W. T. F.

I’ll summarize it in three words: our defense blows. It’s shite. Bollocks. We have no proper right back (my 5 year old nephew could have schooled Perea) and it was an absolute disaster seeing the Almeria players, who I’m totally not discrediting, outdo and run around Juanito and Pablo. A few months ago, we beat them 3-0 and now they wrecked much more havoc with an even weaker Negredo-less team. Wrath of the Hugo Sanchez? Or us simply not being that good of a team?

It really was the defense that had the bad game and killed it for us. The attack, although a bit inconsistent (Forlán missed a penalty), was as potent as ever. The team looked scary and when we weren’t battling to defend against the Almeria attack, we were moving the ball up and giving the opposition a rough time, even without Aguero there from the start.

Unlike previous games, we saw a bit of the shadow of last year’s team, especially when it came down to resilience. Cleber Santana scored a goal a few minutes after Almeria was up 0-1, and Forlán scored another solid goal and the game should have been won right there at 2-1.

But no, in the dying moments of the match, Piatti made it 2-2 for Almeria from a header and a few minutes later, Uche blasted another shot on target that could have gone in, but Roberto did well to clear it. Unlike our team, Almeria fought until the end. By chillaxing in the final ten minutes of the game, we were in danger of losing a game that we should have been in control of.

We were unfortunate not to have Aguero and Simao there from the start (they were battling fitness after minor injuries) and instead had Sinama-Pongolle and Jurado taking their places, respectively. It probably wouldn’t have made that much of a difference if they had started, because both really didn’t do much when they were subbed in, but they weren’t that much worse. That’s one of the down sides of having a small squad, and a small amount of really good players. The only substitutes for our star players are average.

Like I have said many times before, our defense is our main concern at the moment. Juanito is slow, Pablo sucks, Perea sucks King Kong balls, and Antonio Lopez at least showed a bit of swag and energy. I honestly think that we’re definitely missing Heitinga. He was a great right-back and it’s funny that we haven’t been doing too hot since he left. The return of Pernia won’t do much, neither will the return of the unproven Cabrera from U-20 duties, so at this point I’m lamenting not having signed a reject from Inter.

As for our coach, Abel Resino, the club is stressing that he’s going to stay. And what’s their reason? “Because it’s practically impossible. It’s very difficult and complicated”. Translation: we’re damn lazy.

I believe that the problem goes beyond the coach though. We definitely should have a larger squad and should have made more quality signings. Sergio Asenjo was the only “smart” signing, and despite the promotion of a few youth players, we don’t really have enough players that have enough quality to make a Champions League caliber squad. Now I see why it’s natural to put the blame on the director’s board.

Injuries are never helpful, but the game shouldn’t have ended in a draw last night. Atletico had it in the bag.

I don’t even want to think about visiting Mestalla this weekend to face Valencia.

Atlético Madrid 2 – Almeria 2

As Inter are looking to offload some players and Mourinho even admitted to having too many players, the media reports that Luis Jimenez is being offered to Atlético for a loan move lasting until the end of the season with a purchase allowed for €7 million afterwards. AS Monaco is also interested in his services.

Jimenez, the 24-year-old Chilean midfielder, has seen less than 200 minutes this season so far with Inter. He was injured in August and returned on November, but isn’t a major part of Mourinho’s plans.

Here are some goal videos by “El Mago”

And if you’re really bored, a 6 minute picture/highlights vid

I say: why not? The guy could use some more playing time and the competition can be healthy for Simao/Maxi/Raul Garcia. The man has the skill, and adding a quality player to help the underachieving Atlético offense won’t hurt at all, even if it’s for just the rest of the season.

You can also find a post about him on HABs Offside, but look for it yourselves because I’m too manly for that page.

Dear Abu Dhabi United Group,

P.S. Real sucks!

And what’s the press’ take on this?

A few news sources claim that Diego, father of Kun Agüero’s girlfriend Giannina and future grandfather of their superbaby (due in February by the way) may try to bring the superstar to Inter and their close relationship could be a factor in Inter’s snatching of the player (here’s a Goal.com article in English).

The rumor is spreading through Italy and Argentina, and the club had no choice but to comment on the situation:

“We feel strong due to his release clause of 55 million Euro and a contract that lasts until 2012, uniting the player with the club.”

Nothing to worry about. Kun will be here a few more seasons and there’s no need to begin speculation about where he’ll end up next. However, it’s no surprise that clubs such as Chelsea and Inter want their hands on him and may end up launching some mega-bids in the future.

Don’t ya just love tabloids?