Madridismo

Time to rebuild

2009-03-15T10:03:00.003+05:30

Typically a side needs a few seasons to come together, and then it's up to you to stay with the momentum. Real Madrid had that up till 2002, and then the management decided to wreck it by sacking the winning coach & captain. And then a flurry of changes to team & coaching staff has never allowed Real to settle in to a rhythm.

Current Man Utd side may be a good example - ONE manager in 21 years, plenty of players who have stayed a long time (low attrition rate) and no top level management changes which impact the operations. Bayern & AC Milan have a similar history. Real Madrid on the other hand have an erratic unstable political top management - and a change of guard normally means plenty of shit on the field! And then 7 coaches in 2.5 years, with some crazy decisions, which are for reasons other than football, is our very own recipe for disaster.

As Prof. Bangari was saying special combat teams work together for years to get the understanding going, and something we believe at ThoughtWorks that changes to teams should be few & far between!

Ok, so we lost to Liverpool. We lost on the night, but it's been a long time coming. And most notably with Bayern, Barca, Man Utd, 'Pool and Chelsea in such form - Madrid had little chance of winning it this year! What should we do?

Don't fire Juande Ramos!
Discipline some people who are prone to do crazy things! (Heinze, Gon "solo" Higuain)
Get rid of Heinze - his decision making & defending are woeful. Miguel Torres is more stable.
Get a good replacement for Cannavaro, Metzelder is too slow.
And pl figure out the preferred starting XI. And then rotate everyone often to reduce complacency & burn-out, give some playing time to the bench - else they will bloody leave.
Get rid of the bad apples who do not have a place anymore, and could poison the team. (Saviola)
Ban media conferences. The team & it's players are prone to boastful rants which have come back to haunt us off late. Mind games do not work, they only sell more newspapers!

On a lighter note - what are we going to do when we have both Diarra's fit? Wow, that should be fun to watch.

Come on guys, next yr's champions league final is at the Bernabéu!

Music Meme

2009-03-07T13:33:00.003+05:30

This is a music meme, something which I saw on Nikhil's blog. Using only song titles from one artist/band, cleverly answer these questions:

Pick a band/artist: Led Zeppelin

1. Are you a male or female: Black Dog / Black Country Woman

2. Describe yourself: Heartbreaker

3. How do you feel about yourself: Dazed & Confused

4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Fool in the rain

5. Describe your current boy/girl situation: I cant quit you baby / Rock & Roll / Whole lotta love

6. Describe your current location: The Ocean

7. Describe where you want to be: Kashmir

8. Your best friend is: Hats off to (Roy) Harper

9. Your favorite color is: White Summer

10. You know that: When the levee breaks ... I got no place to go

11. What’s the weather like: Hots on for Nowhere

12. If your life was a television show what would it be called: Boogie with Stu

13. What is life to you: Stairway to Heaven / Communication Breakdown

14. What is the best advice you have to give: Ramble On / The Song remains the same

15. If you could change your name what would you change it to: Moby Dick / D'yer Mak'er

Inspired!

2009-03-07T01:59:00.004+05:30

Inspired by the team, they said. Well, that's true. Real Madrid, Journey Search (Thoughtworks), Pentamation (SunGard)

and RTMC remain dear to my heart.

Some jackass recently said "A man can never change his football club" - So bloody true. Even the pain & deception doesn't

make me wanna think otherwise abt my team(s)!

Real Madrid host Athelti for the derby tomorrow ... Yay!! Should be a good match. Sergio 'Kun' Aguero Vs Our boys.

Can Raul assassinate them again?

After that, off to Liverpool. I hope & pray that we win. Loosing again will be painful. Hala Madrid!

We are in the middle of the champions league round-of-16 matches. Good games so far. Bayern are through with a 0-5 lead against Sporting.

Man Utd Vs Inter, Juve Vs Chelsea & Barca Vs Lyon all look interesting.

The gap in La Liga is down to 4 pts, from 12 some 3 weeks back! Awesome. Good stuff by Real, with help from Espanyol,

Betis & Athleti.

In the EPL, Man Utd look all set to retain the title. They definitely look the form side in Europe. Aston Villa should upset the

odds & claim a champions league berth for next yr.

There was a drunken discussion about the saddest moments in football, not surprising that you will find more in cup formats

and fewer in leagues. I reckon the saddest was Zizou's headbutt to that scum-bag Matarazzi, which pretty much handed the

world cup (2006) to the Azurri. And then there was Baggio's penalty miss against Brazil in WC '94 - but the man kept on walking,

and I fell in love with the game!

Bad refereeing & diving continue! Sad for the beautiful game.

Watching Sehwag is so much fun! Sheer disregard for the opposition. The only other guy I love watching so much is the

fighter Dravid a.k.a The Wall.

The attack on the Lankans in Pakistan was appalling!!! Please, please leave sports out of this mess.

Desperately waiting for Rafael Nadal to win the US open. Vamos Rafa! Never been so excited about tennis, even when

Agassi was on.

Why do we support certain people ...

2009-01-11T01:22:00.003+05:30

I have a theory that we support teams / players based on certain personality traits that we admire or aspire for. Of course, this does not factor peer pressure (we may support a certain team because all of our friends do so) or people we hate support the opposition, or we just want to be different! And yeah, if we support some one once - we will rarely back down :)

So barring these motivations, this theory should survive. Let's look at some personal examples -

Raul Gonzalez Blanco - Tenacity, Loyalty.

Zinedine Zidane - Master class, Sheer genius, repected by peers!

Rahul Dravid - Perseverance, Dogged determination

Steven Gerrard - Leadership.

Virender Sehwag - Fearless!

Del Bosque - Leader of giants!!!

And then there are others I admire for different reasons - Luis Figo, Romario, Baggio, Giggs. Plus some other people from real life - family, work, college!

We are back for the second half ...

2009-01-11T00:55:00.003+05:30

Champions League ties are all ... well, beautiful! Real Madrid Vs Liverpool, Arsenal Vs Roma, Inter Vs Man Utd, Chelsea Vs Juve & Lyon vs Barca ... Like I said, yummy!!! And this season, UEFA Champions League is all I care about, all I yearn for!

The La Liga is finally proving why it is arguably the finest ... all of the top 7 are solid sides (Barca, Valencia, Real, Sevilla, Villareal, Athleti & Depor) ... even though Barca are firm favorites with their thoroughly deserved 11 pt lead. Real Madrid played well against Barcelona at the Nou Camp ... and Barca won thanks to a lucky Eto strike ... I, personally, didnt like some of the tackles on Messi - but when Henry & Co started diving, I couldn't care much !!! Keep up the good work boys, looking fwd to the return fixture in April. Win or lose, atleast we wont have to do a Pasillo :)

Can we beat the Liverpool Scousers? Well, yes! Sure we can. A new system under Senor Juande Ramos, focus on fitness, our people coming back from the infirmary. It's a pity that we have to play a team I admire, and led by a solid leader - Mr. Gerrard. It all depends on the 1st leg I guess, and Real Madrid do have the tougher matches either side of Liverpool's visit to the Bernabeu. Similar sides at the moment, but they are the in-form side.

Well, what about Italy Vs England in the other 3 matches ... I think Inter Vs Man Utd will be fun - but not for the footballing reasons. After all, it's Jose "I am the chosen one" Mourinho Vs Alex "Mind Game" Ferguson. I am not betting on this one!

Chelsea Vs Juve ... I hope Terry takes good care of a certain Del Piero ... and for a Blues victory.

Aresenal vs Roma ... Not enough discipline in the Arsenal side to defeat the boring & clinical Romans.

Lyon Vs Barcelona ... Barca should win, but I am hoping for some Benzem-reactions!

Hala Madrid!

Start of a new era?

2008-12-13T22:41:00.003+05:30

Schuster was rightfully sacked this week, and while we didn't get Del Boque but Ramos seems a nice replacement. Schuster was asking for it for a long time with his clueless approach to games, especially when the going was tough. And then saying Real cannot defeat Barca isn't exactly morale boosting for the team & fans. So out went Herr Schuster, to be replaced by a man who guided Sevilla to 2 UEFA Cup triumphs & had a torrid time at Tottenham.

Real Madrid qualified for the round-of-16 in the UEFA Champions League by finishing 2nd in their group behind Juventus. Up next, it could be Manchester United (Not right now), Liverpool (No again), Bayern Munich (Revenge can wait), Panathinaikos (If we are lucky), Roma (Not again), Porto (Maybe). One more nervous week to see who we get as opponents in the next round but it's going to be tough for Real in their bid to lift their 10th "cup with big ears".

Barcelona, Man Utd & Liverpool look good in the champions league & probably favs to win it. Bayern are playing well, and they look very good going forward - maybe a different kind of team then the one which defeated Real in 2001. Porto could be dangerous with the physical abilities and players like Lucho & Hulk. And Roma, while they still defend well, have played some good counter attacking football off late. On second thoughts, let's play Bayern Munchen next!

With 20 serious injuries this season, and 8 players in the infirmary at the moment, Real have not been able to do well this season. There are other reasons like bad buys / no-buys in the transfer market, crazy tactics in some games (like the 4-3 against Malaga or defeat against Juventus at the Bernabeu) - but the injuries have hurt us the most. And tonight's match against Barca at the Camp Nou comes at the wrong time!!! They say the Barca players had nightmares about the Pasillo (Guard of Honour) they had to give to Real Madrid for winning the title last season - well, I am having nightmares about it too. Well, at least it's not at home.

Winning the La Liga seems very very difficult with these injuries, the form of Barcelona & the 9-pt gap. I have long wanted the La Liga to be a very competitive affair as I believe it is the best domestic league - but the resurgence of Valencia, Sevilla, Athletico Madrid & Villareal has come at the wrong time :)

... sigh!

2008-11-15T22:26:00.005+05:30

I don't know what is happening to Real Madrid. 2 loses to Juventus was bad, defeat in the Copa del Rey to a 3rd division side is inexplicable. Can't blame the injuries for that one!

Never been a big fan for Schuster's strategy - I don't even understand it. Capello was tactical & boring, but still something. The worst part is that people are saying that there are teams like Barcelona & Manchester United who are playing more attractive football ... dam I think there are lot of teams doing that!! Maybe time to bring back Del Bosque - who should never have been sacked in the first place.

Injury situation is real bad - van Nistelrooy, Robben, Diarra, Pepe, De la Red, Guti .. and then knocks for a few others. With not a deep squad, this is going to hurt us. At least we have to play 1 less tournament now!

Situation in my life is like this too, time to bounce back boys.

We may not even qualify!

2008-11-06T07:12:00.002+05:30

After last night's home loss to Juventus, there is a very realistic possibility that Real Madrid may not qualify. If we fail to win away to BATE, and Zenit win their home tie against Juve - the qualification will depend on how we do in the last game at home with Zenit.

Yes, if you are an optimist, which I used to be, you could start praying for all this and defeating Zenit at home - and qualifying on top of the table - and avoid some serious opposition in the next round. Well, right now - let's just qualify and we will worry about the rest a little later.

Real may have dominated the match, played well but lost due to 2 good moments - well, that's how it always is!!! Our strategy is screwed against the teams which play this defensive + counter attacking style of football. And this is hardly the time to blame 1 or 2 people or the coach, as a team we have played poorly in the last 5 games in the La Liga & Champions League.

Hala Madrid!

You will go down faster than a zeppelin made of lead

2008-11-01T01:27:00.006+05:30

One of the finest bands! Nah, the finest. That's how I like my music, just the way I like my football or bikes - El Classico!

Some fine pieces like Rock and Roll & Kashmir, the very different style of music in Custard Pie or The Wanton Song, and I don't know how to explain the No Quarter concert. My personal favs "When the levee breaks" & "The Ocean".

Supreme stuff!

By the way, they got their name when the drummer & bassist of the The Who, Keith Moon & John Entwistle, suggested that a super group like this would go over like a lead balloon.

Irresponsible advertising!

2008-10-18T23:02:00.004+05:30

I have never been a big fan of Hyundai & Pulsar Ads. Hyundai had that stupid "Zip-drive" Ad for the Santro & now it is the "Catch the i" crap for the i10 ... and when I see idiots drive like that, my blood boils. Pulsar? What can I say ... a lot of young studs, and wanna be super bikers, ride their bikes like the way they show on the Pulsar Ads ... Excellent! That's all we need. And that also explains the footpath riders in Bangalore.

It is very disappointing to see Maruti take out a similar Ad for the Swift just to show they can zip too (what an insult the Football)! And CBZ doing the "thinking is such a waste of time" routine while swirling the bike right on the edge.

By the way, I am a big fan of the Fevicol Ads! The Rajasthani ad and the Bus ad are very well done!

How many times are they gonna do this this season?

2008-10-18T22:15:00.004+05:30

Well, Liverpool came back from the dead, again, to beat Wigan 3-2 at home!

With about 7-8 games over this season, it is probably a good time to see how the season may progress and make some predictions.

Looking at how the English League is going so far, it should be a treat for the neutrals ... Manchester Utd havent started off very well, but I guess that is usual for the English champions. Plus they have that mentality of champions, and you never count out Alex Ferguson's men! Liverpool have started off well, some fantastic attacking talent they got, and they seem serious about the Premier League. Some fighting come backs are good signs for things to come. Man Utd & Liverpool are perhaps the grittiest sides in all of Europe.

Some champagne class football this season from Arsenal. With 7-8 players missing, Chelsea's 0-5 win away from Middlesbrough looked very pretty. I reckon the fab 4 will finish the league in the top 4 spots - probably Arsenal in 4th since they do not have the bench strength the other 3 teams do. I am not putting my money yet on the table about who is going to win :) But I don't see the new buys of Man City or Aston Villa disturb the order in the league.

Over in the La Liga, tonight is the Madrid derby at the Vicente Calderon! For the title, it should be Real Madrid or Barcelona given their strength & quality ... but both haven't started well. Like I have said before, I will settle for 2nd provided we win the El Classico(s) and the Champions League. Valencia will come back into top 4 calibre ... and Athleti, Sevilla, Villareal & Espanyol will make up the rest of a super league. My money & my heart, of course, are on Real Madrid, watch out for van der Vaart, Sneijder and Higuain ... Hala Madrid!

It is probably no surprise that given the quality of the Spanish & English leagues, and to some extent the Italian Serie A, that the winners in Europe, more often that not, come from these 3 countries .. the competition prepares them well for the trials in Europe! Too early to say anything about the Champions League, should be another thriller. Arsenal & Inter may upset the order, and the usual suspects should do well.

Real Madrid fans look forward to overcome the round-of-16 jinx and move on, hopefully to the 10 UEFA Champions League title. But they will need to do better if they want to do that, especially in defense, and tactically against some of the sides. We will find out soon when they travel to the city of Turin to meet the Old Lady. This year, the fat lady will sing for us :)

He is not done yet ...

2008-09-28T04:58:00.005+05:30

I read this as one of the comments on a blog on The Guardian by a certain Mr. LDurac. The background is the stick Raul got from some quarters for his easy tap-in against Sporting Gijon in a 1-7 victory for the Whites. LDurac points out stats from the last season when Raul scored 23 goals and a lot of them in crucial situations and in big matches. Here is the complete post. Sid Lowe's blog is a decent read too, but I disagree on some of his observations.

Yup, he is past his prime but I reckon he still has something left for the club & fans. That's all I am saying. I could also point out all he has done, but Nah! And what is wrong with a tap in? When Inzaghi & van Nistelrooy do it, it is called positional brilliance / goal poaching :)

The bate has been taken!

2008-09-19T19:48:00.011+05:30

Every year I wait to hear "Tonight the Champions League returns to the Santiago Bernabéu ...". And that is what happened on the 17th when Real Madrid hosted Bate Borisov and won 2-0 thanks to a good strike from Sergio Ramos and a tap in from van Nistelroy. A modest start against a modest opposition.

And after the disappointment of the last 4 seasons when Real Madrid crashed out in the Round of 16s, the Madrid faithful hope & pray for a better showing this time around. I pretty much spend a lot of time doing that :)

Anyway, long way to go for that. Before that, Raul's men travel to St. Petersburg to face UEFA Cup winners Zenit & then our old foes "The Old Lady" Juve in Turin. Boy, do I wish for a good win against Juventus to avenge a defeat many years back.

My choice for starting XI for the 1-4-4-2 would be Casillas - Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze, Marcelo - Guti, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Diarra - Raul & van Nistelroy. Some able replacements like Pepe, Gago, Robben, De la Red, Higuain!

A friend of mine recently said that winning the Champions league is the icing of the cake, which is the domestic crown. Come to think of it, we Madridistas will forgive the team if they just win the El Classico & the Champions League! The Champions league will be challenging with some very formidable teams - the Big Four from EPL, Barca, Inter, Juve, Bayern - just to name a few. I do believe that we have the team for it - San Iker in the goal, a decent defense if they can stay fit, a supremely talented midfield & strike force.

So, welcome back the exhibition of football which is the UEFA Champions League. Hala Madrid!

What a sporting summer ...

2008-09-19T19:48:00.010+05:30

Spain were perfect in the Euro championships, no longer the under achievers! And what a thoroughly entertaining tournament!

Nadal winning the French Open, Wimbledon & the Olympics. The Mallorcan should have done better at the US Open!!! Vamos Rafa!!!

And a good Motogp season with Dr. Valentino Rossi on top. There is something special about seeing the bikes do the curves :)

I have been thoroughly entertained.

Bon anniversaire Zizou!

2008-06-23T19:03:00.013+05:30

Happy Birthday Zizou!

Zinedine Yazid Zidane, aka Zizou, was arguably one of the best footballers of all time - and definitely of the modern era! Having started his career at AS Cannes, the former Real Madrid No. 5 was the most expensive transfer in 2001 from Juventus , and won the Champions League & La Liga titles with Los Merengues. With the Les Blues, he won the World Cup & European Championships. Add the World & European Footballer of the Year awards and he has pretty much done it all!

But that's not why the man is a genius. He was a magician with the ball with sublime skills, and always was a team player who never became bigger than his club & teammates - was nice to see him supporting & celebrating the performances of his teammates. Anyway, enough said about the great man, nothing more I can add. Thank you for the entertainment Monsieur!

Nice start to the Euros

2008-06-12T00:17:00.005+05:30

Holland 3 – 0 Italy
He he! I am loving it. The Italian defense looked un-Italian. Sneijder with a stunning goal, van Nistelroy usually effective, and van Persie came on to show some good moves. The French & Romanians are not going to be looking forward to the matches against Italy :) Or against Holland for that matter!

Spain 4 - 1 Russia

Russians not playing like the dark horses I had expected. The Spanish forces from Valencia, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid & Barcelona combined very well. Villa's hat-trick proving yet again just what a great striker he is. It could have been different had Russia equalized when Spain were leading 1-0, unlucky for them that the ball hit the post. The good thing probably is that most players looked good, especially Iniesta, Xavi & Fabregas. Lets hope they don't switch off & the defense tightens up!

(Swedes had a good second half in their 2-0 win over defending champions Greece. Sweden vs Spain should be a great match with Ibrahimovic, Ljunberg & Larson making up a good attacking lineup)

Portugal 3 – 1 Czech Republic

The great Eusebio watched while Portugal quite rightly defeated Czech Republic. The second goal was good, 2 of their finest combining – Deco with some good footwork & vision to setup Ronaldo for a very nice strike. The Czech stars unable to replicate the fine show from the last championships. So, after a few dives & minutes wasted, dominant Portugal ran out deserved winners. A little bit of Chelsea style in-fighting between Simao & Deco, and possibly Ronaldo, on who should take a free kick - not good signs!

Euro is up!

2008-06-11T23:53:00.006+05:30

Every other year the summer Football bonanza helps me get from May to August – the time there is no club Football. Just like English Premier League matches are a way to stay up for the midnight hot La Liga matches. This year it is Euro 2008. I anyway like the European championships more than the World Cup, more even & fewer one-sided matches.

A few of the sides in this year’s championships –

Spain … This is where my money is, of course. And, of course, Spain have disappointed often enough. I follow the La Liga pretty closely, and am a fan of the Spanish game. Until a few years back, the Spanish team had most of the players from Real Madrid & Barcelona, and they don’t like each other :) Lets hope the diversity helps their cause this time around. A lot of talent with the likes of Villa, Torres & Casillas!

Holland … Another nice team! Another under-achieving team! Super potential – watch out for van Nistelroy, Sneijder & Huntelaar. Spain – Holland in the final? Maybe.

Italy … Will miss the reliable Nesta & Cannavaro. I wasn’t impressed with their game or tactics in the World Cup. Nonetheless, difficult to beat & along with Germany are a side you never write off.

France … They are not quite sure about their best playing 11, and haven’t filled the hole left by the departure of Zizou. Time for Ribery, Benzema or even Nasri to step up.

Portugal … Very talented. Don’t have great strikers, but enough attacking players like Ronaldo & Deco. I liked the Figo – Rui Costa era, but am not such a fan of this new brigade.

We will do well to remember that winners in 1996 (Denmark) & 2004 (Greece) weren't exactly pre-tournament favorites :) At the end of the day, I don’t care who wins as long as it is good entertaining Football!!!

We don't want Ronaldo!

2008-05-28T11:49:00.011+05:30

Now, can we please stop this nonsensical drama around Cristiano Ronaldo, and trying to get him to Real Madrid!!! It is disgraceful. As has been rightly pointed out, Ronaldo has a contract with Manchester United & he is not for sale. Please respect that. Especially the media!

Furthermore, haven’t we learned from the Beckham transfer in 2004? When you buy a player, however good he may be, without looking at whether he gels with the rest of the team – It doesn’t work out. Amongst other tensions, the fact was that some of the players did not like Beckham getting paid so much more than they were. Valid point if you ask me. Beckham was a huge flop for the sporting reasons, and a mega hit for the marketing reasons. Even that is arguable, winning the La Liga or Champions League would have generated more income than by selling t-shirts.

Yes, I am suggesting that Ronaldo will not fit into Real Madrid. With someone so immensely talented he is bound to have an impact, but it may just destabilize the team again. He has a big ego, and Real Madrid has a lot of big players – big problem. A lot of Real Madrid fans agreed in a recent poll in Madrid, read this for more ...

More importantly, is there a need? Looking at the performances this season, I think we need a striker. Raul & Van Nistelroy are on the wrong side of 30, and the latter’s injury mid-way through the season did spoil our campaign. Some of the others chipped in with goals, and it is a good sign that Real Madrid won the title with no single player playing a dominant part. But we do need another striker capable of scoring 20+ goals in a season. So, either get someone from the ranks or buy one. I strongly recommend a certain Monsieur Benzema. Huntelaar looks good too. The need may also be there for a defender, looking at not very impressive performances from Heinze & Pepe, the silly-at-times Marcelo, an injury prone Metzelder and an aging Cannavaro. I will be back after the Euro 2008 with my recommendations to the board :)

And the man is Diver! Some people suggest that he has stopped doing that. Ok, but you cannot deny that he goes down ‘too easily’. In Manchester United’s last match of the 2007-08 EPL season (away to Wigan), a comment made by one of the commentators was a beauty – “Probably Ronaldo does not realize that people are allowed to tackle him”. And such a player should not be part of Real Madrid.

What intrigues me is why isn’t the kid coming out & saying, “I will stay”, and what is with him deciding in 2 weeks. Does he want to stay or not? Seems like he just wants to attract all this speculation & enjoy the limelight. Man Utd should probably think about disciplining their kids as well! Oh, one more thing. Man Utd making comments on Real Madrid's morality is a whole load of crap. There are enough things said & written about Man Utd too which can be questioned. And Mr Queiroz should keep his comments to himself, I can understand he is bitter after Real Madrid sacked him.

UPDATE -

Senor Ramon Calderon has come out & clarified on Real Madrid's behalf. Good move sir!

Run maadi simply!

2008-05-21T14:26:00.005+05:30

Namma Bengaluru hosted the Sunfeast run on 18th May. A lot of Bangaloreans, including some from ThoughtWorks, participated in this run to support a worthy cause, super nice stuff. Four hours after the run, I happened to be on some of the roads which were part of the route and I saw a lot of litter, very bad!

I have seen enough TV to know that runners grab water packets or something like that, drink it while running & chuck it on the side. Which is fine. But not even 1 of the million sponsors & organizers can take care of this? Isn't keeping the city clean also a worthy cause? Me thinks that is a cause we should espouse daily.

Raúl will not be part of Euro 2008. Sad.

2008-05-20T18:43:00.006+05:30

The King of Spain, Raúl González Blanco, has been left out of the 23-man squad announced by coach Luis Aragones for the Euro 2008. End of the era? For the Spanish national side maybe. Raul has not been part of Aragones' plans for Spain for more than a year, so I guess this was expected.

Senor Aragones points out that the decision is based on form, and not the club you play for. 18 goals in the league, and 23 goals in the season, and when Real Madrid were struggling in the latter half of the season - that is good enough for anyone to make it!!! OK, maybe not. And I guess Sergio Garcia's 4 goals for now relegated Real Zaragoza are a signal of form! Morientes may have been a better bet. Like a lot of fans have feared, Luis Aragones has a personal problem with Raúl and was probably praying that he doesn’t come back to form.

Yes, I am a big Raúl fan! He is loyal to the Madridismo cause, a big match player, and I am grateful for all he has done for Real Madrid for so many years now! Maybe over the hill, but his class demands respect. Real Madrid has seen some great players over the years, and some greater than Raúl, but none more committed. Maybe like Paolo Maldini or Ryan Giggs for their clubs. We value that. Period.

But this is not why I am disappointed. David Villa & Fernando Torres are good strikers and have demonstrated fine form this season. Torres has been good in some big games. Villa has an uncanny knack of scoring goals, and combines well with some players in the national team. I guess I would have picked them ahead of Raúl. But given Raúl's abilities & performances, especially when the team needs it, he deserves to be there as 3rd choice striker.

The rest of the team looks good. Casillas is arguably the best goal custodian in the world. Reina is a good # 2. Ramos, Marchena & Puyol are good defenders, and I think the others (Arbeloa, Juanito & Capdevilla) are not bad. The midfield is perhaps their strength. Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta, Senna, Silva & De la Red are all good. Can they combine? Maybe. And attack is potent if they click. Without Raúl, may be a short of another variation where he could have played behind the front striker to provide or score.

I am happy Aragones dropped Joaquin – capable of the brilliant, but when he is out of form starts doing the ridiculous. I read a fellow Madrid supporter asking for Guti to be included. I am happy to hear that ☺. But I think its okay Guti is not there, arguably more talented but also very mercurial and prone to rashness, which could see, him get red carded.

Nonetheless, a good side and I will hope they do well and even win the tournament. Fingers Crossed.

But Spain may choke again, the fans may ask for Aragones' head in return. Enter Del Bosque, and Raúl may be back ☺ Till then, Rey de España will take rest for the next season. And for Real Madrid, a well rested Raúl is good news for the next season.

Looking forward to the next season!

2008-05-18T23:57:00.012+05:30

The La Liga title is in the bag. We got the pasillo from our arch rivals FC Barcelona. Raúl came back to form. The team looked good for the most part. And looking forward to more of this next season. Especially the Champions League. For 4 successive years Real Madrid left the competition earlier than the fans would have liked. Lots to be done to regain the glory!

Next season should be good fun, time to welcome back some old foes - Bayern Munich & Juventus. Juventus come back after spending a season in the Serie B for their part in the Calciopoli. While these 2 sides are capable of the brilliant, I especially remember them for their boring tactical wins against Real Madrid. The Whites do need to improve against such opposition if they are to avoid what has happened a few times now, including a defeat at the hands of AS Roma this season.

Also welcoming back Athleti or Athletico Madrid after a long gap. While I think Sevilla may have been stronger challengers in Europe, as they showed this season by finishing top of their group, Athletico definitely deserve to be there and have a good squad which may stick together as they have played for the big clubs and now just want to prove a point. A lot of Sevilla's players may be heading for bigger clubs - Luis Fabiano, Navas, Alves.

AC Milan will be sorely missed after their 5th place finish in the Serie A. They are probably the most consistent performers in Europe, and have a fantastic squad that includes Maldini, Kaka, Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso & Pato.

Most importantly, the connoisseurs of the beautiful game hope that the next season is more open & not dominated by the English clubs like this season was. The only reason why that is fun is that you get to see these good clubs in action with better refereeing!

This season was the last for German great Olivier Kahn who announced his retirement and played his last game for Bayern Munich yesterday against Herta Berlin. Danke Herr Kahn! I am also sad to see the last of Dr. Markus Merk, a superb referee who I was always happy to see officiating a Champions League game - you knew the match was in good hands.

And before the next season starts, I am looking forward to the European Championships - which could be a great treat if the footballers play their part. I anyway find it more interesting & entertaining than the World Cup, I guess that is because the sides are more evenly matched. (The best anyway comes out at the club level where the players practice a lot with each other, and play around 50 games together, and that is perhaps why they combine better. Having said, the world has seen the likes of Zizou & Romario who have done the spectacular for both club & country.)

Why ThoughtWorks?

2008-05-16T17:52:00.011+05:30

My work in my previous organization was nice, and I worked in a great team. We worked on offshore development of a software product for public school administration. I really enjoyed working with some very good people, in my team & over in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (USA). Earlier in my career, I had worked on design and coordinating development & testing effort for a course bidding system for Higher Ed institutions. And that was the other great highlight of my career so far. Ok, enough!

After working a long time on software development in education related domains (Higher Ed & K-12), and with an interest to work closer to the business side of things (and maybe away from project management for while!), I decided to join ThoughtWorks. How it happened itself was an accident, but I am happy it happened. I still have fond memories of my first job, and love meeting people ex-colleagues to talk about them old days.

I didn’t want to do Lead-man stuff anymore, and I told this to the recruitment team at ThoughtWorks. I wanted to do Business Analysis. And they said, Cool! Lets see what you got. I was pretty impressed with the recruitment process, and with the people I met during it. They treated me well, and responded quick. (The other company which made me an offer, took 3 weeks to say “Congrats! You made it”)

So after a month and a few farewell dinners later I joined ThoughtWorks.

Top 5 things about ThoughtWorks –

1. I got a MacBook Pro! I am no whiz on hardware, but this is perhaps the Baap of all laptops. My experience with the OSX has been superb so far – it’s fast, user-friendly, and does not hang itself! (The MS Office for Mac is pretty neat too!)

2. Food on Wednesdays is nice. Last time we got Butter chicken, Haryali Kebab & Naan. The veg food was good too! There were some Jalebees for the sweet-tooths. Okay, its not always this elaborate but is pretty darn good.

3. Some people here are masters in Xbox, and discussion rooms names are borrowed from Age of Empires. Now that I have mastered Super Mario, maybe I should join them.

4. We don’t reserve parking for people with fancy designations, in fact we don’t have any. I am a Business Analyst. One colleague of mine is Jack-of-all-trades. I like this. Everyone is here to work, and I don’t see any reason why some people should get some special benefits.

5. This has been said before, but I think should mention it – I work with some really smart people.

What is Madridismo?

2008-04-09T19:56:00.015+05:30

I am a Madridista. For the uninitiated, that means a fan of the Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.

Madridismo is playing the beautiful game in a beautiful way. Its not about winning, but playing with style & honour. Sounds a little far fetched, but that it is something a Madridista demands from the club. You see, a boring 1-0 win is just not worth it - You rather lose the game! Now it hurts when we lose the game, it really does. But it hurts more when you play like shit :)

Now this is true about things off the football pitch too. I bet this can be applied to life, family, work, etc. Do it properly, or don't do it at all.