Fixtures that were once seemed eternal at the Santiago Bernabeu are now changing. One such is the absence of any silverware when under the presidency of Florentino Perez, but that could change now with the arrival of Jose Mourinho. Similarly, the arrival of the Portuguese tactician has seen the departure of Madrid legends Raul Gonzalez and Guti, something one could not have envisaged any time soon.

Raul has signed for perennial German underachievers Schalke 04, while Guti has signed a deal at Turkish side Besiktas. The Madrid Sports Daily Marca naturally claimed this transfer of Madrid’s record goalscorer as a victory for Cristiano Ronaldo, who could now change from CR9 to his original CR7 at Manchester United. Naturally, the one million CR9 shirts sold since the arrival of the perma-tanned superstar in Madrid will not be an obstacle to this.

Guti’s departure, on the other hand, will not be met with as much sadness, but instead fans will feel regret for what might have been. The Spanish playmaker may have won as much silverware as his captain Raul, but with the outrageous technique he was blessed with, there lacked a work-rate. In fact, in his final seasons, a number of goals conceded by Real could be traced back to a sloppy pass or a lack of tracking back by the Spanish midfielder. Despite this, there were flashes of genius, such as the back-heeled assist for Karim Benzema to tap the ball into an empty net, which broke a 20-year winless streak at Deportivo’s La Riazor stadium.

The sacking of Coach Manuel Pellegrini was entirely expected, given the hounding his every move was met with by Marca, practically the propaganda arm of Florentino Perez. Mourinho has been declared as some sort of deity by the same paper for instilling rules that are seen as the norm at most professional sports teams. Mourinho is now charge of the most successful club in European football, facing a formidable Barcelona side in his bid for glory.

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As Cesc Fabregas crafted a pass into Andres Iniesta, who took one touch before firing past Maarten Stekelenburg to win the World Cup in Soccer City, one couldn’t help but think it was a move crafted in La Masia, the Barcelona academy. Seven Barcelona players started the game, with Cesc Fabregas, a former academy player, coming on as a substitute near the end of normal time.

It is rare when one club dominates a national team so much, and the seven Barcelona representatives in the final beat the six Bayern Munich put forward in 1974 for West Germany. The tiki-taka philosophy has taken a pragmatic form during this tournament with the use of a second defensive midfielder.  Coupled with the defensive mentality of the opposition, they have accumulated the lowest tally for goals scored by a winner in history, with a measly eight.

Iniesta finally decided to shoot with no option to pass available, having refused to put his foot through the ball when clean through on two other occasions. The result this time brought Spain the World Cup trophy. The mercurial midfielder was also involved in the sending off of Johnny Heitinga, exaggerating contact by plunging to the ground to confirm the dismissal of the Everton man, who was the last defender.

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The victorious Euro 2008 tournament saw Spain classed as the most glamorous of football nations. The qualifying campaign of the European champions was flawless, but the start of the World Cup saw the implementation of a second defensive midfielder in a departure from the successful 4-4-2 that Luis Aragones implemented as Del Bosque has followed the increasingly defensive trend in football.

The decision to further protect the defence and hold onto possession seemed like a mistake in the shock 0-1 defeat to Switzerland in their opening Group H game, given that it caused a loss of presence in the final third. The side produced fewer of the incisive passing moves fans have become accustomed to, with Liverpool striker Fernando Torres struggling for form and new Barcelona signing David Villa shunted out to the left flank.

The introduction of the annoying Barcelona youngster Sergio Busquets alongside Xabi Alonso formed a decent shield which could be seen as an unnecessary precaution given how the Spanish side dominates possession and its expertise in manipulation of the ball. There now was a lack of speed and urgency in the Spanish play, with too many passers and not enough (or effective runners).

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