Spain’s love affair with English football: will it last?

Either Spanish fans are more desperate than ever for a football fix over the holidays, or attitudes towards the English game have changed massively since I moved away three years ago.

I’ve been back in Spain on holiday for the last week or so and I’ve been amazed at how much respect there is for the Premier League. But is it just a brief fling while La Liga is on hold and Spanish players are providing the inspiration at Liverpool, Arsenal and elsewhere? Or will Spanish fans be hopping on Easyjets to visit Anfield and the Emirates for years to come? 

When I lived here the Spanish attitude towards English football was one of, well, not quite contempt exactly, but you certainly wouldn’t find anyone looking up to it.

People would sometimes express admiration for the loyalty of the fans — actually cheering on your team when they’re losing and playing badly is an alien concept at the Bernabeu or Camp Nou — but the quality of the football? What quality?

Confusion reigns over the latest altitude ruling

The latest ruling on matches at high altitude has added yet more confusion to a story which already has taken more twists and turns than a bus travelling along an Andean road.

The saga began earlier this year with a blanket ban on matches above 2,500 metres above sea. This would have prevented Bolivia from staging matches in the traditional venue of La Paz (3,600 metres) as well as Colombia and Ecuador playing in their respective capitals of Bogota (2,700) and Quito (2,800).

Following a wave of protests, led by Bolivia President Evo Morales, FIFA later raised the limit to 3,000 metres and also made a special exemption for La Paz. The South American World Cup qualifying competition then started in September with matches in all three cities.

Earlier this month, however, FIFA made another u-turn with an out-of-the-blue ruling that banned international games in cities above 2,750 metres “without proper climatisation.”

Seeing red at Christmas

The colour red is prominent at Christmas whether its Santa’s red coat, Rudolph’s red nose or this season’s “in” colour – a red card from the referee.

A record-equalling 19 red cards were shown in England’s four top divisions on Boxing Day – the worst number on a single day since 19 were handed out on December 13, 2003.

Wednesday’s number was swollen by the continuing proliferation of two-footed lunges which have appeared from nowhere in the last month to blight the English game.

Chelsea’s Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho was the worst offender on Wednesday for a wild two-footed assault on Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Outsourcing England?

Arsene Wenger promotes the idea of England calling up Arsenal’s Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia:

The Spanish goalkeeper, who joined the club in July 2004, will be eligible for UK citizenship next year. “I could only advise you to take advantage of it and call him up for the England squad,” said Wenger.

Many of those who supported the appointment of Italian Fabio Capello as England manager made the argument that nationality was irrelevant and what mattered was getting the best man for the job. To play, of course, you need to meet citizenship or nationality criteria but if he becomes a British citizen then Almunia would be an option for Capello.

Are Barca’s Rijkaard and Ronaldinho past their sell-by date?

Frank Rijkaard has been accused of being a lame duck coach, lacking tactical awareness and being soft on his players following Barcelona’s 1-0 home defeat by arch-rivals and league leaders Real Madrid on Sunday.

The result ended Barca’s 100 percent home record this season, and left the Catalans seven points behind the leaders in second place.

While not a heavy defeat, Sunday’s showdown seemed to highlight the contrasting fortunes of the side in a number of areas.

Tactically Bernd Schuster won the battle against Rijkaard. Real closed down their opponents all over the pitch, stifling their creativity, and leaving them little room to work their trademark, quick passing moves.

If only players made as few mistakes as officials…

Referees and linesmen make mistakes. They always have and always will, but never as many as the one-eyed observers from the rival dugouts in the Premier League would have you believe.

One of the most tiresome developments of the modern game is the post-match interview when disgruntled managers preface their comments with, “I don’t want to whinge about the referee” before doing just that.

The problem is exacerbated by TV’s armchair analysts, who can agonise for hours, aided by half a dozen TV camera angles and computer simulation, then see no issue with pronouncing that an incident was tough to call but that the officials should have done better.

They had a field day Saturday when it seemed that Stephen Hunt’s late goal to secure a 2-1 win for Reading over Sunderland had not crossed the line before being beaten out by goalkeeper Craig Gordon. It wasn’t clear at first glance nor with aid of slow motion replays and only after several angles were made available did it appear that the linesman had made a mistake.

Friday afternoon question: Who are the Champions League favourites following the draw?

As usual the Champions League draw has set up some cracking ties to look forward to in February and March.

Holders AC Milan visit Premier League leaders Arsenal before a second leg at the San Siro in the standout tie.

Life continues to be tough for Rafa Benitez with last season’s runners-up and 2005 winners Liverpool drawn against Serie A leaders Inter Milan, although Roberto Mancini’s side have flattered to deceive in Europe in recent years. 

Manchester United and Chelsea will probably be secretly pleased with their ties against Lyon and Olympiakos respectively while AS Roma against Real Madrid will be an intriguing clash.

Zico’s world champions — now strictly unofficial

FIFA has decided it will only officially recognise as world club champions the winning teams from the four tournaments organised by itself — Corinthians in 2000, Sao Paulo in 2005, Internacional in 2006 and AC Milan in 2007.

The decision has already infuriated Zico, who played in the memorable Brazilian team Flamengo which outclassed Liverpool 3-0 in 1981 in the early days of the one-off fixture in Tokyo.

“There’s nothing to argue about. We took part in a very difficult Libertadores, we played European champions, as the representatives of South America, and we won,” he said.

It is hard not to sympathise with the current coach of Fenerbahce. It also raises the question — was the world club championship better off before FIFA stepped in?

Cassano is a sweetie after all

Love him or hate him, no one can say Antonio Cassano is boring.

The controversial striker, on loan at Sampdoria from Real Madrid, has fallen out with just about every manager who has ever coached him following numerous tantrums.

Earlier this month he was fined after approaching the touchline and shouting obscenities at Reggina coach Renzo Ulivieri, who had accused him of diving.

In Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, the Italian showed a softer side when he burst into tears after receiving a booking which rules him out of this weekend’s game at his favourite former club Roma.

Real Madrid the team to avoid in Champions League draw

Watching Real Madrid over the last few seasons has been a fraught experience. The team has been a bundle of nerves, the football has veered from the tedious to the heart-stopping, and the results have been totally unpredictable.

But things have changed this season at the Bernabeu. There is a pattern, a logic, to the way Real are playing and for the first time in four years they look as though they could be serious challengers for the Champions League once again.

Certainly it’s hard to imagine anyone relishing the thought of getting them in the draw for the first knockout round on Friday*.

It’s true that Lazio’s distinctly un-Italian defending gave Real a generous helping hand in their last Group game, but make no mistake, Bernd Schuster’s team were deeply impressive as they tore the Serie A side apart in the first half.