Goal Crisis

Last week in la Primera Liga only two keepers, Claudio Bravo and Iker Casillas, had the pleasure of enjoying a full 90 minutes of football without having to perform the pitiful task of picking the ball out of the back of their net. Plenty of goals to keep the neutrals happy, but for the 18 managers not in charge of either Real Madrid or Sociedad these defensive lapses would have required some midweek chalk and duster action, as drawing boards at their respective training grounds were wheeled out.

Spain is not only in the red where money is concerned, but also where goals are. A look at the league table shows that only five teams don’t have a minus sign in front of their goal difference figure: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Club Athletic and Atlético Madrid. Not even fourth placed Levante has counterbalanced it’s shortcomings in defence with more goals at the other end.

A night José Mendilibar's side would like to forget

Out of the top five European leagues, Spain has the least amount of teams with a positive goal differential this season. In both the Premier League and Serie A, eight teams have scored more times than they have conceded, in France, half of the sides (ten) in Ligue 1 have offset their ‘goals against’ figure with an equal or greater ‘goals for’ figure, while in the more diminutive Bundesliga, seven of the 18 teams can boast the same. Most startling of all is the comparison with the league’s less glamorous underling, la Segunda división, where 11 teams are solvent when it comes to goals in their favour.

So what’s behind all this defensive leakiness in the Spanish top flight? The short and predictable answer is the colossal gulf between the top two and the rest. This is definitely true for Osasuna, who are generally regarded as one of the more resilient sides in the league, but whose ten goal deficit somewhat contradicts that notion. Although recently putting a halt to Barca’s title hopes with a 3-2 win in a rancorous encounter in the Reyno de Navarro, Mendilibar’s side was on the receiving end of an 8-0 pummelling earlier on in the season at the hands of Pep’s men, before having to place it’s tail between it’s legs for a second time a couple of months later, on the back of a 7-1 humbling in the Bernabeu. As of writing, fans of the Pamplona club have an off-putting “-10” spoiling their view of the table when they scan the GD column.

Perhaps the Basques are a victim of their own playing style: pressing high up the pitch and leaving plenty of space for opponents to hit them on the break with. If this is true of Osasuna, it’s definitely the case for Rayo Vallecano (-4). The left leaning Madrid club’s frenetic approach, whereby the forward players are constantly pressing, thus leaving the likes of Movilla and Javi Fuego to put out any potential fires in midfield (excuse the pun), has so far proved an effective strategy for the newly promoted side, not to mention a great one to watch. However, this high-risk tactic has also exposed the Franjirrojo backline on more than one occasion, as their poor home record attests to. And yes, Barca and Real Madrid have also handed them their biggest spankings of the season so far (6-2 and 4-0 respectively).

Barkero beating Joel in one of the only non-Madrid/Barca goal fests this season: Levante 3-5 Rayo 

But, we should lay off the poor old blancos and culés, it’s not all their fault. Sure, they dish out drubbings on a regular basis, but clubs only have to face them four times a year. That leaves 34 other encounters to turn things around with. However, this season a clear lack of firepower has made redeeming embarrassing score lines by emphatically beating lesser teams less commonplace. Marcelino’s disastrous attempted revamp in Sevilla, where Trochowski was brought in to link up play between the back line and the forwards, never really got going. Defensively things were shorn up slightly but the former Sporting Gijon manager’s tinkering resulted in an uncharacteristically tame goals haul for the Sevillistas, which wasn’t helped in anyway by Negredo having to spend the majority of the season out nursing an injury.

Two other sides you’d expect to find among the leaders of the ‘goals for’ table are Villarreal (-11) and Malaga (-3), however neither of them has set the world alight this season, to put it mildly. The less said about the former’s catastrophic season the better. At this stage last year the Castellón outfit had a plus 22 goal difference but with a squad depleted to a shadow of it’s former self this time round, due to injuries and uninspired signings, the Yellow Submarine has failed to make any waves, or even notable ripples, in the league. Malaga, for it’s part, has spent big and received very little in return. It’s fair to say Van Nistlerooy has been an almighty flop, while the man getting in ahead of him, Rondon, is hardly going to be a contender for the Pichichi any time soon. Although, Pelligrini’s side mauled Zaragoza last week 5-1, that was Zaragoza and the final result was somewhat flattering.

Last season finished with seven teams scoring more than they conceded. How the rest of this campaign plays out is anyone’s guess but with Barca and Madrid continuing to steam roll teams and high score lines coming few and far between elsewhere, the goal shortage in Spain doesn’t look like it’ll be on the mend any time soon.

Málaga vs Atlético Madrid

Tuning into tonight’s clash at the Rosaleda one could have been forgiven for thinking that they had stumbled upon some kind of River Plate exhibition match. Los Millonarios were well represented by both Málaga and Atlético on the pitch, with ex-players Falcao, Buonanotte and Demichelis present, as well as on the sidelines, with former Argentina Primera División championship winning coaches, Manuel Pellegrini and Diego Simeone controlling the respective benches.

But despite the Buenos Aires connection, there was no feeling of “friendly” or “testimonial” hanging over this encounter. Both sides were out to start this year with a bang and put a disappointing 2011 behind them and this desire to rectify two poor league campaigns ensured for a hotly contested match from start to finish - although it has to be said that the intensity of the first half trailed off somewhat during the second.    

Simeone and Pellegrini on the sidelines

This was the juiciest of all this weekend’s fixture list ties for many reasons but the main one concerned the arrival of one man in particular.

All eyes were on the aforementioned Diego ‘El Cholo’ Simeone, Atleti’s new manager. And the Argentine showed his intent to change things for the South Madrid club before the match had even kicked off, with the controversial (if not head scratching) decision to drop arguably Atleti’s two most consistent performers, Arda Turan and Adrian, from the starting XI.

Pre-match talk of a baptism of fire for Manzano’s replacement was not completely overstated. While Málaga hasn’t come close to firing on all cylinders yet, their home form in the league has been impressive (5W, 1D, 1L). Also, los Boquerones are in direct competition with Atleti for a European spot in May, with both clubs no doubt eyeing up the fourth Champions League as their main objective, so tonight’s game bore even more pressure than an ordinary managerial debut would.

In the end it finished scoreless, neither team possessing the required fire power to really trouble their opponent. But that’s not to say there weren’t any chances. With the back and forth tempo at the beginning of the match both sides had opportunities to open up the scoring: Tiago could have released Salvio, who was running into space, instead of tamely attempting to lop Willy Cabellero. Seconds later, and at the other end, Buonanotte was denied from an acute angle when Courtois came out to save his shot. Even Felipe got in on the shooting action with a well-struck volley from outside the area, but ultimately Cabellero was able to smother it comfortably.

Again Pellegrini favoured Salomón Rondon over Van Nistelrooy in his selection and his faith in the Venezuelan was almost repaid early on, when the striker rose to meet a Santi Cazorla free kick with a bullet header, that was destined for the back of the net. However, Belgian wonder kid Courtois spectacularly diverted it with an instinctive and strong left handed save, putting it out for a corner instead.

Soon after and the visitors could have nicked a lead after some trickery and an element of luck saw Salvio wriggle past Demichelis on the left to pass to Diego, whose shot took a wicked deflection and ricocheted off the cross bar.

Another chance for the home side went begging when somehow neither Toulalan nor Welington could direct a gloriously placed cross by Cazorla from a free kick into the net.

The second half was lower on highlights but (for any coaching enthusiasts who were watching) Cazorla encapsulated the importance of having a man guarding the post for a corner, when he prevented a goal-bound Godín header from sneaking into the bottom corner.

Pellegrini’s experience with Falcao was apparent by just how impotent the usually effective Colombian was tonight. Welington, making a rare appearance in the starting XI, had El Tigre in his pocket for the entirety of the match - outwitting the lone striker and matching him for pace time after time. Apart from a headed goal, which was disallowed for impeding Cabellero, the former Porto star’s most notable contribution to the game came in the 65^th minute, when out of frustration he chopped down Monreal with a nasty, late challenge.

El Cholo starts his managerial career with a valuable away point, something los colchoneros struggled to do up until now this season, but there will be some question marks over his team selection tonight. The fact that he waited until the 88^th minute to introduce Adrian was a particularly baffling, considering how clearly off the boil Falcao was.

Meanwhile, Málaga continue to miss Baptista, neither Rondon or Van Nistelrooy look threatening enough to unsettle opposition defences and if Champions League is the objective, then these two don’t look up to the task.

Full Time: Málaga 0 Atlético Madrid 0

Fact: Tonight was only the second time in the league this season that Málaga failed to score at home and Atleti didn’t concede away.

Málaga: Caballero, Gámez, Welington, Demichelis, Monreal, Toulalan, Cazorla, Bounanotte, Isco, Juanmi, Rondón

Subs used: Van Nistelrooy, Duda, Apoño

Atlético Madrid: Courtois, Perea, Godín, Domínguez, Filipe, Tiago, Juanfran, Gabi, Diego, Salvio, Falcao

Subs used: Adrian, Arda

Referee Texeira Vitienes

La Letdown: Málaga's Slow Start

One thing we have all learned about Russian oligarchs and Emirate Sheikhs is that when it comes to owning football clubs they’re not a patient bunch. Long term plans and talk of building for sustainability are always bandied around when one of them forks out for a new club, but ultimately these purchases are for amusement proposes and instant success is insisted upon.

At the end of his first season as Chelsea owner in 2004, Roman Abramovich handed Claudio Ranieri his P45 despite the jovial Italian getting the side to second place in the league and as far as the Champions League semi-finals. Since then the revolving door policy at the West London club has seen a total of seven different managers come and go. Man City boss Mark Hughes faced a similar fate to Ranieri when, irrespective of assurances to the contrary, he was sent packing by new owner, Sheikh Mansour as results didn’t go the Sky Blues’ way. In France more recently Antoine Kombouare also fell victim to this unforgiving nature of high expectations as PSG’s Qatari owners had him clear his desk to make way for Carlo Ancelotti.

Club owner, Sheikh Al Thani uses too much starch washing his jersey

Sheikh Al Thani at Malaga was no exception to this rule when he first took over the reins at Malaga, sacking Jesualdo Ferreira, the man he had only just hired, as the nine results under the former Porto coach weren’t to the Qatari billionaire’s satisfaction. Since then, however, los Albicelestes have done anything but shine – finishing in a paltry 11^th place last season and this time round trailing the likes of Levante and Osasuna in 7^th - yet they have held onto the same manager, Manuel Pellegrini.

This U-turn by Al Thani to a more “easy come, easy go” approach to things is a curious one. Clearly he sees something in ‘El Ingeniero’ (the Engineer) and, in fairness, the Chilean’s track record has definitely earned him enough street cred within la Primera división to merit such faith: his enormously successful five year spell at Villarreal put the tiny club on the map and many people viewed his dismissal by Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez as overly harsh, considering the club finished the 2009/10 season on 96 points.

All the same, having splashed out €58 million during the summer transfer window alone, not to mention the €7.3 million spent last January on Diego Buonanotte (€3.8m), Julio Baptista (€2m) and Ignacio Camacho (€1.5m), you’d expect to see the Rosaleda side sit above Levante, a club that has spent a mere €400,000 in the last four years on players.

New faces: Van Nistelrooy, Bounanotte, Toulalan, Monreal,  Sergio Sanchez, Joaquín, Mathijsen

Where the acquisitions by Chelsea, Man City and PSG were done with a view to challenging for the Premier League and Ligue 1 titles straight away, Malaga was never under any illusions as to what it’s objectives should be. Even with a war chest big enough to rival any other club in the world, the Costa del Sol club knows competing with Real Madrid and Barcelona is a faraway ambition, for now European football and establishing an identity are the twin goals.

So far the first of these targets is still attainable, mainly because of the inconsistencies of the other teams around them battling it out for fourth spot, so whether they scrape it into the Champion League or have to settle for a Europa League spot remains to be seen.

As far as carving out an identity is concerned though, malaguistas shouldn't  hold their breath, unless of course flat and uninspired are what they were after in the first place. Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss at the hands of Real Madrid was a good example of this. Although they are still in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, this defeat put a huge psychological dent in their chances of progressing any further in the competetion. They head into next week’s second leg having thrown away a two nil half time lead during a 10 minute frenzy in the second half, in which Mou’s side battered down Willy Cabellero’s goal, scoring three times, which could easily have been more. Even if they beat Madrid in the return leg, a particularly unfavourable draw would see them face Barcelona in the quarters, unless of course Osasuna pull off a miracle against Spain’s sturdiest defence by scoring five times without reply next week.

During the summer there was no shortage of opinion and discussion about Pellegrini’s signings, while he spent big, he didn’t buy extravagantly, choosing instead to marry up-and-coming talent with “been there, done that” assuredness. Sure Santi Cazorla and, to a lesser extent, Isco are fantastic players capable of changing games but the majority of the new signings were brought in because of their vast experience: before turning grey, Toulalan’s hair had been gracing Ligue 1 since the start of the millenium, Van Nistelrooy has been around longer than many land forms have, Mathijsen and Demichelis are no spring chickens nor is la liga stable Joaquín, who is now enjoying his 11^th season in the Spanish top flight.

But Tuesday night’s performance wasn’t the only time these accomplished players have pissed away a lead this season. Remember the start of December when Real Sociedad snatched all three points from them in the final minutes, scoring twice to win 3-2.

Diego Ifran cooly slots past Willy 

So what is the explanation for such lacklustre performances from these already established names? Well the word “mercenaries” may account for some of the problem. As with any takeover, when new faces start arriving questions about club loyalty are naturally raised. Many of the new recruits brushed aside accusations of being lured solely by the money by pointing to the long-term project within the club: improving the training facilities, investing in youth development etc. So perhaps it’s presumptuous to call them “guns for hire” but this lack of sting in Malaga’s tail has gone on longer than a simple case of a gelling in period can account for.

Creativity is a glaring problem and 20 goals in 16 league games is a noteworthy statistic for the wrong reasons. Baptista’s absence has definitely coincided with the club’s austere spell in front of the net and now there are hints of discontent within the dressing room, which can only go to worsen matters.

The apparent rift between Van Nistelrooy and Pellegrini is a particularly recurring rumour. The Dutchman’s return to Spain has so far been a flop and it appears as though the summer’s marquee signing has been relegated to the bottom of the manager’s pecking order. Considering Baptista’s long, injury-induced absence and Salomón Rondón’s awful finishing, the decision to so unceremoniously drop Ruud may seem harsh, but there is a theory that one of the main reasons for signing him in the first place was to attract other big names, and not to rely on him on the pitch as much.

Surely Al Thani’s patience with how his giant subutteo set is doing is wearing thin and one would imagine that, with the dawn of the second half of the season upon us, Pellegrini’s tenure at the club will depend on how well or badly the next four months go. For his sake things would want to pick up. And quickly.

Real Betis v Malaga

A collective sigh of relief was audible from the stands of the Benito Villamarín at full time this Saturday, as Real Betis and Málaga played out a scoreless draw. By no means was the relief to do with the home team being second best, and scraping a point on the night, but rather to the fact that it meant an end to their run of six defeats on the trot.

Pepe Mel characteristically stuck to his purist approach, starting with an attacking formation and experimentally pushing Pozuelo further up the pitch than usual to partner Jorge Molina up front, in the absence of the still injured Roque Santa Cruz. The refusal to resort to more defensive tactics, although not resulting in any goals, paid off for los Béticos.

Meanwhile Manuel Pelligrini was forced to change his starting 11 from last week’s victory against Espanyol, with Isco coming in for the injured Apoño. However, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy and ‘The Beast’ Baptista still carrying knocks, the Chilean stuck with José Salomón Rondon alone up front.

The first half was quite flat from both sides, with Betis edging it in terms of chances created. Understandably the crisis of confidence Betis has suffered of late affected their play in front of goal, but during the first 45 minutes Mels’s men dominated in midfield and looked like a side on top of it’s game, with Beñat standing out in particular.

The second half offered little in the way of action but Betis held on, and at last, luck seemed to be on their side: Rondon should have got on the score sheet when Monreal swung in a perfect cross from the left, which the Venezuelan headed straight at Casto. Not to say the hosts didn’t create anything themselves: Pozuelo coming close on 66 minutes, but steered his shot wide.

Prodigal son Joaquín Sánchez returned to his old hunting ground, but did not receive the messiah like reception he has previously come to expect from his beloved old club: previous visits by Betis’ last real idol have seen the midfielder being applauded by his adoring fans, including when he put them out of the Copa del Rey with Valencia in 2008 with two goals. Tonight though, los Heliopolitanos were especially hostile to their former hero’s homecoming, probably due to bitterness of his ability to remain in Spain’s top flight while they had to slog it out in the second division.

This harsh reception surely frustrated El Rayo (as he was affectionately known in Seville) but it wasn’t to be his or Malaga’s night. La Liga’s ‘new money’ failed once again to show any signs of understanding each other on the road: having only recorded one away win to date this season.

This gelling period that Malaga seems intent on prolonging must be frustrating los Malaguistas, but this will be of no concern to Betis tonight, as they finally see the well earned fruits of their labour.

Pepe Mel: The Thinking Man's Manager

The influence football has over Spanish life is as apparent as the correlation between MC Hammer’s shuffle-heavy choreography and the sudden boom in the sale of parachute pants in the early 1990’s. Despite the tight grip futbol has on one of Europe’s most historically rich and intensely traditional countries, the beautiful game is hardly held aloft as a bastion of cultural brilliance. The sad truth is that very little culture exists within the game itself.

Players are not a typically well read bunch, and for the most part live quite shallow and vacuous lives away from the pitch, while fine art is hardly a common topic of conversation among the stalls at your average ground either: It’s hard to imagine David Villa and Sergio Busquets passionately discussing the finer points of Alexandre Dumas’ works for example, or to envision the likes of Florentino Pérez and José Mourinho debating over what relevance the poetry of WB Yeats holds nowadays. Enlightenment, it seems, holds no significance in the sport.

Well fortunately there are some sophisticated minds dwelling within this barbarous and boorish world. Among this small group of broad-minded individuals is Pepe Mel.

The current head coach at Real Betis and the man responsible for bringing the club back to the promised land of La Primera Liga is not only a revered coach, having gained promotion for both Betis (Seville’s “other team”) and Rayo Vallecano, but since last month is also a published author-and not in the sense that “David Beckham: My Side” makes Golden Balls one. Mel has written an actual novel. Using his brain!

“The Liar” (El Mentiroso) tells the tale of Cail, a downtrodden, bored-with-life millionaire who has a penchant for collecting antiques. Our hero comes across some very valuable manuscripts which cause him all sorts of problems, including getting on the Vatican’s bad side.

While my intermediate Spanish limits me to reading at a dyslexic snail’s pace, my immersion into the novel so far has left me quite impressed with the literary prowess of the erstwhile Real Madrid and Betis striker. The story doesn’t dilly dally around, taking off at a blistering pace, much like Betis’ start to this season: winning its first four matches in its return to the top flight.

Hopefully though, “The Liar” is able to sustain its high-octane, adrenaline fuelled start: unlike the Andaluz outfit, which now finds itself starring down the barrel of a six game losing streak-the worst run of form in the division.

So what has happened to los Béticos? While the Seville club doesn’t expect to be knocking either of the Gran Clásico teams off their perches at the summit of the table any time soon, worry is no doubt setting in on this young squad of players as they see themselves slip perilously closer and closer to the drop zone.

Maybe naivety is to blame. Just as winning can become a habit, so too can losing, and this relatively inexperienced group of players might have let their heads drop on the back of a few defeats. However, this is the same team that lost five matches on the bounce last season only to go on and win the league, so a shortage of mental strength is unlikely to be the cause of their current blight.

What’s more, Mel’s men did something unusual in their ascendancy from La Segunda: played well. The reality is that Betis has stuck to its guns and adhered to the manager’s philosophy of playing silky, attack-minded football but, for whatever reason, the results don’t seem to be coming of late.

Last Sunday against Santander for example, los Verdiblancos completely dominated away from home but couldn’t find the back of Toño’s net. They controlled the game in terms of possession and shots on goal but, as the old cliché goes, were to be punished for not taking their chances. The luck was to be with Racing when they were awarded a penalty during the second half, after a reckless challenge by José Isidoro. Christain Stuani converted the resulting spot kick, and Betis went home empty handed. Again.

This week rallying calls from within the Benito Villamarín by Mel and some players defiantly pointed to the misfortune the club has suffered results wise. In a press conference on Wednesday novelist Mel admitted to some of the team’s failings in the last half a dozen games, but overall highlighted it’s miserable luck, “We didn’t play well in the Bernabéu, in the first half against Getafe or against Espanyol, but we did in Santander, in the second half against Getafe and against Rayo and Levante. In the last six games we haven’t been inferior to anyone”.

This Saturday Betis takes on Málaga at home, hoping to finally end this rotten vein of form. It won’t be easy as Pelligrini’s side is itself just coming out of its own slump and will be eager to keep the momentum going, having beaten Espanyol last week.

Here’s hoping Mel can turn the page on this dreadful chapter in Betis’ season.

Crickey, this Financial Blight is Mighty

Sadly in this current climate of financial hardship the world finds itself in, most of us are now well versed on the importance of living within our means and ensuring that whatever goes out is offset by a greater (or at least equal) amount coming in. Those of us who for whatever reason find ourselves in the red, quickly come to realise that austerity is a crucial component to survival-a run in with a debt collecting agency for example will quickly instil this respect for solvency in us.  Basic economics, right?

Well you’d be mistaken to think that financial creditability is simply measured in terms of surpluses and deficits everywhere. For there is a magical place where over zealous spending is not only free from punishment but is effectively encouraged.

I speak about Spain of course, more specifically the confines of Spanish football. From this curious realm of illogicality, clubs that adopt a frugal approach to purchasing are more often than not the ones who suffer, while those who prefer to burn holes in their pockets are allowed to do so with very few repercussions.

In contrast to any other European league, in Spain defaulting does not carry with it the penalty of not being able to compete. So why even bother hiring an accountant?

Let’s look at Zaragoza’s acquisition of Ikechukwu Uche, which highlights this bizarre relationship between contract law and football. The Nigerian international was signed from Getafe in 2009 for a reported €5.5 million, which was to be paid in three instalments. Getafe only received the first payment, effectively selling the player for roughly €2 million.

Appeals by Angel Torres, Getafe president, to either have the Romerada club go into administration, as would happen in any other major European league, or for his club to be compensated with players of equal value to the amount outstanding, were met with resounding silence from the LFP.

The Madrid club was forced to remain a creditor to its league rival and could only renegotiate their so-called “agreement”, while Uche continued to strip out for his new employers.

Getafe is by no means the only club enraged by Zaragoza’s actions. At least Torres’ team remains in the top division. Unlike Deportivo la Coruña, who’s valiant efforts to keep their heads above water, both financially and in terms of league status, were met with failure. Although it can boast creditworthiness, bitterness must be the over riding feeling for the Galician club as Zaragoza who, according to Coruña president Augusto Lendorio also owe his side money, fight another season in La Primera Liga.

But Zaragoza is not the only offender in this debacle. When it comes to balancing the books, the general mentality of Spanish clubs is totally warped. 22 clubs in the top two divisions have filed for bankruptcy, Santander the most recent. Of the three promoted teams to La Liga this season (Rayo Vallecano, Real Betis and Granda), not one can claim financial soundness, which is rather telling of the problems that both leagues face, from a credibility stand point.

Professional football clubs in Spain are in arrears of  €4 billion. This frightening statistic could probably be expressed more eloquently but the impact would be compromised.  And is it any wonder, when you consider that, in contrast to any other European league, in Spain defaulting does not carry with it the penalty of not being able to compete. So why even bother hiring an account?

Well unfortunately much like the figurative bursting of the construction bubble, which has devastated the Spanish economy of late, this particular state of delusion will eventually have to come undone as well.

Real Mallorca has already felt the wrath of UEFA’s financial criteria in this respect. The Palma team finished the 2009/10 season fifth, thus earning a place in the Europa League. However, due to the unresolved matter of €2 million which was owed to a rather disgruntled Athletic Bilboa for a certain Atriz Aduriz (who had signed for Mallorca two years previously) Villarreal was instead called upon to take the coveted European spot. Despite the inevitable protests that followed this decision, UEFA’s requirements were clear: clubs that withhold money from other clubs are not eligible to compete in the competition.

Not vying for European glory is not the only consequence of poor budgeting, however. Not settling your transfer fees in a timely fashion is one thing. Not paying your overheads is another. And just like any other business, football clubs’ electricity and gas bills pale into insignificance when compared with their wage bills.

This year’s season got off to a no start as the players’ association (AFE), along with 110 players, announced a strike. Their grievance related to wages of course.  Over 200 of the professional players making up the 42 teams in Spain’s top two divisions, or 20%, were aggrieved owing to contracts not being honoured.

The LFP, which the season before put aside a guarantee fund of €40 million for such circumstances, came under scrutiny by the AFE for not taking the issue of late payment seriously enough. The matter was resolved in time for match day two with an increase to the parachute fund of €10 million and reassurance from the governing body that club/player agreements would be treated with the legal weight they deserve.

All well and good, but from an outsider’s perspective this farce can only be seen as damaging for the leagues’ credibility. And how can much can players really trust assurances from a league body which allows roughly 50% of it’s clubs to essentially play while broke?

Surely the equal distribution of TV money will have to be properly considered if Spanish football is to weather this current financial storm. The true nature of the competitiveness of the league is basically a joke now. Even with the realms of possibility stretched to their furthest capacity, any chance of a team outside the top two winning being crowned champions is laughable-let’s just assume Levante will eventually drop off at some stage this season. The simple fact is that the dispersal of image rights, or the lack of it, is creating a massive gulf between “the haves” and “the have not’s” in Spain. Top dogs, Barca and Real Madrid, reaped a staggering €140 million this season in telly rights alone, while their closet rivals (for want of a better word) earned a pittance in comparison: Atletico Madrid 42 million, Valencia 40 million and Villarreal €33 million. Below these teams the other 15 scrap it out for the remaining €205 million.

The effects of not having a system of collective bargaining in place, and allowing the disproportionately steady growth of two giants to continue without any attempts of halting it, are already apparent.

Formerly big clubs are no longer able to attract or hold onto the big names they once could. Just look at what happened this summer where, with the exceptions of Real Madrid, Barca and Malaga, La Liga witnessed a mass exodus of some of it’s finest players: Atletico lost Forlan, Kun Aguero and De Gea, Valencia waved goodbye to Juan Mata and David Silva, Villarreal had to depart with Cazorla and Valencia could only watch as Malaga ransacked it’s dressing room of Joaquin and Isco.

The current TV deal expires in 2014. Until then fingers need to be crossed, candles lit and prayers answered to ensure that the disparity between clubs doesn’t spiral even further out of control.