Every good team these days seems to revolve around skilledSpanish players, no matter what country they perform in.
But this weekend showed, again, just how adaptable thoseSpaniards must be. In their own country, Barcelona has almost won the leaguetitle before Christmas, and the club has broken the record for the best startto any year “ despite this being the first season under a new coach, after PepGuardiola handed over the responsibilities to his deputy, Tito Vilanova.
So good is Barca that its 5-1 victory Saturday againstAthletic Bilbao appeared almost routine. Lionel Messi was scoring goals andAndres Iniesta was creating them with the same style they always have, a stylebred into a lineup that almost entirely came from the club’s La Masia academy.
The Athletic game made it 13 victories and one draw in theopening 14 games of La Liga, eclipsing the previous record set by Real Madrid20 years ago. Madrid’s way was always different. It was predicated on importedtalents, and in large measure that remains the policy.
The Liga championship as good as over, unless Barcelona getsbored. Messi scored twice Saturday, putting him within one goal of GerdMuller’s calendar-year record of 85 goals in 1972.
In the English Premier League, there is no shortage of goals,but nothing like the runaway domination of one or two teams. Anybody can scoreagainst Manchester United this season, yet United stands atop the standings,three points ahead of Manchester City.
Chelsea, despite going ahead through Juan Mata, lost, 3-1,at West Ham. And already Chelsea’s interim coach, Rafa Benitez, admits he feelsinsecure in his job, knowing that the impatient owner, Roman Abramovich, stillhankers to hire Guardiola.
Arsenal went down, 2-0, on its own field, where it wasoutplayed by Swansea and outgunned by the Spanish midfielder Michu, who scoredboth goals toward the end.
Even City, whose Etihad Stadium is indeed a fortress, neededa Carlos Tevez penalty to equalize the lead given to Everton by itsirrepressible Belgian, Marouane Fellaini.
City own Belgian, Vincent Kompany, marshals a defense thatwon the Premier League title last season “ a defense that will be tested nextSunday against United’s rampant firepower at the Etihad.
That power can come from any attacking combination AlexFerguson cares to field. It can come from Javier Hernandez, the Mexicanpoacher; Wayne Rooney, the English banger; Robin van Persie, the Dutch goalaccumulator; or from any player in the Reds’ lineup.
They all seem so committed to getting on target, so weddedto coach Alex Ferguson’s own instinct to go for the throat, that they leave asmany holes as a bucket hit by a shotgun.
No matter whether it is the Premier League, the ChampionsLeague or the domestic cups, United has seemed determined on handicappingitself. Its defense, missing in particular the aerial command and bravery ofthe injured captain Nemanja Vidic, has given up the first goal in 14 contestsalready this season.
The swashbuckling United has turned around to win 12 ofthose games. Last week, it took this Houdini-like ability to escape to theextreme, allowing the home side, Reading, to lead twice before emerging with a4-3 victory.
Anderson, the Brazilian, scored the first equaliser. Rooneystruck twice, and van Persie had one goal and another shot that clearly crossedthe line but was not counted by the referee as a goal.
However, such was United’s defensive frailty, especially toset-piece situations, that three relatively unsung Reading players “ HalRobson-Kanu, Adam le Fondre and Sean Morrison “ were able to do something theywill cherish throughout their careers.
They scored against the mighty United. Le Fondre willparticularly remember it. He was born in Greater Manchester, and his fathertook him to watch United when he was a child.
Momentary dreams for many United opponents are becoming acommon headache for Alex Ferguson. ''Bad defending,'' the United manager saidafter Saturday’s game. ''Really, really bad, the worst of our season.
''There’s no question that we have the character to wingames, but we deserved to get battered today. We can’t just keep mountingrescue jobs every week, and we have got to sort it out.''
To a degree, Ferguson did sort something out. All sevengoals had come in 26 minutes of the first half and, no doubt his players werereacquainted with the old Fergie Fire during the interval.
Afterward, United dampened the fire, played out a goallesssecond half, and clung to its latest rescue job. But in this league, and facedwith City’s firepower in the next game, the need to sort it out will resonatearound Manchester in the coming days.
