EURO 2008:THE WORST PLAYERS OF THE FIRST ROUND (This article is available in English and Español)

After the analysis of the best players during the first round of Euro 08, now it's time to speak about the worst players of this first round.

GOALKEEPER

There are several candidates to be the worst goalkeeper of the championship, since for example we saw many things during the last few minutes of the game between Turkey-Czech Republic, but especially we saw some unforgivable mistakes both of the Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech-although he could have one excuse, the rain-and of the Turkish goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, who showed that he should mature if he wants to be a good player, cause his aggression to Czech striker Jan Koller was incomprehensible and very dangerous for his team, because it is very normal that this aggression have one result: red car and penalty. But although these 2 goalkeeper played bad, there is another goalkeeper who has obtained the award of the worst goalkeeper, the Greek Antonios Nikopolidis, who played horrible, being the main culprit of the bad results of the Greek team, because he “showed” his mistakes in each game, as for example his strange and slow conduct during the goal of the Swedish Petter Hansson and when the Russian Semak had the ball and he passed the ball to Zyryanov, who scored an easy goal.

DEFENDERS

Clearly, the worst defensive line in the tournament has been the Polish defenders, who showed an horrible level in all the games and of course it is impossible to win a game if you have a problem in the defensive line-it's OK to entrust in Boruc, but until one limit, cause neither Boruc can save so many shots, although he really played very well and one thing is clear, Poland had received a lot of goals with other goalkeeper-.The Polish defenders played without coordination and very slow, leaving the rival strikers always alone against the goalkeeper (I do not understand the results of Portugal against Poland during the qualifying round, since Portugal did not beat Poland). So it was a disaster, although it was not the only one, since we had other “good” examples as our "friends" Sagnol, Thuram and Abidal. As we said in the article about France, Domenech committed a big mistake with the presence of these players in the squad, because these players have not shown a decent level during this season in their respective teams and of course they showed an insufficient level during the Euro, such as the Spanish right back Sergio Ramos, who is unrecognizable, since he is playing without the necessary tension and concentration, doing absurd things during the game against Russia and being “a spectator” when Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a goal against Spain-even yesterday, he was the worst Spanish defender against Italy-.He must change his attitude for the semi-final game against Russia, because in other case Yuri Zhirkov will be a big problem for Spain.

MIDFIELDERS

We saw a good level in this position, thus the players more or less played wit the expected level and of course that we can not ask for the impossible and if a player does not have quality, we can only expect that he carries out his assigned functions, nothing more. However, it hoped more things in some players like Andres Iniesta-really I expected much more in this case, since he is like Sergio Ramos, an unrecognizable player, being an “absent” player, without tension and the necessary participation (except an assistance to Villa in the first game against Russia, I do not remember anything remarkable-even he played not very well against Italy yesterday-). Alongside Iniesta, another disappointment is the Turkish Gökdeniz Karadeniz. I do not know if as he left the Trabzonspor and now he is playing at Rubin Kazan-with a good salary-, he can play relaxed and without the necessary effort, but this is not the same player that I watched other competitions. It is a pity to see this good player, playing with the poor level that he showed in the game against Switzerland or playing only 3 minutes of the game against Croatia. He will have a big chance to change and to show his abilities this Wednesday against Germany, since he will play sure all the game and one thing is clear if Turkey wants to have any option to win the semi-final, it needs the best of this player, cause Fathih Terim will have the absence of Volkan Demirel, Servet Cetin, Emre Güngör, Emre Asik, Emre Belözoglu, Tümer Metin, Arda Turan, Tuncay Sanli and Nihat Kahveci.

STRIKERS

As in the case of defence, we must remark the horrible competition of the complete Austrian offensive line, because the Austrian striker wasted the good passes of Invanschitz and the good plays of Umit Korkmaz and they missed a lot of attempts to score a goal, and of course without goals, it is very difficult to pass the next round. But apart from the Austrians, we must also mention the unlucky championship of the German Mario Gomez-this player seems that he is not ready to play under a big pressure and he is not doing anything during this tournament and in fact Joachim Low left him on the bench in the match against Portugal- and of the French player Nicolas Anelka, who is confirming what we said in the article about France, since he is nor ready to play neither in a big club neither important games with the French National (for example he only scored 1 goal with Chelsea –he missed a penalty in the Champions League´final-)-anyway Domenech has what it deserves, ¿where was David Trézéguet? -

Cheers,

J&F

EURO 2008: LOS PEORES DE LA PRIMERA FASE (This article is available in English and Español)

Después de analizar a los mejores jugadores de la primera fase de la EURO 08, es momento de ocuparnos de la otra cara de la moneda, de las decepciones del campeonato.

PORTEROS

Hay diversos candidatos para el puesto de peor portero del campeonato, pues tardaremos en olvidar los últimos minutos del Turquía- República Checa, pues vimos de todo, pero sobre todo unos errores imperdonables tanto del portero checo Petr Cech-aunque puede tener la excusa de la lluvia-, como del portero turco Volkan Demirel, que demostró que aún le falta madurez, pues es incomprensible su empujón dentro del área al delantero checo Jan Koller pues según como coja al árbitro puede ser expulsión y pentaly.
Pero hay un portero que se lleva la palma y el galardón de peor portero, se trata del griego Antonios Nikopolidis que ha realizado un campeonato para olvidar-empañando una buena trayectoria-, siendo el principal culpable del mal papel de la selección helena pues en cada partido importante dejó su huella, como por ejemplo su actitud un tanto cómica y sin saber que hacer y donde estaba en el gol del sueco Petter Hansson o cuando fue sin sentido en busca del balón y de Semak, facilitando el gol de Zyryanov.

DEFENSA

Está claro que la peor defensa del torneo ha sido la de la selección polaca que nos han enseñado en todos los partidos lo que no se debe hacer si quieres tener alguna opción de ganar algún partido-está bien que confíen en Boruc, pero no tanto y de hecho si no es por el bueno de Boruc, hubieran cosechado grandes goleadas-. Y es que es una línea muy lenta y poco-más bien nada- coordinada, dejando a los delanteros rivales siempre solos ante el portero (no comprendo como Portugal no pudo ganarles en la fase de calificación). En fin un despropósito, aunque no fue el único pues que decir de nuestros “amigos” Sagnol, Thuram y Abidal. Dijimos en el articulo relativo a Francia, que Doménech cometía un grave error convocando a estos jugadores, que no han mostrado un nivel digno durante esta temporada en sus respectivos equipos y bueno, el tiempo nos ha dado la razón porque en cada partido nos han dejado detalles de que están para pocas alegrías, como el descentrado Sergio Ramos, que a ver si espabila de una vez porque entre su juego sin tensión contra Rusia y su forma de bajar a defender en el gol de Ibrahimovic es para replantearse si debe jugar él o Arbeloa.

MEDIOS

En esta posición tampoco es que haya habido grandes decepciones, pues más o menos los jugadores han rendido al nivel esperado y claro no podemos pedirle peras al olmo y si no hay calidad en un jugador, pues tampoco hay mucho que decirle en tanto cumpla con su función encomendada. Ahora bien, sí que quizás esperábamos más de algunos jugadores como Andrés Iniesta-realmente esperaba mucho más, porque está ausente, sin tensión, poco participativo (salvo un pase de gol a Villa, no le recuerdo una jugada digna de mención), perdido por la banda derecha-. Quizás en el partido contra Italia debería quedarse en el banquillo, dejando su sitio a un jugador con más chispa como por ejemplo Santi Cazorla.
Junto a Iniesta, otra decepción está siendo el turco Gökdeniz Karadeniz, no sé si que haya dejado el Trabzonspor y que ahora esté jugando en el Rubin Kazan-con un buen contrato-hace que esté más relajado y no se esfuerce tanto, pero es triste ver el nivel mostrado contra Suiza y verlo entrar en el minuto 117 del partido contra Croacia. Una pena porque es un buen jugador, con mucha habilidad y calidad, pero ya se sabe, si faltan ganas, poco se hace.

DELANTEROS

Como en el caso de la defensa, también en esta línea hay un equipo que se lleva la palma, pues lo que hemos visto con los delanteros austriacos es también de traca, que manera de fallar goles, desaprovechando los buenos pases de Invanschitz o las buenas jugadas de Umit Korkmaz. Y es que tuvieron innumerables ocasiones en todos los partidos, pero unas veces por el portero y otras por los palos, el hecho es que siempre el tenían mismo resultado: fallar goles y sin marcar goles, es difícil conseguir buenos resultados.
Pero además de los austriacos, también debemos mencionar el nefasto campeonato del alemán Mario Gomez-parece que le está viniendo grande el torneo y no ha hecho nada de nada y de hecho Joachim Low lo dejó en el banquillo en el partido de cuartos contra Portugal- y del francés Nicolás Anelka, que está confirmando lo que decíamos en el artículo sobre Francia, que es un jugador que se esconde en los partidos importantes y que tampoco rinde cuando está en un grande (en el Chelsea sólo marcó 1 gol y claro fallo el pentaly en la final de Champions)-de todas formas Doménech tiene lo que se merece, otra vez que se deje de las chorradas del zodiaco y que se lleve a los buenos, con olfato y racha goleadora como David Trézéguet-
Cheers,
J&F

EURO 2008: THE BEST TEAM OF THE FIRST ROUND (This article is available in English and Español)

The first round of Euro 08 has just completed and it's time to speak about the best players of the competition until this moment.

GOALKEEPER

The truth is that we have seen good work of different goalkeepers as Stipe Pletikosa against Austria or Gianluigi Buffon against Romania -spectacular save on the Mutu´s penalty- or the sobriety of the Dutch Edwin Var der Sar, but if I have to remark a name, I chose the Polish Artur Boruc, who had a lot of work during this Euro 08, because the Polish defensive line played horrible without coordination, having the rival strikers many face to face against Boruc. If Poland arrived to the last game with options to play the Quarter-final was thanks to the excellent Celtic Glasgow´s goalkeeper, whose value is rising and it is sure that we will see his name related to important clubs like AC Milan or Tottenham Hotspurs.

DEFENDERS

We saw good level in this position too, but I would emphasize the solidity-he is almost impassable- of the Dutch right back, Khalid Boulahrouz-I can not understands his situation this season in FC Seville (it is totally incomprehensible, especially if players like Julien Escude and Javi Navarro had problems with injuries)-and the excellent level-both offensive and defensive- of the phenomenal Croatian right back-although he played against Poland as central defender-Vedran Corluka-we said in the article about Croatia that he is a good player and everybody should follow his progression-. As central defenders, I chose 3 players, the Czech Tomas Ujfalusi- he is a leader, showing security and solidity, he is an excellent player and it is sure that he will triumph in his new club, Atletico de Madrid (this team will have an excellent defensive line, since it has also signed the Dutch John Heitinga)- and the 2 Portuguese central defenders, Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho, whose presence is fundamental for Portugal, because they compensate the presence of the goalkeeper Ricardo, who is an insecure player. So if Portugal gets a good result in this competition, it will be thanks to play of these excellent players. Finally, I must remark the play of 2 left back Giovanni van Bronckhorst-I think that it was a mistake his departure from FC Barcelona, because he is a very solid player both offensively and defensively, with individual technical and tactical discipline (he scored 7 goals this season at Feyernoord ) - and the Croatian Danijel Pranjic, who played excellent, showing all his qualities: technical, good shot and good capacity to make good passes and with work both offensively and defensively.

MIDFIELDERS

It is difficult to chose only 4 midfielders, because we saw a good level in many teams, but there are 4 players, whose play was excellent for me. First, I want to emphasize the labour of the Spanish defensive midfielder Marcos Senna, who played very well, being a lung, he is always in the correct place, helping to the rest of the team. Along with Senna, the superb Croatian playmaker Luka Modric would be in my “dream team”, it is a spectacle to see the play of this young midfielder and of course he can play in any team, so I think that the coach Juande Ramos took a good decision when Tottenham Hotspurs signed this wonderful player. Finally I chose 2 more Dutch players, one of my weaknesses, Rafael Van der Vaart-he always is in the correct place, showing quality, vision of the game, good shot and tactical discipline(he annulled Andrea Pirlo) - and of course the Real Madrid´s player Wesley Sneijder, who has come to this championship with a great level of form and he is doing what he wants with power and ability, showing good vision of the game and great shot-this is de same Sneijder that we saw during his Ajax´s period-.

STRIKERS

There are 2 players who stand out above the rest, because thanks to their goals their teams are in the Quarter-finals.

On the one hand, obviously the Spanish striker David Villa is in my dream team, because he is the top scorer of the first round and he was decisive with his goals-for example, he scored an essential goal in the last minute of game between Spain and Sweden-.As we said in the article about Spain, we did not have any doubt about Villa´s level during this Championship, because Villa is always a guarantee and he is synonymous of quality, work and goal.

On the other hand, we must remark the championship of the turkish Nihat Kahveci, since he is having a difficult tournament because Turkey has had the important injury of Emre, who is the playmaker of the team and without this player, the strikers of the team have many troubles to receive correct passes and so the strikers have a difficult task. But despite this problem, Nihat is showing that he is an excellent striker, knowing to stay in the correct place to score important goals, being a decisive players in different games like against Switzerland-he scored a goal- or against the Czech Republic-he scored 2 goals-.

OTHER INTERESTING PLAYERS

In addition to this Dream team, we want to remark the good job of other players like the Russian Andrey Arshavin-he did not play the first 2 games, because he was suspended, but he could play against Sweden and he showed his tremendous quality, his vision of the game and besides he scored a goal- or the striker Roman Pavlyuchenko– mobility, quality and goal-,or as the Polish striker Roger Guerreiro- he has a big mobility and perhaps he could have a new opportunity in the Spanish football after his period in Celta de Vigo during the season 04-05-or like the Czech Jan Koller-he played well especially if we bear in mind the poor play of the Czech Republic (it is a pity that the Czech Republic does not have more players like Nedved, Poborsky or Rosický)- ,or as the Austrian Andreas Ivanschitz-he is the best Austrian player and maybe the only one with the adequate quality-or as the Portuguese Deco, who had a difficult season in Barcelona but now he is the leader of the Portuguese National team, or like the German Lukas Podolski- when he plays with the National Team, he is a different player, he plays better- and the phenomenal defender Philipp Lahm, who is always a guarantee.

Tonight the Quarter-finals start with a great game, Portugal-Germany.

Cheers,

J&F

EURO 2008: EL MEJOR EQUIPO DE LA PRIMERA FASE (This article is available in English and Español)

Acaba de terminar la primera fase de la EURO 08 y es momento de hacer referencia a los jugadores que han tenido una actuación destaca y que han colaborado de forma destaca a que sus equipos tuvieran opciones de clasificarse para los Cuartos de final de la competición.

PORTERO
La cierto es que hemos visto buenas actuaciones de diversos porteros en partidos puntuales como Stipe Pletikosa contra Austria o Gianluigi Buffon contra Rumania-espectacular parada en el penalti de Mutu en el minuto 80-o la sobriedad del holandés Edwin Var der Sar, pero si me tengo que quedar con un nombre, en mi equipo ideal colocaría al polaco Artur Boruc, que ha tenido muchísimo trabajo en esta EURO 08, pues su defensa a jugado fatal, con mucha descoordinación, dejando que los delanteros rivales tuvieran multitud de unos contra uno ante el gran portero Boruc. Si Polonia llegó al último partido con alguna opción de clasificarse fue sin duda gracias al portero del Celtic de Glasgow, que con este torneo se ha revalorizado y seguro que lo veremos como futurible de equipos como el AC Milan o el Tottenham Hotspurs.

DEFENSA

También en esta posición ha habido bastante buen nivel en diversos equipos, pero yo destacaría la solidez-casi infranqueable- del lateral derecho de Holanda, Khalid Boulahrouz-alguien entiende su escasa presencia en el Sevilla FC (totalmente incomprensible, pero en fin así el ha ido al equipo sevillista esta temporada)-y también el impresionante nivel tanto defensivo como ofensivo del lateral derecho-aunque contra Polonia jugó de central- del fenomenal croata Vedran Corluka-ya dijimos que era un jugador a seguir y la verdad es que no nos está dejando mal-. Como centrales me decantaría por auténticos lideres defensivos, el checo Tomás Ujfalusi-realmente va sobrado y le va a venir de perlas al Atlético de Madrid, cuya defensa con este fichaje y el de John Heitinga va a dar un salto de calidad- y los portugueses Pepe y Ricardo Carvalho-Portugal tiene suerte de contar con estos 2 jugadorazos, porque sin ellos dudo mucho que Portugal pudiera llegar muy lejos, teniendo al inseguro Ricardo en la portería (estaría bien que además de despejar, blocase algún disparo)-. Por último, como lateral izquierdo elegiría o a Giovanni van Bronckhorst-sinceramente creo que fue un error su marcha del FC Barcelona, porque es un jugador muy válido tanto defensiva como ofensivamente, con técnica individual y disciplina táctica (este año con el Feyernoord consiguió 7 goles y 5 goles, lo cual no está nada mal para un lateral izquierdo)- o al croata Danijel Pranjic, que se ha marcado unos partidos muy buenos, mostrando en todos ellos una grandísima técnica individual-lo cual ya lo conocíamos-, centrando bien, pero es que además ha rendido perfectamente en la defensa-vertiente que no conocíamos tanto, pues siempre lo habíamos visto jugar de medio ofensivo-.

MEDIOS

Tampoco es fácil quedarme con sólo 4 centrocampistas, pero bueno haré un esfuerzo y elegiré como medio defensivo a un descomunal Marcos Senna-amo y señor del medio campo español, un pulmón, que está siempre en su sitio, cumpliendo a la perfección el trabajo que le encomendó Luís Aragonés-. Junto a Senna, colocaría como creador al soberbio croata Luka Modric que en cada partido está dando una lección de cómo organizar el juego de un equipo, qué nivelazo!!-cuando escribimos el articulo sobre Croacia, dijimos que esta EURO era su prueba de fuego, donde veríamos si sabría aguantar la presión, sabiendo que todas las miradas se centran en él y lo cierto es que está jugando muy bien, haciendo fácil lo difícil-. Finalmente me decanto por 2 holandeses, una de mis debilidades Rafael Van der Vaart-siempre en su sitio, mostrando calidad, visión de juego, buen disparo y disciplina táctica (anuló a Andrea Pirlo)- y por supuesto al madridista Wesley Sneijder, que ha llegado a este campeonato con un gran nivel de forma y está haciendo lo que quiere: regatear, se marcha con potencia, visión de juego, goles, es decir, recordando al Sneijder del Ajax y que en ocasiones puntuales hemos podido ver este año jugando con el Real Madrid.

DELANTERA

Para mí hay 2 nombres que sobresalen por encima del resto, pues gracias a sus goles sus equipos están en los Cuartos de final.
Por un lado, evidentemente está en mi equipo ideal el español David Villa, máximo goleador de la primera fase y siendo decisivo con el gol en el último minuto contra Suecia-como dijimos en el articulo dedicado a España no teníamos ninguna duda de que Villa jugaría perfectamente y que rendiría en esta competición después de un año complicado en el Valencia CF, porque Villa es sinónimo de calidad, trabajo y gol-.
Y por otro lado, tenemos que sacarnos el sombrero ante el turco Nihat Kahveci, que está teniendo un torneo difícil, pues con la lesión de Emre, en el medio campo turco no hay un jugador con la calidad suficiente para organizar el juego y por lo tanto Kihat se ve muy desatendido, teniendo que buscarse la vida porque el juego turco se basa en balonazos, pero pese a este paupérrimo juego turco, ahí está el delantero del Villarreal, en su sitio, con la caña apunto en todo momento y siendo un jugador decisivo con su gol del empate ante Suiza y sus 2 goles ante la Republica Checa, o sea, haciendo lo que se le pide a un delantero, que marque goles en los momentos importantes.

OTROS DESTACADOS

Además de este 11 ideal, también queremos reseñar la buena actuación de otros jugadores como los rusos Andrey Arshavin-se perdió los 2 primeros partidos por sanción, pero contra Suecia ya mostró su tremenda calidad técnica, su visión de juego, sus regates y encima marcó un gol- y el delantero Roman Pavlyuchenko-mucha movilidad, calidad, con buena técnica individual y con gol-, o como el polaco Roger Guerreiro-mucha movilidad y quizás podría tener una nueva oportunidad en el fútbol español tras su paso por el Celta de Vigo en la temporada 04-05-, como el checo Jan Koller-bastante ha hecho teniendo en cuenta el juego mostrado por la Republica Checa que ha estado muy lejos del que nos enseñó en otras competiciones cuando jugaban los Nedved, Poborsky, Rosický y compañía-o como el austriaco Andreas Ivanschitz-prácticamente el único austriaco con la calidad adecuada- o como el portugués Deco, que tras un año complicado en Barcelona ha asumido el liderazgo del mediocampo luso, o como los alemanes Lukas Podolski-que con la selección se transforma y rinde de forma fenomenal- y Philipp Lahm-siempre cumplidor-.

A partir de este jueves, comienzan los Cuartos de final, que prometen ser apasionantes y con mucha igualdad.
Cheers,
J&F

THE FINAL IS ARRIVING TO THE END (This article is available in English and Español)

After the disastrous 3rd and 4th quart of game 4 of the NBA Finals, we can say that the Los Angles Lakers has lost the Nba´s title, because I see virtually impossible that the Californian´s team can win 2 games in the complicated TD Banknorth Garden –excellent fan, with a lot of noise! -.

The truth is that our forecasts are being fulfilled more or less, since the key of the final is the “Big three”´s points and percentages –the team whose “Big three” scores more points in this Final (we must remark the excellent final of Ray Allen, who is playing better during the final´s series with and average of 20 points per game and 52% in field goal´s percentage) - because as we said in other article the rest of the players are very irregular and we can not expect too much from them-for example Sasha Vujacic or Leon Powe can show an excellent level in one game, but we do not have news from them in other games-. In fact, Phil Jackson does not rely much on them and he does not grant many minutes to bench´s players, which has been a mistake because after a regular season and all the Playoff, players like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom are tired and they need rest during the games in order to play 100%, since for example the Boston Celtics has many players in the paint-Glen Doc Rivers has as alternative to Kevin Garnett, players like Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe or PJ Brown-, on the other hand Phil Jackson in the practice is only playing with Gasol and Odom in the paint, which is a mistake and maybe players like Chris Mihm-although he was injured and he does not arrive 100% to the final- and especially Didier Ilunga Mbenga could play; of course that Mbenga is not very good offensive player, but he is strong and powerful and he can do a good job during some minutes against players like Leon Powe and PJ Brown and so Gasol and Odom can worry only about Kevin Garnett.

But this is not the only Phil Jackson´s mistake, because we think that he committed more mistakes during this Final, since for example we do not understand on the hand the presence of 5 bench´s players, playing together at the same time-the Boston Celtics got a difference of 10-0 during these minutes, so it was a bad Phil Jackson´s decision- and the other hand we do not understand the situation in last quarter of game 4, when Derek Fisher was in the bench and Jordan Farmar was playing during the important minutes of the game, because Farmar is not used to play this kind of games and if he has an important shot, he misses it. In short, there were concrete mistakes, but there were important, especially if we join these mistakes to disastrous Kobe Bryant´s play during this Final. The truth is that it is quite difficult to understand the poor level of Kobe when he play against Celtics this season, because if we exclude the 3rd game of the final-12 /20 FG%-, he shown a poor level in the rest games (2 games in the Regular Season and 3 Final´s games) with a 41/114 FG M-A with a 35% FGP (we think that this is the Key of the final, since Kobe has a 50% FGP during the playoff´s games against Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs-on the other hand Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom have a 50% FGP during this Final, so we do not understand the criticism against Gasol and Odom, especially because they have Kevin Garnett as rival, who is the best defensive player of the season, so they have a difficult work and it is normal that they are scoring less points during this Final and besides Garnett is scoring less points during this Final than the rest of the playoff-17,5 points per game in the Final and 21,1 points per game in the rest of the Playoff-,so good defensive Paul Gasol and Lamar Odom´s play ).

When we say that we do not understand the Kobe´s level is because Kobe is used to play against good defenders and in fact he played very well in the Conference´s semi-final and in the Conference´s Final against to good defensive teams as Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs-maybe one reason may be that Paul Pierce knows very well the Kobe Bryant´s play, since they trained together everyday last summer in Los Angeles- But besides this poor Kobe´s level has another drawback to Lakers, since Kobe´s mistakes have a consequence, easy and quick Celtics´s attacks, since Lakers has a problem with the offensive rebounds. In short this is Kobe, he wins the games many times, but sometime he is an unsuitable for the team and of course he is the key in order to have more or less games during this Final. For the moment this Sunday, the 5th in the Staples Center.

Cheers,

J&F

NBA: LA FINAL SE ESTA TERMINANDO (This article is available in English and Español)

Después de los desastrosos 3 y 4 cuartos del 4 partido de la Final de la Nba, podemos decir que los Lakers se han despedido del titulo, pues veo prácticamente imposible que el equipo Angelino sea capaz de ganar 2 partidos en el complicadísimo pabellón TD Banknorth Garden.-qué manera de animar!-.

Lo cierto es que más o menos se están cumpliendo nuestros pronósticos en el sentido que se está llevando el gato al agua el equipo cuyo “Big three” está más acertado-en todos los partidos se ha cumplido, gana el equipo con el “Big three” más anotador(tenemos que resaltar la grandísima final de Ray Allen, que está confirmando que venía de menos a más y ahora en la final es el jugador de Boston más regular con 20 puntos de media y un 52% de porcentaje en el tiro) -, pues como dijimos los restantes jugadores son muy irregulares y tampoco podemos esperar demasiado de ellos-un partido estarán esplendidos Sasha Vujacic o Leon Powe, pero en el siguiente desaparecen-, pues sobre todo Phil Jackson no confía mucho en ellos y no concede muchos minutos a los jugadores de banquillo, lo cual ha sido un error, pues a estas alturas de competición, los jugadores como Kobe, Pau Gasol o Lamar Odom están cansados, con lo que hay que dosificarlos y darles un descanso suficiente, especialmente a estos 2 últimos, porque el juego interior de los Celtics tiene muchas alternativas con Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, PJ Brown. Quizás Phil Jackson debió hacer más rotaciones en el juego interior y apostar por otros jugadores como Chris Mihm-aunque sale de una lesión y quizás no está en su mejor momento-y sobre todo Didier Ilunga Mbenga, que sí, ofensivamente no aporta mucho, pero es un auténtico toro, muy poderoso, muy intimidador y hubiese sido ideal unos minutos para intentar cargar con faltas personales a los pivots contrarios y desgastarlos, facilitando de esta forma la labor a Gasol y Odom, que ya tiene suficiente trabajo tratando de parar a Kevin Garnett para que además tengan que preocuparse de otros pivots.
Pero este error con los pivots, no es el único error del gran Phil, pues sinceramente creemos que erró en diversos momentos en esta final como cuando con el partido igualado hizo algo que nunca había hecho en un partido equilibrado, pues vimos 5 jugadores de banquillo jugando juntos y así lo pagaron los Lakers, con un parcial de 10-0 y a partir de ahí, el partido complicado y a sufrir; o como cuando en el último cuarto del 4 partido tenía a Derek Fisher en el banquillo y a Jordan Farmar jugando y claro no es lo mismo, sobre todo si se tiene que lanzar un triple decisivo, Fisher los mete y Farmar los falla-la verdad es que a Farmar le está viniendo un poco grande esta final-

En fin, son errores puntuales, pero importantes y que si lo unimos a la nefasta final de Kobe Bryant tenemos este resultado. Lo cierto es que es bastante difícil de entender las razones por las que Kobe juega tan por debajo de su nivel contra los Celtics esta temporada, pues sí excluimos el 3 partido de la final-12 de 20 en tiros de campo-, en el resto de partidos (2 de fase regular y 3 de la Final) tiene un paupérrimo 41 canastas y 114 tiros de campo, es decir un 0,35% de porcentaje ( muy por debajo del nivel mostrado en las otras eliminatorias de Playoff, que estaba por encima del 50%-por cierto que Pau Gasol y Lamar Odom sí que están por encima del 50% en porcentaje, con lo que tampoco hay que criticarlos tanto, además no se puede estar a todo, si se centran en Garnett es lógico que ofensivamente bajen y es que además KevinGarnett ha sido elegido mejor defensor del año, con lo que es normal que los números anotadores de Gasol y Odom hayan bajado). No es muy comprensible, porque si bien los Celtics tienen buena defensa, también la tienen los Utah Jazz y los San Antonio Spurs y Kobe hizo buenos partidos-quizás una de las razones puede ser el profundo conocimiento que Paul Pierce tiene del juego de Kobe Bryant, pues el pasado verano estuvieron entrenando juntos en Los Angeles-. Pero además, este bajo acierto de Kobe tiene otro inconveniente y es que los Lakers consiguen muy pocos rebotes ofensivos, con lo que los fallos de Kobe llevan consigo ataques rápidos y sencillos para los Celtics.
En fin este es Kobe, para lo bueno y para lo malo y de él dependerá que la final tenga más o menos partidos, pero sinceramente dudamos que veamos un apasionante 7º partido. De momento este domingo el 5º en el Staples Center.
Cheers,
J&F

GIRO D´ITALIA 2008 (This article is available in English and Español)

Last week another edition of the Giro d'Italia concluded. It is one of the most attractive and combative races of the professional road cyclist season because we can find 2 important circumstances: spectacular and complete stages- the road bicycles have to climb up mythical mountains as the Mortirolo or Gabia- and many Italian road bicyclers, who are possibly the most offensive, combative and with a higher winning mentality of the professional “peloton” and they dominate this race perfectly-in fact, until this year, the last no Italian winner was the elegant Russian Pavel Tonkov in 1996.-

Besides this year, the Giro has been another ingredient, the participation of the Spanish bicycler Alberto Contador-winner of the Tour de France 2007 – of the Team Astana. He was the protagonist of this race, because he was the winner of the Italian round, which has been very worthwhile because the Spanish champion did not know anything about his presence in the Italian race a week before the start of the Giro-in fact Contador was on holidays-, since the Team Astana had problems with doping cases in the past and now they are suffering the consequences with the exclusion of the some races like the Tour de France –we think that this Tour de France´s decision is totally unfair because it we compare the Team Astana 2007 and Team Astana 2008, we can see that it is a different team, with a new director, Johan Bruyneel, and new riders as Alberto Contador. So, we think that they should take part in the races and if they have problems with doping during race, then they must receive a punishment, but we know the bicycler´s world, where there is not the presumption of innocence and you must prove that you are not guilty (one example was the Spanish slipshod "operations Puerto". It was a supposed blood doping´s network and many bicyclers, as the German cyclist Jan Ullrich, were linked, but nothing was clear in this case)-.

But fortunately, and especially by Italian interests in a gas pipeline in Kazakhstan-obviously the team Astana is from Kazakhstan-the team Astana and Alberto Contador could be in the race, although he arrived to the start not very well, cause, as we said before, Alberto Contador was on holidays and he had not the necessary preparation to compete during 3 weeks in this difficult race and in fact he arrived to Italy with one idea, to come back to Spain after the stage 5. But gradually Contador was finding better and he was able to fight for final victory, which it succeeded thanks to his tremendous level both to climb up mountain as to be competitive in the individual time trial, being an unbeatable bicycler if he has the correct preparation, as he has shown many times-one example is his easy victory of the difficult “Vuelta to the Basque Country”this year. In addition Contador has one merit, since he suffered an important illness in his brain (cerebral cavernoma)-tremendous TV´s images in the Tour of Asturias 4 years ago, when he suffered an attack with many convulsions during the race-. He was some period retired but finally he won the cerebral cavernoma´s battle and he was able to continue with his normal and professional live. But after the cerebral cavernoma, he had another problem, the mentioned “Operacion Puerto”, since although he had not a relation with the network, his team disappeared and he could not compete until he arrived in January 2007 to the Team Discovery Channel of the legendary American bicycler, Lance Armstrong, where he was progressing in an impressive way, and he won the Tour de France 2007, which is the most prestigious race of the year and as I said before this year he can not compete unfairly, since his team is excluded due to the Alexandre Vinokorouv or Andrey Kachekin´s problems with doping last year-but as Contador says, there are more races and if the Tour de France does not want the Team Astana, it is a Tour de France´s problem, because it will not have sensational bicyclers, who can compete in other races as the Giro d'Italia or la Vuelta a España in September-if Contador wins la Vuelta España, he will add his name to the legendary bicyclers Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, who are the only bicyclers with victories in the 3 big races (Tour de France, Giro d´Italia and Vuelta España).

Of course, although it is a pity that Contador and other Astana´s bicyclers as Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden can not be in the French race, the Tour de France will be a spectacle and we must pay attention to many bicyclers as Cadel Evans and Yaroslav Popovich ( team Lotto); or Carlos Sastre, Fred Schleck and Bobby Julich's (team CSC );or Markus Fothen of Geroslteiner; or Alejandro Valverde and Vladimir Karpets of Caisse d'Epargne; or Haimar Zubeldia and Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel Euskadi; or Kim Kirchen of High Road; or Christian Vandevelde of Slipstream Chipotle;or Christophe Moreau ( Agritubel);or Damiano Cunego – he can be the final winner- (Lampre);or Denis Menchov of Rabobank.

But we can not conclude this article without mention the other protagonists of the Giro d'Italia, since we must remark the excellent level of the Italian team CSF-Navigare –it is a modest team but it was the best team in the Giro d'Italia 2008 – with bicyclers as Fortunato Baliani, Domenico Pozzovivo or Mexican Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio and of course with the competitive and spectacular Emanuele Sella, who has done an impressive and spectacular Giro, since he always attacked and he won the 3 most important stages -with mountains such as the Marmolada or Alpe Di Pampeado- and he also finished second in a difficult individual time trial and he was the best climber in the Giro-although with a style not very orthodox.-.We must say thanks to team CSF-Navigare, because this attitude is the best thing that a professional bicycler can show . Bravo!

Cheers,

J&F