute, which led to goal No. 2.

    I counted 28 passes in that buildup, by the way, with Xavi and Iniesta running the show. No wonder Fabregas decided to leave for Arsenal.

    I'm thinking that Australia and the Middle East are likely for at least one WC slot. There's been a whiff of desperation coming from the US in recent days, with Garber making insincere noises about switching to fall-spring calendar and exploring "simulated" promotion and relegation.

    By Blogger David, at 12:21 PM  

  • How would a "simulated" promotion/relegation scheme work?

    By Blogger Barry, at 12:25 PM  

  • You got me there. I have no idea, although I read a lot of ridiculous speculation in an effort to figure out what he meant.

    Basically the feeling is that Garber is just mouthing phrases that FIFA wants to hear. Maybe he's hoping that the word "simulated" will pass over the head of Sepp Blatter.

    By Blogger David, at 12:30 PM  

  • Which will be England in 2018, and the US in 2022.

    Oh for two.

    By Blogger Barry, at 10:47 AM  

  • Good thing you didn't put money on those guesses. I'm not surprised by the results, but I'm glad I didn't put my money (or my mouth) anywhere.

    As corrupt as the process may have been, I can't get caught up in the outrage. If the system was as "fair" as US backers would like it to be, the US would get it every time.

    Me, I'm thinking about doing some long-term financial planning in order to get to Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018. And if I can pull that off, hopefully I'll have the means to make it to Qatar when I'm 52 years old!

    By Blogger David, at 11:01 AM  

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