El Clásico - Richard Fitzpatrick

Sr. Pirotecnic

Anyone reading this? My alarm bells went off when I heard the writer (Irish) has only lived in Spain for a couple of years and is telling the story of Barça-Madrid. Picked up a copy in a bookshop the other day and looked up Valencia in the index, just a few refs. Main one starts off by saying Valencia (fourth most populous and fourth richest area in Spain) is a peripheral region! What does that make Extremadura, Asturias etc? Then tells us the four biggest teams in Valencia are Valencia, Levante, Villarreal and Castellón. You can argue about what makes a club “big”, is it history, support or current standing. A combination of all three I suppose. Anyway, Hércules should definitely be in the top four and probably Elche too. Either the writer is not too versed in the history of la Liga or he doesn't know Alicante is part of the Valencian Community. Next we are told that all four big clubs include the flag of the region on their crests when the Levante one does no such thing. So quite a few errors in the space of a few sentences. They may have nothing to do with the main thrust of the book but it is a bit disheartening. I acknowledge he may well cover recent Barça-Madrid events well. Non big two fans are sick to death of having Madrid and Barcelona stuffed down our throats so I have no desire to read a whole book about the bastards but if I did, I think I'd wait for Sid Lowe's.

carlop

I've only read a short extract that appeared in the Irish Times, but in it it mentioned that Mourinho had become a symbol for the Spanish Right, which having lived in the country since he took over I can't say I've noticed.

Unfortunately La Liga is becoming close to unsustainable on it's current path. The biggest transfer this summer aside from Madrid or Barca was made by Valencia and cost 3.7 million. Llorente and Javi Martinez both want out of Bilbao. Malaga are a mess financially. Atleti's big summer signing was Emre.

The gap between the sides is only going to grow larger, especially now that the autonomous governments that used to help prop up their local clubs are all broke. It's a shame, as there are some very good teams outside the big 2 in Spain, but it has got to the point where they are competing for the Europa League at best.

We can blame the League, the TV deal and other things, and they are factors, but the sad reality remains that if you ask a random Spanish person in any part of Spain (with the possible exception of the Basque country) who they support, the vast majority will give you one of two answers.

Obviously in Ireland we have no right to preach on this matter given our obsession (mine included) with English football.

Sr. Pirotecnic

Yeah, I saw that Mourinho line and thought it was ridiculous.

I usppose ultimately the blame lies with all the plastic Madrid and Barcelona fans around the country but the media onslaught just ensures that the situation gets worse. Kids growing up Barcelona fans in Valencia, it's ridiculous.

Sid Lowe covers the problem of RM/FCB dominance in his season preview

(End of an era as the Saturday night game on terrestrial tv has been moved to Monday)