Pre-season friendlies.
Pre-season friendlies have become tradition, however nowadays it is customary to have small tournaments between some of the biggest clubs in the world such as the World Football Challenge 2009 currently being played by Chelsea, A.C. Milan, Inter Milan and Club America. In addition to this tournament Real Madrid have been in action for the first time since their summer spending.
Real Madrid have been training in Ireland for the past week and were able to showcase their incredible array of talent for the first time against Shamrock Rovers. Real Madrid won 1-0 thanks to a Karim Benzema strike, and while the scoreline is certainly not impressive, it flatters the Irish outfit somewhat as Real Madrid put on a good show. Kaka was not playing as he joined the training camp late following his appearances in the Confederations Cup, although Madrid fans were able to sample Benzema and Ronaldo for the first time. The French international was particularly impressive after coming on as a substitute, he scored one and hit the woodwork. More importantly however, Real Madrid played some excellent football with quick one touch passing and rapid movement from all the players. Certainly the performance in this friendly provides Pellegrini with a good base to work from for the future.
Chelsea have also impressed under new manager Carlo Ancelotti. They have beaten both the Seattle Sounders (2-0) and Inter Milan (2-0). Ancelotti used a variety of formations and changed the position of certain players. Against the Seattle Sounders Ancelotti played Deco in a holding midfield role the way Andrea Pirlo played in his Milan team; whereas against Inter Milan Deco was utilised in an attacking midfield position behind the two strikers. Malouda has also been used in different positions, playing as a wide midfielder against the Seattle Sounders when Ancelotti was playing with a classic 4-4-2 formation; against Inter Milan on the other hand, Ancelotti played with a 4-3-1-2, with Malouda as part of the 3 midfielders. This ability to adapt players to his tactics as well as the ability to play so many varying formations provides Chelsea fans with plenty to smile about so far.
A.C. Milan have also been experimenting under their new coach Leonardo, he has played with both a 4-3-3 formation and a 4-3-1-2 with Ronaldinho behind the two strikers. Positives have been seen with both formations and positives can be gained from Ronaldinho’s performances both against Varese where Milan won 2-0 and against L.A. Galaxy (2-2 draw). However, the players are still not used to the new tactics and it is therefore difficult to tell whether the 4-3-3 is a formation that will prove successful during the season.
Inter Milan on the other hand may face some problems. It seems increasingly likely that Ibrahimovich will be at Barcelona next season leaving his place to Samuel Eto’o. This may force Mourinho to re-think his style of football due to the fact that Inter Milan were very reliant on Zlatan last season. In many occasions Inter Milan would play long balls up to Ibrahimovich and allow him to take it down and subsequently produce something special be it a spectacular goal or an assist. However the lack of the tall front man next season means that Inter Milan will have to find some extra creativity in their midfield which may not be easy considering they are yet to sign the ‘trequartista’ Mourinho so desperately wants.
