And Then There Were Six

The gap between Barca and Real is down to six points, after Barca's way-too-difficult-given-the-circumstances win against Osasuna and Real's slip up against Almería. I watched the Barca game and though the pitch was wet, and it was raining cats and dogs, and Osasuna played a smart tactical game, it shouldn't have gone to the 88th minute. Thank God for Xavi is all I'll say (by the way, how many times have the relatively unheralded Xavi and Iniesta saved Barca's ass in the last three years? Just asking). Anyway here's Phil Ball's roundup on the weekend in Spain, containing an interesting nugget on Makelele.

I was once in the Bernabéu when Makelele was playing for Madrid a few years ago. At one point, the destroyer sine qua non of the football world passed a ball to the left that was intercepted by an opponent. The crowd groaned and I turned to my friend from Madrid. 'Why are they groaning at him?' I asked. 'Look' replied my friend, 'Mak's a great player, but he gives the ball away too much - really.' That was a strange comment, since any observation of Makelele since he went to Chelsea would be quite the opposite. He robs it, then passes it a few yards, always with intent, but always keeping it simple. It's been a joy to behold, and it's been the shield that has made John Terry into the defender he is. But in Spain, players had got the measure of him, and had tried to turn the tables on him by doing to him what he did unto others. Effective though he was, his lack of passing creativity did for him in the end, and he was sold on. That's why Diarrà won't last. Real Madrid might gain possession through him, but they cannot trust him to distribute the ball, even simply.

Funny, I thought he was sold on because he was earning one fifth of players like Beckham and wasn't deemed an attacking enough option for the Galactico squad Madird had conjured up in those days. Instructive how it took Real four years to win any trophy after he left, is it not?