Barcelona - Real Madrid quadruple clasico

If we attacked and lost, it would've crushed us mentally going into the CDR and CL which are both more important at this point. I don't doubt that an attacking strategy would've been trouble for us since we still can't hold the ball which would've left us very exposed.

At this point I want to win the CDR and CL tie and I don't care how we do it. If Mou stays for four years and the attacking play never improves I'll be angry but this is his first year and this situation is unique.

I just hope that we'll see a different match in the Copa final. It's neutral ground, both teams need to win, no excuses.

WOW! Don Alfredo di Stéfano has blasted Mourinho calling him a coward for playing Manchester United's pussy football in their own stadium. Poor man, I can just imagine how disgusted he was while watching his beloved Real Madrid playing like such pussies AT HOME!

There can be only one Ronaldo. ESPN seemed to agree...




http://sportbild.bild.de/SPORT/fussball/international/2011/04/18/clasico-panne/tv-sender-zeigt-falschen-ronaldo.html

blutgraetsche wrote:

Super Raul wrote:
Still Di Stefano's point is simply that only attacking football is worthy which is stupid and sounds like something a child would say. He seems to be to only think that playing one style is correct and that the style can't be flexible even if it is for one game which is really the case with this recent game.

Catenaccio

There is a difference between purely destructive anti-football and quick counter-attacking football, football that may focus on a strong defensive base, but with the actual intention to score goals, to win and not just neutralise your opponent.

Even Mourinho knows how that can be done, his Inter side last year showed how it can be done (first leg at home).

Di Stefano is wise and right, this is Real Madrid at home, the biggest club on the planet playing at home like Almeria away, in front of 80,000 fans in the stadium and half a billion world wide. That's inexcusable IMHO, and I'm shocked how desperate some Madrid fans have become for success over their arch rivals, not even caring how it's done as long as they win. The last time Madrid beat (thrashed) Barcelona was under Schuster, you know, that guy who supposedly was too naive and inept. Amazingly, that naive dude had at least the balls to go at Barca on their own turf and actually beat them.

This wasn't the game I watched

Real where not camped on their box (before the sending off) in two lines of four. It was a defensive strategy but the only realistic approach when the opposition is always going to hog the ball and you have non possession retaining strikers on the pitch as Real do.

They were a danger on numerous occasions on the break and kept Barca quiet when they were attacking. I don't agree at all that Real's tactics were overly defensive. If Ronaldo and Di Maria had displayed the composure they supposedly possess on a few occasions Real would have been in front.

People were accusing Arsenal of being defensive in the CL game at the Emirates, neglecting to realise that when the other team is superior you have very little choice in the matter. Every team looks defensive against Barca because they spend most of the time chasing Xavi, Iniesta and Messi's shadows. Real are no different.

King Pipita wrote:If we attacked and lost, it would've crushed us mentally going into the CDR and CL which are both more important at this point. I don't doubt that an attacking strategy would've been trouble for us since we still can't hold the ball which would've left us very exposed.

At this point I want to win the CDR and CL tie and I don't care how we do it. If Mou stays for four years and the attacking play never improves I'll be angry but this is his first year and this situation is unique.

Exactly. I know Barcelona would love if Real went down all guns blazing, but Madrid got a face-saving, morale-boosting draw that they wanted.

Again, the problem is not that Real didn't try to beat Barcelona at their own game. The problem was that with all the 'steel', with all those ball winners in midfield you may put a lot of pressure on the opposition and win the ball often, but it's of no use if you don't know what to do with it after you won it. That's what happened very often during the game. Real's most dangerous chances were from set pieces.

Things changed once Özil came on. Despite having one man less on the pitch, Real's game actually improved. There was purpose in their attacks, structure. Before that, the game plan was to win the ball in midfield and hoof it 40-50 yards to each side, hoping for Ronaldo or Di Maria to 'expose' the attacking minded Barca fullbacks. The problem with that is that

a) those long balls are relatively easy to intercept and
b) Di Maria and Ronaldo didn't have any support to actually create / finish dangerous chances.

In modern football, most goals happen after a quick break, because those few seconds in which the opposition team isn't well organised are the best chance to score. Even small teams are well organised these days, defending well as a team is no rocket science. So yes, trying to score on the break is the best weapon against teams like Barcelona. But hoofing is counterproductive, especially if you do nothing else (nothing wrong with it as long as it's used occasionally), because it's much easier to defend against.

The real pussies are card waving bastards like Xavi who crowd the referee, face clutching divers & whingers like Alves & Busquets, Villa & Messi who roll around the ground faking injuries & such. FUCK OFF!

Can't risk playing a high line against Barca with their pace merchants & especially not with our defensive personnel. And it just so happens, that at this point of time, Barca is littered with a pool of talent & players with excellent physical condition & mental fortitude. They have done well last decade. Not to forget that it all came after quite a barren spell.

Besides the whole 'negative attitude' blank assertion could be twisted & played with, it could be easily said that Barca play conservative football by not playing more incisive passes & frightened risking the loss of possession. In stead they try to tire the opposition (mentally as well as physically) & when the opposition eventually get possession, they're fascistic to park their bus in opposition half, press & completely disconcert the opposition style of play. That one has no other choice but to be more direct in countering their pressure. So naive coming from someone like Di Stefano, but then I'm not surprised coz not all great players understand the nuances of the game.

blutgraetsche wrote:

Super Raul wrote:
Anti-football simply refers to playing dirty and while it is sometimes related to ultra defensive football it doesn't go hand in hand. Playing for a draw or playing to simply not concede and hoping for a set piece or some mistake by the opposition is not anti-football at all.

Nope. Anti-football means ridiculing the whole point of playing the game - scoring goals and winning. There are many ways to do that, anti-football is not one of them. Playing for a draw at home when there is no need, since it's not a cup competition, and you actually need a win to still have a realistic chance in the championship, is cowardly and yes, anti-football.

He isn't wise simply because he is old. I only care about winning but it is not because I'm desperate to win but rather a football philosophical change on my part. I still(foolishly in retrospect) advocated very offensive football in the dark spell between 2004-2007. Just like Torrente wrote earlier with regards to Ronaldo, my views on football is hardly in vogue for Real Madrid fans.

He has seen many Madrid sides come and go after him. If he doesn't like what he sees, there must be good reason to. 'Philosophical change'? You guys literally murdered Capello for the same shit-on-the-stick.

Thing is, Spain is dominated by two huge clubs who earn more than the rest of the league combined, their squads are the most expensive in Europe. It's travesty to play like a relegation candidate with that squad at your proposal. Both teams have a long tradition of providing a 'spectacle' to their fans, that's actually why they have become such huge brands. Real Madrid would not be Real Madrid if they had catennaccio'd those 9 European Cups.

Shuster "supposeduly naive"
Shuster was incredibly naive and isn't a surprise he did nothing in Cl and got exposed in cl with his strange tactics of playing without a right side and simply draining Ramos of power. His game away to Barca was actually very smart and a good variation of pressing and staying back. However he took over a team with a lot of confidence and passion that had won a title and by the time he left they had none of those things. And I could care less about balls unless you are talking about commitment.

You missed the point. That 'supposedly naive' guy was the last one to beat Barcelona. Not just at the Bernabeu, but even away. You didn't thrash Barca 4-1 by bullying them and hoofing it like Stoke. That naive guy had more balls than the so called super tactician Mourinho will ever have. And you need balls to beat Barcelona. You won't with cowardice.

Anti-football has historically refered to teams that were dirty in their style. Now you might have your own definition but this is what anti-football generally means.

Also the way I saw this game was a precursor to the other games. This is why it was important to get some some confidence out of the game and that is what we got with the way the game went so I'm quite happy with it. Also Mourinho found a defensive base on which he can build for future games against Barcelona. It needs some tweaking though such as the introduction of Ozil on the right to help keep the ball more and provide a creative outlet as well. Ronaldo needs to be on top as well so as not to bother him with defensive duties. Then there is more of a balance between creativity and simply direct players. Cotr is correct that Di Maria and Ronaldo lacked composure and were too selfish.

Who cares what Di Stefano has seen. The point is that he likes attacking football and he wants Real Madrid to their tradition or whatever. Who cares?

And there is a big difference between this side and one Capello had. Capello played with Diarra-Emerson in the middle and Raul-Nistelrooy upfront flanked with Beckham. That was about as uncreative as you can get and he was defensive even when he didn't need to be. Now we have Alonso-Di Maria-Ronaldo-Ozil-Benzema so we go from a situation of 1 flair player to one with 4-5. Mourinho's Real Madrid is more offensive then he normally plays. This is really the first game I can remember where he has openly played a defensive style.

I don't think what Mourinho does is cowardice but rather smart and especially in mind that this is a 4 match war and not a single battle. The league is over and would have been even if we won imo. Everybody knew that after we dropped points some weeks ago and the lead went back to 8 points. Again the side Shuster inherited was different and so was the Barcelona side he met so you can't compare in that sense.

When we (Werder) played our arch rivals (HSV) 4 times in 19 days (2009), nobody would have been satisfied with a meagre draw at home to "build confidence". What confidence? It was all about beating the crap out of them so we could take the piss for generations to come.

Barcelona have really scared the shit out of you Madrid fans, a shame...

blutgraetsche wrote:When we (Werder) played our arch rivals (HSV) 4 times in 19 days (2009), nobody would have been satisfied with a meagre draw at home to "build confidence". What confidence? It was all about beating the crap out of them so we could take the piss for generations to come.

Barcelona have really scared the shit out of you Madrid fans, a shame...

Well the fact that we have lost the last 5 games against them and the first game this season was a huge knock on the teams confidence. Again this is a 4 battle war and not a single battle. This was the least important game and what we needed from this one was a tactic whereby the defence would hold and to avoid another defeat and set us up for the next game in the series. We did all of those things and with 10 man after going behind. In my opinion we had enough chances to even get a win but I think our counter attacking was too poor overall and like I said Di Maria and Ronaldo didn't deliver. So some tweaks are needed but we are going in the right direction as I see it.

It's easy to blame Di Maria and Ronaldo (or even Benzema) if there's no support. You need someone to glue things together, a link between your ball winners and attack. I hope Özil starts in the Copa match, and I hope that Real risk a bit more by committing more players to the attack once you win the ball. Should make the match a lot more enjoyable for the neutral, too.

Well, the REAL Madrid fans shouldn't be happy with "good, we didn't lose attitude" and try to convince themselves like this was a morale victory, when in reality it wasn't.
I can't believe that some of you are justifying what Special Five did, only because Barca are better at the moment. I mean, what the fuck, one point or none it's same shit for you, we are still in the same distance. The only way that you had a chance to catch us was to WIN the game, that's it, no matter what.
And you come with what? Special Five did something special, we are now full of confidence that we can win the next games.
You really believe in that??
As a Barca fan, i would never wanted to give he league like that, never, no matter how RM would be strong.
And what if you go out from CDR and the CL? What then? Will you still justify him and his tactics?

blutgraetsche wrote:It's easy to blame Di Maria and Ronaldo (or even Benzema) if there's no support. You need someone to glue things together, a link between your ball winners and attack. I hope Özil starts in the Copa match, and I hope that Real risk a bit more by committing more players to the attack once you win the ball. Should make the match a lot more enjoyable for the neutral, too.

I don't blame them for the times where they had nobody around them. But I do blame them for the few times where they had options but still chose to go alone into a bunch of defenders.

TITO wrote:Well, the REAL Madrid fans shouldn't be happy with "good, we didn't lose attitude" and try to convince themselves like this was a morale victory, when in reality it wasn't.
I can't believe that some of you are justifying what Special Five did, only because Barca are better at the moment. I mean, what the fuck, one point or none it's same shit for you, we are still in the same distance. The only way that you had a chance to catch us was to WIN the game, that's it, no matter what.
And you come with what? Special Five did something special, we are now full of confidence that we can win the next games.
You really believe in that??
As a Barca fan, i would never wanted to give he league like that, never, no matter how RM would be strong.
And what if you go out from CDR and the CL? What then? Will you still justify him and his tactics?

The league was lost when we the lead went back to 8 points. After that this game became meaningless in as an isolated event. If the lead was 5 points I would have been different but for me this was a lost cause and we should focus on the Copa and Cl. So Mourinho made the move. I don't have to justify anything from a moral point of view. The point is rather that others are trying to impose their morale view on Real Madrid and Mourinho for not playing the "right way". I don't particular care what you or other fans of other club would feel in a similar situation to be honest. It is really besides the point. With regards to the next games anything can really happen since this is cup games but I will judge Mourinho and the players on their approach and whether they are committed and keep it thight and find ways to create chances. If we do that then I couldn't care less if we have 30% or 20%.

The irony is that supposedly the final straw for Florentino leading to the sacking (I mean, not renewing) of Del Bosque was that the XI he put out in CL semifinal against Juve in 2003 contained TWO defensive midfielders and no out-and-out '9' because he felt that was a betrayal of RM's history. But I think unfortunately Florentino is the #1 most desperate to see Madrid beat Barcelona to justify his galatico 2.0 signings. Oh how times change...

Super Raul wrote:

Jaime wrote:

Super Laudrup wrote:

Messiah wrote:Di Stefano

"The football Barcelona played at the Bernabeu was simply brilliant. Their superiority was clear,"

"Madrid played against a Barcelona side who dominated throughout the whole game. It's clear Barca are superior to Madrid who are a team with no personality.

"Their approach was clearly wrong."

According to Di Stefano:
Defensive football=no personality


Catenaccio

You are a confusing case Super! You like players like Cassano and Adriano and Banega who do zero defending but you are advocating catenaccio????

I appreciate many different players but also different styles. Although Adriano has fallen out of favour with me. Cassano is just awesome and there is room for creative players in a defensive styles but just not too many and it can't hurt the team. It is really more a sensible view then destructive one in my opinion.

Still Di Stefano's point is simply that only attacking football is worthy which is stupid and sounds like something a child would say. He seems to be to only think that playing one style is correct and that the style can't be flexible even if it is for one game which is really the case with this recent game.

Catenaccio

The other thing I cannot quite work out is how pleased you were when Laudrup went to the Camp Nou with Mallorca and really went for it and managed a 1-1 earlier in the fall. I think that was the genesis of the "Laudrup is a penis" phrase. So it is good for Laudrup to attack but it's good for Mourinho to defend? Maybe we just need Laudrup.

I agree with Super Raul about how ridiculous it is that fans from other teams appear to be telling us about how we're supposed to feel about our team. The typical army of cule c**ts (Cruyf and co.) immediately came out of their caves to talk about how "ashamed" Madrid fans should be for the way the team has played, etc.

The possession stats are obviously an embarassment, but the team was not parked in front of the penalty area for the entire match, or at any stage for that matter. I generally saw a high back line and we created at least as many dangerous chances as Barcelona. We even had 6 corners to Barcelona's 0, and even more shots on goal.

Add the fact that we played with 10 men for so long and it should be easy to understand why fans are generally satisfied with the result of the clasico. We all knew the league was lost, so Saturday night was not really about the 3 points.

Jaime wrote:

Calidad wrote:
I don't like Di Maria. He's too selfish and insular and lacks composure and finesse in his play. Like a much worse version of Ronaldo. But credit to Madrid for showing fight and bottle at 10 men, and Ozil done very well when coming on. Definitely improving as a team.

If that is the case how is it that only Xabi Prieto and Messi have more assists?

Ok I didn't know that. But whenever I watch him, it's invariably head down and shoot. I just think his play is both limited and selfish, I really don't understand the hype. I'm yet to watch him and actually be impressed.

But humble pie over the assist stat; he is obviously doing something right. I still don't like him as a player.

Calidad wrote:

Jaime wrote:

Calidad wrote:
I don't like Di Maria. He's too selfish and insular and lacks composure and finesse in his play. Like a much worse version of Ronaldo. But credit to Madrid for showing fight and bottle at 10 men, and Ozil done very well when coming on. Definitely improving as a team.

If that is the case how is it that only Xabi Prieto and Messi have more assists?

Ok I didn't know that. But whenever I watch him, it's invariably head down and shoot. I just think his play is both limited and selfish, I really don't understand the hype. I'm yet to watch him and actually be impressed.

But humble pie over the assist stat; he is obviously doing something right. I still don't like him as a player.

Fair enough. Every one has their preferences.

He has six goals and ten assists in the league plus another 3 goals and 2 assists in CL. Not bad going really. And a lot of his goals have been absolute crackers (see goal vs Tottenham or Real Sociedad) Plus, what I love about Di Maria is that he works his socks off every single game. He runs himself into the ground pressuring the other teams defenders and coming back to help Marcelo. His work rate is unbelievable.

So Ozil as a false '9'?

Awaiting all the cules to start banging on about how RM can only copy the mighty azulgrana

COTR wrote:

blutgraetsche wrote:

Super Raul wrote:
Still Di Stefano's point is simply that only attacking football is worthy which is stupid and sounds like something a child would say. He seems to be to only think that playing one style is correct and that the style can't be flexible even if it is for one game which is really the case with this recent game.

Catenaccio

There is a difference between purely destructive anti-football and quick counter-attacking football, football that may focus on a strong defensive base, but with the actual intention to score goals, to win and not just neutralise your opponent.

Even Mourinho knows how that can be done, his Inter side last year showed how it can be done (first leg at home).

Di Stefano is wise and right, this is Real Madrid at home, the biggest club on the planet playing at home like Almeria away, in front of 80,000 fans in the stadium and half a billion world wide. That's inexcusable IMHO, and I'm shocked how desperate some Madrid fans have become for success over their arch rivals, not even caring how it's done as long as they win. The last time Madrid beat (thrashed) Barcelona was under Schuster, you know, that guy who supposedly was too naive and inept. Amazingly, that naive dude had at least the balls to go at Barca on their own turf and actually beat them.

This wasn't the game I watched

Real where not camped on their box (before the sending off) in two lines of four.It was a defensive strategy but the only realistic approach when the opposition is always going to hog the ball and you have non possession retaining strikers on the pitch as Real do.

They were a danger on numerous occasions on the break and kept Barca quiet when they were attacking. I don't agree at all that Real's tactics were overly defensive. If Ronaldo and Di Maria had displayed the composure they supposedly possess on a few occasions Real would have been in front.

People were accusing Arsenal of being defensive in the CL game at the Emirates, neglecting to realise that when the other team is superior you have very little choice in the matter. Every team looks defensive against Barca because they spend most of the time chasing Xavi, Iniesta and Messi's shadows. Real are no different.

Incorrect. Yes, most teams facing Barça will spend lots of time without the ball and thus inevitably appear to be defensive, but there is a way to play Barça and there is a way to play Barça. See Inter in last year's CL semifinal 1st leg, see Shakhtar this year, see Valencia this year (and last), see Villarreal this year, see Arsenal in the 1st leg at the Emirates, and to a certain extent, see Liverpool in the 2-1 win at Camp Nou back in 2006 (although Rijkaard's Barça were not as possession-focused as Guardiola's).

The key is to put pressure on the ball. You can have your lines of 4 keeping it tight, but you must have 1 or 2 "drones" who push forward on the ball in whichever zone of the pitch it happens to be.

Apart from a few short spells of good high-up-the-field pressure on the Barça defenders from Ronaldo/Benzema, Madrid generally (and Inter in the 2nd leg last year) didn't do that, preferring to wait till it reached the final third, before the back 7 mopped up and then pumped it long.

A diagonal long ball into the channel between FB and CB is actually the perfect tactic against Barça (you bypass the midfielders' wave of pressure) but Madrid were starting too deep to make it effective...you have to start from the middle third so that your wide player can knock it back to the incoming AM/CF, with a max of 3 passes in the entire move.

Jaime wrote:

Super Raul wrote:

Jaime wrote:

Super Laudrup wrote:

Messiah wrote:Di Stefano

"The football Barcelona played at the Bernabeu was simply brilliant. Their superiority was clear,"

"Madrid played against a Barcelona side who dominated throughout the whole game. It's clear Barca are superior to Madrid who are a team with no personality.

"Their approach was clearly wrong."

According to Di Stefano:
Defensive football=no personality


Catenaccio

You are a confusing case Super! You like players like Cassano and Adriano and Banega who do zero defending but you are advocating catenaccio????

I appreciate many different players but also different styles. Although Adriano has fallen out of favour with me. Cassano is just awesome and there is room for creative players in a defensive styles but just not too many and it can't hurt the team. It is really more a sensible view then destructive one in my opinion.

Still Di Stefano's point is simply that only attacking football is worthy which is stupid and sounds like something a child would say. He seems to be to only think that playing one style is correct and that the style can't be flexible even if it is for one game which is really the case with this recent game.

Catenaccio

The other thing I cannot quite work out is how pleased you were when Laudrup went to the Camp Nou with Mallorca and really went for it and managed a 1-1 earlier in the fall. I think that was the genesis of the "Laudrup is a penis" phrase. So it is good for Laudrup to attack but it's good for Mourinho to defend? Maybe we just need Laudrup.

It is all about context. Laudrup has built his team to keep the ball and that is Laudrup's strength anyway(not he is incapable of building a defence). Mourinho's strength is not in creating passing sides. Now Mourinho is more flexible then he gets credit for. His Porto side is different then his Chelsea side and his Chelsea side is different then his Inter side and currently Real Madrid is different as well. Nonetheless he is best in a cautious approach and when you compete in Cl you should be capable of playing different ways depending on the circumstances. Also this is his first year and the club hasn't won anything for a couple of years and are down on confidence so what Mourinho is doing makes perfect sense to me. However next year and the year after that we rightfully should expect that the players know each other better and that we have tweaked errors.

Ideally Mourinho would improve our organisation and team even more. Possibly finding the right player next to Carvalho and when that is done it would be about time Mourinho would want to leave anyway and then Laudrup can come in and build on that team. Sort of a reverse Sacchi->Capello in style.

King Pipita wrote:

Jaime wrote:Marca and AS both 'revealing' Mourinho's XI for the final of the Copa del Rey:


-------------------Casillas

Arbeloa-----S. Ramos-----Carvalho-----Marcelo

--------Khedira-----Pepe------Alonso

Ozil--------------Ronaldo------------Di Maria

TM should be happy then.

Ronaldo will be moving around everywhere and we will end up with noone in the middle.

CONVOCATORIA

Porteros: Casillas, Adán y Dudek
Defensas: Garay, Ramos, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo y Arbeloa
Centrocampistas: Xabi Alonso, Özil, Di María, Khedira, Granero y Kaká
Delanteros: Cristiano Ronaldo, Adebayor, Higuaín y Benzema

Good news for the cules!

El césped de Mestalla sí que estará corto y rápido

El césped de Mestalla también se prepara con mimo para presentar mañana su mejor aspecto en la final de la Copa del Rey. Y, a diferencia de lo que se pudo ver el sábado pasado en el Santiago Bernabéu, éste sí que estará corto y rápido. La Federación Española de Fútbol, como organizadora de esta competición, ha delegado sus competencias sobre esta materia a los responsables del Valencia para que dejen el césped como lo hacen habitualmente. Así, la empresa encargada del mantenimiento del verde de Mestalla trabaja con mimo en los últimos días para que presente su mejor aspecto y varias son las premisas que se aplicarán para esta final de Copa del Rey.

La primera, que la longitud de la hierba en ningún caso superará los 25 milímetros (ayer era de 20). Para ello, desde este pasado domingo hasta mañana antes del partido se realizarán hasta siete cortes del césped. El último se hará antes de las 18:00 horas, que es cuando se instalará en el centro del campo un escenario para las actuaciones musicales previstas en esta final.

La segunda, que, como hora límite, a las 20:35 se conectará el riego por última ocasión. No obstante, habrá que estar muy atento a la previsión del tiempo, ya que se estima que pueda llover durante la jornada de mañana en Valencia. Si no lloviera, el riego se prolongaría durante tres minutos en cada uno de los tres sectores en los que está dividido el césped de Mestalla. Si llueve, se descartaría la opción de regarlo.

Emisarios de Real Madrid y Barcelona ya estuvieron la semana pasada en la capital del Turia inspeccionando el estado del tapete valencianista y las sensaciones fueron bastante positivas. Ahora falta por ver a gusto de cuál de los dos equipos estará mañana el césped de Mestalla, que también presentará su mejor imagen.

http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/cesped-mestalla-estara-corto-rapido/20110419dasdaiftb_30/Tes

so it seems as if Pinto will play in the final.

Jaime wrote:

So Ozil as a false '9'?

Awaiting all the cules to start banging on about how RM can only copy the mighty azulgrana

Why do you need Ozil to be an invisible 9?






Benzema already does that job pretty well

The so called tactical genius, will be basically coping, what the coach who is long has good has the players around him has been doing for a while now.

as long özil plays not in central midfield everything will be fine

against busquest-xavi-iniesta he would he hopeless, so bring him on the wing again, he is a player which can shine in every position, and hes doing his actions all over the place anyway

maybe thats a good tactic for germany aswell, but only against spain

omg what a difference that would have been, özil for trochowski in the semi final for the right midfield