Last night was quite remarkable as Athletic Club went out and did to Manchester United precisely what they did a week previously. It was another terrific game punctuated by moments of absolute genius. Llorente's goal off an amazing ball from Fernando Amorebieta and Rooney's late consolation were both exceptional, as was Toquero rocking up at left-back and Amorebieta going a full game without a booking. Highlight, however, was right-back Andoni Iraola almost scoring the best goal since, well, ever.
See it here on 101greatgoals.
We haven't seen close control like that since Charles Charlie-Charles was a lad. Unbelievable Jeff!
The home of football sarcasm
Friday, 16 March 2012
Mourinho's legacy
Chelsea and Internazionale have a lot in common. Both enjoyed success under Jose Mourinho, both have been through managers like there's no tomorrow in the immediate aftermath of Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea are on their seventh boss since Mourinho left them five years ago, Inter are up to four in less than two years. Both clubs are burdened by the weight of Mourinho's signings, invariably experienced players at or near their peak when signed and therefore pretty costly. There's no legacy planning and Mourinho is very adept at picking the right time to move on, the fans still in awe and memories of glory days fresh in the mind. The problem arises a short time later when those players at or near their peak suddenly pass it and the incumbent coach finds a squad not fit for the job in hand. Mourinho's teams all get old together. It's as if he arrives at a club already knowing how long he's going to be around and builds a team that will last that long and not a great deal longer.
His attitude to his players also works against future coaches. By protecting his players from all external criticism - his antics with the media and on the touchline look more like the work of a Machivellian schemer than pure coincidence - he helps inculcate a culture where they are immune to everything, be that honest appraisal or new ideas.
It's also no coincidence that Inter and Chelsea both have notoriously trigger-happy chairmen, but even as far back as the 1930s when Fulham fired Jimmy Hogan after 31 days, players have had their say over managers who try to get them to do things they don't see as worthwhile. And who is easier to sack; one manager or 25 players? Moratti and Abramovich have been culpable of facilitating this trait of Mourinho.
It's like salting the earth behind you as you leave the farm. Nobody will be able to grow anything there and your reputation as a master farmer will remain intact for generations. Mourinho seals his legacy by getting to decide that his successors will not be able to emulate him.
Chelsea are on their seventh boss since Mourinho left them five years ago, Inter are up to four in less than two years. Both clubs are burdened by the weight of Mourinho's signings, invariably experienced players at or near their peak when signed and therefore pretty costly. There's no legacy planning and Mourinho is very adept at picking the right time to move on, the fans still in awe and memories of glory days fresh in the mind. The problem arises a short time later when those players at or near their peak suddenly pass it and the incumbent coach finds a squad not fit for the job in hand. Mourinho's teams all get old together. It's as if he arrives at a club already knowing how long he's going to be around and builds a team that will last that long and not a great deal longer.
His attitude to his players also works against future coaches. By protecting his players from all external criticism - his antics with the media and on the touchline look more like the work of a Machivellian schemer than pure coincidence - he helps inculcate a culture where they are immune to everything, be that honest appraisal or new ideas.
It's also no coincidence that Inter and Chelsea both have notoriously trigger-happy chairmen, but even as far back as the 1930s when Fulham fired Jimmy Hogan after 31 days, players have had their say over managers who try to get them to do things they don't see as worthwhile. And who is easier to sack; one manager or 25 players? Moratti and Abramovich have been culpable of facilitating this trait of Mourinho.
It's like salting the earth behind you as you leave the farm. Nobody will be able to grow anything there and your reputation as a master farmer will remain intact for generations. Mourinho seals his legacy by getting to decide that his successors will not be able to emulate him.
Run DMC and the lessons of England's European failure
"Next time someone's teaching why don't you get taught? It's like that (huh) and that's the way it is"
England's national team has been poor for ages. 1996 was the last time they were any cop, but since then it's been a triumph of fevered hype followed by tournament performances that resemble each other so closely that it stops looking like anything other than a predictably repeatable pattern. But that's been OK, because England has the Premier League, the self-styled Best League In The World.
"All these players are great for their clubs", went the well-worn excuse for getting beaten on penalties by Portugal - again - at a major championships, "so why can't they do it for England?". Well the obvious answer to that, which nobody wanted to hear, was that the key players in those club sides weren't English. In light of England's European embarrassment this season - notwithstanding Chelsea finding Napoli's Achilles heel that is a total inability to defend corners - the technical deficiencies apparent in the national team seem to have filtered down to the clubs.
The line used on creation of the Premier League was that it'd help the national team. That sounded like bollocks then and still does. The EPPP that the top clubs forced through by holding a financial cannon to the groin of lower league clubs was fed to us with the same line. That also sounds like bollocks, especially in a week where the most emphatic European result featuring an English side was Liverpool's 6-0 gubbing by Ajax in the NextGen series semi-finals. Yes, youth development is very much best off in the hands of such clubs.
If this were any other country, we might be holding crisis talks. There may be rumours of a total overhaul of the way England produces players and, subsequently, coaches. There may be root-and-branch reviews of the entire football system in this country, you know, a bit like Germany did after poor tournaments in 1998 and 2000. Instead, what we've had so far this week is a senior FA official going on a xenophobic rant and falling into an ornamental pond and the demand for change from the culture, media and sport select committee responded to by the FA washing their hands of all footballing matters completely and handing over all power in the game to the top clubs.
Sporting CP rode their luck at times, but were worthy winners over Manchester City. Arsenal were undone by an abject first leg in Milan. Manchester United were given a 180-minute football lesson by an incredibly exciting team. But for Napoli's enormous defensive short-comings, there would be more Cypriot teams left in Europe than English. This season, there has been a lot of teaching going on. The fear is that the response will be the usual, i.e. stick fingers in the ears and repeat the 'best league in the world' mantra until the pain goes away. Is anyone going to get taught?
England's national team has been poor for ages. 1996 was the last time they were any cop, but since then it's been a triumph of fevered hype followed by tournament performances that resemble each other so closely that it stops looking like anything other than a predictably repeatable pattern. But that's been OK, because England has the Premier League, the self-styled Best League In The World.
"All these players are great for their clubs", went the well-worn excuse for getting beaten on penalties by Portugal - again - at a major championships, "so why can't they do it for England?". Well the obvious answer to that, which nobody wanted to hear, was that the key players in those club sides weren't English. In light of England's European embarrassment this season - notwithstanding Chelsea finding Napoli's Achilles heel that is a total inability to defend corners - the technical deficiencies apparent in the national team seem to have filtered down to the clubs.
The line used on creation of the Premier League was that it'd help the national team. That sounded like bollocks then and still does. The EPPP that the top clubs forced through by holding a financial cannon to the groin of lower league clubs was fed to us with the same line. That also sounds like bollocks, especially in a week where the most emphatic European result featuring an English side was Liverpool's 6-0 gubbing by Ajax in the NextGen series semi-finals. Yes, youth development is very much best off in the hands of such clubs.
If this were any other country, we might be holding crisis talks. There may be rumours of a total overhaul of the way England produces players and, subsequently, coaches. There may be root-and-branch reviews of the entire football system in this country, you know, a bit like Germany did after poor tournaments in 1998 and 2000. Instead, what we've had so far this week is a senior FA official going on a xenophobic rant and falling into an ornamental pond and the demand for change from the culture, media and sport select committee responded to by the FA washing their hands of all footballing matters completely and handing over all power in the game to the top clubs.
Sporting CP rode their luck at times, but were worthy winners over Manchester City. Arsenal were undone by an abject first leg in Milan. Manchester United were given a 180-minute football lesson by an incredibly exciting team. But for Napoli's enormous defensive short-comings, there would be more Cypriot teams left in Europe than English. This season, there has been a lot of teaching going on. The fear is that the response will be the usual, i.e. stick fingers in the ears and repeat the 'best league in the world' mantra until the pain goes away. Is anyone going to get taught?
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
That was the week that was #1
Taking over from the Vague round-up, something a bit more in-depth...
Last week was a European week with Barcelona and that Lionel Messi bloke grabbing all the headlines. That was a shame as APOEL's penalty shoot-out win over Lyon got a bit shouldered out of things and Athletic Club's trip to Manchester United in the Europa League was one of the games of the season. With APOEL reaching the quarters, Arsenal not quite managing to overturn the four-goal deficit against Milan and Chelsea 3-1 down going into this week's return leg against Napoli, Cyprus look likely to have more clubs in the quater-finals than England. Effort.
Onto matters domestic and in Spain, the one-horse races for first, second and third places all remained exactly that, even if Valencia - in a lonely third - could only draw with Mallorca, chucking a two-goal lead away in the process. More pain for Villarreal against Getafe on Monday night. Their survival hinges on finding three clubs worse than them. Fortunately Racing, Sporting and Zaragoza combine to fit that bill rather well. The only real race is for fourth and Málaga have that spot this week, Athletic conspiring to lose at Osasuna.
Napoli were stunning on Friday night in Serie A, thumping six past Cagliari. They conceded three though, a hat-trick for Joaquin Larrivey. Cagliari responded by sacking manager Davide Ballardini and re-hire former boss Massimo Ficcadenti who himself was sacked by the club four months ago. Clear? Milan won again to extend their lead at the top with Juventus - still unbeaten - only drawing in Genoa. Inter got back to winning ways against Chievo, but Ranieri is still on thin ice. The bottom three look done already, but Novara dented Udinese's Champions League hopes with something of a shock win.
Wins for the top two in France leaves that battle as it was, but both pull clear of third-placed Lille who were beaten by Lyon. St Etienne sneak into fourth after a win over VA. Four points cover the bottom seven meaning squeaky bums all round. In Ligue 2, Monaco finally pulled themselves out of the bottom three. It's still too early to talk of a resurgence.
The Eredivisie had one of it's bonkers weeks. Ajax went top briefly after a win of RKC Waalwijk, but AZ returned there in the late game on Sunday after beating Graafschap. PSV lost 3-1 at NAC Breda and fired Fred Rutten. Twente went and lost to NEC to stuff their chances of going top. Heerenveen also won to remain fifth, but a draw for Feyenoord sees them lose pace in sixth. AZ lead by three from Ajax, but one point covers second to fifth.
Porto stuffed up in the Liga Zon Sagres, drawing at home to Academica. Benfica's win over Paços de Ferreira and Braga's win over Leiria brings them both within a point. Sporting are a yawning eleven points further back in fourth.
Galatasaray are miles ahead in Turkey, likewise Basel in Switzerland. Olympiakos have opened up a bit of a gap in the Greek Super League after Panathinaikos were beaten by AEK. Legia opened up a bit of a gap in the Ekstraklasa after Slask were beaten by Korona. Warsaw derby next week.
Finally, Germany. Dortmund were held in Augsburg to a goalless draw, but remain four points ahead of Bayern, 7-1 winners against an increasingly shambolic Hoffenheim. Gladbach could only draw with Freiburg and they lose ground; Schalke move within a point of the Foals by beating Hamburg. But it's 2.Bundesliga where the real fun is. Three points covers the top five, still. Paderborn were held 0-0 by Bochum, the only ones in the top five not to win. Greuther beat Alemannia to remain top by a point from Eintracht Frankfurt who stuck five past Hansa. Then come Fortuna, 3-1 winners over Erzebirge. All that heaped pressure on St Pauli to win on Monday night and they did, 1-0 over Karlsruhe who remain in deep trouble at the wrong end.
Last week was a European week with Barcelona and that Lionel Messi bloke grabbing all the headlines. That was a shame as APOEL's penalty shoot-out win over Lyon got a bit shouldered out of things and Athletic Club's trip to Manchester United in the Europa League was one of the games of the season. With APOEL reaching the quarters, Arsenal not quite managing to overturn the four-goal deficit against Milan and Chelsea 3-1 down going into this week's return leg against Napoli, Cyprus look likely to have more clubs in the quater-finals than England. Effort.
Onto matters domestic and in Spain, the one-horse races for first, second and third places all remained exactly that, even if Valencia - in a lonely third - could only draw with Mallorca, chucking a two-goal lead away in the process. More pain for Villarreal against Getafe on Monday night. Their survival hinges on finding three clubs worse than them. Fortunately Racing, Sporting and Zaragoza combine to fit that bill rather well. The only real race is for fourth and Málaga have that spot this week, Athletic conspiring to lose at Osasuna.
Napoli were stunning on Friday night in Serie A, thumping six past Cagliari. They conceded three though, a hat-trick for Joaquin Larrivey. Cagliari responded by sacking manager Davide Ballardini and re-hire former boss Massimo Ficcadenti who himself was sacked by the club four months ago. Clear? Milan won again to extend their lead at the top with Juventus - still unbeaten - only drawing in Genoa. Inter got back to winning ways against Chievo, but Ranieri is still on thin ice. The bottom three look done already, but Novara dented Udinese's Champions League hopes with something of a shock win.
Wins for the top two in France leaves that battle as it was, but both pull clear of third-placed Lille who were beaten by Lyon. St Etienne sneak into fourth after a win over VA. Four points cover the bottom seven meaning squeaky bums all round. In Ligue 2, Monaco finally pulled themselves out of the bottom three. It's still too early to talk of a resurgence.
The Eredivisie had one of it's bonkers weeks. Ajax went top briefly after a win of RKC Waalwijk, but AZ returned there in the late game on Sunday after beating Graafschap. PSV lost 3-1 at NAC Breda and fired Fred Rutten. Twente went and lost to NEC to stuff their chances of going top. Heerenveen also won to remain fifth, but a draw for Feyenoord sees them lose pace in sixth. AZ lead by three from Ajax, but one point covers second to fifth.
Porto stuffed up in the Liga Zon Sagres, drawing at home to Academica. Benfica's win over Paços de Ferreira and Braga's win over Leiria brings them both within a point. Sporting are a yawning eleven points further back in fourth.
Galatasaray are miles ahead in Turkey, likewise Basel in Switzerland. Olympiakos have opened up a bit of a gap in the Greek Super League after Panathinaikos were beaten by AEK. Legia opened up a bit of a gap in the Ekstraklasa after Slask were beaten by Korona. Warsaw derby next week.
Finally, Germany. Dortmund were held in Augsburg to a goalless draw, but remain four points ahead of Bayern, 7-1 winners against an increasingly shambolic Hoffenheim. Gladbach could only draw with Freiburg and they lose ground; Schalke move within a point of the Foals by beating Hamburg. But it's 2.Bundesliga where the real fun is. Three points covers the top five, still. Paderborn were held 0-0 by Bochum, the only ones in the top five not to win. Greuther beat Alemannia to remain top by a point from Eintracht Frankfurt who stuck five past Hansa. Then come Fortuna, 3-1 winners over Erzebirge. All that heaped pressure on St Pauli to win on Monday night and they did, 1-0 over Karlsruhe who remain in deep trouble at the wrong end.
Monday, 12 March 2012
Unbelievable Jeff #17
Everyone loves a team goal, right? Don't argue, it's a fact. Esteban Cambiasso against Serbia, Carlos Alberto in the 1970 World Cup final, even this pearler from Benjamin Huggel are all great examples of the collective coming together in spectacular fashion.
Now, there's a new entry in the great team goal pantheon and it's from the A-League. Adelaide are away to Brisbane, it's 0-0 and the home side are on the attack:
Unbelievable Jeff!
Now, there's a new entry in the great team goal pantheon and it's from the A-League. Adelaide are away to Brisbane, it's 0-0 and the home side are on the attack:
Unbelievable Jeff!
PSV wtf
PSV were rubbish against NAC at the weekend. Despite going ahead early through Georgino Wijnaldum, NAC were ahead shortly afterwards as Santi Kolk equalised and Anthony Lurling wove through some poor defending for the second. Shortly before half-time, Stanislav Manolev was sent off after picking up a second yellow for what was about his sixth cautionable offence. Kolk increased the lead with a free header and NAC held onto it quite comfortably despite them being reduced to ten as well after an ugly challenge from Robbert Schilder. This came on the back of a 4-2 defeat to Valencia in the Europa League - they were 4-0 down after an hour - and a 6-2 snotting from title rivals FC Twente who themselves were a man short for almost the whole second half. It has not been a good week for PSV.
They have also lost up at Groningen in recent weeks - Manolev was sent off there too - and have won only three Eredivisie matches since the league resumed after the winter break. They've gone from top at Christmas to fourth. This prompted the board to act and Fred Rutten was sacked today.
Rutten was already going to leave at the end of the season. The club had been vocal about bringing Steve McClaren to Eindhoven, but with Twente dispensing with Co Adriaanse and the ex-England manager returning to Enschede, that is no longer an option. Perhaps that knowledge that Rutten was leaving and the public courting of other coaches has had an effect on the playing staff in terms of motivation. Whatever the reasons, they're in a funk at the moment and the title push has been derailed. They are four points back from leaders AZ, but the rot has set in and it needs to be turned around quickly if they're to salvage something from the season.
Philip Cocu and fellow alumnus Ernest Faber have been given the rescue job until the end of the season. Cocu has long been groomed for the role and this would appear to be an extended job interview. He's very highly thought of as a coach and continues to work with the national team alongside Bert van Marwijk and was strongly linked with the Australian national team job in recent times. The worry has to be that if he flunks the interview or decides it's not for him, where can PSV turn? The obvious candidates - Eric Gerets for example or the impressive Alex Pastoor - are already in work and the ability of PSV to pay compensation has to be questioned.
PSV remain a big club and have a superb pool of talent with the likes of Dries Mertens, Ola Toivonen, Tim Matavz and the exciting Zakaria Labyad. This is a real opportunity for one of the great Oranje players to make a real impression in the coaching career he's always seemed destined for. If he doesn't, a grand old club are in some trouble.
They have also lost up at Groningen in recent weeks - Manolev was sent off there too - and have won only three Eredivisie matches since the league resumed after the winter break. They've gone from top at Christmas to fourth. This prompted the board to act and Fred Rutten was sacked today.
Rutten was already going to leave at the end of the season. The club had been vocal about bringing Steve McClaren to Eindhoven, but with Twente dispensing with Co Adriaanse and the ex-England manager returning to Enschede, that is no longer an option. Perhaps that knowledge that Rutten was leaving and the public courting of other coaches has had an effect on the playing staff in terms of motivation. Whatever the reasons, they're in a funk at the moment and the title push has been derailed. They are four points back from leaders AZ, but the rot has set in and it needs to be turned around quickly if they're to salvage something from the season.
Philip Cocu and fellow alumnus Ernest Faber have been given the rescue job until the end of the season. Cocu has long been groomed for the role and this would appear to be an extended job interview. He's very highly thought of as a coach and continues to work with the national team alongside Bert van Marwijk and was strongly linked with the Australian national team job in recent times. The worry has to be that if he flunks the interview or decides it's not for him, where can PSV turn? The obvious candidates - Eric Gerets for example or the impressive Alex Pastoor - are already in work and the ability of PSV to pay compensation has to be questioned.
PSV remain a big club and have a superb pool of talent with the likes of Dries Mertens, Ola Toivonen, Tim Matavz and the exciting Zakaria Labyad. This is a real opportunity for one of the great Oranje players to make a real impression in the coaching career he's always seemed destined for. If he doesn't, a grand old club are in some trouble.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Punishment in the modern era
On Monday morning, Wolves defnder Roger Johnson rocked up to training "unfit to train properly", something we took to mean that he was still tired and emotional. The club said that they'd disciplined him and that was that. Johnson has also apologised.
But what did that disciplinary procedure actually contain? Johnson hasn't featured in either of Wolves' last two games - a draw at Newcastle and a derby shellacking at Fulham - after being dropped following another 5-goal gubbing at home to West Brom. Now the BBC are reporting that Johnson is in the squad for the game at Molineux against Blackburn.
The message we're getting is this: If you don't behave and turn up pissed for work, you run the risk of having to play against Blackburn. Sounds a bit excessive to us, but it could be worse - he could have to go up against Karl Henry at training.
But what did that disciplinary procedure actually contain? Johnson hasn't featured in either of Wolves' last two games - a draw at Newcastle and a derby shellacking at Fulham - after being dropped following another 5-goal gubbing at home to West Brom. Now the BBC are reporting that Johnson is in the squad for the game at Molineux against Blackburn.
The message we're getting is this: If you don't behave and turn up pissed for work, you run the risk of having to play against Blackburn. Sounds a bit excessive to us, but it could be worse - he could have to go up against Karl Henry at training.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
Unbelievable Jeff! #16 - Spanish special
What a weekend it was in Spain's Primera Liga. Goals rained in everywhere and a lot of them were very special indeed. All four goals in the Getafe v Málaga game were outstanding, none moreso than the absolute rocket that left the unlikely boot of Jeremy Toulalan. Speaking of unlikely scorers, Barcelona were indebted to Seydou Keita (who we're big fans of) as the ten men of the champions struggled past a gritty, if limited, Sporting Gijon side. Bottom side Real Zaragoza got a vital win over fellow strugglers Villarreal thanks in part to a cracking equaliser from Luis Garciá.
But none of that makes our entry for Unbelievable Jeff today You see, we had a delegation in Spain this weekend for the big game of the round, the Basque derby between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad.
Arriving in Bilbao on Friday afternoon, the hotel was located and it was straight up to San Mamés where a small queue was formed up from the ticket windows. Socios only, however. Come back at half ten tomorrow morning. We got there early, but the queue snaked round from the ticket windows right up to the hole in the ground that will one day be the new San Mamés. Thick end of two hours later, it was apparent that there were no more available. We tried again on Sunday morning and got talking to some of the ultras in a bar over the road from the ground. Complete sell-out. The queues were huge on Thursday and Friday morning before we arrived and every one had been taken.
We'd been out and about in the town on Friday and Saturday and already been won over by the place. It's not exactly a tourist town, so the fact we were there at all, let alone for the football, proved quite the novelty for the locals. We were made extremely welcome and we figured that watching the match in one of the bars near the ground wouldn't be a bad second choice. How right we were.
Cider and what looked to be a sickly combination of red wine and coke was flowing from 10am. The streets and bars were packed, blue and white mingling freely with red and white with nary a hint of trouble nor the sight of a single copper. Two weeks previously, I was at a game between a blue and white striped team and a red and white striped one and every copper in West Yorkshire seemed to be in town. Commuters just trying to get home were being filmed as they got off the train, so the Spanish approach was welcome and refreshing.
We watched the Zarzgoza v Villarreal game in one bar and wandered off to grab a decent spot at another for the main event. It was gloriously chaotic everywhere, but we grabbed a spot in a bar where we'd seen the previous night's games. Beer and pinxtos disappeared down our faces at alarming rates as the atmosphere continued to build.
Athletic dominated the game which was played in an absolute deluge and took the lead midway through the first half as Susaeta finished off a typically Bielsan passage of neat, passing play. The big moment in the game came in the second half when a rare spell of pressure from La Real produced a goal for Carlos Vela that, crucially, none of the officials saw. Athletic responded to it better than La Real and Susaeta, the best player on the field by some distance, made it safe ten minutes from the end with a ripper of a free-kick:
As unbelievable (Jeff) as that was, that's still not the point of writing this. What was unbelievable, Jeff, was the city, the people, the atmosphere, the camaraderie, the whole experience. A fabulous weekend had by the pair of us, a colossal amount of beer consumed and football watched, capped by that wonderful effort from Susaeta.
Back to reality now though as I have been roped in to cover the Huddersfield v Hartlepool game tonight. I don't know how it's going to measure up to what I was party to this weekend. If it's even 20% as good as the derby, I'll be a happy man.
But none of that makes our entry for Unbelievable Jeff today You see, we had a delegation in Spain this weekend for the big game of the round, the Basque derby between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad.
Arriving in Bilbao on Friday afternoon, the hotel was located and it was straight up to San Mamés where a small queue was formed up from the ticket windows. Socios only, however. Come back at half ten tomorrow morning. We got there early, but the queue snaked round from the ticket windows right up to the hole in the ground that will one day be the new San Mamés. Thick end of two hours later, it was apparent that there were no more available. We tried again on Sunday morning and got talking to some of the ultras in a bar over the road from the ground. Complete sell-out. The queues were huge on Thursday and Friday morning before we arrived and every one had been taken.
We'd been out and about in the town on Friday and Saturday and already been won over by the place. It's not exactly a tourist town, so the fact we were there at all, let alone for the football, proved quite the novelty for the locals. We were made extremely welcome and we figured that watching the match in one of the bars near the ground wouldn't be a bad second choice. How right we were.
Cider and what looked to be a sickly combination of red wine and coke was flowing from 10am. The streets and bars were packed, blue and white mingling freely with red and white with nary a hint of trouble nor the sight of a single copper. Two weeks previously, I was at a game between a blue and white striped team and a red and white striped one and every copper in West Yorkshire seemed to be in town. Commuters just trying to get home were being filmed as they got off the train, so the Spanish approach was welcome and refreshing.
We watched the Zarzgoza v Villarreal game in one bar and wandered off to grab a decent spot at another for the main event. It was gloriously chaotic everywhere, but we grabbed a spot in a bar where we'd seen the previous night's games. Beer and pinxtos disappeared down our faces at alarming rates as the atmosphere continued to build.
Athletic dominated the game which was played in an absolute deluge and took the lead midway through the first half as Susaeta finished off a typically Bielsan passage of neat, passing play. The big moment in the game came in the second half when a rare spell of pressure from La Real produced a goal for Carlos Vela that, crucially, none of the officials saw. Athletic responded to it better than La Real and Susaeta, the best player on the field by some distance, made it safe ten minutes from the end with a ripper of a free-kick:
As unbelievable (Jeff) as that was, that's still not the point of writing this. What was unbelievable, Jeff, was the city, the people, the atmosphere, the camaraderie, the whole experience. A fabulous weekend had by the pair of us, a colossal amount of beer consumed and football watched, capped by that wonderful effort from Susaeta.
Back to reality now though as I have been roped in to cover the Huddersfield v Hartlepool game tonight. I don't know how it's going to measure up to what I was party to this weekend. If it's even 20% as good as the derby, I'll be a happy man.
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