There had been gloomy predictions that Spain’s global soccer ascendancy might be coming to an end, but Tuesday evening’s victory over France was solid if not stellar. Coach Vicente Del Bosque, in characteristically imperturbable fashion, said the win “helps support the conviction we have in our ideas.” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy would no doubt love to bask in the same warm glow of vindication, but this week’s economic data suggest he has as much chance of doing that as Scotland have of going to Rio de Janeiro next summer. Perhaps the most surprising (and dispiriting) thing about the latest batch of figures is that they are no longer very surprising. There was more resignation than … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Management lessons
football
La Liga: The end is nigh for José Mourinho
This season, there have been very few quiet weekends in the Spanish capital and on Saturday evening, one decision by José Mourinho opened the floodgates. At around 7pm, with just over an hour to go to kick-off, the press began circulating the news. Club president Florentino Pérez was caught on camera, peering at the phone of a Canal+ presenter to read the extraordinary line-up and appearing bewildered. When the starting eleven was confirmed a few minutes later, it was clear why. Club captain and World Cup winning goalkeeper Iker Casillas was dropped to the bench and replaced in goal by Antonio Adán. The man dubbed ‘San Iker’ for the miracles he performs in front of goal for Los … [Read more...] about La Liga: The end is nigh for José Mourinho
Vicente del Bosque
Few international football coaches are blessed with as richly talented a group of players at their disposal as Spain’s. Any team featuring Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Iker Casillas and Gerard Piqué will be a force to be reckoned with, but by any standards, Vicente del Bosque has achieved extraordinary things, leading his team to the European Championship title in 2012, two years after lifting the World Cup. Del Bosque’s predecessor, Luis Aragonés, started Spain’s current domination of international football by winning the 2008 European title. But former Real Madrid player and coach Del Bosque has managed to keep his players both united and hungry for further glory. And in the process, he … [Read more...] about Vicente del Bosque
Gibraltar: Fish, football and frontiers
On September 25, Mariano Rajoy took the podium at the UN General Assembly in New York, where Spain was hoping to win a rotating seat on the Security Council. The Spanish prime minister chose the moment to press for joint talks with the UK about the sovereignty of Gibraltar. He called on London to “reinitiate bilateral dialogue on the decolonisation of Gibraltar… We have now lost too many years.” Unsurprisingly, Spain failed to secure a seat on the Security Council, and London issued a waspish response, denying that decolonisation was even an appropriate concept: “The 2006 Gibraltar Constitution provides for a modern and mature relationship between Gibraltar and the UK. This description … [Read more...] about Gibraltar: Fish, football and frontiers
La Liga: Real Madrid and Barcelona prepare to do battle
"I should not have done what I did, obviously not," said José Mourinho. "The person who messed up there was me," he added, referring to the moment when he casually strolled over to then FC Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova at the Camp Nou and poked him in the eye. The incident has been brought up countless times over the past year but as the opening of 2012/13 season approaches, the Real Madrid manager seems to be attempting to calm the waters as the man he once assaulted is now head coach at Barcelona. The two men start the season at different stages. Mourinho, is now beginning his third year at the helm of the capital club where many a manager before him did not even last a … [Read more...] about La Liga: Real Madrid and Barcelona prepare to do battle
Profile: Spain’s gentlemanly football genius, Vicente del Bosque
Gentlemen are thin on the pitch in soccer today, but if anybody deserves the soubriquet of el caballero, it’s Vicente del Bosque, the coach of Spain’s national side. Going into the European Cup with a World Cup under his belt, and with Spain the favourites to win the tournament for the second consecutive time, Del Bosque, 61, displayed his typical understatement when describing his team’s chances, saying: “The important thing is not to lose a sense of modesty, that they continue being good guys and if they continue like that, everything can get better.” And better they got: progressing steadfastly through the tournament to trounce Italy 4-0 in the final on July 1 in Kiev. Del Bosque’s … [Read more...] about Profile: Spain’s gentlemanly football genius, Vicente del Bosque
La Liga: Tito Vilanova steps out of Barcelona’s shadows
As the curtain was raised on the liga season last summer, he was largely an anonymous figure known only by FC Barcelona aficionados, but one lone act would change that. As a melee that so often accompanies a Clásico broke out at the Camp Nou between the 22 men on the pitch, substitutes and technical staff, José Mourinho calmly strolled over and poked Tito Vilanova in the eye. The Barcelona assistant coach swiftly responded with a slap to the back of ‘The Special One’s’ head. Vilanova was no longer anonymous and while still in the background, his figure would loom large over Barça’s season, culminating in his appointment as the new head coach after four years of Pep Guardiola at the … [Read more...] about La Liga: Tito Vilanova steps out of Barcelona’s shadows
Pep’s legacy
When Pep Guardiola appeared before the press on April 27 to announce his departure as FC Barcelona’s head coach at the end of the season, he said he felt exhausted and “empty.” Four years leading the club had brought a record-breaking haul of trophies and made him perhaps the most respected coach in world football. But, as Guardiola admitted, “Four years at Barcelona is an eternity and I need to recharge.” His achievements during that time are undisputable: two Champions Leagues, three Ligas, and one (possibly two) Copa del Rey titles; the development of a homegrown youth side that provided Guardiola with 22 first-team players; and the employment of a short-passing, hi-tempo attacking … [Read more...] about Pep’s legacy
La Liga: Momentous week for Barça and Madrid as El clásico looms
When a gaping 10-point chasm separated Real Madrid and Barcelona, Pep Guardiola was adamant: winning the league is impossible. As the difference closed to eight, six and then four points, he stuck to the party line, but ahead of what is set to be a defining couple of weeks in the race for La Liga and the Champions League, the FC Barcelona coach finally ceased his mantra at the weekend, admitting the domestic title “is a little less impossible now”. This Saturday, with five games remaining, Real Madrid travel to the Camp Nou attempting to get one hand on the league trophy that has eluded them for four years, but first-up is a Champions League semi-final first-leg game for Los Merengues … [Read more...] about La Liga: Momentous week for Barça and Madrid as El clásico looms
La Liga: Levante’s old guard still in the mix
As the season began way back in sunny August, there was little doubt about which teams would be competing for the title. But as the usual suspects for the Champions League places were being rounded up, no one could have imagined that one surprise package, labelled “Ugly, poor and bad at football” by their own supporters, would be in contention for a top-four finish with seven matches remaining. Villarreal, Sevilla, Atlético Madrid, and even Málaga with all their Qatari millions, are being outdone by Levante Unión Deportiva, who currently sit in fifth place, just one point behind their city rivals Valencia in fourth. What is even more astounding for a club that is more accustomed to … [Read more...] about La Liga: Levante’s old guard still in the mix